text: So This is a story about one of my very lucid dreams. I am currently converting my dream journal into short stories, but from a characters points of view instead of my own. So here is my first entry: Recently I find myself living on the street. When just a few weeks ago I was an aspiring artist selling my work for a living wage. However, in just the past few days my eyesight has completely deteriorated. Doctors told me they could not help me. It was inevitable. So now, I sit on the streets, selling art that I cannot even see for myself just to scrape by. Once I ran out of paintings to sell, I had nothing left, and nowhere to spend the cash. At this point, I had given up on life, I began wandering aimlessly through the streets getting help from strangers and sleeping wherever I could, until one day when walking down a long alley I bumped into a man. “I am so sorry!” I exclaimed as I bumped into someone. “You are quite alright” a man’s voice responded. "You poor thing, are you ok? Do you need a place to stay?" his voice was deep yet soft, it brought much comfort to me. “I am blind... I don’t have anywhere to go,” I responded. “Well now, I can take care of you.” His voice sounded sincere and true. I was at such a low point in life what was I to do with an offer like this? Someone willing to take care of me; help me get back on my feet? On the other hand, multiple scenarios played out in my head, was it all a trick to lure a poor blind man away just to be murdered? A few seconds of silence passed before I finally replied. “I would like that.” “Then no time to waste, we have places to be!” he exclaimed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, he felt rather bony. He led me further down the alley before stopping. “The car door is in front of you, be careful not to hit your head.” I cautiously opened the car door and entered. Upon opening the door, a wave of new car smell hit me. As I sat down, I felt that the seats were made of leather. The car from what I could feel and smell was very nice. The man entered shortly after and began to drive. “What should I call you Mr.?” I asked the driver. “I don’t really go by a name... I do not have one... I guess you can call me J.” his answer was rather odd. In addition, it seemed like it took him a second to come up with the name J. Did this man really go by no name? “Well since we are using initials as names you can call me T” I crossed my arms and leaned back in the seat. “Only a few more minutes and we will be there.” His voice sounded excited, but I still felt anxious about it all. Later we finally arrived. J exited the car and opened the door for me. I stepped out and he grabbed my shoulder. “Let me show you the way. We have quite a lot of stairs in and around the house. Wouldn’t want you to trip and fall.” He carefully walked me towards a staircase leading towards the house. I felt each step with my feet and once I was comfortable began ascending. We reached the front door and I finally entered his home. “Obviously you can’t see, but if you haven’t put the pieces together I am a rather rich man. In this house, I have 26 bedrooms but no one to enjoy it with. I do hope we can become better acquainted in due time.” His voice was sincere. “I hope so too,” I responded smiling. After a short discussion, J led me around the entire Mansion. Allowing me to feel the walls, marble flooring, and the most expensive of furniture. Some rooms were so large I heard a faint echo with every word. After a few days, I had a map of the entire mansion in my head. I knew where every staircase was and which ways were shortcuts throughout the house. Many days I found myself walking throughout the house looking for something new. In addition, talking to J when I felt lonely. From then on, J had taken the responsibility of taking care of me and getting me back on my feet. In just a few days, the Man had begun to teach me braille, and how to live a normal life. This coincidence of chance was life-changing and amazing, but there was something wrong about all of it... the Man had never told me his real name, or any name at all, and refused to do so. "I have no name," he would tell me every time I asked. I grew frustrated with his repeated answer and eventually stopped asking him about it altogether. Besides his odd answers, everything in my life seemed to be falling into place. It was almost like a dream that I could not wake up from. I was perfectly content with my new living situation besides one small odd occurrence. Late one night I awoke to a peculiar sound. It sounded as if something was ripping, or being squished. It was a gross combination of wet sounds that made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I finally rose out of bed and went looking for the source of the sound. It sounded as if it were heading from the main living space near the kitchen. I walked down the stairs and reached the bottom in front of the living room. “What are you doing awake?” J’s voice pierced through the silence and squishing sounds. His voice alarmed me at first but I was quickly relieved. “Oh, it’s just you J. What is that gross sound I keep hearing?” “It’s just the rain. It's making quite a racket tonight isn’t it?” I heard him stand up from where he was sitting and he approached me. He caressed my face with his hand. Parts of his fingers were damp and the wet touch caused me to retract and quickly wipe my face. “I am sorry. My hands have not dried from the dishes I recently finished. Why don’t you just go back to bed?” his calm soothing voice had relaxed me. My fear of the sounds seemed to vanish now. “Alright, talk to you tomorrow” I walked back up the stairs and went to my room. As I closed the door, the gross sounds continued. I ignored them as best as I could and went to sleep. This strange occurrence happened frequently over the course of a few weeks. The odd gross wet sounds in the night echoing through the halls sometimes waking me in my sleep. If the sounds did wake me, I would cover my ears and roll back to sleep. That was until one particular night. I woke up to the wet sounds once again late in the night. I looked around my bedroom and blinked a few times. I then realized I could see. I could actually see the room I was in and everything around me. My heart leaped with joy. Somehow my eyesight had returned to me, but I was not about to question it. I quickly began to affiliate everything I have touched with what it actually looked like. I began touring the mansion once again with a new stride. