Return to the Truth - Ep. 1 - freeform quest

>>182471
>> Speak with your brother, in the room connected to yours

>>182517
Change my mind to
> Browse the internet for dream omens

>>182471
Hm.
It's too early in the morning to contact family.

Supporting >>182535 And afterwards, text a friend of ours about the dream. If we never brought it up before, maybe open with something like 'ever dream of something creepy'? Or something nonchalance.

>>182535
/Seth's Perspective/

Giving up on sleep completely you stand up, quickly grabbing a towel to clean the sweat up as best you can. Sitting down and pressing the power, your laptop fills the bedroom with a dim light. You close out of the... shameful... things that were left on the screen from the previous use, and pull up a search engine.

"dream omens" is the first search, multiple links from weird click-baitey sites fill the screen, halfheartedly you look at several advertising dream-catchers, lsd experiences, and other senseless bullshit.

"nightmare of monster in woods" doesn't do much for you either, more dream journals which are slightly entertaining to read, but again nothing you can find applicable to your situation

"Omen of boy running from thing in woods" - Same senseless bull-

"What a minute," you whisper under your breath, a simple forum website appears after you sift through several pages of the search engine. Simply titled "Simple Truths" the website is almost a support group of sorts, several thread describing strange dreams, weird occurrences, and an admin of sorts providing interpretations. It oddly seems free of the normal troll-fest of places you've seen.

The administrator named "Y" has a disclaimer under their name, claiming that it takes atleast forty-eight hours before an accurate understanding of your dream can be written up. You decide to spend your time browsing the other threads, though many seem locked to members-only viewing.

> Content yourself with just lurking, not posting
> Create an account, but do not post,
> Create an account, and write out a detailed explanation of the dream
> Other (Write-in)

>>182631
> Create an account, but do not post
Let's see what they do first before we write out our dream.

>>182631
I support >>182649
But if we don't find what we're looking for specifically, maybe consider trying to get what we saw on 'paper' at least. That is, write it out in a word document and see if we can remember it all that clearly. Or how many minor details we can recall this way.

>>182649
>>182695

In your thoughts, there isn't anything stopping you from making an account and just reading the hidden threads, so you navigate quickly to an account creation process.

The questions are general at first, an account name, you struggle for a second before going with a simple name "Seth_D",

A date of birth with a disclaimer that all ages are allowed, "11/15/2000"

Gender - "Male"

Phase of the moon at birth - "What the hell?" you mumble, quickly you look it up, deciding its a "Waxing Gibbous"

And you're in, with a welcome it informs you that all threads are available for viewing. You click on the first one you see that was locked titled "Recurring Nightmare of Wings". The poster introduces themselves as Tabitha, a young woman several years older than yourself. It details seeing a young, nude girl being ecstatic on a horse, riding through some unknown plains of tall grasses, before a strong sense of fear dominates her and the horse bucks her away, fleeing into the night and leaving her stranded. The girl wanders through the grasses, lost and afraid, before she hears the stomping of a horse, far louder than her own would have been.

You make a double take as she continues the description, "And it was a horse! The sound of labored breath and everything common with them, until its head poked through the brush, it has no skin, it's just exposed muscle, and I wake up on the verge of tears every time, please help me." The post stops there, you cringe inwardly at the thought of that horrific picture and thank God yours isn't as graphic.

Scrolling down, Y's post starts by telling her to relax, that the message the dream has is one many people receive. Much of it seems like vapid assurances of the "Universe's message to her" until he tells her to visit a place like in the dream, saying that something is drawing her to such a place, and the only answers that will be given will be found there.

Other commentators seem to be agreeing with Y's opinions, saying that they had similar dreams to hers, and clicking on their profiles shows that it's surprisingly accurate, most of their profiles always start with a post describing dreams similar to hers, deformed horse visiting children in the plains, frankly it gives you a creepy feeling that you can't quite pin.

You decide to write down your own experiences in a place other than the forum.
It breaks down simply, a young naked boy running through the woods scared, until a creature of some sort jumps towards the child, ending the dream.

You could post your own story, but the website gives you an uneasy feeling. The sun is now starting to rise and light is filtering in to your room, after screwing around on the computer, it's now around 8 a.m.

> Post it anyways,
> Research something else online (Describe)
> Contact someone to talk to (Brother, Friend, Parents)
> Write-In

>>182879
> Post it anyways
What the worst that could happen?

