Back on Board!!

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity

I did break her nose when she yanked on my hair, but I think that the nightmares came from somewhere else.

I need to apologize to her for what he did.

Hannah

PS: I hope we cna spend some time together again soon.

[Shang Li]

Is the school right on top of a large sewage main? In Kyoto many strange tings can be found beneath the city.

[Ron Caliburn]

I'll check with the city works department (at least those contacts are intact)

[KonThaak]

My mind still keeps going back to the cherry bomb. I wish I could get under there and see what kinds of seals were broken... Without getting my guts sucked out, of course.

I haven't heard of a monster--even in Native American lore--that does that sort of thing...

[Ron Caliburn]

Ethan's been looking over the ME's report, hopefully we can get more info from him.

[Ethan Skinner]

Sorry about the silence, Caliburn. I wanted to perform a variety of tests on the subject. I've never seen case quite like this one. One of the many inconsistencies I noticed were the two anal fissures I found. There was a minimal amount of bruising around the wounds, but they were not the cause of death, though they happened before he died. The rectal canal had also been distended beyond ordinary capacity.

What little residue there was suggests the organs had been torn out from the rectum. I guess you could say he shitted them out, but I severely doubt it. There was an unknown substance in his bloodstream and muscularstructure, a chemical I'm not familiar with. It's still being tested, though I should have the results soon.

[Ron Caliburn]

Even though I was kinda expecting you to say that's where they went, I still had to clench when I heard it.

[Ethan Skinner]

Even though I was kinda expecting you to say that's where they went, I still had to clench when I heard it.

Yeah. But were you expecting a residue of fast acting paralytic nerve toxin in the subject's system? I've seen it before in snake venom, though there are other creatures that use it as well... other predators. The way it works, it shuts down all voluntary muscle - comes in handy since snakes swallow their prey whole and don't like their meal thrashing around during eating. But the subject's time of death was after the organ removal process. He was eaten alive, from the inside.

[Ron Caliburn]

Okay . . . anyone have any idea what we're up against?


Incidently Ethan, I managed to snag the ME's report for the girl that died, want to look it over for me?

[Hannah]

Hi Ethan

Why'd you have to tell us that? I was already feeling scared about the washrooms there. It's really hard to go the whole day without . . . going.

Hannah

PS: Say Hi to Clarity for me.

[Clarity]

_____Hi Hannah!

_____That’s disgusting, Ethan. I wish you just whispered it to Mr. Caliburn instead of telling everybody and making us all feel sick.

_____PS: I don’t want you to get hurt though, Hannah. You’re my friend.

[Ethan Skinner]

I apologize if I shook you up, Hannah. It wasn't my intention. But if others can figure this one out, I need to post it for everybody to read.

The official report was she died of internal bleeding due to her ruptured esophagus. I hesitate to blame it entirely as a side effect of her condition, though. While she had all the signs of bulimia, I found irregularities that couldn't have been caused by what he claimed. In particular, the gunk found on the lingual surface at the back of her teeth. It isn't registering as any food that I've heard of. And the dislocated jaw was not caused by your efforts either, Hannah. You did it exactly right. Sometimes these things just happen to the best of us.

I'm still running tests, but so far, everything is inconclusive.

[Hannah]

Hi Ethan,

It's just a creepy sort of situation, just this week soem kid ran out of the boys room with his pants around his ankles screaming that he saw something eating his poo.

It's pretty nerve wracking to go to the bathroom in high school anyway with the bullies and all that, but to wonder if something is going to crawl up out of the toilet and eat you inside out while your there . . .

Yuck!

Hannah

PS: I saw a story on the internet about a python slithering out of someone's toilet the other day . . . I'm thinking of asking dad if it's okay to use the bushes behind the house.

[GhostSpider]

Well, at least the worst that happened to that boy was that he was caught with his pants down.

[Clarity]

_____Ethan says he was killed, Mr. Ghost. That sounds bad to me.
_____Maybe we can go camping too, Hannah. Would that be fun?

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity,

Ghostspider was refferring to the other boy I mentioned, the one who ran out of the bathroom screaming.

I'm sorry I haven't written much lately, I have been studying for the exams happening next week. Once they are done summer school is over and summer begins for me. Hooray!!!

Hannah

PS: Yes camping would be fun.

[Hannah]

Hi Everyone!

you won't beleive the day I had at school today.



I should have known better, really, but when they brought out the juice to celebrate the last full day of classes I had a few cups of it.

Which meant that, halfway through the after lunch period, I had to keep my legs clenched together.

Given what had happened in those bathrooms the last couple of weeks, going there was the last thing I wanted to do.

But I needed to so badly and the end of the day was too far away.

