New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

12/11/13

A Father's Death
I wake up lying in a comfortable bed that I know right away is not my own. I am Amelia. The first thought that returns to my mind is my father turning his back on me, not caring if I live or die. I bury my head in the pillow wishing I could just fall back asleep and maybe next time I wake up all of this will be just a bad dream. I am getting close to falling asleep when I hear someone enter the room with me. A man beside the bed whispers my name quietly. "Amelia? Amelia, wake up… we have to go." Go? Go where? And who was in my room? I open my eyes and look at the man beside my bed. It's Alex Mercer. Alex Mercer! For just an instant I am alarmed and I sit up quickly, wondering if there is any quick path to escape. But then the sleep clears out of my mind. I have nothing to fear from Alex. He has made it very clear he has no interest in hurting me. And he certainly wouldn't hurt me after I helped him get the formula for the serum he needed to cure his sister Dana. He steps back a bit and says he's sorry he startled me. He says Dana is awake, so he wants to go to the hospital and see her. He says it's not safe for me to stay here alone, there has been too much activity among the infected here recently. So he wants to take me with him. For some reason his show of concern for my safety makes me want to go give him a big hug. It's not really something I am accustomed to… my sorry excuse for a father sure hadn't showed any concern for my safety…

I get out of bed and follow Alex back into the room with the computers. I ask if the infected would really come into the apartment. He points at the hole and says that's where a supreme hunter grabbed Dana right out of her computer chair and took her to Elizabeth Greene for who-knows-what malevolent purpose. He'd gotten Dana back before Greene had finished what she was doing, but that was why Dana had needed the serum. He crouches down so I can get on his back and ride piggy-back again. This time I hold on as tight as I can without him saying anything. And then he is off like a flash, into the air, over buildings, up walls, then he glides in for a landing in an alley behind a hospital. He sets me down and motions for me to follow him inside. I look around. I don't see any sign of infected around there, but I follow Alex anyway. I follow him through several halls and we finally get to a room. The room looks disturbingly like a morgue… I see a sign on the door that says that's exactly what it is. For an instant I am afraid Dana died after all, but no… Alex had said she is awake. I follow Alex into the room and close the door behind me.

In the morgue I see there are a couple dead bodies on tables. I make a point of ignoring those. Alex is with two other people talking. One of the two people is a black man in doctor's garb, and the other is a red-haired woman dressed casually, though her clothes are a bit dirty and ripped. That must be Dana. Alex motions to me to come over where he introduces me to the other two. The doctor is Dr. Ragland, one of the few people Alex feels he can trust, and the woman is Dana Mercer, which I had already guessed. Alex introduces me to them as Amelia, and says I'm the one that managed to get the formula for the serum. Dr. Ragland tells me I did a great thing, that formula saved Dana's life. I force a smile at them, though I don't feel like smiling. I can still hear my father's voice in my mind saying I am of no use to him. Kill her, eat her, fuck her… I don't care… I try to push the voice from my mind before I start crying. Alex asks if I am ok. I lie to him and say I am fine. I'm sure he doesn't want to hear about my problems.

As Alex, Dana, and Dr. Ragland are talking I just kind of move away from them. I feel uncomfortable and out of place. I feel like I don't belong there. So since no one has noticed me move away from the group I continue and leave the morgue. I find my way to the front of the hospital and look outside. There are people out there, regular people, uninfected people. None of them seem alarmed about anything, so I reason it must be relatively safe here. I go outside into the sun. It feels nice. I look around at the people walking and talking and I realize I have never felt so alone. I just walk to the stairs that lead to the front door of the hospital where I sit down, not sure where to go, not sure what to do. I spend a short time crying silently, which no one seems to notice. Or maybe just no one cares. My tears finally dry up but I still don't know where to go so I stay there.

I am still sitting there when a uniformed soldier approaches me, looking at me like he is seeing a ghost. He asks if I am Amelia. I say yes. He is stunned beyond belief. He says everyone at the base is certain I must be dead. He helps me to my feet. He continues talking. He asks how I managed to get away from Mercer. He says that ever since Mercer broke his end of the deal by refusing to release me, everyone had assumed he had probably consumed me to see if I knew anything about… I interrupt him. I ask him exactly what he thinks happened that night. He says an arrangement was made to trade some serum to Mercer for my safe return. The serum had been delivered, but Mercer had refused to let me go, and had instead taken me with him when he left. He said people had searched… I interrupt him again. The serum was delivered? No way! That bastard that calls himself my father had flat out refused to hand over the serum, he'd flat out refused to even consider it! I am so upset that I am on the verge of tears again, but this time there is a fair amount of anger mixed with my grief. That bastard is making himself out to be a victim! I tell the soldier that Alex never did anything to hurt me, in fact he had let me go. My story is not quite true, rather I snuck away while Alex had been talking to Dana and Dr. Ragland, but I have no doubt in my mind he would have let me go even if he had seen me leaving. The soldier doesn't seem to know what to say. He asks if Mercer really let me go, but doesn't wait for an answer. He said we should get back to the base, then leads me to his vehicle and we leave.

