Dreamless

Prologue
It was the dead of night and an old man stood alone at an old beach watching the tide move in, the only light available coming from the moon above and the curious glowing yellow eyes the old man had : unblinking and uncaring as they stared into the inky black expanse of ocean.

"In the beginning there was darkness.. before even darkness there was the Abyss.. as day turns to night so too must even darkness eventually fade to nothing.. the end will not come with a scream but with a whimper.. even the Gods will simply cease and all shall fade.. all shall fade.."

The old man simply listened to the thoughts in his head, they were not his own yet still filled him with determination - he knew what he had to do as a faint smile spread across his shriveled face, revealing broken teeth and lips scarred by many cuts.

Taking a small bottle from one of the pockets in his torn jacket the old man held it up, examining the small glowing orb inside and his eyes lit up - the inhuman gaze penetrating into the bottle as the glowing orb shuddered and began to spin in circles.

Meanwhile, in the nearby coastal town a young man suddenly woke from a dreamless sleep in a cold sweat, getting up as if in a trance with eyes wide in terror - trembling with every step as he tried to cry out but could do nothing as he wandered out into the night.

Back at the beach the old man waited and soon the young man wandered into view, his face trapped in a silent scream as no sound escaped - the old man's smile grew to inhuman degrees, distorting his face as broken teeth became akin to fangs and his shriveled skin developed an eerie glow to match his eyes, a gnarled finger tapped on the bottle before he tilted it a little.

As the old man manipulated the bottle the young man struggled but to no avail as he walked into the ocean, an unnatural weight clinging to his legs as if invisible hands held him down - allowing the icy cold water to slowly spread up as he continued wandering deeper.. deeper.. until he found himself fully submerged, unable to even close his eyes as the freezing blackness covered him, the weight keeping his feet planted firmly to the sand and gravel below as he continued to walk deeper and deeper out into sea.

The old man watched as the young man disappeared from view and turned away, pocketing the bottle again as the glowing orb within became erratic, like a trapped firefly.. the old man taking leave without a word..

At the same time, deep under the water, the young man continued walking in icy darkness as water filled his lungs, yet in defiance of all nature he did not drown - instead he remained wandering, feet held to the bottom of the sea as he wandered deeper into the abyss, no longer alive nor dead as he continued to walk out into the endless depths..

Chapter 1
King's Bay was a quiet town filled with people that were still adapting to the great changes of mid-21st century life, amidst the population were people old enough to remember a time before V-Net and while most other areas had long began to see a rise in superhuman activity King's Bay prided itself in being a "good old" town free from the "mutant menace" or "alien scum".

The town was mostly made up of fishermen, housewives and a few youths - the fishermen refusing to upgrade to new ways of life and living a life not unlike those of their ancestors.

The locals were close-knit, as was common in such towns, save for a mysterious old man who lived in a large manor overlooking a cliff - the old man rarely ever came out of the manor and when he did he could be seen sporting a white cane and sunglasses, believed to be blind by those he passed during his infrequent visit to a local fish market or as he made his way to a small store where he'd always buy several small jars before returning to his manor.

Yet one day the town of King's Bay was about to receive a mysterious visitor from afar, one that would soon change the town forever.. for destiny had a strange way of ensuring those who could make change would find there way to places they were needed..

(OOC: anyone can join this story if they want, it is my first interactive story and thus I will try and introduce my concepts as best as I can - as you can tell I'm also taking steps to blend this story with existing lore : time-line wise this would have to be at a time when V-Net was relatively "young" (since people can remember internet in King's Bay) but I'm not sure about exact dates (sorry) )