the sheer force and vile determination of the driving winds whipped and brutalized the desolate landscape as if some ancient horror wished to resculpt it to its own twisted design. when the winds had died and were but a dull breeze upon the land, the sands shifted, uneasily at first, then parted slowly to release a dark and chilling vapour which sent wisps of steam into the parched air. the vapour lingered momentarily, collecting itself, then became a dark cloud, black as pitch, shaping into that of an ethereal man. its mouth gaped wide and let forth a wicked primal scream which would have paralyzed any living creature with fear, if any existed in this forgotten land. when its echoes finally diminished, the spectre set its focus on a distant point on the horizon and flew in haste like a hell-spawned dust devil, stirring everything in its wake. like a newborn child, it was hungry and needed to feed.

i awoke with a start, in an unexpected cold sweat. i remembered not my nightmare nor what woke me, but a definite feeling of uneasiness crept from the base of my spine and prickled up my neck. my psychic awareness seemed unusually stimulated as i clambered out of bed that ill-fated morning. for as far back as i could remember i had the ability to perceive unnatural phenomena greater than a normal man. i could sense and hear things other people could not. i kept this "gift" to myself but a few of the townsfolk knew of it. they would give me strange looks, and wide berths as i walked the streets of town. as i made my way to put the kettle on, i suddenly swooned as a dark void came across my vision, blurring my sight and sending waves of fear and despair through my body. i toppled to the floor, on all fours. a wave of nausea hit me causing me to vomit the bile from my empty stomach. as my head hung limply, my eyes began to focus on my discharge, and the premonition i saw still haunts me to this day: an evil of ancient monstrosity incarnate, feasting upon the souls of innocents. a new energy came upon me and i lurched to my feet. the horrific vision still clear in my mind infused me with a mania that would later seal my fate. i ran from my abode, out into the crisp morning air of the town awakening to a new day. 'we must save them! we must save them!' i shrieked. the townsfolk bustling to their workplaces looked at me startled and bewilderingly, taking steps backward as i waved my arms in the air, crying, pale and hysterical. i grabbed a hurrying gentleman by the arm as he passed, staring at him with wild and bloodshot eyes. 'we must help them!' i hissed in his face. the terrified man quivered in my grasp and falling to the ground slipped from my grasp and scurried away like a frightened crab. the world suddenly spun wildly, knocking me off my feet, and i was bombarded with visions of terror and hellish sounds, as i lay twitching and writhing upon the street. i could see plainly the dark phantom reduce a city to ashes before my eyes. and then, expanding like a giant storm cloud, it enveloped the ruins, probing and seeking with smoky tendrils a body or two here, another there, whereupon it squeezed forth the life essence, soaking up the souls with grotesque glee and a chortle like that of stone on stone. again and again i saw these visions and heard these sounds, screaming and shaking in helpless misery. it seemed like an eternity in hell, perhaps this reality had been a dream all along and i was indeed a prisoner within my own hellish dementia. alas, it was not so, for when i awoke, my body cut and bruised and my mouth dry and crusty from frothing, every wall was white and i was alone except for the echoes of crying and the undying murmurs of the insane.