Epilogue The moment Debby Lynn Kalter saw those two girls entering the store she knew that they were a bad omen. At first glance they appeared to be everyday teenagers and yet there was something about them that disturbed her immensely. When she caught a glimpse of the tightly bond bandages wrapped around the dark haired girl's wrist she knew they had to be from that strange school at the top of the hill, Whispering Hills Academy, home to wayward souls. This fact was verified by the blonde, leather clad, girl's vicious glares upon being questioned about where they came from. She thought they were reasonable questions, considering they did arrive during school hour, and they did not need to be so rude about answering. Debby had only learned about the existence of the unusual school a few month's earlier, two weeks after starting her new job at the "Corner Stop and Drug Shop". She originally moved to the town of Whispering Hills to get away from the darkness that had swallowed her hometown, she thought for certain that this place would be different and yet, now, she was reconsidering that notion. For the most part the town was as normal as small towns came, if you can call a town at the outskirts of the Realm of Dreams "Normal". She thought for sure that she had escaped the nightmare of her home, but the presence of those girls gave her an unsettling feeling that she was not as safe as she believed, even if it was irrational feeling. "Debby, are you alright?" One of her coworkers inquired, startling the woman out of her thoughts. Debby rubbed her head, "I think it has just been a long day is all." She explained as she stared down at a broken pickle jar in the middle of an aisle and the mop in hand. Her head had been steadily throbbing at an increasing rate over the past hour, feeling as if something hit her across the head with enough force to rattle her brain within its shell and even the slightest of movement was making it worse. She had already taken several painkillers, yet nothing seemed to dull the pain. She internally cursed those Academy girls as yet another wave of dizziness hit her and she needed to hold onto the handle of a cola fridge to regain her balance. The co-worker quickly moved to her side, "Are you sure you are alright?" He inquired lightly. Debby forced herself to smile as she struggled to stand, "I... I'll be fine." Markus was a cute and sincere young man of twenty-one, if he was not lying about his birthday the week before that is. She had to admit that she was glad that he held such concern for her considering they barely knew each other. "You don't look fine to me." He stated bluntly, "Why don't you go home and I'll finish up here?" He offered as he took the mop from the woman, leaning it against a rack of chips before offering Debby a hand. Debby gratefully took the hand in hers and allowed herself to be lead to the back of the store, "Are you sure you will be alright without me?" She inquired worriedly, she did not want to lose her job over something as simple as a headache, yet this felt much worse then any headache she had ever felt in her life. Markus nodded, "I have Vicky working the cash right now and things usually die down around supper time so there should be no problems, really." Debby grinned thankfully, "That's very nice of you." She said as she pushed through a pair of swinging doors that lead to the small office that served as a lodge for the store's staff. She retrieved her jacket off a line of hooks next to the back door and began to pull it on, "If you ever need me for a double shift then you know how to contact me." She offered. Markus pushed the heavy metal bar that spanned the back door and held it open for his co-worker, "Don't worry about that. Just get some rest alright?" Debby gave Markus a kind, weak, smile, "Thank you Markus." She stepped out the door and into one of the long back alleys that cut through the town like veins. Markus glanced up at the dark clouds that were brewing overhead, "It looks like a storm is on its way so you should hurry on home before it rains." "I will." She took one last look at Markus and gave him a small wave good bye, "I'll see you tomorrow alright?" "Just get some rest." Markus reiterate with a motion for the women to get moving, "I'll call you in the morning to see how you are doing." "Alright." The air filled with the low grumble of the upcoming storm, "Seeya." She turned and briskly walked down the long alley towards her home. Usually she tried to avoid the alleys as much as possible, she had hear a number of rumours of people disappearing in the shadows, however with the sun was still fighting its way through the clouds that threatened to suffocate it, so she figured she had a few hours of light before she needed to worry to much about the shadows coming for her. She could not have been more wrong for within minutes darkness swallowed the last of the sun's protective light and fear filled the poor woman's heart as not a single streetlight turned on to guide her way. Before long she found herself surrounded by the very shadows that she spent so much time running from. Frightfully she stumbled across the alley in search of some sight of light. Something darted between her feet causing her to trip and pitch forwards into a set of trashcans, sending them clattering about the alleyway, the sound of the cans echoed off the alley walls with increasing intensity. Debby clapped her hands to her ears and cringed with each clatter of sound reverberated. She sat upon the ground with her eyes clenched tight, unwilling to move until the final sounds diminished, and even then she stayed still as a statue as the minutes ticked by, unsure of the creatures that she might have stirred after the commotion. After a time she allowed one eye to peek around, to still she find herself surrounded by blackness. Cautiously she peels back her hands from her ears and listened carefully to the air around her. Silence only greeted her ears, that and the soft sound of the breeze rushing passed her, the wind of an upcoming storm. She could smell the storm on the air and this sent electric worry through her. As she strained her ears she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck begin to rise, there was something