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He was in their room again. A wide smile spread across his face as he stood in the distant corner of the hazy room which existed in-between the space of being asleep and awake. His mentor called this moment the "half-dream" and, while not the most imaginative name, it stuck in his mind. He would always be there, finding more hosts with each passing day. The more people who became aware of his presence, the quicker he could consume the fear of the living and grow into a more terrifying presence.
But, with each passing day, Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny (who existed before Viner Danny Gonzalez) found himself growing bored of standing in the distant corner. The smile on his grew more forced as he remained motionless. Sure, a couple of the people had tried to interact with him but the whole “sleep-paralysis” schtick meant the most he got was a couple of rapid blinks. Not much on the grand scale of things since no one seemed to know morse code outside of the usual S-O-S nonsense.
Couldn't they tell he was a demon? Why would he try to save their souls?
He had brought the idea of being more active up with his mentor, but quickly met a wall of resistance and a couple of snide comments. It was the exact same reaction when he mentioned possibly expanding outside of TikTok to spread his influence but Hat Man was firmly locked onto the app. Of course, he was doing well, he had a number of titles under his belt and an extensive history outside of social media.
The Shadow Man, the Hatter, the Devil… with names as vague as this, he could quickly spread throughout the greater consciousness of society; navigating it as seamlessly as a shadow would navigate the dark. It was nowhere near as cumbersome as Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny (who existed before YouTuber Danny Gonzalez). The only sore spot for Hat Man was the Barista from 2011 that was mentioned on one Wiki site. It was way too specific to ever catch on and, to this day, Danny was convinced that it was during the Hat Man’s Tumblr phase where he got beaten out by the half-baked Creepypastas.
Maybe the earlier failures with social media had blinded Hat Man to its potential. Or maybe he didn’t want to be overshadowed by a being younger and less experienced than himself. He had spent the entirety of Danny’s existence establishing rules about how to use the “half-dreams” of mortals to survive; that perfect moment where sleep-paralysis demons were at their strongest.
Danny, however, dreamed of breaking free of those constraints; plotting a way of overtaking the Hat Man as the internet’s next spooky trend.
It was this love of plotting that led him to the perfect plan. An Alternate-Dream Game… or ADG for short. He would create an experience so multifaceted and terrifying that his name would become synonymous with horror. But to do that, he would have to break the Hat Man’s cardinal rule.
He would have to enter the World of Dreams and Nightmares.
A world so unstable that even the most powerful demons could find themselves torn to shreds by whatever nightmarish creations a child could come up with. There was even the tale of a demon killed by a “Twilight Sparkle”… Danny shuddered at the thought of a creature being powerful enough to take out the One Who Feasts On Blood & Bone, although it did save him the time of having to greet him whenever their paths crossed. It was far too long of a name to fit into conversations and he always had to say ampersand instead of "&" which was an odd choice. But most demons were like this since titles meant everything to them.
Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny (who existed before multi-channel YouTube personality Danny Gonzalez) understood this well.
Apparently, the One Who Feasts On Blood Ampersand Bone had been trying to complete a dare offered by the Old Hag. She truly was one of the most merciless creatures Danny had encountered; revelling in the suffering of others and spreading stories about all her exploits during her time as a Slightly Less Old Hag.
Still, if Danny was to achieve his dreams, he would have to traverse this dangerous place.
And so he began to plan in detail, working into the night as one of his victims lay in their bed; watching as he sat at their small desk. On it was an open composition book which contained their English homework about The Great Gatsby, but Danny didn’t care as he grabbed a pen and started to scribble down his plan in the warm glow of a desk lamp.
As the sun rose, and the room became brighter, Danny set down the pen he was holding and marvelled at his work. Truly this would be the greatest ADG that the world had ever seen. As he began to fade out of reality, he took the composition book with him. His menacing laugh filled the room as the victim would not be able to hand their homework in and possibly drop a mark or two.
He truly was an evil and mischievous demon.
Packing a couple of supplies into a backpack that he stole from a different victim while they were starting to doze off at school, he prepared for his journey to the World of Dreams and Nightmares. But before he could begin the ritual, however, a loud voice booms across the liminal space he existed in.