So with the clouds of doom circling my head, I raised my hand and asked for the hall pass.

. . .

I entered the washroom and quickly looked around, nobody there. If trouble happened, I was going to be alone.

Then again, I remembered what happened to Jess and decided that someone being there probably wouldn’t be much help anyway.

I opened the stall door and carefully checked over the toilet for signs of anything unusual.

Well anything unusual for a high school toilet anyway.

I wiped down the seat with some toilet paper and gave it a flush and watched for anything strange.

The only strange thing I noticed was a paranoid girl staring at water swirling in a toilet.

I took a deep breath, turned around, closed the stall door and set out to do my business, trying to make it quick.

A sharp pinch on my bottom told me I wasn’t quick enough.



Hannah

PS: There's more to come, but I gotta go change the icepack.

[Clarity]

_____Oh my goodness, Hannah. You mean you actually saw a girl looking at you from the water? How strange! Did she disappear? What happened to her? Is it the girl in the water that has been scaring people?
_____P.S. That was very mean of her. I hope you told her that.

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity,

There wasn't a girl in the water, other than my reflection. But there was something that I didn't see until it was too late.

Let's keep going here.



I immediately felt a tingle spread throughout my entire body. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t move. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t breathe.

I felt something brush against my leg.

Then the other leg.

I wished I could have been able to look down ad see what was going on, feeling those . . . wet, slimy appendages sliding over my skin . . .

At the same time I didn’t want to see

I wanted to get out of there.

But I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breath, there was nothing I could do.

Except . . .

Since I fell of that building last year I’ve been trying to work with the power that saved me. Sometimes I can make it happen, letting me jump real far, even fly for short distances . . . but usually it doesn’t work.

I reached for that spot inside myself and tried to launch myself out off the toilet.

It worked, kinda

I saw stars as my head slammed into the stall door and I dropped in a crumpled heap to the floor.

I still couldn’t move, I still couldn’t breathe and I still couldn’t turn to look back at the toilet, but I could hear that whatever it was had started crawling out of the toilet after me.



More to come soon.

Hannah

PS: I hope you come to town soon, I want to show you the burn marks.

[Clarity]

_____Hi, Hannah.
_____I hope you’re okay. Maybe I can try to heal you when I get there? It worked once, but I don’t know how I did it. Ethan says we can drop by July a third. Is that okay?
_____P.S. Burn marks?

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity,

I'll explain the burn marks in a little bit.



One of the wet appendages wrapped around my ankle, then a second found my knee.

Slowly they began working their way up my legs.

My heart, about the only thing that was still working, was beating a mile a minute in my chest.

In my mind I suddenly saw the picture that K-Mann had drawn of me getting violated by slimy tentacles and it hit me. I was going to die in a similar pose, here on the floor of the bathroom, my skirt hiked up and my panties around my ankles, this thing digging into me . . .

If I could have breathed I probably would have started laughing.

One of the tentacles brushed up a bit further and brought me back to earth.

I was gonna die if I didn’t do something, now.

I needed to get help.

I looked inside and found It.



More to come.

Hannah

PS: July 3rd is great for me, I'll ask Dad when he gets off the phone.

[Clarity]

_____Hannah, I looked up a word that I didn’t understand, and that sounds awful! I hope you’re okay still. But I guess you didn’t die, which is good, right? I would miss you a lot, you know! You’re my friend.
_____P.S. I hope Dad says yes.

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity,

I'm a little battered and singed, but it could have been much worse.



“I was wondering when you’d come crawling back to me.” It sneered at me.

I shook my head. “We don’t have time for this. In a couple of minutes I’m gonna be dead if I don’t get your help.”

It leaned against the altar in the compound’s chapel. “I can certainly help you out; if you just let me out I can take care of that toilet snake for you easily.”

I knew he was going to ask me for that. “No deal, I’m never letting you out again.”

I thought I heard applause in the background.

“If you don’t let me out, you’re going to die.” We were back in the bathroom; I was pinned to the floor, tentacles creeping up my thighs.

“If I die, you die with me …” Now I was standing over It and It was on the floor, my skirt or rather It’s skirt hiked up over It’s hips as tentacles reached up It’s legs. “And I’ll make sure you feel everything I do.”

It chuckled. “You’re learning. So how can I help you if you don’t let me out?”

I thought feverishly for a moment, trying to ignore what felt like a fang tracing its way up the back of my thigh.

“When the others rescued me from you, you threw fire and lightning at them. Was that a part of the dreamworld or was that something else I can do?”

“That is something you can do too.” It answered.

“Show me how.”

It grinned. “It’s simple really; I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. Look into yourself. Look for where you find that which makes you fly. Tell me what you feel when you grab onto it.”

