A Deadly Language

The Nightmare Code: Unraveling Secrets, Saving Lives

Joyce Ray found herself trapped inside a room. It was dimly lit and had no windows. Before she could react, she saw floating letters in fluorescent green swimming around her. She was desperately looking for a light switch to illuminate the room. One of the alphabets brushed against her skin, sending a tiny wave of electric shock.

She jumped in fright after hearing a male voice speaking in a low, gravelly rumble, each word rolling out like thunder from beneath a storm cloud. He said, " I will give you a chance to escape from this room, unharmed, if you decipher the meaning of this sentence."

The floating letters rearranged themselves as if by magic. It read:

“Ecnbidsimaotezlrnhertwztgimennbeeezeseiattdotnino.”

Joyce could feel the tension soaring through her body. She had no idea of whatever it meant. Her invisible captor let out an evil laugh and said, " Very well. You have 48 hours at your disposal, failing which, the world would end in an apocalypse."

Joyce closed her eyes and tried to rearrange the letters. Even though she didn’t say a word, the room seemed to read her thoughts. Her initial guess was wrong. His maniacal laughter reverberated across the room.

She screamed in horror after one of the walls with protruding spikes made its way to crush her to death.

Hearing her scream, Joyce’s roommate, Dorothy Kimberly, shook her vigorously to bring her to her senses.

"Joyce! Wake up for God's sake. Your screams are loud enough to wake an entire city." She sprinkled some water on her face. Joyce opened her eyes to find her best friend and roommate, Dorothy, looking at her with concern.

Dorothy offered her a glass of water and sat beside her. She said, "Joyce, It's the same nightmare, isn't it? You are locked in a room with words floating around you. You try to form a meaningful sentence from gobbledygook words that make no sense. You make a mental guess and the wall with spikes starts closing in on you."

Joyce nodded as Dorothy gave her a comforting hug. She squeezed her hand gently and suggested, "Honey, it's time for you to visit Ms.Emma Wright, our college counselor." Joyce became livid and started yelling, " Are you implying that I have lost my marbles?"

 Dorothy responded with a sigh, “You are getting it all wrong, Joyce. As far as I know, Ms. Wright is also an expert in dream interpretation. Why don't you consult her to get rid of your recurring nightmares?”

Joyce replied, “When you put it that way, I will visit her tomorrow.”

Dorothy and Joyce were pursuing their graduation in International Language Studies from Middlebury College, Vermont.

Dorothy advised, “It’s 3 AM now. Try to get some sleep. Ms. Emma Wright’s working hours are between 10 AM to 6 PM. Let’s meet her after college hours. Meanwhile, why don’t you write down your nightmare in detail?

The next day, Dorothy and Joyce made their way to Ms.Emma Wright’s office after scheduling an appointment for 4.3O PM.

Emma Wright, the college counselor (psychiatrist), had a warm and inviting demeanor, with a friendly smile and attentive eyes. She had a tidy office with soft, neutral-colored walls adorned with motivational posters and calming artwork. Her desk was organized, with a laptop and a stack of papers neatly arranged.

There were comfortable chairs for her clients, along with a small side table with tissues and water. A bookshelf lined one wall, filled with resources on mental health and personal development.

Overall, Emma's office exuded professionalism and comfort, creating a safe space for students to open up and seek guidance. Emma Wright, the college counselor (psychiatrist), had a warm and inviting demeanor, with a friendly smile and attentive eyes. She had a tidy office with soft, neutral-colored walls adorned with motivational posters and calming artwork.

Her desk was organized, with a laptop and a stack of papers neatly arranged. There were comfortable chairs for her clients, along with a small side table with tissues and water. A bookshelf lined one wall, filled with resources on mental health and personal development. Overall, Emma's office exuded professionalism and comfort, creating a safe space for students to open up and seek guidance.

The next day, Dorothy and Joyce made their way to Emma’s office at 4.30 PM. “Welcome, girls! “ greeted Emma enthusiastically, “Please make yourselves comfortable first, and then we can have a chat leisurely. ” Emma called for her assistant, Jennifer, who brought them a tray of hot tea with cookies.

Joyce felt relaxed and immediately warmed up to Emma. They exchanged pleasantries while enjoying their tea.

Emma asked, "So, tell me, dear girls! How may I help you? "

Joyce told her everything about her recurring nightmares. She showed her a diary in which she had written the code:

“Ecnbidsimaotezlrnhertwztgimennbeeezeseiattdotnino.”

