jane randolph (agonium) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-09-13 08:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #november 2017, carson, jane, jules, neil, nic |
Who: Jane (with Carson, Jules, Nic and Neil) [Narrative]
When: Late evening, Sunday, November 12th/Early morning Monday, November 13th
Where: Dreams
Status Complete
Jane had tried to delve into Neil's subconscious first. She was familiar with him and thought it might be easier to draw the dream out before connecting with the other three. But Neil was proving himself to be difficult, which was not unusual, considering what a pain in the ass he was when he was awake. She did her best to push herself deeper into his mind, to try and seek out the dream on the road that had been described to her, but a lot of what she found was blurry and full of static, like he was actively trying to shut her out from uncovering something too personal or intimate. Jane had gotten frustrated and nearly called him when she woke up so she could scream at him for a bit, but she realized he was sleeping and couldn't exactly help himself that his subconscious was protesting her presence.
After awhile Jane decided to try the girl instead. Teenage girls had their own issues, but she thought maybe Jules's mind would be a bit more open, or vulnerable, to Jane digging around inside of it. It was a strategy that paid off, because Jane felt no resistance to manipulating Jules's dream.
It took some time, and after a bit Jane wasn't sure she would be able to actually trigger the dreams that Neil and the others had been having. Just as she was about to give up, Jane found what she was looking for. Ecstatic, but cautious, she closed her eyes and focused on the faces of Neil, Carson and Nic. A dull throb started in her temple, intensifying the harder she pulled at their subconscious. It felt like she was dividing her mind into four separate sections, and she supposed in a way she was. Jane had a feeling she might be holed up in bed for a couple days after this, but if she managed to succeed, it would have been worth it.
Her entire body trembled and even in Jules's dream, Jane could feel some sweat starting to drip down her back. She couldn't help but wonder what else she might have been able to do by now if the facility hadn't burned down. If she hadn't gone along with the other kids' plan to escape. Not that this was the time to think about any of that. She was too busy bringing the other three into Jules's dream, wondering if it would prompt something new, or just remnants of past dreams. People so often forgot them as soon as they woke for the day, but they so often lingered, buried deep down like a memory where no one but someone like Jane could pull them back out again.
As soon as Jane was able to connect with all four sleeping minds at once, something seemed to click, and those four windows in front of her became one. They were all outside, standing on a road lined by dense trees. There were no headlights in the distance, no light poles illuminating their bodies. It was chilly, a breeze ruffling through Jane's hair. The four were standing at invisible corners, looking around, but not speaking, or even moving much beyond the tilting of their heads. Jane remembered them telling her they couldn't really move or speak. But she could. She didn't want to get in their way, or draw attention to herself. She just wanted to observe to see of anything of note would happen.
She didn't have to wait very long. There was a noise that cut through the otherwise quiet evening, a hoarse sounding scream from inside the woods to her left. Jane felt her heartbeat quicken and she took a step back, though she remained inside the dream, knowing she could wake herself up in an instant if this all went wrong. The sound echoed through the night before everything around them was silent again. The apprehension and fear on the faces of the dreamers was palpable. Jane didn't dare reassure them of anything. It wasn't her place to change what might happen here. But she took a step forward anyway, her bare feet cold on the blacktop of the road. The scream cut through the night again, causing Jane to draw up abruptly, her fingers curling into her fists. The sound was closer now, just at the edge of the woods. She stared into the darkness. At first she saw nothing but the outline of the trees and swaying of the leaves and branches in the breeze.
But then one of the tree trunks began to distort and move. It took Jane a second to realize it wasn't a tree trunk after all, but some kind of creature. It stayed close to the ground, almost slithering towards the group one the road. Jane could feel herself start to seize up, as if it had the power to paralyze her as well. All of the sudden her breath was the only thing she could hear, but she forced herself to move, to get closer so she could see what this thing was, and what it wanted. It came up behind Carson, but none of the others seemed to be able to see it as clearly as Jane did. It's body looked almost like a shadow, but Jane could see its hands, fingers long and thin with sharp claws. Its eyes were dark red, though they seemed to fade in and out of its face. If that was a face. Jane couldn't tell, but something about suddenly terrified her.
Jane watched as it wrapped one hand over the back of Carson's head, like it was palming a basketball. Carson didn't seem to feel, or even notice and Jane's eyes widened as it seemed to multiply, stretching around the makeshift square until the other three were in the same position as Carson. Bony fingers pressed against their heads, sharp claws pressing into skull, as thought to pierce them. Before Jane could stop herself, she shouted, drawing the creature's attention immediately. It's mouth opened towards her, a dark, gaping hole of nothing but razor sharp teeth as it screamed into the night. Jane instinctively clamped her hands over her ears, wincing as the sound pierced painfully into every inch of her body. It was as if the sound would never stop and gooseflesh rose along her skin, ice cold. The thing's scream rose in volume higher and higher until the ground beneath Jane's feet began to shake and tremble, like the earth might crack open and swallow her whole.
A scream began to emit from her own throat and her entire body felt as though it had been doused in freezing cold water. The next thing she knew an unknown force slammed into her body, sending her backwards onto the street as a blinding white light blinded her.
She woke immediately in her bed, drenched in sweat and sick to her stomach. Jane rolled out of the bed and threw up on the carpet next to her nightstand. Her body was still shaking, the sound of that creature's shrieks still echoing in her ears. With her stomach empty, Jane fell back against the side of her body, panting softly as her blood began to cool and her heart beat slowed. Rarely was she so unnerved by what she experienced in another's dream, but a part of Jane recognized that was much more than a subconscious at work. Whatever that thing was controlled them, and it hadn't been happy to see Jane there at all. Her phone was on her nightstand so she turned slightly to reach up for it, wincing a bit at the soreness in her body. Wincing, Jane lifted her shirt up her stomach and found a dark, purpling bruise that was about the size of a football, spread from her stomach up to her chest.
"What the fuck," she whispered, touching it gingerly. The pain caused her to grimace, but she lowered her shirt and managed to get her phone. Unlocking it with a swipe of her finger, she began to text quickly.