I actually have thoughts that I don't want to go back to the base. There's nothing there for me. But I don't say anything, and we drive in through the heavy gates that protect the entrance. I get out of the vehicle and walk towards the residence section. And there he is. The bastard that claims to be my father. The bastard that refused to trade a failed experiment for my safe return. That bastard… He comes over to me with his arms spread wide, saying over and over how happy he is to see that I am ok. He says he's been afraid he would never see me again. He keeps talking and I walk right over to him. Without a moment's hesitation I pull my right fist back and punch him in the face as hard as I can. SMACK! I hurt my hand when I do that. I also feel my father's nose bend unnaturally to the side. Blood spurts from the nose and all over my hand. I start yelling at him, letting the anger out. "A failed experiment? You were willing to give me up for a FAILED EXPERIMENT?! YOU ASSHOLE! YOU ROTTEN PIECE OF SHIT!"

My father takes a towel from a man who hands it to him. He holds the towel to his nose to stem the bleeding. He has the nerve to be getting mad at me. He says I shouldn't talk about what I don't understand. He says he had everything under control until Mercer grabbed me and left. I ask what part of his plan involved riddling my body with bullets as his thugs tried to shoot Alex. He says they are good enough with their weapons, they weren't going to hit me. He hesitates, then asks me how I know what serum Mercer had been after. I tell him Alex pointed out which one he needed… when I hacked into his computer. I speak plenty loud enough so anyone in the area can hear that he has what is no doubt an unauthorized copy of classified information on his personal computer. He asks if I want to get him in trouble. I say the answer is the same as his answer to, "Do you want to watch your daughter die?" He repeats that he had everything under control. He asks how I could hand classified information over to Mercer. I ask him how he was so willing to turn ME over to Alex? He says I shouldn't talk to my father like that. I tell him I'm not. My father is dead. He hesitates, not seeming to know what to say. Neither does anyone else. The room is dead silent. I tell the man who once was my father that he is nothing to me now. He is shit.

I turn and walk away from the asshole. He grabs my arm. I feel like kicking him in the balls. He says I can't just walk away, I aided and abetted the enemy. He wants to know where Mercer is right now, what he is up to, where he took me, how I managed to escape. I tell him I have no idea where Alex is right now, I can't say where he took me because it was not through a route I am used to traveling, and I didn't escape… he let me go. He asks where I last saw Mercer. I tell him I wouldn't tell him where Alex was if Alex was sneaking up right behind him! He glares at me and then speaks to a man beside him. He says I was picked up by the hospital, and that is too far away for me to have gotten on foot. So Mercer must have taken me there. Go there and make sure Mercer doesn't leave there alive! Level the entire area if you have to, but don't let Mercer escape! Someone asks what about the civilians seeking medical help there. The asshole says they don't matter, all of them are infected and just haven't shown symptoms yet. They're already dead! I tell the thing that claims to be my father that he is the absolute lowest form of life I have ever seen. The reports are all right… there is a monster running around the city. But it's not Alex, it's him. He tells one of the soldiers to escort me to my quarters and make sure I stay there. In my current state of mind I might run off and warn Mercer.

One of the soldiers takes my arm gently and uncertainly. He is clearly not comfortable with the situation. He leads me from the room. He stops once we're out of sight. His name is Steve. He says I know my father better than he does… would he really kill everyone in that hospital just on the slim chance they might be able to take Mercer with it? I tell him I would have said 'no' just last week, but now I would have to say 'yes' definitely. He says someone has to warn the hospital so they can evacuate the patients. We go into a room with some computers. He tries to open communications to the hospital but all communications are shut down. He curses, then says all the computers are on lock down since a hacker was detected… He says he will have to go to the hospital. He says I should go to my quarters where it's safe. I tell him I don't think that's safe considering how crazy my father is acting and that he seems to think I have teamed up with Alex.

