Dream in which I've moved into a new apartment in an unknown city. The apartment was cheap. I was starting over again; things remain in an unpacked state for a long time while I figure other things out.
At night I can sense a presence, a friendly spirit. I know it is a boy, not my age, but maybe about five years younger. He hovers over one side of the room where I keep a rack of clothes in the open. Finally, in passing conversation with someone from the neighborhood one day, I mention that I don't mind the fact that my apartment is haunted.
"You should. A family used to occupy several rooms there. Your apartment was the little girl's room. One night the brother sneaked in and startled his sister badly while she was sleeping."
"The shock was so intense that she didn't actually wake up, but instead dropped into a rare state of half-consciousness. She knocked him out with a lamp from the nightstand, then ate his brains with a fork. There were no signs of struggle."
Shit. No wonder people have been avoiding me. This news was delivered to me in a restaurant. I look around: everyone else is happy. They all have somewhere to go home to afterwards. I debate getting a hotel to sort things out, but eventually calm myself down & decide to face whatever I need to face. I go back home and fall asleep.
In my sleep I can sense that he's there somewhere, a shadowy figure. I am reaching for him, straining towards him. I can sense that by this point I have actually half-opened my eyes during the dream & am looking out across my real apartment in New York. I'm sitting up in bed with my right arm stretched out towards him. I can hear myself making the straining noise. A demon is controlling me.