5.

We arrived at the wooded area, in a spot relatively close to where it is we need to be; we now just needed to make it to this cabin that Mike somehow knows about. Those with guns had their orders to fire upwards and away, the bullets may be salt filled shells of copper, but could still kill any of us should anyone find themselves in the way of a fired shot.

Organised into groups of two, each group had at least one gun with loaded salt bullets, a crucifix, holy water and a two by four with a towel wrapped one end which had been dipped in wax and set alight. I don't particularly know what the crucifixes and holy water were meant to do if all this was more than some kind of good versus bad battle that does not respond to any type of incantation but just like the salt bullets, we do have these crucifixes and holy water all the same. There is something ancient about it all. Being so new to all this as I am, who am I to question anything.

Straight away it felt as if we were dealing with a multitude of demons, due to the sheer shadow like movement which we could already observe, but then again, this couldn't even be taken as fact as one demon could give the illusion of there being many. I had accepted the fact that there was indeed more than one demon though. It is time for the battle to properly begin.

Something I had yet to consider at this point though would soon find out is that these Dream Demons can take possession of any human if they can get close enough to do so. One group of two let a large gap divide them, one had the two by four and the other had the gun. A demon possessed the one with the gun and used it to kill his partner and without hesitation Mike went on and shot the possessed man without waiting to see if the demon would leave on its own accord.

Even though this initially shocked me, I knew Mike made the right decision. He reacted without hesitation, better to be down two men than any more than that, the possessed man could easily have acted sanely only to go on to kill more of us.

Mike and I could actually see the demon leave the possessed man's body, so I took what I saw as is, not relying on hearing this second hand. Mike indeed shot at it, and my opinion of him doing so is what it is. The demon being a shadow like creature, the bullets just passed right through it, and as it flew off, Mike's shooting at it only seemed to anger it. Mike must have known that the bullets would be useless.

Those blood red demon eyes had just stared such an evil stare back towards us as if to say that this creature would come back and give us more trouble than we could handle. The speed of this thing, in the darkness of the night, killing it was not going to be easy, if it can be killed at all. It needs to feed though, and this fact gave me the confidence that maybe it can be killed and now knowing that they can possess a human also took from my confidence that we can win this battle.

We moved on and I could hear something move behind me, and when I told Mike this, he told me he couldn't hear any movement, though he'd be vigilant to it. It was at this moment when I got this sick twisted knot like feeling right in the pit of my stomach. All went quiet, far too quiet. The silence was deafening. It is like muting a television set while also taking part in what is happening on screen.

Something is definitely not right, and I think I know what it is. I am still asleep and at a moment in time where I know I should actually be awake. I can't be sure of course, as we already know it feels just as real to be in a dream world as it does to be as awake as one can be. Demons can affect visual stimuli but sound too, I'm not so sure, again though, what do I know?

When I awoke in that dark hospital room a few nights earlier, I heard that exact same silence at one point. I know or at least I thought at that moment that I was alone but though I did have the feeling that I was being watched or followed and it would be the lighting in the hallway flickering that I would first hear anything other than silence or any sound other than what I was creating.

I would indeed go on to find out at least some of the details of the situation I found myself in but there is just something about all that right here, right now. The moment of silence, standing in that wooded area almost brought me back to that first waking moment so I now knew or felt I was not really there in any sort of wooded area at all, in reaction to this ... I let out a roar.

'What is going on?' I can't hear my own words as I speak them.

What the hell is happening? It hit me. Just like when I first arrived in the virtual dream world, when I awoke after my first meeting with Keith, there were no blankets on my apparent real-world bed. There are always blankets on my bed, but each time I awoke in my own bed there were no blankets on it, but for some reason I had not taken notice of that or thought anything of it, until just now.

So, I can take it as fact that I am still dreaming. Am I in a dream world at all or maybe just some ordinary nightmare? I don't know, it all strangely enough still feels real. A demon is moving slowly past the nearby trees. Very quickly my vision becomes somewhat impaired though I can still see enough.

'You see it, don't you?'

I recognize the voice that speaks to me. Sound has returned, so it would seem.

'What do I see Mike? Huh, where the hell am I?'

'Shoot it Karl, kill it now.'

I became very dizzy, and I start to turn in circles.

'Shoot what? What or who do you want me to kill? You know these bullets can't kill the demon; you shot at it yourself and only made it angry. Is there really a demon at all, is there? Huh is there?' ...

My vision became even more blurred; sweat, more on my forehead, now quite perfuse. The dark shadow of a demon comes right at me, its thin see-through shape with wings and blood red eyes that shine like lights, all move quickly toward me. And I am not so sure if I actually see this or not.

I must have passed out or something, probably the or something. Is it possible to pass out while you are already asleep? Maybe that gut feeling I had informing me I may still be dreaming could be wrong. I come to within the cabin that we had been looking for. Once again, I am on a bed with no blankets. Keith is sitting on the floor, tied up in chains. I try to make some sense of what is happening. Keith tells me that it is the demon messing with my head, making me see things that aren't there, with the purpose of capturing me too.

As previously assumed, the demon is apparently building a store of food, so it won't have to continue hunting for a while but ... if the demons were just trying to capture me then why wasn't I also in chains? I must still be within some sort of dream. Must be it. I need to wake up. This has to end, but Keith keeps telling me that I am already awake, and that I had to free him. No, this isn't right; I really have to wake up. It must end now.

I move to and open the cabin door in an attempt to leave. Keith was standing outside ... on the other side of the door, unchained. What is this?

'How the hell?' I ask out loud.

Yeah, Keith was no longer tied up in chains inside the cabin but was standing on front of me outside the cabin. I do not understand what is happening.

'What the hell is going on?' I ask.

'Everyone, Mike over here', shouts Keith, 'it's Karl, the demon has taken possessed of him.'

No, this is not happening, what is he doing? I need to wake up.

Keith tells me ... 'if you die in your sleep, you die for real, did you know that?'

Shit. I make a run for it, I feel so hot, and the sweat is seriously pouring from me.

After only seconds I am surrounded by the crowd that had gathered earlier to go after the demon. And all those guns are pointed at me, and I can't help but think about what Keith had pointed out, if I die here, I die for real. I became dizzy again and like before I passed out. The other chap who had been shot, had that been a set-up? Was he a victim? Am I to be a victim?