Steve hesitates, then says I can go with him. We hurry to the area where the vehicles are parked and get into a Jeep and take off out the door. Speeding down the empty streets makes the trip go pretty fast, but it still seems to take forever. Questions go through my mind. How long will it take to organize a massive attack on the hospital? Is Alex still there? How about Dana? Dr. Ragland is surely still there… We finally arrive at the hospital and Steve jumps right out and runs inside. I am right behind him. While he heads for security, however, I head for the morgue. I run all the way there and I am rather winded when I get there. I go inside and find it is empty. No one is there. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I go into the next room, which is a lab. Dana is in there sleeping on a couch. Dr. Ragland and Alex are facing the other way and talking. I am trying to catch my breath. Alex looks over and sees me there. He asks where I went off to. I tell him that's a long story, but Blackwatch is attacking the hospital any minute now, so he'll want to get Dana and Dr. Ragland out of there. Alex changes form into a soldier and leaves the room.

I follow Alex back to the front of the hospital. I can already hear helicopters in the distance approaching. And the engines of tanks. It's too late to evacuate… Alex asks Steve what is going on. Steve says the commander has gone mad… he's going to bomb the shit out of the hospital. He said we need to get as many people out as possible. Alex says there isn't time. He runs out towards the approaching enemies. I see several helicopters in the air, but I can't see the ground forces yet. Then I see Alex launch into the sky right in the middle of the group of helicopters. He explodes in a huge mass of what look like tendrils (tendril barrage devastator) that punch right through the choppers as if they are paper. The choppers explode and Alex drops back to the ground. Steve looks at me in shock… he says that other soldier was Alex Mercer! He looks around and exclaims that he was face-to-face with Alex Mercer and he's still alive! I am too far away to see any details, but I hear a lot of explosions and I can tell there is a big fight going on out there. That goes on for a while longer and then everything goes silent. Smoke is rising out there, everyone waits to see if anyone emerges.

A single soldier finally emerges from the smoke and destruction. A single soldier that does not even look injured. He gets a bit closer and looks around the area. Everyone has stopped whatever they were doing to watch what was happening. Some civilians are coming from the general direction of the smoke. They all have different descriptions of what they saw. There is only one thing that everyone agrees on. A huge Blackwatch attack force had been closing in on the hospital for unknown reasons when Alex Mercer had single handedly put a stop to the attack. The single soldier comes over near me. Steve backs away from the single soldier, who I have no doubt is Alex. The conversations around me are all about Blackwatch attacking a civilian hospital and Alex Mercer defending it, it seems a lot of people are expressing disbelief about that happening but none are really denying it. The conversation shifts to Blackwatch lying and Blackwatch cover-ups. Alex asks if I am ok. I say I am fine.

A jeep drives up to the front of the hospital. I see the asshole who was once my father in it. He gets out and glares right at me. He says he should have known. He looks at Steve and says he is in a lot of trouble. Because of him I got out and warned Mercer, and now Mercer has disappeared again. Steve glances over at Alex but says nothing. My former father turns to me and says even Steve isn't in as much trouble as I am. He says he has never been so ashamed of his own daughter. I remind him that my father is dead, I am no daughter of his. He says I am under arrest. Alex comes over beside me and tells my former father to leave me alone. My former father looks at Alex's name tag and refers to him as Brandon, telling him to mind his own business. Steve asks if my former father really ordered an attack on a civilian hospital. He says this was a rare chance to eliminate Alex Mercer, but thanks to me, the bastard got away. Steve glances at Alex again but still says nothing. Alex walks right up to my former father and says again to leave me alone. My former father says maybe he should take "Brandon" in with me, and Steve, too, if we all insist on siding with Mercer. Steve says he's not siding with anyone. Alex says my former father won't be ordering any more attacks on civilian targets. The asshole tells Alex he'll order whatever attacks he wants whenever he… Alex interrupts him by consuming him right on the spot.

Alex takes the form of my former father. Steve moves farther away, he pretends to have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. It seems no one else noticed at all, everyone is too occupied by talking amongst themselves. I am just staring. I was so very angry at that asshole who called himself my father… but I'm still not sure what to think of the fact Alex just killed him. In fact, I feel rather light headed. Maybe too much has happened just recently. Too much stress. The world is spinning. There are now three Steves and three Alexes looking at me. I feel like I am falling over. Alex gets closer and catches me before I can fall to the ground. Steve is just watching as Alex catches me before I can fall. He also seems unsure of what to say or do, and he ends up saying and doing nothing. Alex looks around, then back at me… all five of him. Alex says he will get me someplace safe. He says he won't let anything happen to me. He lies me on the back seat of the Jeep and drives away from the hospital, probably to avoid attracting any attention. We are driving along when everything fades to black and I wake up in my own bed.

