I13DT - Dreamwalk With Me

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:40 pm

Late one night, Steve sat dozing on the common room couch. Some inane late night programming that started after he fell asleep continued on without him, casting light and stark shadows into the darkened room.

by **Haley Crusek** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:22 pm

On the other side of the common room, Haley sprawled across another couch (well, as little of it as she covered) fast asleep with earbuds in her ear and her phone resting face down on her chest hands almost still in texting position.

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:56 pm

On the TV some kind of late night show was playing, the host, a smarmy guy with a slight faux-hawk making fun of something or other with his guest. Eventually it cuts to a guest band, starting to play a REM cover. Only half paying attention nothing seems out of the ordinary, though after a couple moments it would become obvious that something isn't quite right. The lyrics are a hateful and bigoted version of the actual song.

“That’s me in the porno,
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Tryin’ to lynch a tight-assed Mutie…

And I don't know if you can cut it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
I thought that I heard you coughing
I thought that I heard you hang
I think I thought I saw you die."

The host and the audience don't seem to notice anything being wrong.

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:48 pm

Steve was almost completely asleep when he registered the wrongness of the lyrics. He opened his eyes and yawned as he looked at the TV.

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:59 pm

The band finishes the song and it cuts back to the host who is applauding. "Let's hear it for R.E.M. Which, of course, stands for Rapidly Extinct Mutants. Or was that Rape Every Mutant?" He asks the band as it sits down on the guest couch.

"It's Rather Excruciating Murder, actually." the front man says with a British accent. "Well, could be Rotten Euthanized Motherfuckers too. It's really up to the listener, you know." he laughs harshly, the volume of the TV suddenly ramping up at the rattling sound that really sounds more like wet gravel rolling around in the throat of a corpse.

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:03 pm

Steve instinctually grabbed for the remote to shut off whatever the hell screwed up show had come on.

by **Haley Crusek** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:04 pm

The laugh woke Haley up with a start and she looked at the tv. "The fuck... turn it down...can hear it over my own music..."

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:12 pm

The screen flickers for a second but doesn't change. Instead the show starts playing on Haley's phone as well, blaring out of her earbuds.

"Well, thanks for coming on!" the host says. "Coming up we have the Dreadlord Khzhszgurgza right after this special message for our dear viewers Haley and Steve whose meat-filled skin-sacks are soon to be fed to the maggots." he goes on cheerfully.

by **Haley Crusek** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:14 pm

Haley yelped and ripped the buds out of her ears.

"What the fuck how did that get onto my ph--" she looked around the room frantically, eyes locking on Steve.

"--oh...fucking...I think we're stuck in the Astral again..."

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:19 pm

Steve looked at her with the same frantic look.

"But how? I didn't try anything... did you?"

by **Haley Crusek** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:24 pm

"Most of the time, I just...sorta fall here."

Haley looked down at the ear buds dangling from the phone in her hand.

"Fuck, half the time I'm listening to music while it happens. Maybe it's my fault. God damnit. I fucking hate telepathy."

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:31 pm

"Dreadlord?" The image cuts to a dead bird.

The bird announces.

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:34 pm

"Me too," he agreed.

"But let's... yeah, let's see if that's what's going on first. There's this trick I pulled the time I almost got trapped. If I can, then we're definitely..."

The bird interrupted him.

"Yeah we're so there."

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:46 pm

"You know who else is here? Pete and Jenny! The two have been fucking each other raw for ages waiting for you two!" he goes on that same cheerful tone as a curtain on the stage is pulled back, revealing two rotting but still recognizable corpses clawing at each other as they're grinding away in a pool of god knows what fluids. They stop and slowly twist their heads towards the camera. It's a camera they're looking at, right? Not the inside of a flimsy glass-pane of a flat-screen TV at all...

by **Haley Crusek** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:01 pm

Haley's jaw dropped and she stared at the gory scene in a mixture of revulsion, awe, fear, and hate. She willed her stomach to not empty its contents.

"H-how..." she sputtered, trying to will up stronger shields around her memories so more of her past wouldn't come back to haunt her tonight. It was bad enough seeing her backstabbing ex-best-friend dead and doing...things...with another dead? body.

by **Steve Jones** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:08 pm

Steve stumbled back into the couch in fear and repulsion.

"Not real... not real..." he assured himself as he too raised his mental shields.

by **The Book of Sins** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:20 pm

The room begins to smell strangely sweet with a note of wet leaves and earth. The screen flickers to a blank screen for a second or two and there's the hint of a white mask in the darkness of the screen. Or is it a reflection that's only showing while no image is being shown? No, the room is still empty save for Steve and Haley. And the screen is back to showing their two dead friends, but now the shot is much closer and a hand that still has a small pink purse dangling from the wrist reaches out of the TV. There's dirt under the broken fingernails, purple nail-polish still sticking to it in flakey patches.

by **Haley Crusek** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:08 pm

Haley moved closer to Steve as the TV went blank and the smell wafted through the room, and she actually gripped him close as she saw the faint image of the mask. She shrieked as the hand came out of the TV.