Emma read the code and probed, “Since when did you start experiencing these nightmares? What’s their frequency? “

Joyce thought for a while before replying,

“I think I first saw this nightmare on 25th January. The frequency of this nightmare gradually increased from twice to thrice a week. I found it weird that none of the visuals changed. However, there was a slight variation in my nightmare last night. He gave me a 48-hour deadline to decipher the code, or else, the world would end in an apocalypse.”

Emma took Joyce's diary and copied the code:

Ecnbidsimaotezlrnhertwztgimennbeeezeseiattdotnino.

She quipped, "Joyce, as per your nightmare, you have only 48 hours to find out the secret message. Let me work on cracking this puzzle so that we can plan our next course of action.”

Emma asked them to wait for 15 minutes while she worked on the coded message.

After racking her brain for ten minutes, she wrote down these words:

“Attention! Les zombies sind bereit, die Welt zu übernehmen.” She showed this message to Joyce.

Joyce, consulting Dorothy, deciphered the code. “Attention!” she exclaimed, “The zombies are ready to take over the world.” All of them were too stunned to speak.

Dorothy explained that Joyce had selected German as her major while she had opted for French. The secret code was a mixture of three languages, English, German, and French.

Joyce became pale after realizing that she had already read this message somewhere. Suddenly, it dawned upon her that Professor Richard Stevensburg had dropped his books inadvertently after college hours. She had helped him collect them, and accidentally read the content in his personal diary that was open.

Emma and Dorothy looked at her quizzically. Joyce trembled as she said, "I found this message from Professor Richard Stevensburg's diary. He teaches us German. If I am not mistaken, I saw him for the last time on 25th January. That's when I started getting my nightmare. "

Emma could not hold back her curiosity and asked, “Do you think that he quit his job or went on a vacation? Do you have any substitute teacher to replace him?”

Joyce replied, " Professor Norman Rushmore is our new substitute teacher." Emma remarked, "I think there's a connection between Professor Stevensburg's disappearance and your nightmares. Is there anything else that you wish to tell me?"

Before Joyce could reply, Dorothy said, "Joyce was in an upbeat mood on that day. She told me that Professor Stevensburg had gifted her a bracelet for acing the class test. She also added that the professor had requested her not to remove the bracelet, especially, at night."

Emma raised her eyebrows as she found the request unusual. She said, " Alright, girls! Tonight, I want Joyce to remove her bracelet and sleep. Dorothy, do keep an eye on her and see if there's anything weird going on with the bracelet. Give me a call in the morning and keep me updated.”

The girls promised to contact her and went to their room. Emma contacted The HR department only to find that the professor had been sacked. Emma’s eyes widened in surprise as she learned that the professor was absent for too long, without any prior intimation, and wasn’t responding to any call. This set her alarm bells ringing. Emma was more puzzled over the connection between Joyce’s bracelet, her nightmare, and Professor Stevensburg’s prolonged absence.

The next day, that is, on the morning of 27th February, Emma received a call from Dorothy. She couldn't hold back her excitement and said, "Your suggestion word. Joyce slept like a baby. But I saw a red light flashing through the bracelet as if someone was sending a distress signal."

Emma answered, " Great work, Dorothy. I need to speak to Joyce about Professor Richard Stevensburg. " Dorothy gave her mobile to Joyce who was finding it difficult to stifle her yawn. " Hello," answered Joyce groggily. Emma asked, " Joyce, can you give me every tiny detail about Richard? He might have introduced himself during the orientation program at the beginning of the academic year."

Joyce was wide awake after hearing this and put on her thinking cap. There was a momentary silence which was broken by Joyce's stunning revelation. She said that he had been a scientist working on a top-secret project, prior to switching over to Lectureship as his profession.

Joyce further added, " Professor Stevensburg offered us a guided tour of his home and personal lab. Oh no! I just remembered that the room in my dream was the professor’s personal lab. There were no windows. Instead, he had installed four tiny ducts for ventilation on all the four cornices. He told us that the toxic fumes released from his experiments passed through the ducts, where they were filtered and turned into oxygen. But in my dream, only words were floating around.”

Emma interrupted her, " Thank you, dear Joyce. Sorry to interrupt you, but I have a gut feeling that the professor is in great danger. I will contact you after rescuing him from the potential danger that the world is supposed to be in.”

She got his residential address from the HR department and rushed to the nearest Police Station. Her boyfriend, Detective Vance Strong, went to greet her. But the look on her face made the smile from his lips vanish instantly.

" What's wrong, honey? "He asked with a concern in his voice. She told him everything about Professor Richard Stevensburg's disappearance including Joyce's recurring nightmare that paved the way for sinister conspiracy.

