Adrian reappeared at the Paradox Planes and is actually immediately teleported to Ascalor's abode. He thought that it is sketchy that the scroll that Ascalor gave him would immediately transport Adrian to Ascalor's house. The sketchiest thing is that Ascalor is looking at him right now with a wide smile. The old man is basically smiling like a fool.
"It seems you were expecting me, old man. Can you erase that creepy smile on your face?" Adrian stated with a smile.
"What do you mean creepy smile? You know that I always smile like this. So did she gave you anything?" Ascalor replied still having a smile that looks like he is over the moon.
"She actually gave me nothing." Adrian replied which made Ascalor's smile turn into a frown.
"I have it. You do not need to look that let down. Here!" Adrian stated as he handed the note. Ascalor immediately grabbed the note but also hit Adrian on the head.
[You have received 1 damage.]
"You should have given it to me immediately instead of making things harder on yourself.
"Why does it hurt a lot despite only dealing one damage?" Adrian thought as he pondered but he still could not solve the mystery. He just rubbed the spot where he is smacked in the head.
[Attention to all players! The Halloween patch will be added. All players are not required to log out but you might experience some NPCs unable to speak to you. The patch will be applied in one hour real world time or three hours in-game. Your game pods will automatically download the patch so do not worry.]
Adrian read the system message and decided to log out. He wanted to take a power nap and return feeling refreshed. He had a lot to process and wanted to clear out Ascalor's cheesy romance out of his head.
====
Adrian got out of his game pod and had a light snack before taking his power nap. He laid in his bed and tried hard to fall asleep as he really wanted to rest. He even set his alarm for an hour and snooze every ten minutes. He felt a heavy sinking feeling assault him as he finally manage to fall asleep.
Some say that dreams are portals to another world so sometimes you have to be careful in them. Some say that your dreams of this world are actually a mirror reality. There is a reason why shamans of the past used herbs to make them see visions using dreams.
Adrian is tossing and turning in his sleep and he felt extremely heavy. Adrian woke up but he could only open his eyes. He could not move his body given that he could barely move his lower body on command. He could not even move his arms which is extremely weird even for him.
The strangest part is that his room is dark but he perfectly remembered that he left the light on. Also he only took a nap at 3:00 in the afternoon so there should still be light shining from his windows. He did not even close his curtains. But from turning his eyes to the side, he could see that no light is shining from his windows.
"Was I not woken up by my own alarm? I set it at max volume so that anyone in the house would be annoyed if I did not wake up from it. Mom would have come screaming by now and berate me on why bother having an alarm if you will not wake up from it." Adrian thought to himself but he still feel creeped out by what is happening.
Adrian suddenly felt something is odd because he could not move his body. Another weird thing that he wants to point out is that he could see shadows moving just past the corner of his eye. It is as if the moving shadows are eluding his sight and they do not want to be seen.
Adrian could feel the temperature of the room suddenly dropping. This is finally the time that Adrian has felt that things took a turn for the worse. He suddenly had cold sweat on his forehead and his back but the creepiest of all is that he feels that he is being watched.
He feels that someone is watching him from the foot of his bed. He is currently lying in a position where his face is facing the ceiling. Adrian tried his best to even just lift his head but his head is not cooperating with him.
There is this odd feeling in his gut that he is being watched and it is not like glances or anything but full blown staring. He also feels that the one staring him down is actually in the shadows. You know that feeling when you subconsciously stare at a dark area and feel like someone is watching you. That is what Adrian is currently feeling right now.
Except Adrian is actually being watched by a huge shadow figure, he could see it now because that shadow figure is at the foot of his bed. At first, the shadow figure is only about as high as his bed but little by little it started to stand. Adrian could actually see it becoming bigger and bigger until what looks like a head is about one inch from his ceiling.
Adrian really likes watching horror movies but experiencing it is actually more terrifying than he imagined. There is a reason why people say 'do not bite more than you can chew' and 'fact is stranger than fiction'. Adrian started panicking as he is being assaulted by terror. Not just plain terror but pure terror.
The huge shadow suddenly started coming towards Adrian which made him internally scream because even his voice would not come out. All that is coming out of his mouth is air and he could not even shout for help. He felt powerless and fear started to creep up as the huge shadow man started coming closer and closer to him.
Due to his panic Adrian just recited the Apostles Creed, this became his fight or flight response because he could not do anything. The worst part is that he could not even speak the words so he just recited it in his mind and closed his eyes.
"I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary" Adrian prayed with great intent like his life depended on it.
He opened his eyes but the shadow man disappeared and he breathe a sigh of relief but there is still the fear in the back of his mind. He also has yet to regain control of his body but this time he could now finally utter some words. Adrian could utter words but the problem is his throat is incredibly dry that he could barely utter a word.
He could still not move his arms so that he could anchor his weight and stand up. Adrian though breathe a sigh of relief and he thought it is just some weird delusion or his eyes playing tricks on him. He closed his eyes once more but he made a mistake by opening them up quickly.
Adrian is now staring at the shadow man and it is looking at him directly. Every part of Adrian's body tingled as fear once again assaulted him. The worst part finally came when something that is resembling that of a face started emerging from the dark shadowy face.
Adrian could clearly see the face emerging from the shadowy head. It was that of an old decrepit woman. She looked so gruesome and gnarly that one might vomit upon seeing her. She could only be describe by one word and that is 'hag'.
Adrian could not even blink as his eyes are wide open due to terror. Panic once again struck Adrian and his heart beat became erratic that it felt like it would break open from his chest. In major desperation, Adrian could only recite Apostle's creed but now in French.
"Je crois dans Dieu, le Tout-puissant du Pre, Crateur de ciel et monde; et dans Jsus Le Christ, Son seul Fils, Notre Seigneur; qui a t conu par le Saint-Esprit, n de la Vierge-Marie" Adrian forced the prayer out of his mouth so much so that he began forcing out spit.
If one could see Adrian now then you could see that his eyes are becoming teary and his clothes are all sweaty. The hag finally started reaching out to Adrian and he became petrified because of the demonic grin that she had.
Adrian could no longer keep his head and started mentally breaking down. He started shouting "In the Name of Jesus Christ" over and over again until everything suddenly stopped and disappeared. Adrian could finally move his arms and he supported his body to sit upright.
Adrian wiped the tears and snot from his face. He managed to calm down. He looked around his surroundings and saw that there is still sunlight from his window.
"It was all just a dream. Just a dream." Adrian told himself as he calmed himself down.
Adrian checked his haloswatch for the time and it indicated that is just 3:15 in the afternoon. Adrian could not believe what he just saw. He dreamt all of that in just 15 minutes which shocked him to the core.
Adrian felt a sudden chill on his spine as he had a sudden realization. The strange thing is that Adrian could barely remember his dream after calming himself down but the terror he felt is still there in his subconscious.
Adrian decided that he can no longer take his power nap and instead went downstairs to drink a glass of water to make himself feel refreshed.