I awaken in a pitch-black space. Within the inky abyss, I can't feel anything except the cold embrace of darkness. As I try to lift my hands I realize I can't feel my body. The constant pressure on my existence is like being deep underwater and out of breath. Quickly I begin to panic as red eyes slowly open in the depth of the dark void.
Suddenly awakening from the nightmare my shirt clinging to my chest and my head pounding. Quickly I illuminate my bedroom lamp to once again find myself drenched in blood and sweat as I'm inhaling and exhaling heavily. Rushing to the bathroom attempting to clean up and stop the bleeding I space out thinking of when the nightmares started to plague my mind.
My name is William Grimshaw I'm 23 years old and I live in a small apartment alone. I grew up with my father but I was never told much about my mother. Father had told me she just disappeared the same night that she birthed me. Anytime I asked about her he would become irritated and always try to change the subject. At one point I just stopped questioning my father. He always just wanted what was best for me so at some point I just accepted it and moved on. He worked when I was younger but as he got older his health started to decline and at one point the house because less inviting and more depressing caused me to move out. About a week before my father tragically died of a heart attack. I had quit my labor-intensive job out of dissatisfaction and disappointment. When he passed I was given a strange skull token and a small some of the money. Strangely no one showed up to his funeral that following Saturday much to my disappointment.
When I thought more about him I recalled something strange. Never once did I see him leave the house or talk to anyone other than me. I tried to recall him having friends or even maybe being happy. when the time came and I thought about it I realized the truth. He was an unhappy, antisocial hermit and I never really tried to get to know him because he was disinterested in anything around him.
Shortly after his passing, the dreams started. At first, it wasn't that bad just slightly unsettling. Quickly they evolved and have progressively gotten more and more horrifying. It's caused me to hear voices at night and see things that shouldn't exist. Last week I started to get the side effects like bloody noses and migraines. The dreams always have been similar and now it's become the same one on repeat. At first, I was just drowning in the darkness but now some type of monster has appeared in the abyss getting closer and more visible with each dream. I thot something bad was happening to me so I decided to get a check-up from my doctor but it was to no avail. I didn't know what to do so I decided to try religion. I tried to talk to a Catholic priest last week. His eyes turned as dark as the abyss and he began to speak with a raspy voice. He said that I'm "sinful trash" and "soon the darkness will consume me!" When I asked him what he was talking about. He just looked at me like I'm a lunatic and said he had no idea what I was referring to, then proceeded to call me a lunatic and had me removed from the church... After that, I stopped going outside. I could hear voices all the time. When focusing on the voices it sounds like the screaming and crying of unknown people in torment. When I tried asking some other people for help they claimed that I'm "insane" or kept acting like I was joking around or lying for attention. Recently I have started to see things more clearly in the darkness some looked like tall skinny humanoid creatures but others were so horrific that I couldn't help but look away in terror. Today however is a day I can't stay inside I'm all out of money, and I have a job interview. "If I pretend they don't exist maybe I can still live my life," I say in desperation to gain the courage to survive. Either way, I need to make money to gain any possible scrap of salvation in the world. Sadly I have no idea what awaits me outside my door.
After walking a few blocks towards my job interview I start to hear heavy footsteps behind me. Looking back there is nothing visible so I quickly turn back and walk faster. Suddenly it starts to rain just as I start to curse the gods I pass a glass window of a building. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see something dreadful watching me. Turning to look at the reflection I see a slim and tall Shadowy entity. It's across the street smirking at me. I quickly turn and as I start to walk swiftly to my interview trying my best to not think about it. A voice whispers in a dark and intense voice seemingly right into my ear "Can You See Me?" I panic as I hear the voice before suddenly relinquishing the idea of trying to get employment and commence the sprinting away strategy. Thinking that I might have a miserable chance to get away as I'm dreaming it won't follow after me.
A pale skinny man in his early twenties with wet brown hair is sprinting full speed through a damp and gloomy alley. His tired stride splished and splashed the standing puddles from the heavy downpour. In his hand, a black and gold token with a skull on one face and two crossed scythes on the other shimmering in the dim light. As the man is moving through the alley and is about exit to a busy street he loses all hope for safety. He's taken off his feet and is thrown back into the alley by what looks to be black and purple barbed chains. Before getting the chance to scream from the pain of the barbed chains tearing into his flesh he's quickly flung to the cold and wet concrete, breaking some ribs and causing the injured man to tumble and skip like a rock on a lake. Crashing into a dumpster headfirst splitting his skull like a melon as the token slips from his hand to the wet ground. The young man struggles to stay awake as his vision turns fuzzy and ears continue ringing like a deaf old man with tinnitus. However the struggles last only for a short time as quickly he blacks out face down in a pool of his blood. Anyone looking into the muggy alley would see only a corpse of a young man in old black drenched clothing and a thin black shadow with glowing red eyes slowly walking back into the darkness in the alley. Quickly it blends into the shadows. Just before leaving it takes one last look at the man, smiles with its sharp blackened teeth then fades into the inky Darkness as if it was an illusion. Not long after the man's life slips away alone in the alley. As blood slowly spreads from the pool around the body some manage to touch the token. Then almost as if it never existed it vanishes into thin air...
I awaken in a pitch-black space. Within the inky abyss, I can't feel anything except the cold embrace of darkness. As I try to lift my hands I realize I can't feel my body. Ah, I must be dreaming again...
[This is not a dream.] A deep scratchy voice says inside my head.
Who's talking to me?
[That's not important for now. You're not safe that thing is coming for you...]
What am I supposed to do about that last time I checked I'm dead.
[I shall make you an offer. I'll send you to a random world and bring you back to life but I need something from you in return...]
And what would that be? It better not be for you using me as a vessel to live again or some cheap shit like that.
[No... I'll call on you once the time is right for now we don't have time so you will owe me something later If we stay here any longer you won't get a choice other than death.]
Fine I accept, anything is better than what awaits in this void.
[Very Good...]
Quickly my vision turns from the black Void to blinding white light as I feel my body pulled from the dark abyss and sent towards a new place...
Inside the dark void 6 glowing red eyes become visible and the space becomes unstable as inky tendrils writhe in the darkness. The horrific creature looks around with its shimmering shifty crimson eyes before withdrawing to the darkness returning to its slumber.