else out there other then the appending storm. Her eyes darted around the darkness in search of what could be watching her when she saw it, a glimmering disk of light only metres away from where she sat. A hysterical giggle of glee escaped her lips as she bolted down the alley towards the only sign of escape in sight. She was certain that she would make it and would be free of this unnerving darkness when she ran into something soft and stumbled to the ground yet again, scrapping her knee and the palm of her hand on the hard asphalt ground. She glanced around in search of where her savour light had gotten too when the streetlight above her flickered to life. It was only for a brief moment, but in that second of light she saw the face of a man staring down at her from the darkness, No not a man, a mask, a pale white mask floating high over her, the mask of the Faceless. During Debby's travels through the Realms of Dream she had only encountered these creatures once before. Its black cloak, that of shadows, flowed behind the mask as it slithered like silk across the ground, its porcelain death mask hovering over non-existence shoulders. That first time she had been lucky for the creature already had prey it was seeking, however this time she knew it was her that those empty eyes were watching in the darkness. There was no way she would be getting out of alleyway alive and she could feel it in her stomach. She was about to give up when her eyes fell upon that circle of light in the distance. It could not be over five metres away and that gave her a small glimmer of hope to her dismal life. Without hesitation she scampered across the alley, on all fours, using her hands to push herself to a crutch, as she lunged for the light. She felt a slight breeze as something glided swiftly over her head. She envisioned the Faceless's curved claws, as white as its mask and made of broken shards of the same porcelain as its pale face, sweeping over her head, maybe taking a few strains of her hair. Not willing to turn back she pumped her legs with all her might, that circle of light her only sanctuary. Her sneakers echoed off the walls of the ally alerting all to her presence, but she did not care, all that mattered was getting out of that ally and back into the light. The circle grew in size as she approached it and a smile crossed her face, she was going to make it, she was going to escape death. Her foot passed through the edge of the beam of light when something slammed into her back. Stunned Debby stopped abruptly, her body half in the light. The mask floated over the woman's shoulder and there was the faint sound of a chuckle floating upon the air. Debby suddenly tumbled forwards and came to rest in the light. A black stain covered the entirety of her back, pulsating and slithering over the woman's shoulders and across her arms. Debby glanced up to see the face as it stared down upon at her. She could feel it smiling at her even though the only features the mask held were those angular slim eye holes and strange curved black markings, and yet she could still feel its smile under that mask, a gruesome toothy grin. A pain ripped through the woman's stomach causing her to buckle over as she clenched at her gut, something was moving inside of her, something horrible. The very idea of that creature inside of her made her feel sick to her stomach, abruptly she started to puke, almost as if the very thought of vomiting caused her body to react in just. A black, tar like, substance spilled forth from her mouth to the dark asphalt below her, pooling up on thick globs as it dripped from her lips. The smell of death hit her nose a moment later and she began to weep. "Leave me alone!" She cried out, "I never did anything wrong." "Oh, but you did." A voice stated from the shadows, "And you know it. You ran from your destiny and now it has come to get you." Debby glanced up to see a tall man dressed in a long white cloak, a mess of white curls hung down over his shoulders and cloaked his eyes from view, "N... no..." Debby shook her head as she sat upon her knees, her arms still around her stomach, and stared up at the man, "I am free." She screamed frantically, "This is not my destiny. You have no right doing this to me." The man knelt next to the woman and smiled at her, "Dream Ghosts have no rights. They only have a place in dreams." His grin quickly faded and he glared at the women, "Now either you work for me or you give me what is mine." He stated sternly. "Go To Hell!!" Debby spat some of the black ooze in the man's face, "I will never work for you or Draigo." The man shook his head in disappointment, "That is too bad." He wiped the substance from his face with his fingers and turned his hand over in the light, "It is interesting the things that linger deep within you, just awaiting for a real chance at life." The blackness on his hand did not reflect any amount of light as he moved his hand before the woman's eyes, "Either you shove it deep within and let it eat you away or let it take over you, either way you loss. I guess your choice is to be eaten and that is too bad because you were such a nice girl." "N... No!!!" Debby screamed out as the man grabbed the back of her neck and forced her face in to the centre of the black mass that she had recently vomited up. The moment her face came close to the stuff it sprung to life, encircling the woman's head and completely enveloping it in one single motion. The man swiftly stepped back before the blackness could devour his own hand with the woman. Within moments the darkness pulled the women's entire body into the pool and it settled back to the ground, all signs Debby Lynn Kalter devolved within the mass. The man leaned over the pool and waved a hand above it. With three snaps of his fingers a bubble began to form in the centre of the puddle. The mucky substance pulled back to reveal a white mask that rose into the air, the black puddle following closely behind it, forming a pair of broad shoulder under a floating cloak. The man grinned at the sight, "It is time my sister returned home to me." He glanced up, in the direction of the Academy, "You belong to me Alyson and you better remember that."
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