>>182879
This time, I am getting a bad feeling about this.
I'd say 'fuck it' and leave the paragraph we wrote saved for now, and try and bring it up with someone more trusted. Like a good friend, or something. We have school today? Maybe we can see if anyone in our social circle has a similar thing going on. It at the very least, doesn't appear to be just us.

>>182964
>>182895
If there's no tie breaker though, I am fine with posting it and still seeking out friends to ask about.

>>182964
It's currently mid-summer so school would be out at the moment, but there are friends who live in the same area that can be contacted if you want to go that route.

>>182977
Then yeah, plan for afterwards is see if anyone wants to 'hang out' and casually mention we're dreaming of lovecraftian nightmares.

Should go over pretty well with 15 year olds.

>>182983
>>182895

You transfer the paragraph to a new thread, and post it, worst case scenario couldn't be anything too bad. You click post and switch to your phone.

You text several friends, but seeing as it's pretty early you don't expect much of a response, in the meantime you busy yourself with your morning routine, jumping in the shower you hear your brother barge in to the shared bathroom and start brushing his teeth, he pays you no attention beyond yelling at you to hurry up.

As you finish getting dressed, the phone vibrates and you see two people did respond, Aaron, an older friend who;s always lived near you, and Erica, a friend from your school. You text both planning to meet at a small park nearby.

The three of you spend time dicking around as teens tend to do, walking around the neighborhood talking about nothing meaningful beyond the usual drama with Erica's seemingly endless list of boyfriends, with you and Aaron teasing her about being slutty, nothing new.

Later in the day you end up sitting on the edge of a nearby creek, Aaron had produced a small pipe and a baggy of weed, and the three of you were quickly on the way to getting high.

You lean back, enjoying the mid-day sun on your face, you look over at the nearby woods and the dream rushes back to you.

"Hey guys, keep this between us can you?" you mutter quietly, a look of concern crosses both of their faces.

"Of course man! What's wrong?" Aaron quickly says, sitting up and looking at you.

"I've been having these nightmares lately," You start, not sure how to word this, "It's been keeping me up a lot over the last few months, and it's always the fucking same. " Both friends seem pretty curious.

"It's always this kid I don't know, he's always running away from something in the woods, and whenever he looks at it all I see is glowing eye sin the bush the dream just stops and I wake up terrified and sweaty." You quickly let out, Erica throws an arm over your shoulder, hugging you.

Aaron stays somewhat silent, while Erica asks a ton of questions, what it looks like? You aren't sure, just two bright white dots in the brush and a lot of movement. Who the kid is? You don't know, just a kid a little younger than them.

Aaron starts slowly, "I think I've been having the same dream..." You look at him suddenly, and Erica jumps to him, asking the same questions, he brushes her off and stands up, and awkwardly asks if you and him can be alone for a bit to talk about it.

She seems hurt, but she agrees to walk away.

"So I guess, what you need to know is going to sound weirder than anything, but have you heard of this website, 'Simple Truths'?"

> Tell him the truth
> Tell him the truth but leave out posting on it
> Lie (Describe)
> Other (Write-in)
> What do you ask Aaron?

>>183091
>> Tell him the truth but leave out posting on it

>>183091
>Our bro
Nice. At least we got some validation.
>>183115
Let's do et.

>>183091
Tell him the truth, but leave out posting.

>>183091
>other

Tell him the truth, but leave out posting on it.

However, tell him about the boy being naked in the dream and seeing what he thinks about it.

>>183091
> Tell him the truth but leave out posting on it
"It's just a creepy nightmare, right?! But it's super strange that we have the same dream..."
Compare details to check whether it's really the same or just similar.
After the discussion, we return to Erica and have a nice day - being teenagers and all.

OP are you still here?

>>191003
Hey sorry, yeah I am. Ended up passing out last night and been busy with family shit all day, parent's house got flooded so I've been ripping up carpet and moving furniture all day

I'll continue the thread tomorrow, or tonight if there's a lot of interest.

Sorry for disappearing like that, stressful time

>>193536
Wish you luck!
No rush to return to story telling.

>>183115
>>183132
>>184908
>>183238
>>185086

"Yeah! This morning actually I was researching it and that site popped up. Honestly it seemed really fucking weird from what I can tell." You quickly let out, Aaron seems pretty amused and nods.

