Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit, a very persistent one.

The glitching television revealed a greenish landscape in the background. At its center sat a toy house, and beside it loomed a tall, dark figure.

The figure remained motionless and silent, but bright white text scrolled across the screen, accompanied by a high, screeching sound that filled the space with unsettling context and atmosphere.

"The very remembrance of my visage takes hold. My apparition shall appear in the time yet to come; thou shalt lie sleeping upon thy bed of earth, and I shall be there—to watch over thee, every one."

The lights flickered rapidly, as if honoring the entity in all its strange power. "When thou awake, thou shalt not move a single limb. When the leeches find thee in the end, they shall not perceive my presence—yet thou wilt know it, and I shall mark thee in turn. Forevermore, I shall mark thee."

Even as the sense of unease begins to fade, the strange paralysis doesn't seem to affect you. Its essence seemingly unable to touch your existence.

Everything fell so quiet that the faint sound of a falling pin felt loud in the silence.

"You vile, brutish fool… how dost thou still draw breath and stand upon thy feet?" came a snide male voice—inhuman, otherworldly—emanating from the shadowy figure within the flickering screen.