Report at like 1am

[haremtrap]

Maybe I'm just freaking out about nothing, but everyone's so on edge right now and it was just so REAL.

Sorry, I'm starting in the middle.

I had a dream. It was like I wasn't me. I was someone else, and they were exhausted and terrified of...something. I think it was chasing them? I was running towards a freeway on ramp, but I saw some guys blocking the road with like spike strips and stuff and was SURE the whole town was getting sealed off like that. Then I heard a weird noise behind me, kinda like someone gasping for breath, and then I woke up.

Normally I'd just dismiss it as a bad dream but...It didn't FEEL like a dream, you know? Like dreams just kind of flow out of your memory after a while normally but this whole thing is perfectly etched in my brain.

Someone tell me I'm making too big a deal about this before I freak out.

Comments

[fridgeninja]

It might mean something, but it might not. We're all under a lot of stress.

It was a good idea to share it, just in case.

[haremtrap]

It was really creepy. I still feel like there might be something behind me.

[fridgeninja]

Are you at the bed and breakfast? If so, we could meet up, and I'll check behind you to make sure.

[haremtrap]

Logically, if there WAS something behind me that existed as a physical entity in any way shape or form, I would be able to tell if it was there.

Illogically, something about this town feels off.

So yeah I'm at the B&B

[fridgeninja]

Harrogate's not always logical.

I'll be out in the hall in just a minute.

[haremtrap]

[Kohaku strained her hearing again. She could hear a dozen people in various states of sleep up and down the hall, but no creepy ghosts gasping for breath. One of the other guests started moving around, which she decided must be Souji.

She rolled out of bed and jumped back into her pants before he got there and poked her head out into the hall, faintly embarrassed that she was asking for reassurance like this. It was such a damsel in distress move but dammit that dream had been really fucking creepy.]

Hello?

[fridgeninja]

It's me.

[Souji steps into the hallway, voice low, infoglasses giving off blue light, peering behind her as he scans. He's barefoot, but fully dressed apart from that - and carrying an unsheathed broadword at a low angle, just in case.]

... I don't see anything.

[haremtrap]

[She looked over her shoulder again, then slumped a bit.]

Thank god.

This town is kinda messed up. It's not just me, right?

[fridgeninja]

This town is my second least favorite place in the multiverse.

[his voice is perfectly matter of fact.]

[haremtrap]

What's your first least favorite?

[fridgeninja]

Moebius.

We can talk about that in Liminal Space, once this Jaunt is over.

[haremtrap]

As bad as that?

[fridgeninja]

Harrogate is scary. We don't need to be distracted by other scary things right now.

[haremtrap]

Fantastic.

[Drier than the Sahara in August.]

I don't know if I can go back to sleep, but I'm gonna try. Thanks for...reassuring me, I guess.

[fridgeninja]

If you need to sit up for a while, we could get cocoa and read e-books.

[haremtrap]

[She stopped from entering her room to look sidelong and, it must be said, slightly suspiciously at Souji.

He looked to have no ulterior motive, as best she could tell.]

...That would be okay, I think. Maybe I should see if there's a JP version of those Conan and Valeria books everyone's babbling about.

[fridgeninja]

Actually, that's what I was reading. The first one has pirates.

[He has two girlfriends and zero ulterior motives.]

[haremtrap]

Sick. Let's go get some cocoa then.

[fridgeninja]

Downstairs kitchen, or Liminal Space kitchen?

[haremtrap]

Downstairs kitchen will do fine, I think.

[fridgeninja]

Got it.

[Usually he believes in ladies first, but given that she had a nightmare making her paranoid about things behind her, he'll lead the way.]

[haremtrap]

[And then they read for a while, in companionable silence and drank cocoa.]

[neverfeltthatway]

It might be prophetic. My overlay had true dreams and visions the last time we were here.

Even if it might be happening, though, it's happening to someone else - it's probably not anything to do with you specifically.

Are you all right?

[haremtrap]

It's still damn creepy.

I think I'm fine now, though. I'm reading and drinking cocoa with Souji.

[neverfeltthatway]

That it is. [He was convicted of a murder he didn't commit and had to run away because he knew details only the killer could know, last time. So, yeah. Creepy.]

That's good to hear. I'd like to see the memory of the dream at some point, if you don't mind. I can open a link for you to share it. It doesn't have to be right away, though. [Probably during daylight, he imagines.]

[haremtrap]

I...can show you what I'm seeing now, but not things in the past.

[neverfeltthatway]

Like I said, I can open the link - it will let us share memories in either direction.

[haremtrap]

Uh...sure?

[neverfeltthatway]

Do you want to share the memory now, or would you prefer to wait until tomorrow? [He doesn't want to pressure her - she just had something of a nightmare, he'd understand if she wanted to wait before dwelling on it again.]

[haremtrap]

Might as well do it now. I can still remember it perfectly clearly whether I relive it again or not.

[private]// psychic protection ii

[neverfeltthatway]

All right.

[He takes a moment to lock this as private, so everyone doesn't have to experience it, then focuses on the connection between their minds.]

...There. You should be able to send me the memory now, if you concentrate on it.

[haremtrap]

Alright here goes.

[She did as he asked and memories flowed up, providing a wealth of details she hadn't bothered to mention in the post. The stabbing pain of exhaustion as her dreamself gasped for breath while running. The fear as she constantly looked behind her, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to see what chased her. The white vans and black windbreakers of the people sealing off the town. The watery gasping sound as the thing chasing her suddenly appeared. And finally, The shuddering breaths she took as she abruptly woke up.]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin is quiet a long moment, immersing himself in the memory, and then remains quiet for several moments after too. Finally...]

That presence chasing, and the sound right before the end... neither of those were physical.

[haremtrap]

I mean. If it was physical I would've been able to see it, or at least seen SOMETHING.

[She sometimes forgot other people didn't have her senses.]

[neverfeltthatway]

[Except that they saw the same thing, because it wasn't her senses the dream was using.]

The prospect of a ghost or spirit with enough form for that noise, that chase, to cross that far into the realm of the living - that is an extremely alarming prospect.

[haremtrap]

[Yup that's what she forgot.]

They can come into our world pretty easily, if you listen to old ghost stories. Seems like every block in Japan has a room with a sinister reputation. Even at my school, no one uses the bathroom on the fourth floor.