Although his first day here was complete shit, David had been waiting patiently for his first night's sleep in The Other. He many be a weak slave in the Other, but in the dream world.....he was a king.

As soon as David entered his dream world, he started to review the information that woman of darkness gave him as he transferred between worlds. The information she gave him was a soul skill that allows stolen souls to be cultivated into death spirits. These spirits, that were called Ker throughout the universe, were the spiritual embodiment of violent death and battle. After reviewing the information, David had an entirely different understanding of his dream world.

The main revelation wasn't really related to the soul technique. It was the supplemental information that went along with the technique that gave him the most insight.

The reason that he couldn't find any information about his dream world on Earth was that Earth did not have much information on the soul. Earth and The Other cultivation techniques was based solely on physical and elemental Truths of the Universe. For some reason, cultivation of the soul related Truths was non-existent in most lower realms. David's innate ability to interact with the dream world had led to him developing souls skills on his own.

The dark space that he entered to view dream orbs was actually his own soul's soul space. When the orbs appeared, it was only an extension of his perception skill. In the physical realm, he could perceive actions around him.....but while in the soul realm and coupled with his dream skill....he could perceive other souls.

Although they were not the entire soul, the dream orbs were actually a major portion of a living being's soul. The part of the soul related to dreams contained all of someone's most important wants, desires and fears. This most primitive part of a soul needed an outlet for its release of soul energy so the soul had developed a need to dream.

All skills in the Great Truth of Reality were soul based. David realized his perception ability also fell into this category. He had essentially mastered two soul skills of the Great Truth of Reality.....Dreams and Perception. That is why he could use the skill without any heavenly energy.....they relied on the energy of the soul.

After getting over the introduction of new information, David focused in on the actual skill itself. David understood that the woman of darkness's intent had been to develop Heather's soul into a death spirit for his use in battle. From the description of a death spirit, they were wrathful beings that loved bloody battlefields. The spirits would absorb the energies from the blood of beings in order to create a physical form in the real world. Their form was typically that of their original form, but could change appearance based on the soul of spirit. For their existence, the blood of the living served as the nourishment for their physical bodies and the souls of others were the nourishment for their own soul. Because David's own soul would be linked to the Ker...they would be 100 percent loyal to him and would follow his orders as instructed.

David thought this over and decided that it was a good idea...if Heather was agreeable. He needed weapons to increase his strength and she could become a great weapon for battle.

David entered his dream world and immediately saw Heather's dream orb floating off to the side. With a touch of his hand, he removed the illusion of dream from inside. He had promised that he would watch this time. Then he entered.

"David, what is going on? Am I dead?," Heather asked from inside the blank white of her dreamworld.

"I am sorry, Heather. I had an issue with the skill and could not carry it out exactly as planned. I broke your soul away from your body, but I did not destroy your soul. I didn't know that I could do this until now. Your physical body is dead.....but your soul has been living fine in my soul world," David said in a somber voice.

"Essentially, your soul now resides inside of mine...but because of that, I have the ability to help you regain a physical body and progress in your cultivation," David said.

"What? Really?," Heather said getting really excited.

"Yes, really. But there is a price to pay. This method is one of the great soul methods of the universe. It isn't some trash method from Earth or The Other. This was given to me by an exceptional woman.... let's just call her my 'godmother'...she has given me this ability," David explained, "With this ability, you will be able to gain great power but you will have to pay for it with violence. You will need to consume the blood of the living and eat the souls of the dead....and you will be 100 percent loyal to me.....we live and we die together...I won't force you to do anything however.....it is against my nature."

"So I would be like a vampire and you would be my vampire creator?," Heather said happily.

David just looked at Heather. This woman must have read too many fantasy books...she even seemed eager.

"...I guess...," David said hesitantly pausing for a second, "...You would basically become a mixture of a vampire and a vengeful ghost...Does that make sense?"

"Yes," Heather said quickly.

"So would you like to go forward with this method?," David asked to see if she was interested.

"I already said yes....let's get this started," Heather said in exacerbation at David.

David was left standing in a dreamworld with a complete loss of words...this woman had definitely read one to many books about the supernatural.

"Okay....I guess we will get started then.....," David said. He truly thought that he would take more time convincing Heather than he actually did.

"Since I am still a slave in the real world, I think it would be best to cultivate your soul first. Now you are just a glowing orb in my soul space. It would be nice if I could get you to the point where you can at least manifest a soul body inside my soul space. That would be the first step towards getting a physical body," David said.

"Okay, I'm ready...How do I cultivate?," Heather said.

"You will need to leach power from the soul of other people...particularly people that have experienced violence. Based on the method my godmother taught me, I will make a link with your orb in my soul space. From this link, I can take you into other peoples' dreams with me....and we can harvest their soul strength for you," David said.