Note: I have been continuing to use my dream recall self hypnosis program. These are the next few nights of dreams. The program seems to be helping with my recall at least… now if I can just remember to be lucid!

A M3 Short of a Ship
I am in a massive hanger filled with mechanical parts and space ships in various stages of completion. There are many people wandering around in there, though it is unclear if they are actually doing anything or not. I am working on constructing a space ship, I have a blueprint pulled up on a computer terminal as if I was playing EVE Online. There is a list of required minerals for constructing the ship, and I am sure I have everything I need to begin. But when I am going over the list one last time I realize I am one unit short of tritanium. The most common mineral in EVE Online, I should have no problem getting that. I use the computer to scan for asteroids that contain tritanium, there is surely a close one. However the computer returns that there is no remaining tritanium within 20 jumps. I stand there and look at that display… wtf? But it's only one unit…

Emergency Medical Tech
I at starting a new job, and once again, I am going to be working at a hospital. This is where this dream differs from past dreams, though. In most of these dreams I am going to be stuck as a computer operator / customer service / tech support person, but now I am in the emergency room looking at an array of equipment that I have absolutely no idea how to use. Several people are there with me and they are talking me through everything, though it seems they think I already know a lot. And somehow what they are saying is making sense. Maybe I know more than I thought I knew. We are talking about getting things ready for a possible emergency coming up. It seems they know about the emergency before it has even happened. One of the nurses suggests I go home and get a bit of sleep before we get swamped later, but just be sure to get back in time to help out. I say ok and leave, thinking how much easier this could be if it was a dream and I could use my healing powers.

The Hunt Is On
I am in a hospital, I'm not sure, I think it might be the same hospital as the previous dream. There is no incoming emergency going on, however, the trouble is entirely coming from within. Someone… or something… is loose in the hospital, and it is killing. On the third floor, something went through and eviscerated all of the patients, doctors, nurses… one doctor managed to escape and he activated the fire suppression system, which apparently has the capability of sealing off the entire floor. But now no one is sure what to do about the creature that is hopefully still trapped on the third floor. Some people just want to hunt it down and kill it. A bunch of scientists want to study it. A couple of other people are concerned it might be an endangered species. Those who want to kill it say it will be endangered when they find it. It is finally decided to go into the third floor, but only kill the creature if it proves necessary to protect ourselves. They want to know more about it before making that kind of decision. Then some dogs enter the room. They have telepathic powers. The dogs seem to be the smartest individuals in the room. The dogs tell us that the thing probably isn't even in the hospital any more… it ate its fill and no doubt returned to its home dimension. The people don't seem convinced, however, and insist on completely searching the third floor.

Loop the Loop Squared
I am with Alicia and we are driving out in the middle of the desert in my car, though I don't remember where we were going. There is a wide open area of green grass that is somehow staying green even in the desert heat. I wonder how much water is getting wasted in order to maintain this place, it seems like a foolish thing to do in a desert. I look across the grassy field, wondering what it is for, then I see a single structure out there. A roller coaster. There is a roller coaster that goes way into the sky. The track drops at what is nearly a vertical angle and then goes into a series of loops… one, two, three, four… four loops in a row. The track makes a swooping turn and goes through one final loop before returning to the station. The final loop actually passes through the middle of the first loop. I think it looks like fun, and I want to check it out. Alicia comes with me and it turns out they are running the ride right now. Alicia and I get on and ride, when the train drops, it feels like I have left my stomach behind. It is an exciting ride, a couple times it feels like the train has left the tracks and is just flying… but the ride ends safely. That was great! I want to do it again! Alicia looks a bit green, not too excited to ride again…

Hospital of Pain
I am in a strange place, but this doesn't seem strange to me at all. I am in what seems to be a fairly small town, but the town is really creepy. It seems to be daylight, but thick clouds and fog are dimming the light to more of a twilight, making it hard to see very far in front of me. There seem to be things moving in the fog, moving just beyond sight, and the feeling I am getting from those things is ominous. I remember the plans I made to meet MoSh and help him find Sam, he said he saw her in a previous dream, he saw her being held by demons in a hospital from Hell. I look around to find MoSh, though I am not sure if MoSh will be able to meet me there or if he might be dreaming elsewhere. Find the hospital. I look around as best as I can until I find a sign with a hospital symbol on it, and an arrow pointing the way.

I follow the signs to the hospital, which is a very creepy looking place. I go inside and meet up with MoSh in the emergency room waiting area. MoSh says he can feel that Sam is in there, and she is in trouble. I tell him we have to find her. We split up to check the hospital quicker, heading up the stairwells at both ends of the main hallway. The second floor is where I encounter the first enemies. Ugly mutated things that have some humanoid features, but they also seem to have wings and their heads look like something a small child might make out of playdough.

