• Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views




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    1. Thank goodness for Saturday nights and their incredibly vivid dreams.

      by , 02-13-2022 at 05:52 PM (Awake to take in the view...)
      For some reason, Saturday nights are always the best for me with dreams. It's probably the least stressful night of the week for me, plus I sleep the most.

      The Bigfoot Children Dream:

      I was a science counselor at a summer camp, named Ben. There were dangerous Bigfoots running around the campground, but they were disguised as humans, and I was very afraid of them. I decided to switch from being a counselor to studying astronomy or something (dream logic) to be safer from the Bigfoots.

      This is the first dream I’ve ever had where I was not me. This was also non-lucid. I completely believed that my name was Ben and I was a summer camp science counselor at a place infested by Bigfoots disguised as human children. And I was switching to just studying science and not being a counselor anymore, because somehow this would protect me from the Bigfoots.

      Seriously.

      I had to pee, so I went to the bathroom and hoped to not get caught by the roving Bigfoots. So I was hiding but I was also peeing. The bathroom was weird as many of the stalls were connected.

      I had a vague awareness that I could teleport, so I ended up in some cabin or room in the camp. I decided to go into my secret room, which was in an attic of some sort. A lady at the front desk encouraged me to hide. I floated up towards the ceiling, and bumped my head on it, but it didn’t hurt. I thought “of course, this section is blocked”, and I moved slightly and then floated up into a bedroom.

      Oh and at some point I actually peed my pants during the dream. (When I woke up, I was extremely relieved to find that I did not pee myself IRL. Lol.)

      I was laying in a bed with lots of warm blankets when I teleported into the room. It was daytime. It felt very comfortable, but I was worried about spiders in the room, because it was an attic after all. I pulled a wand out of my pocket, which was wooden, and I cast a magic spell, which was green. It was a cleaning spell. And there were no spiders in my bed. I think my tulpa was there, but not fully visible? Which is weird considering that I was not me in this dream.

      I think I went to sleep there in that dream. When I woke up here, I was really confused as to why my ceiling wasn’t Ben’s for a brief moment. I still thought I was Ben for that brief second, waking up in my own bed in that cabin.

      Other Things:

      I've been reading about Astral Projection/OOBEs. The process to achieve these seems to be extremely similar to WILD. I have been trying it and I am often able to get myself into a conscious state of sleep paralysis. I can occasionally see things that aren't actually there. However, this state only lasts a few seconds before I get itchy or something and I wake up, OR I lose consciousness and fall asleep. I did this twice last night. One of the gifts -- and curses -- of being a light sleeper who wakes up multiple times a night. Let's be real though, it's almost 100% a gift, when you consider how badly I want to LD on command and make them as vivid as possible.

      I guess those brief SPs could be considered LDs, as I knew what was happening. I actually think this is really helpful. If you are in SP and you start seeing things that aren't there, everything around you technically constitutes a dreamscape. Next time this happens, I'll see how much I can bend the environment to my will.

      Updated 02-13-2022 at 05:56 PM by 58176

      Categories
      lucid , non-lucid , memorable
    2. 06/01/13 Templars in the Shadows

      by , 06-02-2013 at 09:29 AM (New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight)
      06/01/13

      Templars in the Shadows
      I am in a strange place. I look around to see where I am. I don't recognize the place. I leave the small room I find myself in to find I am in a large gathering hall. There are quite a few people there. All of them are Assassins. I see a reflection and I realize I am also dressed as an Assassin, so I fit right in. I wonder why I might be there. I start to wander among the Assassins to see if I can find out. I finally spot a familiar face. Ezio is off to my right talking to an Assassin I don't recognize.