"Cooool, let's get started," Heather said. She seemed a bit too overenthusiastic, but David figured that this was for this best after some consideration.

"I will leave your dream space now. I will leave your dream space blank for now. As your soul grows, you will also be able to manipulate your own dream space into...whatever you want," David said as he was about to leave.

"Heather...are you 100 percent sure that you want to do this? There is no going back," David said giving the woman one final chance.

"David...you don't need to ask again. My body is dead. I didn't even have any sexual interest in men to begin with....and they raped me so many times. If you can give me chance...a chance for revenge.....a chance to recover from this trauma...a chance to live as a different being that is more powerful than my previous self...I have no regrets and will gladly serve you as your warrior....," Heather said very seriously. Her cute joking nature was completely gone when she spoke those words.

Then the seriousness on the woman's face completely vanished and she smiled a beautiful smile.

".....but please do not call me Heather anymore. I am about to turn into a blood sucking, soul eating creature that fights on bloody battlefields....Heather just doesn't seem right anymore...Heather died with that human body.....you can call me Misery from now on.....it is much more appropriate for what I will become in the future."

David stared at the woman...She was right....who would fear a death spirit named Heather...after thinking for a minute....he even began to think.....Who the fuck would fear someone named David?

"Okay.....Misery....I will be leaving now. Do not resist anything that you feel.....just accept it all," David said before vanishing from from her dream world.

------------

David reappeared in his own soul space with a floating orb next to him. He reached out his hand to touch the orb. With a hand on its surface, he followed the instructions he was given and started to draw patterns and symbols over the surface of Misery's soul orb. This method caused him intense pain in his soul... It was like part of his soul was the ink used to write the patterns and symbols.

After David was complete, he felt an intense burst of pain as it felt like something punctured his soul. After the pain subsided, David could feel a linkage to another soul.

Following down that linkage, David spoke, "Misery...are you there?"

"Yes...," came the weak voice of a woman, "I am here....that was intense."

"You sound weak.....that caused the both of us to feel some strain on our souls....now let's go get you a feast," David said through the soul link.

"Yes, Master," Misery said in a sultry voice.

David focused his perception outward in his soul world. Eventually, numerous dream orbs started to appear within the area. David thought that he didn't have much time remaining, so he decided on an easy target first. This target is one that he had eyed for the entire day. Through the connection, David brought Misery along into one of the dream orbs nearest him.

The two appeared in the dreamworld instantly and David could now see Misery's new physical form. The woman looked very similar to the previous Heather....almost identical.....

"You look frightening," David said to Misery.

"Why? What's wrong with me?," Misery said looking around. She may have changed her name, but she was still the same Heather in personality.....for the most part.

"Nothing is wrong with you....you look the same....but your eyes are blood red.....here, look...," David said as he made a mirror appear in front of Misery.

"Oh...that's sexy! Did any other changes happen to me?," she said while twirling around.

"You should be able to change your form how you want it to look with a bit of effort. Remember, we are in a dream world right now, so I can support your imagination. When you get a body back in the real world, your appearance will be based on your own strength....I won't be able to help you then," David said.

With a look of concentration on her face, Misery's form started to shift slightly. She still had the same basic look, but her outfit changed into some sort of sexy seductress uniform...she grew fangs and her fingernails extended into pointy claws....and she grew a pair of large bat wings from her back...she looked like a picturesque vampire queen.

"Well....I guess you were really into vampire movies in your previous life," David said while standing amazed at the scene.

Misery seemed to complete miss David's comment as she stood there amazed at herself in the mirror.

"Alright, that's enough for now sweetheart," David said with a pleasant smile on his face, "We are in the dream world of one of my favorite people at the moment. I originally didn't plan to kill anyone right from the start, but since your soul could use a nice boost of power.....why not take the power from someone that I hate."

______________________________________________

A man stood in the woods fending off a pack of hungry wolves with a sword. These wolves were tormenting him as he fought to keep them from eating him alive. He felt a nip at the back of his leg and spun around with the sword to miss the wolf by a hair.

David and Misery stood in the darkness watching the man try to survive. David had a cruel smile on his face and Misery seemed excited by the battle.

"Wasn't this man locked in the cell with us?," Misery asked David in a questioning manner.

"Yes, he was a friend that betrayed me. His name is Chaz Brown and he is the reason for my current situation," David answered with a bit of hate lingering in his voice.

"Why don't you go give him some real pain? I'll call off the pets," David said to Misery. He could tell that she had been waiting for permission as she took to the air in her newly formed wings.

She proceeded to fly about above. David willed the wolves to start backing away from Chaz. Hope of safety was always a falsehood in nightmares. Just when you think you are safe.....the real terror begins.