Aegir patted the shoulder of the blue haired girl then instinctively rubbed at the back of his skull where another node had been budding. It would still need time but was about half way complete and was intended for Nell.

When he had first arrived he had seven of these nodes and had used them to scout or project his powers through similar to how antenna amplfy a radio signal. He had used them all up though and had to do most of his own leg work when it came to new arrivals but at least had some help.

Oh, how he remebered this student and the deal that they had made. She would assist him, spy for him though he was not to take her pysically. Provided that she had some useful news and held to her agreement he would keep to his. A piety, she had been a virgin then and while that was no longer the case he had not come to regret it as she was quiet useful.

He had no real desire to have cirgins, of course if they wee then he'd make due of course. It was more the fact that experiencing other monsters first hand had lessened the horror of seeing him, and that he could appear as a saint when compared to the others.

That was not to say that impulse didn't cause him to eperiment from time to time or simply rape someone, though he prefered far more elaborate methods. Plus, he was patient, as evidenced by the node at the back of his head, so a few days, months or years were meaningless to him considering how long he lived.

But he skimmed through the notes, not really reading but drawing her thoughts on her notes as he turned each page. It was quicker that way. He stopped at one, seemed interested and held the place with a finger as he paged through the others. In the end he flipped back and forth between two pages as if in a debate about the two the ultimately decided on one of the new girls.

There were no pictures but he could see their images in her mind so it had not been required. You have been most useful.

He left her then returning to the forest, lunging their until night before he returned to the dorms masked in one of his favorite illusions of the blue haired girl with spectacles. He was recognized once by an older victim of his but she was too interested in leaving the scene and not being targeted again.

He waited in the halls, waited for this Ms. Barker to sleep. When her brainwaves died down, when he sensed her entering REM sleep he telekinetically unlocked the door, strode inside, then locked it back up before drifting to the bedroom wondering what sort of dream she was having right now as he considered his approach in how he was going to touch upon her mind.

His eyes caressed the sleeping actress and he wondered about whether or not he would take her – then he was struck by the information that he was casually getting from her mind. She could manipulate her own dreams to an extent. How interesting. He wondered how it was going to play out, and while he was confident that he could lessen that affect somewhat he had no intention of establishing a battle of wills with her. He did find this talent rather unusual, and interesting to say the least, so much so that he had forgotten why he was here, forgotten about that debate of whether or not to take her. He was more interested in learning about this talent and seeing just what she could do with it. Would the inhibitors suppress it in anyway? He was hoping not to the point where it would matter, but he became more intrigued with getting started, beginning first by scanning her mind, delving into her dream as it formed.

It is hard to explain how Kirsty knew she was dreaming. Sure, there were clues that would be glaringly obvious to a conscious observer. The building she stood in, for instance, couldn't seem to decide if it was a shopping mall, an airport or a hotel but that wasn't what gave it away. Nor was it gravity defying staircase she had to navigate two rooms ago. No, it was the hallway. A plan, average looking hallway one might see anywhere with nondescript white walls, dark red carpet and evenly space wall scones. There was nothing overtly strange about it except a strange feeling of surreal deja vu. Kirsty knew this hallway. It was actually from her high school in Texas but that's not where she remembered it from. She simply knew it as a hallway like she'd seen in a dream, many dreams actually.

"Huh..." She breathed as she continued walking down the hallway, running one hand along the wall an marveled that she could actually feel it. "I'm dreaming." She came to a door that she somehow knew should be locked. She rested one hand on the door and willed it to swing open for her as if it hadn't been closed properly and the lock hadn't caught. It gave way without any difficulty to reveal a large theater auditorium, another place she saw frequently though its appearance was never quite as constant as the hallway. She was struck first by the size of the place. It was huge. And crowded, apparently a show was about to start and the audience was filing in and filling up all the available seats.

She'd came in through a side door, almost the stage entrance. She stood there uncertainly for a moment when someone grabbed hold of her wrist and she turned to see a girl about her age standing there giving her a disappointed look. "You are late. That show starts in 30 minutes!" Memories flooded into her head as she girl spoke. She was supposed to be starring in a play tonight. "Hurry! You need to get back to the dressing room and start getting ready." The girl tucked her towards the stairs leading backstage and now Kirsty recognized her as the stage director, Miranda.