      I keep looking around and I spot an Assassin that looks off somehow. I get closer to him and I see he seems to be surrounded by an aura of dark energy. That's not normal for an Assassin. I get closer to the strange Assassin. I catch a glimpse of his eyes. They are solid black. That is definitely wrong. He pays no attention to me. He seems to be focused on Ezio. He moves silently up behind Ezio. No one seems to be taking notice of him. Apparently no one else can see the dark energy. He is standing right behind Ezio now. He is about to stab Ezio with his hidden blade but I get him first. The dark energy Assassin collapses, dead. Someone calls to Ezio to look out and someone grabs me from behind. Apparently they think I'm the attacker here... Ezio turns around and looks at me. The other Assassins are telling Ezio I was trying to kill him. Ezio just looks puzzled. He says no, that's Raven, there must be some other explanation. One of the other Assassins points at the dead Assassin and says I just killed him. As if on cue, the dead Assassin changes into smoke and disappears. Assassins are all staring. I hear people muttering, asking what that was. Ezio wants to know what that was. I tell him it was a shadow Templar in disguise. He had been about to stab Ezio in the back. Ezio says that doesn't make sense, either. Ezio says he just recruited that guy, and when he checked him out he was definitely not a Templar. I wonder if maybe the dark energy can somehow fool Ezio's eagle vision. Since he's not used to seeing it. I wonder how to test that theory. I would have to find another disguised shadow Templar. But where would I find one? I look around the room. There are quite a few Assassins, but none of them look out of place. No sign of dark... wait... I spot someone in the corner with a dark energy aura. A female Assassin who is trying to blend with the rest of the group.

      I get closer to Ezio. A couple other Assassins don't seem to want me too close to Ezio, they block my way. Ezio comes over closer to me. I point over to where the shadow Templar is and ask Ezio if he sees anything out of place over there. The shadow Templar is with a group of four Assassins. Ezio looks over there and says he only sees a group of five Assassins. Another Assassin tells Ezio not to trust me, what happened to the dead Assassin is just proof of my evil tricks. Ezio doesn't pay any attention to him. He asks me what he should be looking for. I tell him dark energy, one of them is a shadow Templar in disguise. And it's a good disguise. Ezio looks over there for a bit longer. An Assassin pulls me away from Ezio and tells him that the traitor is right here, I am clearly the Templar here. Ezio says no, he is sure I'm no Templar. The other Assassin starts to object again but it is clear Ezio isn't paying any attention to him. Ezio just looks at him until he lets go of my arm and backs off looking frustrated. Ezio turns his attention back to the group of Assassins I pointed out. The question is how to get Ezio to see dark energy. I am focused on that goal when I think of the song Unforgiven II by Metallica. I take this key and I bury it in you... the key to seeing dark energy. Ezio finally says he does see something. The woman, second from the right, has a dark aura... but why didn't he see that sooner? I tell him it can take time to see dark energy when you're not used to it. He starts to go over to the shadow Templar. I tell him to wait, now that he sees them he needs the energy that can destroy them. In a pocket of my robes I find a Witchblade with a light energy crystal which I give to Ezio. He puts it on and then goes over to the small group of five Assassins and I follow him. He directly addresses the shadow Templar. The shadow Templar tries to act casually but looks a bit worried. She points at me and says she can't believe someone she thought was an Assassin had turned traitor like that. Ezio says I am no traitor... and he can see what she is. She backs away a step but then laughs. She gives up all pretense of being an Assassin. She says there is no way the Assassins can win with the power she and the Templars have now. She tries to attack Ezio but he is too fast and stabs her with his hidden blade. She laughs and says she can't be killed. Then the gem in the Witchblade activates and charges the blade with light energy. The shadow Templar stops laughing and says that is impossible just before she collapses and disappears in a puff of smoke. Ezio looks over at me and asks if I see any more. I look around and I don't. I tell Ezio that, and add that now that he has seen one he should be able to see them a lot more easily. He asks where these Templars are coming from. I tell him I can answer his questions but not now, I am about to wake up. He looks at me strangely then I wake.
    3. 02/23/13 Captive Altaïr

      by , 02-24-2013 at 04:04 AM (New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight)
      02/23/13

      Note: Someone named Lara has been visiting us for the past few days with the goal of helping break some psychological blocks I am having problems with. After she was here it was discovered she had been working for some Templars in her home world, but she has agreed to help with the blocks in exchange for a cure for her son, Anthony, who has an inoperable cancer. Of course it's not inoperable for someone like Q or Washu… The area she works in looks for time fluctuations which can be used to see through time, know the outcome of certain operations before doing them… know what Assassins are going to do before the Assassins even know… She said they found a timeline where an Altaïr was about to die in the natural course of the timeline. They managed to grab him, Lara said the point was to use energy healing so Altaïr could learn how to feel love… but the truth no doubt has more to do with mind control. Lara truly believes people like Altaïr (Assassins) don't have the capacity to care about anyone due to how they grew up so they need to have their hearts healed… the final point being my goal, to go into the facility where they are holding Altaïr and get him out of there… In order to make sure as few people as possible get hurt Lara says she can get me in by telling them I am a soul healer (not a lie) and I can have the effect they are looking for on Altaïr.

