1:11 AM: NIGHTMARE

[goosemods]

EVERY SENIOR ON CAMPUS...

You’re falling, and it shocks you into wakefulness. Except you’re still in your bed, you haven't moved, but your heart beating too fast. It's making you feel feverish, both sluggish and anxious, alcohol and caffeine. All you can recall from the nightmare is a scream, but it wasn’t from a human. It was deep, anguished, and indescribable. Trying to call it back to your mind only feeds the panic.

You’re not alone. You can hear your roommates stirring, and your familiar is wide awake with you, agitated and frightened. There’s static in the air, making you nauseous. You want to cry, maybe you do cry. The feeling sticks to you either way, like a film you can’t wash off.

This feeling slowly recedes as the sound of rain picks up outside. A drizzle at first, then a downpour.

HOW THIS WORKS

• This takes place at 1:11 AM, 6/22, but we’re posting it early so you can write some scenes.


• Only seniors experience the nightmare. Congratulations on winning the water balloon fight!


• Seniors haunted by the uneasy feeling that something is very wrong, but they don’t know what. Falling back asleep will be difficult, but the panic does wear off within a minute or so. They may feel prone to nausea and/or crying, though.


• A rainstorm begins and lasts until mid-morning the next day.


• Animals all across campus are agitated and frightened, so younger years might be woken up if they sleep with their pet. Younger years won’t get the supernatural sense something is amiss, but wow Fluffy sure is upset.

» IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT: You're awoken by a nightmare, or by an upset animal.

» OOC - Discussion

Comments

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[casperkim]

Like the others, Casper comes out of the dream still disoriented and sweating and hearing the fading sound of that scream. He sits up in bed, pulling in ragged breathes as he forces himself to stop trembling and tries to will his eyes to adjust to the dark. He can hear the others moving restlessly and the familiars stirring. He can hear the distinct hiss as Nell attempts to play dead in her enclosure, something that she only does when she's afraid. "Fuck," he mutters, touching his face and pushing his unkempt hair back before he finally begins to climb down from his bunk.

Almost immediately, though, he realizes that there's another figure moving in the dark. Climbing down the ladder, going to the terrarium near Ulysses' bed, removing Rex. And heading for the door. He still hasn't fully regained his composure and he still doesn't understand what's going on, but that doesn't mean that he can't put this together. He moves to intercept the other boy, stepping between him and the door and snapping, "What the fuck are you doing?" Ulysses Quayle isn't getting by him.

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[ulixes]

Ulysses' eyes dart between the prefect and the door, not quite focused and still overflowing. He's not going to put up much of a fight here — truth is, he doesn't know what he's doing. This is one part animal instinct and one part the half-formed memory of a time when 'outside' felt safer. "I-I," he stutters.

"I was just..." Ulysses trails off. He looks down at Rex, now pressed up against him, and gently strokes the top of his head. Maybe if he doesn't look up, y'all won't notice he's been crying. "Never mind."

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[gonnabefamous]

Cameron wakes to the feeling of falling, flailing his arms in front of himself as if to catch the ground. He feels like he can't move and he can't not move. His first thought is the aftermath of a hard night of partying, but this is all a sticky, awful feeling he can't shake, no shadow of a fun evening. It makes his heart stutter in his chest. Maybe he's having a heart attack. Is he dying? Is this what dying feels like? He can hear Elvis hissing. There are voices and movement. He moves toward the sound, desperate to be closer to his friends, for someone to hold him and tell him it's okay and...

And he doesn't account for sleeping in a bunk. He rolls out of his bed, falling for the second time in one night, and hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[iliya]

Iliya moves Yo-Yo onto his shoulder, and is on the ladder when he hears the confrontation(?) between Ulysses and Casper, and the sudden crash in the corner. "Cameron?!" Iliya hits the ground, and takes two steps to see Cameron lying on the floor.

"Kakvo, po dyavolite, stava?" Iliya mutters, kneeling down beside him. He holds his hands out to Cameron, to help him up. "Did you...?" He looks over his shoulder to their other roommates, and frowns. "Something is wrong. I had a... nightmare."

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[casperkim]

While Casper can't see Ulysses' wet eyes, not when the room is dark and the other boy's head is lowered, he can hear the tears in his voice and the realization forces him to soften a little. He exhales a breath and shakes his head, about to speak when he hears Cameron fall out of bed and he stiffens up again, alert and clenching his jaw. Iliya's there before he can act, though, and he looks between the three boys with stern bewilderment.

Because Iliya's right. Something is wrong. He steps a bit closer to Ulysses.

"...So did I," he admits stiffly, his dark eyes falling on Iliya, "What sort of nightmare?" It feels like a ludicrous question to ask. But there it is.

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[destructobot]

"A scream," mumbles Wilde in an interruption, from atop his bed. "I dreamed about... It was a scream." Somehow it's difficult to say out loud. Even thinking the word makes him want to cry.

He goes quiet again then, returning to fussing over the ball of hedgehog spikes in his cupped hands. Sid won't uncurl for anything. It's setting him on edge. He can't even remember falling asleep, and his eyes feel like cotton balls.

He slips the little animal into the pocket of his hoodie, then stands up in the darkness. It doesn't make anything feel better.

Ebonhide Senior Boys

[gonnabefamous]

Cameron pushes himself first to all fours, then to his knees with Iliya's help. He touches a shaking hand to his mouth, feeling even more light headed as he watches his fingertips come away bloody. He's got to get it together, though. Elvis is still making distressed noises in his bunk, Ulysses and Casper are doing something, and everyone is up and moving around. This is no time for fainting. He quickly wipes his hand on his pajama pants and sucks his busted lip into his mouth, tasting copper.

"That wasn't a nightmare," he says, shaking his head. "We all.. felt that. Jesus. That scream..." Trying to remember it makes his heart pound and his eyes well up. He squeezes Iliya's hand, then gets to his feet. "Are we... is everyone okay?"