Kirsty allowed herself to be lead away to her dressing room, wondering idly to herself if she could even remember what play she was starring in. She had a vague sense that she was supposed to be singing something. "Okay, wait here for just a bit. I'll send the boys down to help you get into your costume." No further memories came to her yet so she wasn't really sure who the boys were. More than likely she'd remember when she saw them as was normally the way with dreams. Miranda left her in her dressing room and Kirsty sighed. Nothing to do but start getting changed as much as she could before help arrive. She shucked off her shirt and started searching for the top half of her costume while she waited.

Aegir observed the dream for a moment, taking in the scene that she had allowed to play out before her. The locked door that opened, the theater and the near starting of a play. He had not been too surprised that the actress would be dreaming about acting and while the scene played out he observed it for a moment, before structuring his own thoughts and getting the feel of the environment before he influenced her mind a little to see how things would take. So far so good, there was no defensive mechanism thus far prehaps because there were no elements that the actress wished to change as of yet.

There was a knock on the door, urgent and heavy before a moment later she heard the door open. Whomever it was had not barged into the dressing room but spoke from outside it for the time being.

The first change, Aegir altered her memory slighly adding in something that was fictional but seemed real enough in this dream. He influenced matters a little as he did now.

“Kristy,” it's your dad. It's Kevin … something's wrong.”

Kevin, her fiance. The banker's son, though currently he had said no more while he was in the hall not wishing for anyone to over hear nor willing to barge in under the event that she was not decent. The fact that he was her was odd, he kept busy after all but Kristy had been awre that this was a dream after all so it played to Aegir's advantage that she had known that this was a dream, she'd be more susceptible to bizarre things happening and thus he did not have to worry so much about thinks making too much sense, the challenge would be in keeping things believable enough that she did not change them too much. Aegir was adaptable though so he was not too concerned with this figuring that for the time being he just wanted to have a little fun. He wasn't even thinking about raping the girl as he had intended before getting here and learning of this particular talent. He had interests outside of sex and while he still wouldn't dismiss the possibility of course he grew interested in seeing how things developed first, how much fun he could have with this particular talent. He already wondered if this talent applied to daydreaming as well, though he considered testing that out at some stage or another he did not get ahead of himself.

Kirsty was still only half-dressed when her fiance barged in on her. Not that that particularly bothered her. She was an actress after all so she was used to it. A private dressing room was hardly ever guaranteed. Still, he had startled her and she covered her top half regardless of her unabashed nature. "Kevin! Don't do that... Wait, what did you say?" Her mind was still reeling over the sudden rush of memories about having a fiance and then he through another curve ball at her. Her heart was suddenly in her throat. "What do you mean? What about my dad?!"

“No, Kristy,” the familiar voice of her father called from outside in the hall. “Something's happened to Kevin. Are you decent?”

He waited until she was before entering the room, closing the door behind him he glanced at her, then quickly looked away finding something more interesting to look at on the wall, He was silent for a few seconds before he looked back. It was like being in a movie and he pausing for dramatic effect before a reveal.

As she recalled more details as Aegir supplied them Kevin was suppose to be in the Congo checking out some ruins there. He was an explorer, an archeologist as a hobby though there was no money in it and his father wanted him to take over the family business and get involved in the management of his banks. But Kevin was never too interested in money.

“The under study has already been informed so she's going on tonight, baby. I'm sorry but he's missing. His expedition reported back that he just disappeared and they think one of the local tribes of … well they believe one of the local tribes had to have gotten him while he was absorbed in something. I'm so sorry. I just found out a few minutes ago myself.”

(Sorry, I misread your post. My goof. :p)

"Kevin's missing...?" She repeated slowly as she tried to understand what was being said to her. Kevin, her fiance, was on an archeology expedition in Africa and he'd gone missing. Kidnapped by a native tribe. She tried to picture where he'd gone exactly. Some ancient ruins deep in the jungle's of the Congo. Then, she was suddenly there, standing on the stone steps of some crumpling old temple deep in the heart of a savage but breathtakingly beautiful rainforest.