      Moon Assassin
      I am on a beach taking a walk on a very peaceful day. I remember my goal, and first I have to go meet up with Lara so she can sneak Sailor Moon into the Templar facility. Before I can even open a portal, however, Q appears with a woman I don't recognize, who turns out to be Lara. I have never actually met Lara face to face… Q says he will take us to the correct world, then snaps his fingers to transport us. When we appear, we are in a house. In a bedroom. Lara leaves the room and heads downstairs. An older woman eyes Q and me suspiciously as we follow Lara. Q says he will take care of Anthony's treatment, it is almost done, then it is not only guaranteed that Anthony's current cancer will be gone, but he will be immune to any cancer in the future. I notice that Q looks like a doctor. The older woman looks similar to an older version of Lara, and I realize she is primarily looking at me. She says she doesn't want any of "them" around Anthony… then asks what I am doing here. She says she knows the doctor has to see Anthony, and has even accepted the demons Lara has to deal with in order to get Anthony cured, but no one else is to have access to Anthony. Lara starts to tell the woman my name… then hesitates… I say my name is Serena… Serena Usagi, using the name off of Sailor Moon… and I am a healer, so who is this "them" she thinks I am? She scoffs and says I already know… and if I am a healer she is the queen of England… then tells Lara to get me out of her house. I am about to question why the woman doubts my being a healer, Lara points at a mirror… I am dressed like an Assassin from Assassin's Creed… oops… that's not how Serena dresses… so I use the crescent moon wand to transform into Sailor Moon.

      The older woman, who I determine is Lara's mother and Anthony's grandmother, does a double take. Lara hurries me from the room and outside. She eyes my Sailor Moon form for a bit. She says she has no idea who Sailor Moon is, but that means the others probably don't, either. I ride in a normal car with Lara for a while into the mountains, then up to a gate that is mostly hidden. It reminds me of the entrance to some secret military installation that's not supposed to exist. The guarded entrance leads to a tunnel that leads deep within the mountain.

      Lara pulls up beside a guard gate and says she has to speak to the captain… whoever that might be. The guard asks who I am. She just says the captain will want to talk to me, she was looking through a time flux and might have found the answer. He wants to know what answer she has found. She says she might have the cure, and the captain will know what that means. He asks again who I am. She gives him the name Serena Usagi, known in my home world as Sailor Moon, the moon healer. He talks on the communicator inside the guard station for a bit and then finally comes back. He opens the gate and tells Lara to follow the vehicle in front of us, and do not leave the path at all, he says we have only limited access here. With a relieved sigh she agrees and drives on after what looks like a jeep of some kind. Lara drives through what seems like a maze of passages. There are numerous large doors along the passages. Now and then one of them will open and the jeep will lead us through it, then it will close behind us. After getting completely disoriented we finally come to a stop. There are several guards around us when they lead us into an office room. There is a man there, and he looks me over closely. He asks who I am. I tell him I am Serena Usagi, Sailor Moon, a soul healer. Lara says she has seen me heal the hearts of those who have never learned to love. He turns on a monitor. He indicates I should look at it. There is a white room with only a bed and bathroom facilities. There is a man in the room. It looks like Altaïr, though he isn't dressed as an Assassin, he is just in plain white clothes. He is sitting on the bed doing nothing. The captain tells me to do what I have to do. I ask if he really thinks I can heal someone over a television link. I have to be in there with him. He looks at me suspiciously. He says if I am in there he can't guarantee my safety. I tell him I have healed people as powerful as Vegeta when he is attacking me… He says he has no idea who Vegeta is. I tell him I have to be in there with Alt… the person he wants me to heal. Did I just screw up? Maybe not… he says I will be taken to the holding cell, but I will be on my own, even if the prisoner attacks me. I say that's ok. I am led through some halls and to an airlock. What do they think Altaïr is, an alien? Maybe just to make sure he doesn't get out? I remember Lara saying he got out once and killed a bunch of Templars, almost getting out of the facility before getting trapped again. I guess they don't want a repeat occurrence. I go into the middle area of the airlock, the door behind me closes, the one in front of me opens. I go into the small room. Altaïr is looking at me now… hatefully glaring at me, though I notice a slightly puzzled look when he gets a better look at my Sailor Moon form. The door immediately closes and locks behind me. No matter. I'll open a portal. I focus on opening a portal. Nothing happens. A dampening field? A voice from nowhere asks if I really thought they would let a stranger walk right into a secure facility and then walk out with their most valuable prisoner. I decide to stay with the Sailor Moon theme. Open the door or in the name of the moon they'll be punished. The voice says he knows perfectly well I am not Sailor Moon, she is a dumb cartoon, I am an Assassin, so now they have two. I do a Cosmic Moon Power blast on the airlock door, it looks like a Final Flash from Vegeta…