They also have the ability to cling to the ceilings and drop in to attack at the last minute. The other demonic enemies are on the ground, and they are fast. They move on all fours, more like big bugs than people, though it is clear they are walking on hands and feet.

I fight my way through the enemies, making my way through the second floor. MoSh was to check the third floor, I check the fourth, and the fifth floor is the top floor. I find MoSh in one of the rooms on the top level, he has already found Sam, and she is in bad shape. Her skin is extremely pale, hair hanging lifelessly, eyes solid black, and a blank look on her face showing no sign of emotion.

She looks way too zombie-like for my liking. MoSh says it's Sam, and she needs healing. I agree, and we both use healing spells on her. I can hear enemies outside the room, but something had to be done for Sam right away. The healing helps, color comes back to her face, but she still looks very weak. MoSh and I make a plan that I will try to distract the most of the demons while he gets Sam out. I form Witchblade into a sword and kick the room door open. I go out there and start slicing through enemies with the Witchblade, making as much noise as possible. I get lots of attention. I head farther up, emerging on the roof of the hospital. MoSh will be taking Sam down. Enemies come out from all directions, the winged ones are swooping from the sky, the insect ones are climbing up the side of the building and coming from the stairwell. I don't think of the magic song spells I know, but Witchblade seems to be working just fine for cutting the demons into small pieces. I hear a cry of rage or something, and I immediately know they have realized Sam is being taken the other direction. The demons depart in a huge group. I chase after them, picking off as many as I can from the group as it retreats. I continue doing this until I wake up, I hope I got rid of enough of them that MoSh is able to get Sam to safety.

Hogwarts: The Shadow Side
I am at Hogwarts taking a magic class. We have broken up into pairs to do the class exercise, and my partner is Hermione Granger. I am relieved that I didn't get paired with some idiot who is more likely to blow something up than to get the spells to work right. I wait for the instructor to tell us the spell, the teacher looks like one of the teachers from ITT Tech. He says to wave the wand in a certain way and then recites a spell incantation that sounds like a caveman grunting. I'm not sure if I forgot my wand. Great… I am expected to wave a stick I don't have and grunt like a caveman. I find I have my wand after all. Hermione finds instant success with the spell, which I had expected no less. We are transported, and now we are flying high over the countryside around Hogwarts. It is so much fun! Even Hermione finds it thrilling though I thought she was afraid of heights. We fly around for a bit and then head back to Hogwarts. We land outside the castle and go in through a back entrance. The place has changed. It now looks like it hasn't been inhabited for years. Cobwebs everywhere, mold and fungus growing in the dark corners, walls in varying states of decay. Hermione says we must be in the wrong place… The mold is growing like tendrils, the entire scene reminds me of Silent Hill.

We enter a larger area where some walls have collapsed. Creatures worthy of Silent Hill are wandering about. They have eight legs with skin stretched tightly over the oddly misshapen bones, ugly heads that look like what a kobold might look like if it stuck its face in a meat grinder and then let it heal without any assistance… they are hissing loudly and coming at us. Hermione screams and seems a bit paralyzed by panic, I am not so bad off… I use my wand and a fire spell on them, they don't like fire. Hermione also uses fire now, we hold the things off with fire and retreat from the castle. MoSh is outside with some of the other students. Draco is there, looking like he pissed his pants, while Crabb and Goyle are trying to hide their considerable mass behind Draco's smaller form. Harry is blabbering something about Voldermort. Neville doesn't seem worried, he says those things are nothing compared to his gran when she is angry. Ron, having a fear of spiders to begin with, has passed out from fear while a couple students I don't recognize are trying to rouse him. MoSh and I hold the creatures off using fire, Hermione finally gets Harry to shut up about Voldemort and they summon some brooms. We finally get on the brooms and head into the sky, Ron is still unconscious, draped over Harry's broom.

