Dreams are precious things. A fantasy inside our minds, pictures that play as we sleep. Dreams can be beautiful, filled with fairytale lands and castles and unicorns. Magical flowers and heart-shaped clouds are predominant in those types of dreams, and they leave you feeling filled with happiness and comfort.

But.

There are dreams in which only terrors exist. Perhaps they are a child's monster, or perhaps they are filled with demons that are all too real for you. Wastelands and dungeons, alleys or parking lots, some dreams can leave you in a pile of sweat and a terrible feeling that something is watching you.

We call these two opposites dreams and nightmares, but there is something else. There is something else that invades your dreams and nightmares, something that doesn't belong. Prophecies and warnings are often delivered this way, but sometimes the things that slip in your sleeping mind leave with something that doesn't belong to them.

Memories are valuable things, and there are creatures out there that crave them. There are creatures out there who travel in shadows and darkness, and while you're vulnerable, they sneak in and leave with memories filled with extremes. Extreme sadness or extreme terror, pure elation or wonder, they take, and you wake up with a sense of loss, wondering what's missing.

The truly terrible thing, however, is when the creatures come back for round two. Because, if you're delectable enough for these things, then they'll come back for seconds.

And thirds.

And fourths.

Until you have nothing left. Until you become something without any memories, so you decide you'll have to steal others. Until you become just like them.

Be careful, because they're never more than a couple of dreams away.