      and it blasts the door off of its hinges, practically melting through it. Altaïr is doing a serious double take… another Cosmic Moon Power blast takes out the outer door. Alarms start going off everywhere. I tell Altaïr it's time to blow this pop stand… up… I wonder how far I have to go to pass the dampening field. There are guards outside the second melted door, it looks like they're not sure what to do. Some of them shoot at Altaïr and me, others turn and run. The ones who are firing change their minds after "Cosmic… Moon…" before the blast goes off. They run down the hall and around the corner. I try a portal… nothing. Altaïr and I head farther down the hall. Someone tries to ambush us from around a corner. I hear the popping noise when Altaïr breaks his neck. I try a portal. It opens! I tell Altaïr that is our exit, I figure the dampening field was probably just around the holding cell. I lead Altaïr through the portal and into the control room on the moon before I wake.

      Secret Escape
      Note: This is a case where I think I was having two variant dreams at the same time. In one of them I went to meet with Lara so she could sneak me into the compound where Templars are keeping Altaïr, but in the other one I used Avalon to get in on my own. The previous one is journaled above, this is the second version.

      I am on the beach as in the first dream. But this time Q doesn't show up. I wander down the beach for a while longer before deciding I need to go find the Altaïr who is being held by a bunch of Templars. I focus on opening a portal to find him. I focus on finding the one that Lara has told me about. After a brief hesitation, during which I wonder if it is going to work, a portal finally opens. I go through the portal into a long hallway that is large enough to handle vehicles.

      It looks like some kind of underground military facility. I wonder if this is where Altaïr is being held. I wonder how I can find him. I need to get access to their computers. I can locate him through that. I go through a door and into an office. The people in the room seem to know who I am, and a man asks why I'm not dressed. He throws some lab clothes at me, so I put them on. He then hands me a syringe. He says that's the drug, the strongest version yet. He says Altaïr will either be very receptive to the programming, he will be dead, or go stark raving mad. I look at the syringe... there's no way I'm giving that shit to Altaïr… The man, apparently sensing I am hesitant, says this is my project… he's not going in there. I look and see I have a keycard. I use it to open the door the man is looking at. It leads to what looks like an airlock, and then into a white room. I see Altaïr is in the room, he is chained to the far wall. I am being watched. So I try to act like they expect. I go over to Altaïr… who looks like he is unconscious. A voice comes from the speakers, telling me to administer the drug. I have to get Altaïr loose… then open a portal. The needle on the syringe… I can pick the lock with that! So I reach for one of the chains and I realize it isn't really attached to anything. It looks like the locks have already been picked? The next thing I know the syringe has been taken from me and is stuck in my neck, Altaïr is loose, he says we are leaving here now unless I want a dose of my own medicine… An alarm is going off, I tell Altaïr to cut it out, we're on the same fucking side. He takes my key card and injects the drug into me, pushing me aside and going for the door. Great… I'm wasted on drugs… I toss the syringe aside and try to clear my head. Everything sounds echoed and far away. I hear a commotion outside, someone has come into the room with me and is saying something about an antidote. I focus my energy on clearing out the drug and my head clears. I push the two men away from me and head in the direction I think Altaïr went. People behind me are asking me what I'm doing… I need a doctor if I hope to survive that drug… I ignore them. In the next room there are two dead people. One of them has his head at a really awkward angle, the other has an unidentified object sticking out of his neck… ok… on the right path. I follow the commotion down the hall.