Hospital: The Shadow Side
I am back working at a data center at a hospital, and I am anything but happy about it. I really want to be working somewhere that has to do with my major. This hospital crap really sucks. I tell my coworker I have to use the bathroom and then I take a break. I stroll past the break room where there are cupcakes left over from an office party earlier. The day shift got treats, we get the leftovers. But cupcakes are good leftovers. I take a couple and stroll around the halls while I eat, I didn’t really need to use the bathroom. I finally get back to the office. My coworker says she thought maybe I'd fallen in and flushed myself. I tell her I tried, but I wasn't able to get down. There is a customer service call, which is my absolutely least favorite part, but this one turns out to not be too bad. I have to deliver a replacement cord to one of the emergency room offices. I take the cord and head over there. I deliver the cord and then I dawdle again on my way back. Kill as much time as I reasonably can. I am going down the last hall towards the data center when all the lights go off. Great, a power outage will mean a whole bunch of customer service calls when the power comes back up. Emergency lights come on. At first I think I am seeing things, but now the hall looks like a hall out of some ancient abandoned building. Broken tiles, cobwebs, dust, mold…

Wtf?! I hear things moving in the shadows. Spiders come from the darkness around me, they are huge spiders, the size of cats. I don't like that… I must have been thinking of DDO, because I shoot fire from my hands and start burning the spiders. They squeal and screech. I head out of the hospital, not sure where to go now. The entire town looks like some dark version of itself. Huge spider creatures are all over the place out there. I wonder what the hell is going on. I use more fire to clear an area inside the hospital of the cat-sized spiders. I look out the window as the huge spiders jump from place to place out there and they seem to be covering the city in a layer of thick sticky webs.

ITT Tech: The Shadow Side
I am in one of my game design classes at ITT Tech, it is the last day of class for the quarter. I know this is the last day of class, and I am thinking the instructor should just let everyone leave now since all the presentations are done. Instead we are all stuck in the classroom watching videos until the end of class. I am feeling quite tired, and I actually am having problems staying awake. I'm not the only one. I see that several other students have already drifted off to sleep, or at least they look like they're sleeping. Tigress is sitting beside me, and it looks like she is also asleep. I finally let myself drift off to sleep as well, completely ignoring the video that is playing. I wake up a bit later, I still feel sleepy, but at least the videos are over. The instructor says it is time to go home, so everyone should wake up. He doesn't seem to care that everyone has been sleeping. We go outside, and the school doesn't look like ITT Tech. There are several buildings forming around a small courtyard, doors line each of the buildings entering into different classrooms. I look for the hallway to leave the courtyard and I see it. We are all heading in that direction, but there is something wrong. There is a strange vine growing in the center of the courtyard, it is spreading outward at an amazing rate. I look closer and see it is actually more of a fungus or a mold. Where it is spreading, the ground itself is cracking open as if in decay.

Ugly spider things start crawling out of the holes, spiders the size of cats… yuck. The other students scream and scatter in all directions, it seems they aren’t sure where to go even though there is just the one exit from the courtyard. The cracks get larger and now the bigger spider creatures from the earlier dreams climb out of them. Crap… I am heading for the courtyard exit, as is everyone else, Tigress is right there with me. She says the things can jump, but they need to get a running start, so they won't be able to get out of the courtyard. The smaller ones are following us out. Dennis kicks a fat ugly spider to push it back and it explodes in a blast of yuck. Dennis is now covered in spider guts, if possible he is more disgusting than ever. Tigress climbs up to the top of one of the buildings like she was an Assassin from the Assassin's Creed games. I follow her in the same manner. From on top of the building we can see the larger spider creatures down below. They are indeed trapped, and there are now so many of them that they can hardly move. Tigress and I both use fire spells from DDO and set the entire group of the spiders on fire. The things burn quickly, letting out horrible screeching noises as they burn and die. Down below, the other students have all been kicking fat spiders, and they are all covered in yuck. They also stink. They all desperately need to bathe.

My Old House: The Shadow Side
I wake up in bed, and I roll over thinking about the series of three dreams I just had about weird spider monsters and places that reminded me of Silent Hill. I get out of bed and head into the other room. I feel I am at home even though it isn't the house I currently live in. I grab some food in the form of oatmeal. The oatmeal is unsatisfying, it doesn't seem to want to cook properly. I decide to take a walk around the neighborhood. I go outside and walk down the sidewalk for a while, taking a couple of random turns. It is a nice day outside, perfect for a walk. After a few more turns I am having problems placing exactly where I am. Have I gotten lost? How could I get lost in my own neighborhood? No matter, I will just go to one of the main streets and get my bearings there. I reach the corner of the two main streets near the house, Broadway and Camino Seco. There is a shopping area there which I recognize. I look around the shops for a bit, a video game shop, a toy shop, a clothing shop, and a grocery store. Those are the ones I browse through, though I also see a bank and a jewelry shop. The only thing I end up buying is a soda and a Hostess Twinkie from the grocery store so I can have a snack on the way back home. I go to leave the shopping area, now I have my bearings and I can find my way home. Things aren't normal now. There is a gym there, but I hear screams of agony from within. I know I don't like exercise, but that seems to be taking things a bit too far. I go into the gym to see what is going on, and I see there aren't any exercise machines. Instead there are people bound to the walls by what looks like spider web. Spiders about the size of cats are feeding on them, the people are screaming as they are being eaten alive. Spiders come towards me as they spot me entering the room. I use fire spells from DDO and burn the spiders. The entire place catches on fire, killing the spiders and their victims in a blaze of heat. I leave the burning building quickly and I head towards my house. There are even bigger spider creatures outside. I head into the neighborhood, looking for home. I can't remember where I live. Is it on Gollub? No… but I have to follow the street called Gollub to get to the house. The house is on another street called Holmes. There is now a fog forming throughout the neighborhood, it looks more like Silent Hill than ever, I am sticking to the alleyways where the fog is thicker and I can stay hidden from the creatures more effectively.