I concentrated for a moment, finding the ability within me . . . only now I knew it wasn’t within me, it was outside of me, something that I could grab onto. It was insubstantial and cold, but somehow I held onto it, it was . . . “Air.”

“Yes, exactly.” It tried to pull himself forward a little as the tentacles wrapped around our waist, pulling the toothed jaws closer to us. “There’s more there for you to grab, you just have to reach for it.”

“What should I grab?” The things mouth pressed against me and I lost focus, finding myself alone on the bathroom floor again.

I felt the thing’s jaws opening.

I put every bit of concentration I could muster and reached out with my mind to grab . . .

FIRE!



Almost done,

Hannah

PS: What word did you have to look up?

[Clarity]

_____Hi, Hannah,
who’s “It?” I don’t like the sound of that. It sounds awful, and it was making fun of you and trying to make itself sound powerful when it knew you were stronger than it. I’m confused about the air and the fire, though. Was it in your body, and did it hurt to take it out?
_____P.S. It was “violated.”

[Hannah]

Hi Clarity,

I'll answer all that after I finish the story, Honest Injun.



The stall erupted in flames, the paint burning off the metal walls, the toilet bowl cracking and the thing sizzling and squealing and thrashing. It only lasted a few seconds before it turned into a reeking puddle of goop which quickly boiled off as well, searing pain raced up my legs as the bubbling liquid scalded me.

A moment later the sprinkler system turned on and doused the flames.

I was safe from the toilet creature.

But I still couldn’t breathe.

“Well done.” It said to me as my vision swam, the lack of air finally overcoming me. “I'll take care of the rest.”

I passed out.

. . .

I woke up when they were loading me into the ambulance, something cool and damp was wrapped around my legs, an oxygen mask clamped over my face.

I saw It out in the crowd watching as they strapped they stretcher into place.

I tried to warn the paramedics, but the mask muffled me too much.

It tipped It’s hat to me, turned and walked away.

I tried to scream at the paramedic and he merely replied. “It’s okay now little girl, you had a nasty accident but everything is going to be okay. We’ll get you to the hospital and they will make sure you’re alright. In the mean time, I’m going to give you something that will help reduce the pain and let you rest.” He jabbed a needle in my arm and I immediately started to swoon.

The doors on the ambulance closed and blackness came over me.

. . .

When I woke up again I was at the hospital with Dad and Wie.

Hannah

PS: Okay, some answers for you Clarity, you weren't around for a bunch of the stuff that happened before.

1) It is something Shadowstalker told me is called a Living Nightmare. It somehow came from my dreams into the waking world in December 2006 and tried to kill my Dad and a bunch of other people. It kidnapped me in March, but the others rescued me and we thought It got destroyed.
2) I thought the stuff I used to fly was inside me at first too, but somehow I reach through myself to grab it, then bring it back through myself to use it. I don't know how it works, but it doesn't hurt. It tingles actually.

[Clarity]

_____Wow. I wonder if that’s how mine works? It feels like it’s just underneath my skin . . . actually, it feels like it’s with me, in my skin, my hair, my heart, my mind, my blood . . . when I have a vision, everything rushes to my mind and it shows me things. I’m trying to control it.
_____Was it one of those things you Dreamed was Real that happened? But I don’t think you’re evil, Hannah. You were hurt and sick and trying to stay alive. And Ethan says sometimes people do strange things with drugs in the body, and I think it put something in you so you couldn’t breathe.
_____P.S. You’re still my friend.

[Ron Caliburn]

She's gone to bed for the night, she's had a long day and still has some school tomorrow. If they let her go back of course, they might have decided she set the fire on purpose.

Yes the third is okay, but I want you to make sure you and Ethan are really careful when you come to meet us. If Not Me got out, it will be around and it will look like me. Not Me is very dangerous. I'm sure Hannah taught you the signs were supposed to use. Watch for when I update them tomorrow.

[Clarity]

_____Hi, Mr. Ron,
thanks for letting us come over on July a third. I hope Hannah is okay. It sounds like it was a hard day.
_____Mr. Ron, wouldn’t they know that she set it on purpose? She was trying to save her life. And they won’t have any more trouble with the toilet snake, will they?
_____P.S. Yes, she taught me what to do, and we practiced it.

[Ron Caliburn]

That's the thing, they don't really seem to understand the rather unusual aspects of my daughter's life.

I don't think they beleive in the toilet snake either.

[Shadowstalker]

It, he is back? DAMNIT!!!
I am glad you are ok Hannah. If you don't mind, when I get a chance I will drop by and see you. Maybe we can think up a way to put the Nightmare back where he belongs.