      A couple guards shoot at me before realizing who I am. I send a wall of telekinetic energy down the corridor that stops the bullets and pushes the guards back against the wall. I see Altaïr around a corner, he is looking right at me now. I'm not sure how to convince him I am actually there to get him out… Altaïr disappears down the hallway. I follow him. When I come around the corner someone shoots at me. Altaïr is shooting at me? Apparently he grabbed one of the guards' guns. I see someone behind Altaïr, aiming at him. I use telekinetic energy to knock that person back against the wall. Altaïr disappears down a side passage. Shit… this is ridiculous. Maybe my disguise is too good… so I switch to my usual Assassin robes before following Altaïr again. I hear more gunshots. I am on the right path when I find a dead guard. Altaïr aims a gun at me, but then stops when he sees I now look like an Assassin. He points the gun at someone behind me and fires… but gets only a click, he's out of ammo. I look behind me and see a couple guards there aiming guns. More guards on the other side of Altaïr. I get over closer to Altaïr and tell him it's time to get out of here before opening a portal. Someone is yelling to shoot them both, so I just shove Altaïr through the portal before following him through and waking up.
    4. bald michael jackson; my nephew's teacher

      by , 02-12-2012 at 03:49 PM
      Good morning, everybody.

      Dream #1

      I was watching TV. The Jacksons had all gotten together for a concert. Michael Jackson was being driven across the stage with one of his brothers, I think, in something like a parade float that had the shape of a high-heel shoe. The stage was empty otherwise. The shoe and the background of the stage were empty.

      It took me a moment to realize that Michael actually looked a little strange. He was wearing a suit, like in Moonwalker, except that he wasn't wearing a jacket or hat. The slacks were khaki, and the shirt was white with red pinstripes. Michael also looked like an old man -- with kind of sunken, worn-out flesh.



      Then I finally noticed that Michael was bald, except for on the sides and the back of his head. But the hair he had was dyed blonde and done in a ragged, almost standing-up kind of style.

      I knew that rumors had been going around about Michael Jackson being bald. But he'd always denied the rumors. Now in this show he was coming out as being bald.

      I was apparently in some basement watching the TV. I ran up the stairs. My friend H was upstairs, possibly watching TV in the ground-floor living room. I told H that Michael Jackson had finally come out as being bald. But H wasn't surprised at all. I went back downstairs, somewhat disappointed. I thought I was going to give H some new information. But I didn't.

      I may have been watching the TV again. I could see old pictures of Michael with long hair. The top views of his head showed obviously thinning hair. Eventually, I knew, these images had become too obvious, and Michael just had to admit he was going bald.

      But, I thought, this whole thing could be just another one of Michael's characteristic, weird disguises. He could just have done himself up as an aging, balding man for this show. I knew that Michael had disguised himself in weirder ways in the past. So I wouldn't put it past him to disguise himself in this way.

      I now got the feeling that I'd actually met Michael Jackson. I thought that this was possible. When he was disguised, Michael Jackson could walk around anywhere and introduce himself to anyone without them knowing who he was.

      I got the feeling that when I'd met him, he'd been disguise as a really old person or a person in really bad shape. He'd looked frightening and gross. But you could see that his eyes were really his eyes, and something about that had made things even worse.

      But I may then have thought that I actually hadn't ever met him. I thought that if had really met someone like that I would have been so frightened that I wouldn't even have been able to control myself. I even hoped that I would never have to meet someone like that in my life.

      Dream #2

      I was in a bedroom with my second oldest nephew. There were two women in the room with us. Both women were really attractive brunettes.

      The room was dim, with walls, or at least the edges of the walls, in heavy, dark wood. The walls themselves may actually have been Asian-style, paper-thin. I could feel a narrow, dim hallway outside.

      The two women were apparently our teachers. One teacher was going to take me to do some task. The other was going to take my nephew.

      But for some reason, when my teacher walked out of the room, I didn't follow her. My nephew's teacher was talking to my nephew. She may then have said something to me, like she was here to teach my nephew, not me.

      I may have said something like, "Oh, yeah, I see." I may then have decided I needed to find my own teacher.