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Marble pillars branched upwards holding the ceiling. “Just how rich was this guy?” I muttered to myself. After touring the glamourous mansion my attention went back to the terrible squishing sound. This time I was going to figure out the cause of it. I walked to the center staircase and began descending. As I neared the end of the staircase the sound, grow monstrously loud. I quickly jumped down to the last step of the staircase to finally see what was making the sounds. I was swiftly taken back by what I witnessed. A few feet in front of me was this large skinny naked figure with its back towards me. It was hunched over rising and lowering itself with each breathe it took, but even then, it still seemed six or so feet tall. Its skin was dark and leathery. Its skin gripped its body tightly revealing its bone structure, which was very humanoid. Through certain parts of its body, thick long spikes protruded from its bones. Down its spine, it was ribbed with 6” black spikes sticking out every other bone leading all the way to its tailbone. These spikes were also protruding from its elbows. It was hunched over a pile of red goo which I quickly figured out it was in fact blood. I stood there frozen trying to process what I was even looking at. Was this all a nightmare I was having or was this some kind of otherworldly being in the house? Suddenly the thing stood up. It had to be almost 8 feet tall or so now. Its arms reached past its knees and its fingers were much too long to be natural. This entire “thing’ wasn’t natural. In its mouth was a hunk of flesh and in the pile of blood was patches of fur and flesh. Cats it seemed like and who knows what else it was eating. With one long-clawed hand, it grabbed an end of the fresh flesh and ripped it with its jaw and claws. It made the terrible squishing wet sounds. I had been hearing this sound for weeks and now I knew the source of it all, this Thing. It turned directly toward me now. “T, what are you doing out of bed?” its voice was deep and smooth. Then it all came together. This “thing” in front of me was J. the man who had taken me in and took care of me for weeks. What was this thing and what did it intend to do with me? Was this in fact the same man who I had been living with? When it spoke to me, my heart dropped. Was he going to kill me now that I have seen what it actually was? I stood there in silence for a while trying to collect my thoughts and calm down. “Is something wrong?” it asked me calmly. His mouth did not move as he spoke. The voice just seemed to emanate somewhere from it. As I stood frozen, I began to see its face. Its eyes were none existent. Instead of eyes, it seemed to have a sunken impression where eyes should be, but skin grew over them leaving skeletal sockets. Its jaw then began to hang. It began to hang lower and lower. It extended as far as its chest and drooped unnaturally. It had rows and rows of sharp long teeth that looked almost like needles. With a few teeth in the front being much larger and thicker than the rest. I looked to the floor and tried to come up with something to say or even the slightest of mental strength to even speak. Then I remembered something. It still thinks that I am blind. Maybe I can use this to my advantage, I thought to myself. I pulled myself together as quickly as I could and responded. “I had a hard time getting to sleep... I kept hearing those weird sounds again...” I tried to focus on what I was looking at. I didn’t want to give him the slightest impression that I could see what was happening. He then got on all fours and began crawling to me. My body completely tensed up and I tried to leave my eyes focused on one central point. So that I would not scream. Its hand extended towards my face and caressed it. Blood streaked across my face as he did it. I pulled back to the wet touch. “Oops, I’m sorry; I forgot to dry my hands after dishes again.” It began to laugh and as it did; its jaw dropped lower and lower almost hitting the floor now. Its breathe then began to reach my nostrils. It smelled of rot and iron. Like a handful of old pennies mixed with decay. Its face then loomed closer. Was it on to me? Had it figured out I could see its monstrous form? “Go back to sleep.” His voice sounded very deep as he guttered the words. Its long hand reached back and gripped another piece of flesh. It brought it to his mouth and began ripping the flesh apart. Small spatters of blood sprayed across the room some even hitting my cheek. “It’s just the rain!” he laughed again, this time almost hysterically. The human quality of his voice almost seemed none existent as he said it this time. It sounded like something words cannot possibly describe. A sound that should not exist in this world. “I’m going to bed now!” my body forced the words out of me. The thing then turned and looked directly at me with its sunken eyes and terrifying mouth. It smiled a smile so sinister it shook my soul. It stretched far and long creating something horror stories could have only conceived. With the final bit of will power I had left, I turned around and ascended the staircase. I could hear the splatters and squishes continuing behind me. As soon as I reached the top of the staircase and turned the corner, I ran for my life. Tears were rolling down my face as I ran for the exit. I escaped with my life and quickly called authorities. I was later informed that the police found no one in the house. The only damning evidence there were pools of blood and flesh belonging to many things. People, cats, rodents, and other assorted animals. The police found the house under no one’s name, and there was no vehicle to find whatsoever. The house technically should not have even existed at all come to find out. There was no address for it, or permit for building the home. The entire situation was clouded in mystery. Besides determining whom the victims were who were mutilated and eaten, the case was closed and nothing was ever brought about from it. By the end of it, nothing made any sense and nothing could rationalize what I saw and experienced. I still do not know why J had taken me in to take care of me. On the other hand, how could a creature like that have a car, house, and luxurious life like the one it had. When I look back at the times I spent with J, none of it seems to make sense. What exactly was going on the entire time that I could not see? I doubt my encounter with the thing at the staircase was the only monstrous act it was committing while I was under its roof. What did it intend to do with me? Did I have some kind of purpose for being there? Was there some alternative goal that I do not know about? Today I am going to find more answers. I have everything packed and ready and I have weapons with me. For if I am to encounter J again I will be ready to fight back. I am going back to the house, and I am going to get answers.