Toby jolted awake, his heart pounding against his ribcage. The nightmare lingered like a shadow, a haunting reminder of Teddy's disappearance into the dragon's maw. He rubbed his eyes, trying to erase the memory of the book's fiery depths, but the images clung stubbornly to his mind. "Another day, another nightmare," he muttered to himself, pushing the covers aside and preparing for another dreary day at the butcher shop.

Toby moved through the motions of his job, his mind a million miles away. Each slice of the blade felt like a cut through his own soul, a reminder of the day he lost Teddy. His coworkers chatted around him, but their voices were muffled, distant. Liam and Joshua were out there somewhere, probably trying to forget just like him. "It was supposed to be a game," he thought, "just a harmless adventure into a world of stories."

Liam felt the wind whip around him, each gust a whisper of the past. The memory of Teddy's scream echoed in his ears, a chilling reminder of their collective guilt. Meanwhile, Joshua tried to drown out the memories with the sound of engines and clanking metal, but the past was relentless. "We were supposed to be heroes, not survivors," he murmured to himself, wiping sweat from his brow.

Teddy, or what was left of him, stepped into the world once more. His eyes glinted with a sinister edge, the book's evil etched into his very being. The air around him crackled with dark magic, but his body was still tethered to the earthly realm. "I will find them," he vowed, "and they will pay for leaving me behind."

Toby sensed something was amiss as he approached his house. The shadows seemed to writhe with a life of their own, and an unnatural chill seeped into his bones. Suddenly, Teddy appeared before him, an apparition of his former friend. "Teddy?" he gasped, disbelief and fear mingling in his voice.

Toby, Liam, and Joshua faced Teddy, their hearts heavy with guilt and determination. The book's malevolent influence pulsed between them, a tangible force. "We can't let it win," Liam declared, desperation in his voice. "We have to end this," Toby agreed, stepping forward to confront the darkness head-on.