As Above

Photo by Joe Shields on Unsplash

A wooden cabin sat in isolation on a hill. The sky was colored grey; the ground was blanketed with a deep layer of snow. A once lit fireplace was blown out by freezing winds that passed through open windows and crumbling walls in an open living space.

There are about six people there. While five of them stood outside of the room looking in, two of them stood face to face within. You heard those numbers right - something else was in this big open room. It stood across from a grandfather with a shotgun who was standing in the doorway; blood splattered upwards across the wall behind it, smiling cynically as it bleeds from grey skin, as it started to prop itself up with four arms.

As the family began to pour into the room, thinking it was near to death, it suddenly sprang up and leaped out a window into the cold. The old man, against his family's wishes, stepped out in pursuit with an ax, ready to finish the job. As his family crept out behind him, they appeared just in time to see the creature sink it’s teeth into the old man before disappearing into the grey night.

As everyone finished stepping outside, grandpa fell to the ground in pain, his mouth open in agony as long fangs began to replace his canines. When he stood back up, he had a singular curved bone, red with blood, sticking out of the back of his left and right heels and more sticking out of his left and right hand, curving over and far past his middle fingers. The long crescent bones from the back of his legs were used to leap incredible distances by balancing on the points and then leaping at a target. A Jiangshi, perhaps?

This is exactly what he did as he pursued his own family, possessed by the spirit that had bitten him in their struggle. The entire family fled uphill to get away, hoping to lose him in the grey of the night while they followed a road to someplace safe. Despite their lead, the creature's influence would not be so easily shaken.

One by one (and one at a time), they all became possessed by the creature who used their bodies to attack one another. The weapons they brought to defend themselves were suddenly the tools of a relentless monster. Who could they trust if not each other? All were armed against one another, but they couldn't split up. No matter what they did, the creature had the advantage.

The road they had walked alongside was a straight shot to their house, and at the top of this hill was a massive iron fence that everybody had to push through. All could see the monster's silhouette advancing uphill towards them. As they passed through the gate, a few vehicles came through as well, seemingly unaware of the monster and the family that closed the gate behind them.

On the other side of the gate, they found themselves going down a short hill before dropping down onto the tops of tall apartment buildings; they crossed over a few that sat side by side until they reached those that lined a street, forcing them to stop and figure out their next move.

Directly behind them were paths between the buildings and connecting alleyways that they could easily step into - they hesitated. In the alley directly behind them and slightly lower, they watched as a group of figures in white robes gathered around an individual. A child was at the center and was being offered as a human sacrifice; and so, going into the alleyways was not an option.

The building they found themselves on had to have been eight or twelve stories tall at least, and from their vantage point, they could see that this city was huge. Moving to the building's edge, they saw arms of countless people reaching out in worship from every single window towards something in the streets far below. What it was didn't make it to the waking world. This vast city was the home of a mega cult. The family knew they would have to leave, or their kids would be sacrificed by the city's people.

Something happened, I don't know what, and the family was separated. Panic sent them in different directions. The scene followed their daughter back across the rooftops towards the gate. On the way up, a massive writhing ball of grey people came rolling towards her and reaching for her as they approached. She easily slipped past it by jumping off the path and then climbing back up where she was faced with another obstacle - a seven foot, grey-skinned humanoid figure in a long trench coat walked down the path towards her. She managed to avoid it by ducking off the path and just out of its line of sight; however, she hadn’t made it to safety yet.

The creature from before scaled the gate and forced her to retreat back inside. Unlike the other two, this one would not be taken for a fool. Needless to say, she didn't get away. Just before her last moments, she found her brother and held him in her arms as they both waited for the inevitable. When the two of them were discovered, she was not killed but turned, just like her grandfather. She was now what was called a "Selkie." Afterward, she turned to her brother and force-fed him what looked like undulating muscular tissue that slithered down his throat and made a monster out of him as well.

A woman's voice somewhere nearby began speaking of a vaccine, saying that there's a cure for their condition. If you take the vaccine, you are purged of your condition, monstrous strength, and effects. In this city, those with mutations were higher up in social class, whereas normal humans were of lower esteem. This dream was apparently an anti-vaccination commercial. How random.

January 1st, 2021

In last night's dream, my brother and I were on our way home from somewhere; I have no recollection of where from. As we walked, a mall came into sight that we decided to pass through on our journey home. A slight detour, I suppose. The mall was massive and had the outside appearance of a colorful temple with a gold-domed top. 

The building was huge. As we passed through, a woman offered to help us get out of the maze-like building. She said she could help us learn what building we are in and how far we had left to go before reaching the exit. My brother was very short with her, and at first, I thought he was very rude to her. However, he said to me, "We have been here before, and it's not what you think. I spoke to her before, and it's a scam. Let's avoid her."

I didn't know what he was talking about and accepted her help despite his warning. As we stood outside in a courtyard, she went over to another building and confirmed that it was building one and not building three. She was then kind enough to get the door for us, leading us towards a kiosk with rows of tellers like one would see at a DMV.

My brother waited at the kiosk while I followed the nice lady as she led me to a back office to propose an opportunity of some kind, and that's when it clicked. I've been here before, I was offered this scam by someone else, but I had forgotten.

They get you in a room by yourself and do a 30-minute pitch of their business to sign you up as a customer or as an employee of sorts. The business worked like this: you pay them to become middlemen in your life for certain services. Why pay extra money for something I don't need? I stopped just before her office, remembering where I was, and I told her, "I'm so sorry, I've been here before, and I don't have 30 minutes to give. I'm just trying to get home. I wanted a nap, and I had work coming up. The “nice lady” persona began to fade away as if it had been washed off by the effort she put into getting me close to that office door. I felt bad for her and promised to speak with her in the future. She gave me her card, and I quickly left; on my way out, she muttered something under her breath. 

As my brother and I walked away, I was pretty upset. I had been invited to join yet another pyramid scheme. I get enough of these invitations in the waking world, now even in my dreams, I am faced with these schemes.

As above, so below. The cult mentioned above parallels the pyramid scheme mentioned below. The first dream begins with the conversion of one family member and then the entire family to a monstrous cult. Those within pyramid schemes are often sent to their families, friends, and acquaintances as potential targets for the success of their growing business. 

Fleeing from the infection (the scheme) is a common response to a family member falling victim to a pyramid scam - or being an aggressive grandpa with a shotgun, metaphorically speaking, of course. However, not all schemes are so easily discerned so that even those that are careful can escape them.

A city is a dangerous place where in which those that are deceived can come together and spur each other on in their deception. The people become willing to sacrifice anything for their personal evolution, no matter the price. This is why the infected tend to become isolated, trapped in the city of the blight.

At the end of both dreams, a vaccine is offered to counteract this affliction. In the first dream, I could see the vaccine but it was rejected by those that had been taken in by the infection. These are those that accept the rhetoric without realizing what they are giving up in exchange for success. In the second dream, my brother's voice of reason kept me from being taken in by and exposed to the infectious rhetoric and promises of the woman in the facility.

In conclusion, pyramid schemes suck.

This post was edited by my friend Midnight Philosopher. Thank you, sir!