A couple times I question my tactic when I find myself on top of one of the things before I realize it's there. I am better hidden, but so are they. I reach the alley behind my house and climb over the wall to get into the back yard. I go around the pool and to the back door… which is broken and mostly missing. I go inside and I am looking for my mother and my pets… but I am not finding any of them. I wonder if they are gone… I end up in the carport where I find that the car is gone, so I figure they must have gotten away already. There are several dead cat-sized spiders in the driveway that were clearly driven over by the car.

Plans: The only plan I had made for today was to meet up with MoSh in a Hogwarts dream, though I really want to increase my lucidity and get my recall back to its normal rate. I really wish I knew why I have been having so many problems with that lately…

Sleep In
It is time for me to go to bed, I have no idea that I am actually already in bed and dreaming. I am getting ready to lie down in bed when my mother comes into the room and asks me when I am going to be up the next morning. I tell her I'll probably be up at the usual time, of course. My mother says she wants to get going sooner than that. I don't remember where we are planning on going, but I am thinking it is somewhere really fun, and I definitely don't want to miss getting to do it. I tell my mother maybe I could get up a bit earlier than normal… My mother points at the clock and says it's only 11:30 at night, so if I sleep until my normal time, I'd be getting 12 hours of sleep! She says I really don't need to get 12 hours of sleep, do I? I agree that 12 hours is probably overdoing it, I tell her I'll get up around 10 instead, so it will only be around 10 hours of sleep. She seems to think this is still quite unreasonable, but she sighs with exasperation. She says if I can manage to get out of bed a bit sooner, please do, she really doesn't want to wait that late and might just end up leaving without me. This idea makes me a bit nervous, so I decide to set my alarm for 8:00 in the morning and settle for the usual 8 hours of sleep that is the recommended amount. I fall asleep in bed without even considering doing a RC at any point.

Rock the House
I am going to a concert that takes place in a small club. There aren't that many people there to see the band, and I figure that is because the band rather sucks. There are overly aggressive bouncers guarding the stage, maybe they are afraid someone will attack the band members for sucking so bad. One guy tries to get to the stage, though it looks like he is happy and wants to meet one of the band members rather than like he is hostile. Apparently someone likes the music. One of the bouncers grabs him, punches him hard in the gut, then drags him outside as he is gasping for breath. The bouncer throws him to the ground and shuts the door before returning to his post. Wow… so violent… everyone else sits down in the seats to keep from having the bouncers attack. I really don't like this. On a hunch I do a RC and find out I'm dreaming. I fly from my seat and phase through the ceiling of the club, out into the open blue sky.

Ok, so now that I'm lucid, I need to decide what to do. I don't remember my goals… damn… but I do remember that in some of my lucids my dream control hasn't been as strong as it should be. So I fly over the city and start practicing my dream skills. I discover that anything I can focus on and visualize I can create. Of course I can, I am inside my own inner world… it is entirely under my control… I do things such as alter the forms of a couple buildings, I bring a statue to life. It is the statue of a horse that is about 50 feet tall, the horse gallops away, freaking out all of the DCs in its path. I instinctively can tell that all of the people around there are DCs rather than real people. I fly over a park and spawn a huge and beautiful tree with large golden fruits growing on it, I pick one and eat it… it tastes like chocolate. Yay! Chocolate flavored fruit! A DC is beside the tree and staring at me with his jaw on the ground, it is an older man, I fly down over him and tell him if he's going to have his mouth hanging open, put something yummy in it! I break off a piece of the fruit and stick it in the man's mouth where he doesn't even seem to notice it. I decide to go back to the concert to see if I can make it more interesting. I head back, and I find that for some reason there is now an iron grid around the club… where did that come from? No matter. I focus a circle of heat to soften the iron, then I rip out the circle of iron to create an entrance. Wow, that was easy! Inside, the same band is still sucking, most of the crowd have left. I use a puppet kind of control on the band members, my DCs, and I summon a guitar and join in. Now we rock! We play a song I don't think I have ever heard. But there's no one there to see it. I summon some more DCs to be the audience. For some reason the DCs that appear are dressed as if for a wedding. Weird… but no matter. I continue using the band DCs to accompany me as I play guitar and sing. It is fun.