      I think my nephew's teacher then walked out of the room. My nephew and I were standing in the room, talking with each other for a bit. My nephew must have been telling me a joke. I remember him laughing as he spoke.
    5. Fragment Collection 10

      by , 02-05-2012 at 08:38 PM (The Erratic dreams of StaySharp)
      Random Bleach stuff:
      I saw Rukia and Ichigo both looking at a girl who had a small cut close to her private parts, due to the cut cloathing you could actually see a bit (it was some stretch textil under tension, hence turning a small cut immediatly into a wide gap), Ichigo was blushing and Rukia told him to look away. At some point later I randomly see them both sitting in a room.

      McDonalds Labyrinth and a city tour:
      I was in what my dream identified as a McDonalds however it was actually a huge building, I went around looking at stuff and remember there were a lot of small staircases, partially with walls in them that hat slits, barely big enough for me to slip through (actually they were way to small), I got lost in there while trying to get somewhere. I remember a girl turning on a radiator but I to pass through one of these slits I had to get into contact with the heat valve so I told her to wait, which she did and she said something like: "You don't like heat, right?". (Probably a reference to how cold it currently is in real life, and how much I enjoy that fact)
      Then I was driving through different places together with 2 other people (one dude at about my age and an older one looking like a politician) in a limousine and we where getting out in a city, we went away from the car a few meters when we told the politician to go back and lock the car, then the other dude was approached by a girl who knew him and kissed him (after opening his helmet, for whatever reason he was wearing it I shall never know) and I was waiting impatiently for the 2 because the place we were about to go to looked interesting.

      Exploration:
      I was in a huge building (yet again) and I went exploring through the 4 main floors, each with several rooms with interesting stuff to explore and a few working classes I was supposed not to disturb. There were also a lot of strange moving pictures in the intersections. Before reaching the top floor someone told me I'd be right in time for the start of an food experiment (dated for 14:00) and later there was this race, including an failing Onix and an Mew up top which transformed itself into a carryable yet big piece of chocolate in a plastic wrapping (probably as disguise) on which I remember to read something like (Mew 0151afk [most likely a pun on the ZIP code format and afk from away from keyboard]).

      Updated 02-18-2012 at 12:58 AM by 48127

      Categories
      non-lucid , dream fragment
    6. Infections and swimming baths

      by , 01-04-2012 at 02:44 AM (The Erratic dreams of StaySharp)
      I went into a big swimming bath complex (one of my few dream signs) and there was a virus around. It infected people and the only real first symptoms were minor behavior changes and trying to infect other people (simply by being close to them, the virus spread through air). When fully infected those people would generally behave normal except for building big groups and staying together, as well as preventing anyone to leave the group. As I went inside I understood the situation but all possible ways to escape the building were too far away, however I was immune to the virus so I disguised myself as infected. I remember being on a high tower (20m) within the main room with all the water and someone of the group wanted to check me (probably if I was infected already), but I noticed she sent someone towards me and headed to her myself and made her believe I was a normal part of the infected group, afterwards I was looking towards the big windowed side of the building trying to figure out a way to get out.
    7. Spongebob and a restaurant

      by , 01-07-2011 at 12:30 PM (Fernanvic´s dream journal)
      07.01.2011

      NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

      I was in a hypermarket like the previous dream, but this time inside.

      The dream varied, sometimes I was with spongebob characters and tried to enter a huge painting of spongebob and a moon with varying degrees of success. I managed to enter several times but I always ended up out again. Sometimes I just crashed against the painting because I wasn't a sponge. I tried becoming different things like the moon or characters from the show so that the painting would accept me but they always ended up discovering my disguise.

      Other times I was waiting for my class in a classy restaurant in the hypermarket that you could access by going up some huge mechanical stairs. It was sort of high up and had glass railing. It had several floors of a semicircular shape which were very narrow. Sometimes I left the restaurant to order food at a fast food stand since they didn't bring us anything to eat. I always ended up getting lost and going back again. I also met a girl with an abusive ex-boyfriend who was always being mean to her. Once he was harassing her in the fast food stand so I went to defend her, but I ended up getting lost.
    8. #46. I Am Legend

      by , 06-14-2010 at 06:43 AM (Things to Run Away From Really Fast)
      We're driving down the highway in a tan-coloured Oldsmobile. The driver seems to think the speed limit is optional, which really wouldn't bother me, only he doesn't actually have his license yet. Also, he doesn't seem to be in control of the vehicle, if the wildly oscillating steering wheel is anything to go by.