"Yeah, I came across it awhile back, seemed like they knew a lot about weird dreams like that. Don't post on it though, from what I've heard from rumors online they're trying to find people with those dreams, been reported kidnappings from people who've used the site, really creepy shit." You hide the look of wanting to shit your pants and gesture for him to continue, " Well, anyways, there was this girl who posted on there when I first found it, we had the same dream I think you're describing."

You still feel pretty incredulous about it, " Well how do you know its the same? My dream is just of that boy running through the woo-" Aaron interrupts,

"The boy with no clothes on, that gets attacked by something with glowing eyes, right?" The look of shock is clear on your face, "Yeah, I know. It's the same dream. " He almost seems annoyed, " As I was saying, this girl and I had the same dream you're having, and we were talking for a couple of weeks online, but she just disappeared, hasn't said anything back to me and her online presence just seems erased... So be careful man, and if you ever need help I'm here for you." He finishes, waiting for your response.

> Ask a question (describe)
> Suggest returning to Erica
> write-in

>>195857
> Question
" Who would kidnap people for that?"

>>195857
>Question
"What do you think the dream means? I think maybe we should stick together for a while, if the girl that said she had the same dream disappeared. Could you come over for a sleepover?"

>>196445
> " Who would kidnap people for that?"
Aaron shrugs, "Who knows, honestly I don't think it's ever been confirmed they're the ones kidnapping people, only that lot of the people kidnapped had posted on that website." He grabs a rock and skips it across the creek water.

>>196012
> "What do you think the dream means? I think maybe we should stick together for a while, if the girl that said she had the same dream disappeared. Could you come over for a sleepover?"

He laughs, "If I had to tell you how many times I've asked myself what it means, we'd be old men before I stopped. It sounds stupid, but I really feel like it's an omen for something happening in our lives, no clue what it would be though." You shift around as you see a deer break out of the brush on the opposite side, it takes one look at you and runs back in to the woods. "As for the girl who vanished, we are probably safe as long as we don't post on that website, its the only connection I know of between the dreams and the disappearances. It might be a good idea if we sty together for a little while, not much different than it used to be right?" He grins and claps a hand on your shoulder.

A clap of thunder shocks you both out of your reverie as rain starts falling, quickly you both grab your things and rush back to your house.

-

You both settle in your room and screw around with video games, apparently nobody is home seeing as your parents and brother have jobs that take up most of the day. Several hours pass and your mother arrives home first, you easily explain Aaron wanting to stay over for the night, and eventually it grows later and later in to the night.

> Continue playing games until sleep.
> Converse with Aaron (write-in)
> Tell Aaron the truth about posting
> Other (Write-in)

>>196573
Whoops, wrong trip

>>196573
>Tell Aaron the truth about posting
It's good to be truthful to your friends.

Also
>other
Ask him to sleep with you, and see if that stops the dream.

>>196573
Selfish bump to increase interest

I guess I'll bump too then.

>>197597
Honestly I'm just going to start updating based off of single votes if needed, haven't even started the major expository parts of the story.

>>197648
Just do it tbqh, this board can get pretty slow at sometimes, and I want to see the rest of the story.

>>197665
Yeah what he said. I'll try keeping up OP but I'm about to head to sleep, really enjoying your writing style

>>196627
As the night winds later and later you and Aaron quickly devolve into two jack-asses clad in boxers as guys your age usually do, being overly competitive in video games and talking trash all along the way. The moon is shining clearly through the night, giving the room an eerie glow as you shut down the electronics and get ready for sleep.

"Aaron..." You start, the guilt reaching a boiling point, "I... Posted on the website about the dream, I didn't know what to do and it seemed like a good choice at the time." Aaron looks at you with shock plastered on his features,

"Seth, that isn't good! What the fuck!" He whispers in a very loud tone, the sheer amount of fear in his voice is enough to make your hair stand on end. Aaron stands up, grabbing his clothes quickly before bolting out of the door, you sit in shock.

> Chase him
> Give up and lay down
> Call him
> Other (Write-in)

>>197775
>Chase him

You don't know what will happen if stay alone tonight, you don't want to end up like that one girl Aaron talked about.

OP are you here?

I can't bump the thread anymore, please don't let it die.

OP pls.

I want to see the rest of the story.