The Perfect Storm
I am in a castle like the one in Harry Potter, I am in Hogwarts. There are people around me, everyone seems to be rather huddled together, though I'm not sure why. They have everyone crammed into the great hall, all of the people from all of the houses, and this is creating more than a few arguments amongst the less friendly students. Mostly everyone is keeping to themselves, however, and the talk is mostly about a storm. I listen to some of them, then I go over to a window and look outside… and there sure is a storm out there, it looks like a serious blizzard. The wind is howling outside and looks like it must be blowing at hurricane force. I look beside me and I see MoSh is there. I ask what is going on out there, he says it's a major storm. No shit, Sherlock… I say it seems strange, where did it come from? MoSh says no one is sure, it is the worst storm Hogwarts has ever seen, and it came out of nowhere. The temperatures in most of the castle have plummeted to sub zero levels, there is no way the fires and such can keep things warm at all. The great hall has been placed under an enchantment to keep it warm, which is why everyone is here. Wow… that is one serious storm. I wonder if the storm is definitely natural.

I wander around the room more, I see Crabb and Goyle near another window, staring out, apparently fixated on something out there. That gets my curiosity up so I go over to them and ask what they are looking at. Crabb said nothing, they are looking for Draco. I ask why they are looking out there for Draco, shouldn't he be in the great hall with everyone else? Goyle hesitates, Crabb says they're not supposed to tell, Draco said it's a secret. I say I won't tell anyone, so go ahead and share it with me… I'm sure Draco wouldn't mind if I know. Finally Goyle says Draco went outside about an hour ago, before the storm got so bad, and he hasn't come back. Crabb said Draco had been going out to get something to do with the tournament task, but students aren't supposed to go into the forest… and he hasn't come back. Wow… Draco is out in the storm? I decide I have to go out to get him. Goyle says I promised not to tell… I ask how they can keep that secret when Draco could die out there? I add not to worry, I don't need to tell anyone… I'll go get Draco myself.

I go to leave the room, but McGonagall stops me and says no one is to leave the room. I had thought that might be an issue. I go to the other side of the room and find a secret passage behind a suit of armor, the passage leads outside eventually. And it is freezing out, though it doesn't feel as bad as MoSh had indicated. Then again, I am used to the cold pretty well. I wrap myself in some cloaks I find near the exit and head for the forbidden forest. There is no point in calling Draco, the wind is much too loud. The sleet and snow is like needles against my face, not comfortable at all, but definitely bearable. Once I get to the forest I find there is a bit of shelter, I look around, not sure where to find Draco. Somehow my instinct guides me, and after I have traveled a short distance, I find Draco huddled under a particularly large tree. He has his robes pulled tight around him, but those do no good… they are soaked from the sleet. I have seen movies and read books about arctic survival… wearing wet clothes is worse than none at all in the cold… and I have enough cloaks around me to share… So I start getting Draco out of the wet robes, he seems too out of it to respond much… I wrap my cloaks around both of us, keeping him close to share some body heat as we head back to the castle and into the passage I left through.

McGonagall meets us just a short way in, she says if I thought she didn't know about this passage, I was sorely mistaken… how dare I go outside and risk my… she sees Draco with me… good lord, what happened here? Where did you find him? I answer with the first thing I can think of, I say he was outside looking for herbs and hadn't gotten inside before the storm started. True, but I didn't mention the forbidden forest. McGonagall looks at Draco, mostly naked and shivering under my cloaks, she asks if he didn't hear the storm warning, or if he didn't take it seriously… he should really have listened… but save that for later. She asks for me to help her get him to the hospital wing. We get Draco to the hospital wing, where another spell has been cast for warmth, and put him into a bed to be cared for by Madam Palmphrey. Outside the hospital wing McGonagall says that my going out in the storm alone was very foolish, why hadn't I told someone, told a teacher that Draco was outside? But it was also very brave… she doesn't know whether to punish me for leaving the castle in this storm or reward me for bringing Draco back safely… so she will do neither. She says to get back to the great hall through the hidden passage and no one will know I had left, or at least they wouldn't hear it from her. I head back to the great hall.