She blinked, confused for a moment and then she remembered. She was dreaming. That was a relief. It meant she could get right down to the business of rescuing Kevin without the hassle of getting on a plane and flying out here. She took a moment to take in her new surroundings and look for some sign of her fiance's expedition team. "They have to be around here somewhere."

(no problem at all, figured it was an easy misread and you'd catch it with the follow up post)

Now that was interesting. Aegir could save some effort it seemed as Kristy bent the reality of her dream to be there at the Congo. It was no big deal for him and the script that he had for matters was rather loose as it was knowing of her powers he had to be adaptable to what she did. Had he offered up too much resistance he was unsure if some sort of mental defence would kick in or not, he would have to test that out sometime and this whole matter was a trial run so to speak.

So there she was on the steps of some stone ruins that seemed more advanced then she imagined the locals were but predated their civilization as best as she knew. She remembered Kevin making some remark about that or another.

The mocha colored guide was near her looking at a chipped statue of a cheetah though he was perhaps and arm's length away he was behind her and initially out of sight. He looked towards her, a broad shouldered strapping young man by the name of Hassan who had a machete strapped to his hip.

“Miss? This temple was the last that he was working upon before vanishing without a trace. We found some tracks heading off to the northeast, booted tracks but the only thing up that way is the village of the locals and I don't see why he'd go there. I didn't see anyother tracks thought.”

Kirsty listened to Hassan speak and looked off in the direction he had indicated the boot tracks heading off in. "You mean no one saw him leave. My father said he'd been kidnapped but if you found not other tracks..." She looked back to the ruined temple and got a deep sense of foreboding from it. Like there was some ancient power here that had been awaken by the archeology team. "Do you know what he'd been working on? Perhaps we'll find some clues there..." Kirsty wasn't ready to head off to the village filled with possible enemies just yet. The temple seemed more interesting, even if it was a little spooky. Actually, it was sort of what made it exciting. It was just a dream after all. She was allowed to do something cliché like tempting fate. She started up the temple steps as if excepting to be able to find where Kevin had been working on her own.

Hassan nodded. He looked towards the tracks then up to the old steps of the pyramid. It looked like the stone was worn and broken in places and that the jungle had tried to claim it at one stage for their had been a burst of vines spiderwebed over the structure. An entrance way had been cut through allowing passage into the structure.

“He told no one that he was leaving but there were tracks heading away. Many assume that the natives got him. They are rather hostile but keep to themselves when they can. Their a superstitious bunch though and easily spoked.

“Your fiance was quite excited miss. He spent many hours here and amongst these ruins and mentioned something akin to a Star Child or finding evidence of one. He believed that he found something that pointed to a missing link, though he told no one that he was coming here. I found tracks that lead here and his tracks lead away into the jungle so many assume that the natives got him. I tend to think that he may be in trouble. Perhaps he discovered sonething that took him elsewhere and he was injured there and could not return. He could have lost himself in time though with some discoverery, yes that has to be it.

“Do you wish to have a look inside Miss and see what we can discover for ourselves? I have been inside but could not determine anything amiss.”

Kirsty froze on her way up the steps. "Star Child?" She had never heard the term before but she had a guess about the meaning. If this was going to turn into some Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull bullshit she wasn't sure she wanted to know about it. Those bug-eyed, Roswell type aliens gave her the heebie-jeebies. She shivered just thinking about them. "Umm... maybe we should go after Kevin first..." She turned back to Hassan and tried to smile without belying her unease. "No need to go poking around in a dark, old ruin if you've already looked there. Besides, you are right. Kevin might be injured..." She came back down the steps towards him. "Where are these tracks you found?"

Aegir had some sort of direction that he was heading in but certain he had not intended on this being some Indiana Jones BS. This was all a back drop to what he intended after all and right now as she came to Hassam from off the stairs the mocha colored guide nodded.

It ther. had been anything in the temple it was either hiding in plain sight or taken by Kvevin in oder to safeguard it better.

“This way,” he gestured in the direction of the tracks and moved out. He brought her to the tracks and she could tell that they were faint signs of something pressing through the region.

