Who: Susan Ashworth. What: She's dreaming more. When: Early September. Where: Her flat. Warnings: Dream character death, dream character resurrection, gore, torture, murder, probably fairly depressing really.
Susan had been taking on more and more shifts at the hospital to avoid her dreams. It wasn't that the dreams were upsetting that bothered Susan; the fact that they weren't upsetting was the unsettling part. Dream Susan had faced a similar life to Susan's own - the death of her child, the death of her husband - but in such a worse way. Dream Susan felt responsible for both, and eventually killed herself. While Susan was awake, she told herself that she wouldn't go the same route, so she buried herself in work.
But when she dreamed, Dream Susan was resurrected. The Queen of Maggots - whoever she was - saw fit to use poor Dream Susan as an instrument of vengeance. Dream Susan had to find "parasites" and kill them. Dream Susan, much like real Susan had no idea how she'd identify said parasites, or if that was literal or figurative, but Dream Susan had more things to worry about. Dream Susan was stuck in a hospital, on strict suicide watch, under scrutiny constantly. Whenever she stepped out of line, she was drugged forcibly, which sent her to a nightmarish otherworld where a beating narcotic heart stood. It was enough to make Susan wake up screaming.
Dream Susan liked her nurse well enough, until one day Liz confided that Dr. X, the head therapist was doing something inappropriate, and tried to help Dream Susan escape. Then Dream Susan watched as Liz jumped from the roof. Dr. X immediately took Dream Susan aside to counsel her. Susan the Dreamer knew that this was bad, but Dream Susan was a bit slower on the uptake.
"I plan ahead, Susan. I had a feeling in my gut, and my gut's never wrong." Dr. X's voice was placating, soothing, and Susan the Dreamer knew what was coming before Dream Susan felt the knife enter her stomach. Dream Susan fumbled through the Otherworld, guided by a crow who poked and prodded at her insecurities, until Dream Susan woke up in a body bag, covered in blood, screaming. There were bodies surrounding her, and she was cold, in a meatlocker. She was immortal.
As Susan dreamed, she couldn't help but admire how plucky Dream Susan was as she created a mace. Dr. X was being horribly inappropriate, creating "paintings" out of his victims. He posed them as famous paintings, using wires and ropes. And he had another girl down there, screaming.
Dream Susan took delight in bashing in the fucker's head. Dreamer Susan, not so much. She woke up covered in sweat, having clawed off the sheets from her bed and a bit of her own skin from her stomach. As she took a shower, Dreamer Susan curled her knees to her chest and screamed.