<span style="font-style: italic">The horrid structure of the old Asylum loomed over him as he ran along the path leading up to the gates as fast as he could. It was a path he has come to know very well, sort of like an unwanted friend. His heart was pounding in his chest, adrenaline flowing through his very being, his legs working to carry him as fast as possible while he desperately tried to get away from his pursuers. It was not clear who was after him but he knew that if they caught him, they would kill him, he had to get away from them. He felt like he was flying through these woods; the feeling was something familiar. Rather than spend time thinking about it he just kept going until he reached a gate. There was someone on the other side of the gate, watching him with a cruel smile as he called out to them. <br/><br/>â€œSorry,â€ the figure, unable to be determined as male or female, its voice distorted, â€œwe do not allow monsters to come through here.â€ Shortly after it had spoken, the figure let out a chilling and everything turned dark.<br/><br/>The footsteps were getting louder and he heard murmurs behind him; <span style="font-weight: bold">â€˜kill the monsterâ€™</span> they were saying over and over. He held his head and groaned, feeling the urge to cry out, the mocking chant rang in his ears, driving him crazy. He needed to get to that Asylum. Something told him he would be safe there, away from these horrid figures that shunned him. He shook the gate violently, praying that the figure unlocked it for him this time. Desperately wanting to get away he backed away from the gate and looked at the tall fence keeping him from reaching the Asylum. After taking a few steps back, he took a running start and leaped onto the bars, hanging on for dear life. He used all of his strength to pull himself up. Just as he was about to swing his leg over, something grabbed his ankle and, with inhuman strength, pulled him to the groundâ€¦</span><br/><br/>----------<br/><br/>The moment everything faded to black Isaac woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. His heart pounded in his chest so hard he wondered if it would fly out of his chest. Closing his eyes again he started to repeat to himself that it had only been a dream in order to restore any amount of lost sanity.<br/><br/>When he finally gathered the energy to get out of bed he went into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. His hands were shaking and he had a pounding headache, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. For the past few weeks, he has had that exact same nightmare every single night and it was really beginning to take its toll on him. He filled the cup sitting on the sink with cool water and then fished around the cabinet for his medication. Shaking the bottle, he made a mental note to stop by the pharmacy and refill his prescription. Tilting his head back slightly, both medication and water were downed like he was taking shots of alcohol. It didnâ€™t do anything to help his headache but the cold water really felt nice. He wasnâ€™t sure if he would ever get use to these nightmares.<br/><br/>Everything seemed perfectly fine when he had first moved to Shallow Springs everything seemed perfectly fine and he was happy with his life. He didnâ€™t know how or why these nightmares began and he wasnâ€™t even sure he wanted to get to the bottom of it. What if this town was actually cursed and he would never find solace? At one point he had thought of speaking to a shrink about it, but decided not to at the last minute. He really didnâ€™t trust shrinks. In his experience doing things on his own was the best way to go. He has changed a lot since he moved here, for once he was happy. Though it was hard to control his urge to feed from time to time he still managed to fit in with this town somewhat and even had a job that paid him well enough to keep a roof over his head.<br/><br/>Speaking of work he noticed that he was going to be late once again. That seemed to be happening more and more since these nightmares began. While he was in the bathroom Isaac took a cool shower and then got quickly dressed in his work uniform, heading out into the kitchen to brew some coffee like any other good citizen. At first he didnâ€™t have much of a fondness for coffee. He sort of drank it to stay awake late at work one night, and since then he has been in love with it. His preference, he had concluded after trying it several different ways, was black, with a small amount of milk. He decided that a bagel would suffice for something to eat on the go, grabbed his keys off the hook, checked his phone for any missed calls, and smoked a cigarette on the way to his car.<br/><br/>Isaac arrived at work about five minutes late.<br/><br/>After apologizing to his boss he got to work straight away. Having an early shift had its advantages; it was quit and he didnâ€™t have to deal with the usual riff raff that showed up during the afternoon. As odd as it sounded Isaac really liked what he did here, stocking shelves, he was able to keep out of anyoneâ€™s way and live in a live and let live world. This morning there only seemed to be a few teenagers around, which was not an uncommon sight for the morning: a girl seemed to be taking her dear time wandering around while the other two, some boys, were staring at her. He had caught himself staring at her as well. For some reason he felt a connection with that young lady but he didnâ€™t think about it too much. He looked away, going back to focusing on what he was doing.