“They go north for a bit but all traces disappear from sight as if something just consumed them. The tracks headed in the direction of the village before vanishing as if something swallowed him up. I didn't find annything along the way though we might find a clue that I missed last time.”

Kirsty looked down at the tracks leading away from the temple and frown at Hassan's explanation. "The tracks vanish? How could they..." She began but got a disturbing flash of the abduction scene from Fire In The Sky, a movie she couldn't even watch the trailer for without getting freaked out. She shook her head. No, don't think about it, she told herself. That's how you got into trouble in dreams. "How far from here is the local tribe's village? Is it far from the place where the tracks stop?"

(Hope you weren't offended by the Indiana Jones comment. Just the first movie I could think of involving aliens and archeology though I am sure there are other better examples. I really was just wanted to express that those kind of aliens scare her. Me too, actually. Never even seen Fire In The Sky. I just remember watching the trailer and getting really scared by it. Stuck with me to this day. Not afraid of any other movie aliens though, oddly enough. Just the iconic Roswell kind.)

(oh no offense at all I haven't found anyone that likes the Crystal Skull, it just didn't fit with the franchise. I did see Fire in the Sky awhile back, though I hardly remember it now, it's been that long. I think we all have at least one movie that creeps us out to a certain degree, mine was the last scene in Sleep Away Camp. I was a kid when I saw it and couldn't tell you anything about the movie other than remembering a generic summary, people went to camp and got killed, but that last scene stuck with me of course it wouldn't now but it's just the memory of that scene that causes me to shudder)

“It's close to the ruins but distant by foot.” Hassan though. Their were no roads to the village obviously and it was all jungle terrain so that would slow them down a little. “Half hour, forty-five minutes I guess so about a mile given the terrain. They're easy to spoke and with the team her I doubt that they even come this far.

“The tracks go in their direction for about fiteen, maybe twenty minutes then simply vanish. I know of nothing in the direction other than that village so it's not a great stretch to consider that the locals did something, what I cannot say for certain.

“I doubt Kevin just dissappeared from the face of the earth. Your thoughts on the matter? Do you still want to check those tracks or do you have a better idea?”

"I'm not sure I have any." Kirsty replied dejectedly. "At least nothing beyond the obvious. If he'd gone to the village, or even if he'd been taken there against his will, there should still be some kind of trail. Let's go to where the tracks end. Maybe something just got overlooked." She didn't really know where this dream was going but she wouldn't find out just standing around here. She started following the trail through the jungle. Maybe seeing the place where all trace of Kevin had mysteriously stopped she would get a version of what had happened to him. That happened if dreams all the time. Like a flashback in a movie.

Hassan nodded. “Sounds like the best plan we got to work with. Let's go.” He had agreed that it was the best thing that they could do, that maybe something had been overlooked while he was last here.

Aegir was somewhat please as it had occurred to him that if she were kept off balance, if she didn't know how things were going she might not change much curious as to how things were going at least not until she understood a little better.

He had discerned what had freaked her out, Roswell greys, and while he had considered the possibility of their inclussion her he realized that the inclusion of her fears would likely get her to change things as best as she could. He wanted to see her talents in use and considered using them at a point to see her talent in use, to get her to respond but for the time being he was monitoring her thoughts, seeing how she behaved normally to her dreams and figuring out a control.

Aegir did not like terrifying his prey too much but he did it from time to time when it suited him. Smaller dosages of the same drug that was fear sprinkled throughout? Perhaps, he would first see where things were going first.

The pair came out into a small clearing, unusual for the jungle seeing that there was no reason for living people to clear this area. The tracks lead up to the stump of a massive tree and just, well vanished.

Looking about Kristy could see no other signs of real growth outside of grasses.

Hassan swung his gaze around.

“It looks at the clearing, looking about first. Then he spoke calmly. “It appears as if the tracks go up to the stump, he turned about here, maybe sat down but there is no evidence that he leaves or that their's a passage beneath the sump and he faced it and played around with it. Perhaps there is something else here in the grass or edges of the clearing though I see no signs of him struggling.”