Repose

[Wednesday night, into the early Thursday hours, many of the afflicted dreamers suddenly jolt awake. Though very few speak of it, a number of them remember a strange anomaly in their dreams, a dark-haired man that came in toward the end and, through a series of bizarre events, usually ended up calmly killing himself in strange ways–stepping in front of a train, off a high roof, or into blurring traffic, that sort of thing. He tended to blend in to whatever environment he was in, but that was the constant. That, and sometimes he participated in some casual B&E before the inevitable bizarre end that left most dreamers more confused than anything.

In the waking world, scientists from the facility worked tirelessly in an attempt to rouse the sleeping, their efforts temporarily arrested by some strange activity in the Rec Center during the blackout. There is no video footage, and no one saw whoever was so casual about their B&E, distracting as the darkness was. The alarming possibility of someone tampering with the saline solution provided to some dehydrated sleepers was bypassed when all the sleepers began to wake, completely baffling on-site medical staff. Perceived injuries while dreaming seem to have no lasting physical effects on the sleepers, and the incident luckily did not persist for long enough to result in any sickness or deaths from exposure or malnourishment, even in those that did not receive medical attention while they slept.

Those awake, in some cases, were not as lucky. There were numerous altercations reported at the recreation center in those moments before the lights returned. Some residents were placed in lockdown for the duration of the incident, some received emergency medical attention, and all were cautioned against further disruptive incidents.

Early reports suggest some inadvertent toxicity in town's water supply, brought about by spring thaws after all the animal deaths near the lake in the winter. Of course, whispers and rumors abound, and there is talk of a circle in the woods and ritual markers found there. By the time anyone goes to look, those markers (if they ever existed) are nowhere to be found.]

[Those in Repose sensitive to changes in energy can feel the victory of a battle won. The battle itself may have gone unnoticed, but the victory resonates in the air like a bloodstained banner over the battlefield. Proof laid in fact that Repose still stood as it ever has. Unfortunately for the victors, there was one last Hail Mary thrown from the other side.

From the clearing in the woods, the dimensional rift fades out of existence, but not without consequence. The touch from the other side spreads through the town as an aftershock emanates from an explosion, with no care for who or what it may destroy in its last ditch effort to survive. The energy spent wraps tightly around the brains of any being it comes across, shadow-like tentacles invisible to the human eye that invade and squeeze possessively to claim the minds as its own. Anyone that succumbs, whether willingly or not, immediately falls into an endless slumber, their dreams being used to feed upon by a creature that defied dimensional logic.

Those in town immune to psychic invasion or somehow manage the willpower to resist the pull to slumber have a much different problem on their hands, for all the people that have fallen under the seductive and unnatural connection do not wake back up.]