You've always had a bit of a nightmare problem.
It comes with the territory of being a magnet for bad energy.
The 'cat' that followed you home after your last incident, as you suspected, is not just a cat. No, as if the phasing through walls and solid objects wasn't enough to tip you off alone, there have been a few other… peculiarities that have persisted.
You've never once had to feed it, for one. And much like your boss mentioned during it's brief stint at the shelter, sometimes it escaped enclosed areas just to… reappear later, seemingly at random. Occasionally items will disappear and reappear, but it's never been anything too serious.
One night you came home from work to find the shadow fixed into the corner of your living room, dangling above the sofa like a poorly positioned chandelier. You might not even noticed it wasn't just a particularly long and wobbly shadow- if not for the bright, empty eyes boring down into you like the high beams of a car.
You have seen some strange feline behavior in your time, but you can't rationalize that away.
You knew that, deep down. Regular cats don't take the shadowy form of a person and destroy familiars seeking to harm you.
So, your new freeloading roommate is indeed not a cat, but a cat-shaped something, despite their apparent preference for the small, feline form they typically hold.
At least its tidy. And quiet.
And it doesn't take up much space- typically you don't even see it much, though it has taken to laying in your lap or sprawling across your chest when they see the opportunity. You have let it slide, because it doesn't seem to hurt and honestly it's sort of nice.
The adjustments haven't been all bad, you suppose.
You have somehow felt safer since the incorporeal shadow presence started following you around.
You've felt lighter, more rested. Your nightmares have all but instantly stopped.
Your streak of bad luck hasn't completely evaporated or anything- you still encounter much more weirdness and targeted misfortune than the average person, you think, but it's as if there's a layer of equally weird insulation against it, now.
You certainly haven't felt as afraid as you have in a while…
That is until one night, when you wake up from dead sleep in an instant.
There's the familiar weight on your chest, but much heavier.
There is a person seated in a crouch on your chest.
Your eyes adjust to the darkness, but the features of the shape are barely any clearer, the edges still fuzzy scribbles of ink. Claws, teeth, points of horns. Spaded tail. Just suggestions, but there.
And then, familiar empty white eyes.
Oh.
"You can speak?" You croak, throat uncomfortably dry. 'Speaking' versus 'communicating telepathically' is too much splitting of hairs for your current level of alertness. "You never talked before."
You never spoke to me.
Fair point. You suppose you didn't.
You should be more afraid, probably. But the fear isn't there to feel.
"What are you doing?"
Feeding.
That's when things snap together in your mind. They're an actual nightmare, you realize, as in the variety of demon that causes their namesake. Or the other way around, technically.
"You're… eating my bad dreams?"
You suppose it makes sense you haven't been remembering them, if they're just gone.
Don't like this one much.
"Sorry to disappoint." You say wryly, trying to wrap your half-asleep mind around the absurdity of the situation.
In public with no pants. It explains helpfully.
Well, that's mortifying.
Not to my taste.
"What are they usually like?"
Falling through the air. Teeth falling out. Hair falling out. A lot of falling. Its eyes blink in thought, out of sync. Sour.
"Sour?"
Fear is sour.
It doesn't elaborate.
"You're heavier than you look." You gripe, beyond done, and promptly conk back out into a deep, stubborn sleep.
In the morning, the shadow is gone. Typical, as it tends to hide from the morning sun- its probably hiding out under your bed or some other dark corner of its claimed habitat.
What is not typical is how confused you are by this revelation.
You thought they were supposed to cause nightmares, and yet… if anything, its been getting rid of yours?
You should probably be more wary of being fed off of by a demonic entity, especially given your history.
But, you don't feel bad, though. If anything, you feel better than you have in ages.
How bad could it be?
