-=Reflections=-

The first thing that I noticed was the unnatural stillness to the air. The seeming calm that laid over every aspect of existence at that precise moment felt more surreal than I had ever imagined anything could. Though I could feel the strength pouring from my body, I couldn’t help but pause to think how beautiful the world looked around me. However, before I get into that, I believe it is more practical to start at the beginning. I ask only that you endure my ranting for a few moments longer as I take you on a journey through my past. Let us start with where it all began.

***

It was April first when it all started which, I’m sure you can imagine, made it all very hard to believe. I awoke from my dreams with the feeling that I had been watched while I slept, as if someone was in my room staring at me. I remember feeling my heart racing in my chest as I searched for my hidden observer. The fear of someone actually being there seemed less terrifying than the fear of having imagined it. I’ve lived my entire life staying in control of all situations around me, and most of all in control of myself. The very thought that I may have allowed my subconscious to slip and revive my childhood memories terrified me. I realize now that what I truly had to fear was the future, not the present.
I got out of bed and began to look around for something, anything, that would make it seem more real. Any single clue that would allow me to believe that it wasn’t irrational.  Deep down I knew that there had to be a pattern lying below the surface of this surreal situation, yet all I could find was an empty room. It felt as if I had been looking around for at least five minutes before I noticed the single most important thing that I have ever noticed in my entire life.
I paused for a moment in my search to wipe the sweat from my brow and saw something out of the corner of my eye.  As hard as it was to imagine, there was now someone laying in the exact spot which I had been sleeping in just a few moments ago. Thoughts seemed to slip from my mind as I tried to fathom the possibility of someone having crept past me as I frantically searched the room. My mind was racing as I held my breath in anticipation of words I thought had to come. Obviously the person should have noticed that I saw them laying there, but I still could not bring myself to turn and face them. The sound of their breathing was the only thing that penetrated the silence, deep breathes were setting a rhythmic tone to the otherwise still atmosphere of the room. After a minute had passed, and still no words came, I found within me the courage to face my unknown stalker and turned slowly towards them. Though I understand what I saw now, at that moment my mind could not comprehend the impossible situation that it was presented with. All my years of training my mind to be disciplined and dedicated to the cold hard truth of realty seemed wasted by this single moment of illusion. The moment of panic passed and my rational mind took over. I began to search the room once again, but this time I was looking for a mechanical device that could be projecting this image on my bed. I searched for nearly an hour, unable to believe what was happening. The back of my mind screamed that it had to be some sort of sophisticated April fools joke. In the end, I had no choice but to accept what I was seeing. As unlikely, and as completely unbelievable as the situation was, I found myself staring at my own sleeping body…

***

Days passed, and time slipped through my fingers. My recollections of those first few nights after I found myself sleeping in front of me seem faded at best.  The world around me seemed to be nothing more than a small reflection of the reality I knew. Objects exist in this reflection of the world, but they seem to move about of their own accord, as if the people using them just aren’t visible here. I spent many nights wandering the cold lonely streets, unaware of exactly what had befallen me. It feels as if any descriptions I could give of those fateful events would be completely inadequate if you hadn’t experienced them yourselves.
An entire week had passed before I was to meet another like me and learn what I had become. The term Lucid was as alien to me as this world was when I first learnt of it. I have since come to know the term Lucid well, and embrace the fact with open arms that a Lucid is what I had become. My mentor taught me the greater finesse of walking the real world to know those whose dreams I would share. He taught me how to weave the aspects of the dreams together in ways I never would have thought of on my own. Over time, I came to understand my powers, and also to understand my purpose. I lived to save myself and others against the ones who walk among us, not for who they were, but for what they did. As I leave these writing in the reflection only, I know that you, who are reading this now, are as I am, a Lucid. I hope you have been around long enough to realize what you are and what your purpose is, though I have learned over the years that very few know why we exist. It is for the later, those who wonder, that I am writing this.
At the start of the particular event that caused the necessity of writing this letter, I found myself sharing the dream of one of my favorite individuals. I had been watching this person and sharing in their dreams for a few weeks before this particular night, but upon entering into their dream I knew immediately that something was different this time. The dream seemed as if it was losing sustenance, not in the way that we share in their dreams, but as if something was eating the dream itself. Instinctively, I began to fight off this unwanted presence, but it seems to me as if I barely left the dream in time to keep what life I have. Upon leaving, I immediately crossed into the real world, leaving the safety of the reflection behind me. What I encountered there will be enough to haunt our kind from now till the end of days.
Standing before me was something that I am sure must have at one point been a lucid, but now was no more than a walking hunger for dreams. This creature, though it looked like a man I feel I cannot call it one, seemed to have eaten the poor soul’s capability to dream itself. The battle that ensued could never be recorded with mere written word, for the feats this creature was capable of are almost indescribable. This beast of a lucid seemed to have developed a control over the aspects that even my mentor would be hard pressed to achieve. Battles of our kind have always, in my opinion, been more brutal than any non-lucid could fathom, but the conflict that night seemed to tear holes in the fabric of reality itself. I feel our only chance of survival rests in the fact that the creature seems incapable of crossing into the reflection.
I apologize for my lack of eloquence in this dissertation but as circumstances dictate my time is short and I may not live for much longer. Beware those who gorge themselves on the dreams of men. If this is found, then I have died in my attempts to subdue the creature. Do not suffer a Gorger to live. Let my memory serve as guidance to those that come after. I leave you with this warning!
                        Jonathan Kienski  -  First Defender