3rd of Autumn 515AV, Karin's Home
The girl was laughing. Her hair was drawn back in platinum pigtails, and the waters around the boat were busy with her friends. She could hear seagulls. The sunshine was bright, and her friend, she couldn't remember her name, was dunking her underwater playfully. "Say no, say no," the girl was saying in a singsong manner. "Come play with me!" The pair swam together, and in the water were schools of fish, but a darkness fell over the sky, and the girl felt a pair of cold hands enclosing around her chest. "It's time to go Karin." The girl was lifted out of the water, and darkness fell, with storms and rain and horrible shadows lurking in the darkness and−
Karin woke with a start, a sheen of cool sweat glazing her brow. It was early morning, probably not even past the fourth bell. Outside, the darkness was complete. The girl propped herself up on her elbows, rubbing her eyes with a large but quiet yawn. What a weird dream. Although... I can't properly remember it. Hmm. She wasn't a very heavy sleeper, so having woken up at such an early hour meant that she was likely to stay awake, even if she wanted to go back to sleep. She flopped back down onto her bed sheets, vaguely noting the cool damp of the sheets, soaked as they were.
She'd been tossing and turning whilst she was slumbering, and the sheets were tied around her legs, so she untangled herself with a sigh. With the sheets settled once more around her, she rather unenthusiastically tried to snuggle back down into bed, but sleep suddenly felt rather unappealing. There was something about the dream she'd woken up with that lingered on her, and didn't exactly encourage sweet dreams. The girl shuddered a little. The sheets were now too cool against her too warm body, so she took them off completely, stretching her arms above her head before curling up on her side to get comfy and warm again.
And it was only then as she switched to lie on her side, that she saw the shadow on the wall. She stopped breathing in shock. There's... a person, somewhere. Her dark eyes were open wide, sleep all but forgotten as she watched. The shadow was flat against the wall, and it was lurking almost ominously over her parent's bed. As she watched, the shadow drifted slightly to the left. The girl of course automatically went to look through the window, standing on her bed and peering through the grimy panes.
But there was no-one out there. Which just made everything worse, because it just meant that there was a person inside the house. Even though she'd be able to see one if there was. Ack! Karin felt a little spooked. She didn't even think that it could be one of Alvadas's illusions. She'd had a few weird ones that had entered the house in the past, flowers growing out the ceiling and all the spoons turning to putty were a few notable examples, but they happened so infrequently that she didn't suspect it in this instance. Her mind flashed through all manner of the arcane and eldritch, ghosts and Zith and all the creepy-crawlies that she'd been scared of in her youth. But she dismissed them quickly, knowing that as she was older now, these kinds of things weren't supposed to be scary, at least not in this capacity.
Cautiously she watched as the vaguely human shaped shadow stretched out across the wall, and drifted up towards the ceiling. She partially closed her eyes and tried to look at the thing sideways through slitted eyes. It didn't appear to notice where it was. So she waved a little cautiously still, and waited to see if anything would happen.
The girl was laughing. Her hair was drawn back in platinum pigtails, and the waters around the boat were busy with her friends. She could hear seagulls. The sunshine was bright, and her friend, she couldn't remember her name, was dunking her underwater playfully. "Say no, say no," the girl was saying in a singsong manner. "Come play with me!" The pair swam together, and in the water were schools of fish, but a darkness fell over the sky, and the girl felt a pair of cold hands enclosing around her chest. "It's time to go Karin." The girl was lifted out of the water, and darkness fell, with storms and rain and horrible shadows lurking in the darkness and−
Karin woke with a start, a sheen of cool sweat glazing her brow. It was early morning, probably not even past the fourth bell. Outside, the darkness was complete. The girl propped herself up on her elbows, rubbing her eyes with a large but quiet yawn. What a weird dream. Although... I can't properly remember it. Hmm. She wasn't a very heavy sleeper, so having woken up at such an early hour meant that she was likely to stay awake, even if she wanted to go back to sleep. She flopped back down onto her bed sheets, vaguely noting the cool damp of the sheets, soaked as they were.
She'd been tossing and turning whilst she was slumbering, and the sheets were tied around her legs, so she untangled herself with a sigh. With the sheets settled once more around her, she rather unenthusiastically tried to snuggle back down into bed, but sleep suddenly felt rather unappealing. There was something about the dream she'd woken up with that lingered on her, and didn't exactly encourage sweet dreams. The girl shuddered a little. The sheets were now too cool against her too warm body, so she took them off completely, stretching her arms above her head before curling up on her side to get comfy and warm again.
And it was only then as she switched to lie on her side, that she saw the shadow on the wall. She stopped breathing in shock. There's... a person, somewhere. Her dark eyes were open wide, sleep all but forgotten as she watched. The shadow was flat against the wall, and it was lurking almost ominously over her parent's bed. As she watched, the shadow drifted slightly to the left. The girl of course automatically went to look through the window, standing on her bed and peering through the grimy panes.
But there was no-one out there. Which just made everything worse, because it just meant that there was a person inside the house. Even though she'd be able to see one if there was. Ack! Karin felt a little spooked. She didn't even think that it could be one of Alvadas's illusions. She'd had a few weird ones that had entered the house in the past, flowers growing out the ceiling and all the spoons turning to putty were a few notable examples, but they happened so infrequently that she didn't suspect it in this instance. Her mind flashed through all manner of the arcane and eldritch, ghosts and Zith and all the creepy-crawlies that she'd been scared of in her youth. But she dismissed them quickly, knowing that as she was older now, these kinds of things weren't supposed to be scary, at least not in this capacity.
Cautiously she watched as the vaguely human shaped shadow stretched out across the wall, and drifted up towards the ceiling. She partially closed her eyes and tried to look at the thing sideways through slitted eyes. It didn't appear to notice where it was. So she waved a little cautiously still, and waited to see if anything would happen.