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I try to banish a spirit in the name of God. It works about as well as you'd expect.

I'm at a train station, even though I'm sure that just a second ago, I was actually on my train. I shrug it off and try to get on the next one, but the conductor informs me that they don't allow dogs. I crouch down and hug my golden retriever, and we both stare up at him with sad puppy-eyes.

The man rolls his eyes and tells me that I'll be able to get on the next train. I thank him and walk back to the platform, where the people I'm travelling with are waiting. Fortunately, they have to wait for the next train as well.

We're on the train, but something's wrong. After a bit of investigation, we conclude that the entire train is haunted. Our team of Scooby-Doo-like investigators tracks it to its source - a bathroom in one of the sleeper cars.

I'm chanting nonsense Latin, "Omnipitus spiritus, omnipitus draco lux."* I repeat the chant, but it doesn't seem to be working. In fact, the haunting seems to be getting worse, black smoke sneaking in through cracks in the bathroom mirror.



The black smoke manifests over the vanity, and I catch a glimpse of a little boy in the mirror. The smoke lashes out at my companions, and distantly, I can sense the utter terror that they're beginning to feel. The girls are frozen, unable to move, and I...

I just feel hungry.

I've forgotten about the chant, and I fall silent and step toward the smoke. It shies away from me, tendrils retreating where I try to touch.

No, that won't do at all.

My hands lay at my side, but I'm latching onto the energy with my mind, pulling it toward me, devouring it. The black energy fades into my cloudy black and red aura, but I feel just a tiny wisp escape.

The girls are catatonic, and I ignore them, stepping silently through the train cars, looking for my quarry.

I see a white rabbit, my childhood pet, hopping through one of the train cars. I pick him up, but he starts squealing and twisting in my arms, trying to get away. He's scratching up my forearms and I wonder, dimly, if he's afraid of the dark presence that's been haunting the train.

No, I realize. The last wisp of the ghost has possessed my rabbit. I pull the last bit of dark energy out of the animal, and consume it. The rabbit goes still. I try to resurrect him, but organs start to leak out of his belly, and the stitching is coming apart.

***

"Can you help me?" says the boy.

I'm possessing a ten-year old. Go me. Apparently, the White Council is after us, probably for something I did. Apparently you're not supposed to kill people in this world?

Dresden comes back wearing some sort of ceremonial mask. I'm not paying attention, so the boy freaks out and runs away. He tries to hide in a storage closet, but Dresden catches the door and takes off his mask. "It's just me, kid." I take over and tell him that "I knew that".

I'm Dresden, now. I'm inside my office, talking to Murphy. I say something about the White Council. I'm about to do something really stupid, and it'll probably involve explosions.

Exorcisms. Scare Factor: 4.

*Apparently, this is really close to the actual exorcism I was going for: ""Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica..."

I'm running away from something. I'm underground, and it's dark and brown and I propel myself forward upward through the cave system. The thing I'm running away from is catching up to me, but I realize that I'm dreaming. I spin on my heel, turn around to confront the creature. I feel an icy thrill of fear when I see it. An inky black miasma chokes the air around me, and I can feel the creature's energy trying to infect my every pore.

I use that against it.

I expand my awareness, absorbing the black energy and forcing it to change, twisting it into an approximation of my own energy. I blanket the creature in a cloud of soft red and black, my aura, and allow the energy to dissippate.

All of my surroundings are gradations of red and black, and I find the atmosphere calming. All that's left of the monster is a swathe of black fabric on the ground, and a round plush toy that doesn't make much sense. I step over the toy and peer out into a gigantic cavern.

The very air starts to hum. I can feel bright blue energy spiking through the dream, interrupting the calm dark colours, and the energies start to clash as everything fades to white.

Something Blue. Scare Factor: 6.

And then I went to the dentist's office and found this:


It's identical.

I take the stairs two at a time, with Angel right behind me. We reach the top floor of the Ixburg apartment building, rounding the corner so fast I slide a bit. I practically crash into the door at the end of the hallway, and start to pick the lock telekinetically.

Angel stops me with a hand on my wrist. "What if your parents are home? We could be putting them in danger."

A bit of dread creeps into my stomach, and I try to ignore it.

"They haven't lived here for years," I say dismissively. I shake free and flick the door open.

The sound of thunder in the distance. "Quick!" I say, pulling Angel by the arm. I pull him into the apartment and slam the door shut.

My mom and dad are standing in the entrance, looking surprised. My brother is there, and Sam and Dean Winchester are off in the background.

"Mom. Dad." I say, "This is... great."

Silence.

"I want you to meet my boyfriend!" I say, threading my hand through with Angel's. "This is Angel. Angel, this is my mom and dad. Who are really not supposed to be here."

Angel is rolling his eyes toward the ceiling, but at least he's saving the "I told you so" moment for later. Ben, my brother, looks completely shocked, and the other Sam's face is melting.

In fact, everyone's faces seem to be shifting at random. Angel briefly flickers into Dexter, who flickers into... some random person I don't know, and Dean's not nearly as pretty as he usually is. Ben's someone completely unrecognizable, and I push through my parents into my room, waiting for the dream to stabilize.

I'm trying to figure out how to fit both a desk and a double-sized bed into my childhood bedroom when Angel walks in. He's looking somewhat normal again. At this point, we decide, we have to stay here. The Wild Hunt will tear their way through my family whether we're here or not, so we might as well stay to protect them.

I'm having a shower when, through the window, I see a group of my brother's friends running over the lawn. Apparently I'm in the basement. I run outside, fully clothed, and look back at the building I was just in. It's an approximation of my parents' duplex, though it's currently worn down and the entire back yard is yellow and covered in weeds and vines.

I spot the group running through the back yard and I give chase, catching up and tackling the one that's supposed to be Ben. I pin him to the ground, yelling that this is a dream, and the rest of the group stands to the side, eerily still.

"Could you give us a minute?" I say, hauling my brother to his feet. "I have some questions for my brother."

I'm pretty sure this DC isn't my brother, but rather an impostor sent by Mab.

And apparently I was right, because a second later, the group of teenagers shift into unearthly horsemen and hellhounds. Mab herself appears from nowhere, wearing red and riding a horse that just might be an animated skeleton.

Mab demands my surrender. I decline.

Half a dozen faeries rush me at once. I hit the first two with a rush of pure kinetic energy, liquefying their organs and taking them out of the fight. I disarm number three and stab him in the gut with his own green dagger, letting the body drop to the ground as I pull the weapon free and look to my next opponent.

And I see, again, a trail of bright blue energy following my movements, latching onto the Fae and pulling their energy toward me. One of the fairies' power is surprisingly in tune with my own, and I hear a voice telling me to use it.

At first, I think it means the dagger, but as I focus on the energy I'd just absorbed, I realize that this isn't the power of a foot soldier. This is bigger, and I feel myself drop away from the dream, ascending higher and higher until I can see all of the stars and the Queen of the Wild Hunt is just a speck I can only barely see, and I suddenly understand why she thinks so little of those around her, because everything is so small...

When I come to awareness, Angel is next to my bed.

I groan, shielding my eyes from the light pouring in the window. "Some help you were." I grumble.

He snorts. "While you and Mab were unconscious, most of the Fae just wanted to chop off your head and be done with it. I had a hell of a time getting you out of there alive."

"I woulda been fine."

"Right." He looks dubious. "And the Dreaming?"

I look up, pulling myself into a sitting position. "This is a dream, that was a dream." I sigh, "When I wake up, I'll be reality checking all day."

The Hunt. Scare Factor: 3.5. Low-level lucidity[/QUOTE]