Eli didn't know how long it had taken to regain his bearings as he panted in the dirt, pulse racing and afraid to move as his gaze scanned the treeline for the horror that had pursued him through the forest. But nothing ever came charging out of those trees as he expected, no beast out for his blood as he'd imagined while running for his life. Still convinced he was dreaming, Eli lifted a scuffed palm, expecting the scrapes from his fall to be long gone. However, as he dug a small pebble from the heel of his hand with a grimace, the skin still broken and stinging, he had to admit this seemed too realistic for the subconscious. Then he lifted his other palm . . . and blinked in astonishment as he found nothing. His hand was lightly calloused, as usual.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff"> <i>From working the pole</i>, </span>his mind taunted, but he dismissed the thought in exchange for puzzling over the situation at hand. He held them both in front of his face now, blinking as the scuffs had disappeared. No abrasions, no bruising at all.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">"So I <i>am</i> sleeping . . . wake up, Alice," </span>he groaned, standing and dusting off his jeans while thinking he'd much rather have fallen into a rabbit hole with talking caterpillars and tea parties than this dreary place. Anxiously he did another once-over of the perimeter and again saw nothing but darkness and fog, the atmosphere so thick he couldn't tell if it was night or day. With the warm fire crackling at his back, Eli spared a moment for the watch strapped to his wrist. Blue, Ed Hardy, the seascape face plate and crystal inlay as intricate as if this were the waking world. Even the designer's signature was spot on.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">So detailed. Is this lucid dreaming? </span></i>Then again, if he could choose what worlds to visit in his sleep, it certainly would not have been this one.<br/><br/>But the watch's hands were frozen in time, unmoving and unreliable as Eli frowned at his wrist. Curious, he searched his pockets, relief washing over him as he dug out the familiar weight of his cellphone.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff"> "Come on," </span>he mumbled to himself as he unlocked it and . . . the screen continued to remain black, only his own reflection staring back at him as he slipped it back into his jeans with a sigh. If this really was a dream, though, then rescue was unimportant, wasn't it?<br/><br/>And yet something in the back of Eli's mind insisted he wasn't asleep.<br/><br/><i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">SNAP!</span></i><br/><br/>Eli's head jerked towards the sharp sound, heartbeat quickening as once more he heard something,<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff"><i>Not that thing again!</i>,</span>tromping through the shadows, just out of sight. Panicked, he slipped behind the nearest tree.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><div class="bbImageWrapper lazyload js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deadbydaylight.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F11%2Fdbd-toplogolarge.png&amp;hash=e4556eca0e03c2e2b07347894d1154bc" title="dbd-toplogolarge.png">
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</div></div>Tunnel vision, heavy breathes, the need . . . that ever present need to kill.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000"><i>Maim! Kill!</i> Sacrifice. </span>He no longer recalled anything else. This was his only existence, his only purpose. Always had been. To please the Entity, the dark whisperer always in the back of his mind, driving him forward with black promises and demands. Torturing him into a one-track feral being completely awakened to the evil within. He'd resisted once upon a time, could vaguely remember defying the Entity's summons.<br/><br/>He certainly hadn't forgotten the punishment.<br/><br/>Would never dare to disobey again.<br/><br/>A thrill frenzied through him at the sound of his waiting trap capturing the flesh of some unfortunate soul.<i> Blood.</i>He could smell it already, even through his disfigured nostrils, even through the mask, filled with razor-like teeth that barely concealed his monstrous visage. The scent drove him wild as he made a beeline towards the sound of his victim's struggles, his machete coated in the flesh and rot of countless others, held at the ready to strike it down. Maybe it would escape the trap, but no matter. It's leg shredded and bloodied, it would limp, hide and whimper among the shadows. He would hear its cries like music, track it's blood like a visual symphony.<br/><br/>He ran through the shadows, at home in the fog as large limbs carried him much faster than his size belied. Spotting his quarry in the waning distance, heartbeat thumping and bounding like a drum as he raised the blade high and . . .<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">"Hey!" </span>He'd heard that voice before, eyes zoning in on the struggling sacrifice before him, but this was not the same one from this morning's chase. Rage filling him as the Entity chastised him for his previous failure, he was distracted by the promise of a second chance.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#0080ff">"Get to the campfire! It's safe there!"</span><br/><br/>A grunt escaped him as something light bounced off the thick muscle of his back, light and inconsequential. A rock fell to his feet. Abandoning his trap for now, he'd come back for the injured one later as he spun and scanned the trees for such a bold little thing. He recognized it, the one who'd gotten away earlier. Lunging forward with renewed bloodlust, he gave chase. The Entity's whispers grew excited in his ear as it cried out for blood, his strides gaining on the sacrifice inches at a time. This one would not escape him twice.