Vance advised, "Emma darling! Just give me the professor's residential address . Let the police take over the case from here. " Emma pleaded, "Please take me along with you. I might be able to assist you with deciphering the secret codes and messages."

Detective Vance Strong sought the approval of his boss, Chief Somerson, and asked Emma to lead the way. After an hour's drive, they reached his villa. Professor Richard Stevensburg's house, located in the Vermont town of Maplewood Hollow, was a Victorian mansion named “Living Paradise." Emma and Vance were enchanted by the grandeur of the place.

This architectural gem was surrounded by ancient pines, with a marble water fountain in the entrance. The exterior of the mansion boasted of intricate woodwork and stained-glass windows, while the interior was a mix of Victorian elegance and academic clutter, filled with books, artefacts, and inventions.

Snapping out of their reverie, they knocked on the door but it was already open. Vance and his men removed their respective guns from their holsters and stepped in. Contrary to the outward appearance, the living room was ransacked. Books were scattered all over. It appeared as if a tornado hit the house. Vance asked the rest of the cops to search every room for a possible clue. Deputy Arnold David found a diary hidden under the queen-sized bed. He wore gloves before retrieving the diary and gave it to Vance.

Vance and Emma pored over the contents to stumble upon some shocking revelations.

Professor Richard Stevensburg was a loner. His family had perished in a terrorist attack. He wanted to invent some kind of device that could make the evil repent and turn over a new leaf. His experiment failed and instead, he created a gadget that acted as a dream manipulator. He tested this gadget on his best friend, Samuel Leslie. He inserted a tiny chip inside a bracelet and connected it with his laptop. He gave this bracelet to Samuel and asked him to wear it for a week. Meanwhile, he could visualize Samuel’s dream on his computer.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a nightmare inducing gadget. He tried to type the instructions so that Samuel could experience pleasant dreams. Finally, his hard work paid off and within a week, the nightmares turned into pleasant dreams. He made a slight alteration to the gadget to the effect that he could either give nightmares to a person or pleasant dreams.

Exactly a month after this incident, he wanted to invent a gas that would spread happiness everywhere. As luck would have it, this experiment failed miserably with a deadly result. He tested this gas on a rat that turned into a zombie and almost tore off his flesh until he killed it. He didn’t have the heart to watch his hard work go in vain. He stored the gas in a special container and kept it in his secret locker. Unable to handle the work pressure, he hired an assistant James Whitford, who stabbed him in the back by going through his diary and ratted him out to a terrorist group, Death Avengers, who wanted to get their hands on Richard’s inventions. Fearing for his life, Richard escaped from Texas to reach Vermont. Luckily, he also had Master’s Degree in German that enabled him to get a job in Middlebury College.

The entry ended in German language which said:

"James hat mich draußen vor einem Café gesehen."

Emma translated it as:

James saw me outside at a café.

Emma told Vance that Richard must be held captive in his personal lab.

Vance's partner, Robin Kelloway, found some weird drawings on the kitchen floor. Emma went with him to have a look. She said, “He has left us a clue. This drawing is the location of his prison.” The drawing was of a fireplace with a man pressing a button on the top of the mantelpiece. Vance did the same and the fireplace slid away to reveal a secret stairway. All of them descended down the stairs to find a closed steel door. Emma scanned the diary to find the password written in French. She translated it in English. She stopped Vance before he could punch in the code and said, “Let’s wear our face masks.”

All of them wore their face masks. Vance punched the code and the steel door opened. Vance and his troop marched in, to find Richard being forced to work on his laptop at the gunpoint by five masked men. After a brief scuffle, Vance and his men, overpowered these criminals and removed their masks. James gritted his teeth and swore at Richard, “You are a traitor, you scoundrel. You betrayed our trust and dashed our hopes to rule the world. Remember, you will pay for your betrayal.” Vance slapped him while Robin slapped cuffs on his wrists.

Richard thanked Vance and Emma for saving his life. Vance smiled and said, “That’s alright, Professor. I am glad you are safe. I hope you understand the seriousness of the situation. Your inventions are amazing but can be extremely dangerous, if they fell into the wrong hands.”

Richard replied, “The moment I saw James following me, I immediately destroyed the gadget and turned over the gas container to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)for disposal. I knew my life was in danger. That’s why I gifted Joyce the only bracelet that I had with me. I feel so ashamed to give her those nightmares. It was the only I could seek help and Joyce did save my life by approaching Emma.”

Later, Richard called Joyce and thanked her for the rescue. He asked her to destroy the bracelet and that he would give her a different gift to express his gratitude. Joyce did as she was told. Richard gave her a new Apple wristwatch.