From Darkness It Comes

Knowledge Leads to a Sleepless Night

Darrin makes his way back to his room with some new knowledge and drops his notes onto his desk. It's late and he is tired so he strips down and prepares for bed, slipping under the covers. Within a couple minutes he was sleeping and within the hour he was dreaming.

Darrin finds himself walking through a wooded grove as fog moves in and fills in the area around him. The forests opens up to reveal a circle of large stones around an altar. Although the fog fills the woods around him it doesn't get more than two feet from the ground within the circle. It swirls around the base of the altar a little higher than the rest of the area.

Within what feels like a minute white robed people move in around him with their hoods up. Darrin tries to move away but a number of them grab him and pull him onto the altar. He is held there as they start to chant something he doesn't understand.

The leader of them pulls out a knife, which Darrin does recognize as the dagger in his possession. The white robed one holds it above his chest. Darrin finds that he is now shirtless and being carved into with the tip of the knife. It makes a large pentagram with five of the symbols from the box on each of the points and a larger one in the center. The pain is increasing as they finish the work and keep chanting.

Suddenly the dagger is driven into him and slices his chest open. The white robed leader reaches into Darrin's chest and pull out his heart. Darrin sees his own, still beating, heart being held before him and dripping blood onto the white robes of the leader. Their hood then falls back from their face to reveal the face of Lisa.

Darrin Screams.

With a scream and his heart beating like a racehorse, Darrin wakes up in a cold sweat. It's still dark out but he could swear he sees someone or something in his room. Quickly reaching for the lamp he clicks it on, heart beating faster and fear filling his mind. When the room burns with the white light of the lamps he sees...