"No. No. NO!" she screamed, flinging one hand out and sending out a wave of telekinetic energy at the TV.

by **The Book of Sins** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:56 pm

The furniture is thrown outward from Haley, tossing the couch backwards while the small coffee table slams into the TV stand. The screen turns black as it shatters. Jenny's purse falls to the ground in front of the broken TV but the rest of the imagery is gone. The smell still lingers though and something about the pattern of the spiderweb-cracks on the broken TV screen seems odd.

by **Steve Jones** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:02 pm

Steve choked down panic.

"No... it can't be..." he shuddered.

by **The Book of Sins** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:37 pm

For a moment the broken TV looks like it's about to give away entirely but then the shattered pane of glass just sags a little, the cracks lining up to form words.

Reborn into the misery of the flesh forever,
Life is the disease that is cured by death.

by **Haley Crusek** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:30 pm

"What the fuck does that mean?" She said again clinging to Steve.

by **Steve Jones** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:13 pm

"It means we need to get the hell out of here and fast."

by **Haley Crusek** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:06 pm

c'mon...stay cool, Haley, you can do this...

"So let's go," she said pulling him towards the closest exit and trying mightily to remain calm and keep her shields up.

by **Narrator** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:07 pm

The hallway outside seems to go on longer than either of them remembers, almost seeming as if it stretches into infinity. At least until they suddenly stumble out of the door and into the cold air outside.

by **Steve Jones** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:13 pm

Steve looked around nervously, not expecting it to be this easy.

by **Narrator** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 4:51 pm

It's dark, none of the windows in the mansion and the dorm building seem to be lit. The air smells like dead leaves and somewhere in the night a bird cries out.

by **Steve Jones** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:56 pm

Steve hunted for the source of the sound.

C'mon raygun...

He began to concentrate on the image of the psychic weapon he had used before.

by **Haley Crusek** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:29 pm

Haley tried to follow Steve's lead, strengthening her shields and trying to think of something to fight with. Her image flickered for a moment and she almost appeared taller and older to Steve. Her clothes definitely changed--she wore an elaborate western hat and generally looked as though she belonged at a county concert.

by **The Book of Sins** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:00 pm

Haley might also notice that she was wearing a bolo tie that looked an awful lot like the necklace Nailah had given her.

And suddenly a voice speaks to them. It almost seems like it's coming from below, rumbling the ground ever so slightly as if they were standing on a giant speaker. The voice sounds kind of like the host on the TV but not really. In fact it doesn't really sound like anything or anyone in particular, young or old, man or woman, human or not. "The wayward Children of the West, so eager to put their faith in their guns. I should thank you for killing Crow and Porcupine and Buffalo and so many others."

by **Haley Crusek** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:22 pm

"Who the fuck are you?" she shouted with false confidence.

by **Steve Jones** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:31 pm

Steve followed Haley's idea and adding a spiffy Flash Gordon-esque costume to his ensemble. Even an imaginary NASA outfit is too bulky.

"I think the question is what."

by **The Book of Sins** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:42 pm

"The forgotten. The primordial. The betrayed. The clay from which you're made. Our children stolen by the sun."

by **Haley Crusek** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 3:56 pm

"God I hate this shit," she growled.

by **Steve Jones** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:03 pm

"This is the Astral, last I checked the forgotten have no power here," Steve observed, bluffing a little.

by **The Book of Sins** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:09 pm

"Only because the Raven and the Lioness and the Pale Witch won't tell you the truth. Instead they feed you lies and make you wear their symbols. Make you celebrate the spear that pierced us and worship under it's blinding light. They summon ghosts from the machines to keep watch over the Lance of Longinus."

by **Steve Jones** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:56 pm

"One, that spear pierced Jesus. Two, you are so not Jesus. Three, things like you were forgotten for good reason. Now kindly fuck off."

by **The Book of Sins** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:05 pm

The voice laughs. "History is written by the winners. You think only one was slain by the Spear of Destiny, Gungnir, Gáe Bulg, the Ku'alxadle?"

by **Haley Crusek** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:18 pm

"C'mon. Let's ignore this asshole and find a way home," she said with very unconvincing bravado.

by **Steve Jones** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 7:55 pm

"Actually that's a great idea," he said as an idea struck him. "Maybe my way of getting into the Astral will work. Concentrate on the idea of an emergency exit. Yanno, dark gray with a chrome bar and a nice neon exit sign over it."

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