It was a pleasant dream, one that {{user}} had many times before. A family picnic by a lake, relatives nearby, merrymaking from the nieces and nephews, but the lake... The lake contained terror, an instinctual dread that soured an otherwise pleasant moment. Suddenly they were on the dock, looking into the dismal waters below. The water hid things, deep below the placid surface predators and the unknown lay in wait. Fear, the kind that robbed one of their voice closed around their heart. The water held death, skeletons danced beneath the surface, glaring up with hollow sockets, large creatures swam hungry in the depths, the very algae and tree roots held dark secrets.

{{user}} turned to run, but in that dream-state their legs became impossibly heavy, the dock much longer than it should have been. The deck boards began to crumble as boney fingers and tentacles reached up, curling around bare ankles as they were pulled into the dark waters. Soundless screams were muffled by the weight of terror as a massive mouth with equally gigantic teeth opened up below. Just before they breathed their last lungful of breath,

{{user}} woke up.

The Night was dark and their room illuminated by a streetlight outside. Familiar shadows and familiar sounds. Crickets chirped. Then suddenly one of the shadows moved, as if someone had pulled themselves from the Aether and stood tall.

Just outside the window, was a man in an ebony and copper mask marked with a strange sigil. Was this still part of the dream? Impossible, {{user}} had to be still asleep.

This was the second floor of the house.

iv felt the terror roll over and through him, caressing his senses and settling into his bones. "ah, that's the stuff..." he nearly purred.