      "Whoa! Whoa!" I shout from the backseat. "Oncoming train, ONCOMING TRAIN!"

      "Ben, stop," says my mom from the passenger seat.

      Ben reluctantly brings the car to a stop before we get to the train tracks. I breathe out a sigh of relief and glare at my brother.

      "You know," says the fifteen-year-old comfortably, "Sam could totally supervise my driving -"

      "NO!" My mom and I say simultaneously.

      Ben slouches in his seat and gets the car moving again, now that the train's past. The car gradually speeds up, and he throws my mom a look that reads See? I can totally drive without giving Sam a heart attack.

      A copse of trees blocks the road a little bit farther along. It's night. We need to hike through the trees in order to get to the road on the other side.

      We're not a few steps in before I can feel a tingling feeling up my spine. I sense a malicious intent, which lingers, as if the blood that's been spilled here has never properly washed away.

      "We should hurry," I say quietly. "This isn't a good place." I should know, this is my dream after all. Vaguely, I wonder if this is going to turn into a nightmare. If it is, am I sensing evil, or creating it?

      There are men sleeping, haphazardly strewn over the grass-covered ground in various garishly coloured sleeping bags. I hurry Mom and Ben along, out of the campsite through a path in the bushes. I know it the moment the men wake up.

      "Go! Go! I'll meet you at the car!" I shout at my family. Somewhere between eight and a dozen men come rushing onto the path, heedless of my attempts to block them. I can't move, I can't shout, I'm completely helpless -

      "KIYA!" I lace a high-pitched shout with all of my fear and anger, forcing the men's attention onto me. I move out into the middle of the clearing, still pulling their attention, focusing on the present rather than the danger that faces the others. I need to be able to move.

      "KIYA!" I shout in challenge, feeling ridiculous, catching a third-person view of myself as Eliza Dushku.


      A man runs at me, using his momentum - and considerable bulk - to ready a skull-crushing punch. I sidestep. He misses. I use his momentum against him, throwing him out of the way.

      It's on.

      Another man rushes me. I catch him by the arm, twist, breaking it. I throw him over my shoulder and he crashes to the ground, where I aim a kick at his neck, killing him instantly.

      Two come at me. I send one stumbling with a kick to the solar-plexus. He trips over the corpse and I disable the other one with a ridge-hand strike to the throat, crushing the windpipe. He collapses to the ground, gasping for air, and I'm already rushing a stunned thug, sweeping his legs out from under him. I pound three high-powered kicks into his left temple before he can blink.

      A thug is picking himself up from beside his friend's corpse, looking enraged. I'm behind another one, hand across jaw, and I pull, breaking his neck. I don't see Trippy until he has a hand around my throat, lifting me until my toes barely brush over the ground. I twist, tearing - tiger claw - rigid fingers across his face, ripping into flesh. His grip slackens and I turn around to meet another attack, evading arms and deftly clawing an eye out of its socket. He's out of the fight.

      One of the smarter ones is readying an incantation - I'm in front of him. I grab, twist, tear his arm off, leave him to bleed out.

      Another. I aim a kick for his groin, surprised when I hit the inner thigh. Hard. Time slows for the others, and I admonish myself for losing focus. Concentrate on the dream. I pull my leg in, I lash out with a side-kick to the groin. He's down. I smash his head in.

      I hear a dark chuckle from across the clearing. Trippy is struggling to his feet, one hand pressed against his bleeding face. He laughs. I want to know what's so funny.

      "You think we're monsters." He laughs again, eyes closed for a moment.

      He's down before he knew what hit him. I kick him repeatedly, into the gut, into the side of his head, until he's nothing but a mangled corpse leering at me with a dead grin.

      I put down the others with brutal efficiency.

      I meet Ben and Mom at the car, which happens to be a Chevy Impala. Not meeting their eyes, I mention that we're going to have to wipe down the car, inside and outside. Apparently it was used to run over people while I wasn't looking. I'll have to dispose of these clothes, too. They're black, so I can't see the blood-spatter, but I just murdered a bunch of unarmed humanoids, and there was blood spraying everywhere, so -

      "I'll clean the car," says my brother.

      I take a deep breath. "Yeah. We should go."

      ---

      Some time later, I meet up with an alternate version of my mom, driving the Oldsmobile. We talk about the forest/campground, but she isn't entirely sure what I'm talking about. In her world, we kept driving right past the damned place.

      I get to thinking about alternate endings...

      ---

      They have Ben. My mom has disappeared, but they have Ben and he's a prisoner of these things and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

      There's a young boy, maybe ten, being carried from some kind of ceremony, half naked. I have a bad feeling about this.

      I take a breath, calm my mind. I can stay out of sight for now, wait for an opportunity to rescue him. I'm practically incorporeal right now; it's not like I could do much anyway. Although, I think, as I watch them drag my struggling brother out of sight, waiting could be easier said than done.

      ---

      Colourful round wooden tables are interspersed throughout the clearing. I couldn't see the place before I followed Ben in. My brother is sitting at one of the tables, eating the same grilled cheese sandwiches as all the other humans. On his left is the vampire he's been bound to, and on his right, a human slave, eying the former nervously.

      I get a bit of insight from the slave, who, apparently, was a member of the local Resistance before he was captured. He still hasn't quite lost the suicidal tendencies.

      "You realize," he says to Ben, keeping his voice low so the vampire won't notice, "That these things are just using you, right? We need to fight them."

      Ben snorts. "You're just saying that because they're planning to eat you."

      Apparently they keep humans as cattle. Charming.

      Also, Ben's been brainwashed. This could be a problem.

      ---

      I'm watching the loading area, a gravel parking lot leading into the back doors of the complex. An Oldsmobile drives in. I move closer.

      A group of three or four slaves is conversing with the driver. One of them was talking to Ben earlier. Kel, I think his name was. I recognize the leader of the group: Damon. Fanatic.

      "What do you want with the Aur'i, Reader?" Damon asks, as my mom steps out of the car.

      "Your masters have taken one of our own." Mom tells them coldly. "We want him back."

      Fuck me. Readers' powers are the opposite of my own, divine while mine are hell-powered, and they're positively toxic to the Aur'i (vampires). They're more of an allergy, for me.

      "The boy, yes?" says Damon, "What of the girl?"

      Ah, the Dushku persona.

      "Not one of ours," Mom says, "She didn't violate the Accords by attacking you."

      "A pity," says Damon. "I'll pass along your message to our Masters. You may leave now."

      Ignoring the slight, Mom tips her head and goes back to the car.

      Damn it. I've got to get her a message before she leaves. I take off along the side of the complex.

      ---

      "Sokka Katara Sam!" Ben gasps, clutching his head. I hear him, glad that he's finally broken through the mind control.

      Lay low.


      ---

      I break out into a full-on sprint, moving as quickly as I can around the back corner of the loading bay. When I stop, I hardly even notice that I'm not out of breath. I wave my arms at my mom, staying carefully out of the slaves' sight.

      I gesture towards some scaffolding near my hiding spot, which should be hidden from any observers. My mom exits the car and heads toward the spot I indicated, and I slink along more carefully, hidden by the various construction materials along the way.

      "You had to choose this spot?" asks my mom, visibly shivering.

      I'm surprised, but I look more closely at the wall. There's warding magic emanating from it.

      I smile sheepishly. "I can't feel it like you do." I tell her, "My power meshes with the place."

      "We'll talk about it later." She pulls an iron chain out and throws one end to me.

      I catch it. It feels like ice-water is crawling over my skin.

      Covered by the protection of the chain, I explain the situation, highlighting the layout of the compound and detailing Ben's chain to the Aur'i. I'm so caught up in the story that I don't notice the patrolling slaves have noticed us. Noticed the chain, rather, since we're invisible.

      "That is a forbidden magic here," says Damon, indicating the iron chain.

      "Is it?" I ask, adopting a really bad light Jamaican accent. "It is looped through this equipment like a spider's web."

      "The reader," hisses Damon.

      "You're Nomad?" asks Kel, indicating a nationality.

      I glance back at Mom, but she's disappeared along with the car. Good.

      I have an image of dark skin and bright colours. I take the appearance of the girl in my mind's eye and let the chain fall from my hand.

      I can work with this.

      I Am Legend. Scare Factor: 5.[/QUOTE]