“What do you think you are doing!?”
Hat Man.
Danny cursed to himself. He had wanted to keep this a secret for as long as possible but the cat was out of the bag.
“I’m going to do what you never could.”
“You have got to let it go kid. The World of Dreams and Nightmares is too dangerous. Don’t you remember the One Who Feasts On Blood Ampersand Bone?”
“I am not a kid… I just have a naturally young-looking face.” It wasn't the best response, but it did grind his gears whenever the topic was brought up. And Hat Man was always doing this; prodding around in Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny's (who definitely existed before YouTube personality Danny Gonzalez's) insecurities.
“I have given you so much and you throw it back in my face by acting like a spoilt brat.”
“No. You just don’t want me to outshine you. You have spent the last couple of years smothering me because you’re jealous and afraid,” Danny had started the ball rolling. All the feelings that he had been bottling up began to spill out. “You are a pathetic failure who can’t even stand up to the Old Hag. All you do is complain that I’m not good enough… when really, you’re the problem. You push all your insecurities onto me and I hate you for it.”
Hat Man remained frozen for a minute, trying to think of what to say.
“I-“
“Don’t.” Danny cut him off as he left the liminal space.
The ritual to travel to the World of Dreams and Nightmares was a simple one. He just had to find someone in a state of deep sleep and piggyback in through them and hope that they would sleep for just long enough that he could start his nefarious plan.
And he found the perfect target.
Their dream felt so real that Danny couldn’t help but laugh when he came into being. It wasn’t his fake evil laugh that he used to drill fear into the hearts of his victims. This was a genuine laugh that resonated with the world around him; shaping it slightly to match his mood.
If that was what one simple laugh could then Danny couldn’t wait to see what his full power would yield.
And so he began to sprinkle cryptic clues into unsuspecting dreams but, this being his first attempt at an ADG and all, things didn’t go quite as to plan as he had hoped. The first error took place in the perfect setting for a terrifying event. A dark forest with only the ghostly glow of moonlight to light the way; casting shadows in every direction. Each moved with their own mind, blending the darkness into a living mass.
Danny could see the victim walking through, hesitant and confused. All he had to do was send a messenger in, maybe a snake or spider, something clichéd but effective. So he closed his eyes and put all his might into it but got a little bit too excited by the prospect of his plan; his mind whirring with possibilities.
And then, with a ping, his infernal creation was ready. He kept his eyes closed for a bit longer, anticipation filling his body.
“Meow,” the infernal creature mewed.
Meow?
Slowly opening his eyes and looking down, a small cat walked gracefully out to the prospective victim. The only thing this cat had in common with spiders was that it had legs and the chances of someone being deathly afraid of cats were a lot slimmer than someone being afraid of spiders.
“Aww, aren’t you just the cutest?”
The cat purred as they gently stroked its fur.
This wasn’t going to plan at all and so Danny did the only thing he could think of. He panicked, whispered a cryptic message into the air and disappeared.
“Find me…. Follow the cat.”
He marked down the experience as a test run. Not necessarily a failure, but not necessarily a success. It was just an embarrassment that he could learn from.
His next attempt went a little smoother as he just spent time practising how to utilise his new environment. He would run around in front of cameras, send a naked picture out on Twitter, or just send generally nasty vibes out to his targets. The normal things that strike fear into the hearts of mortals; people running for no reason, fuckboys, and vibes.
And it worked.
Sure, it wasn’t going to take over the world, but it didn’t need to. It just needed to be a spark that planted itself into the subconscious of unsuspecting victims. All he had to do was keep the ball rolling and his ADG could become a reality. His plan was simple, he would get people to look for him. It was simple but effective and easy enough to alter to suit any environment.
He decided that Halloween would be the perfect time to launch the next step of his adventure. The victim would already be on edge and make their subconscious even easier to access and so, once he found the ideal target, he waited.
What he didn’t realise was that someone else was waiting for him.
The room started to darken as the sun set, and the child who occupied the room began to snuggle under their covers. Clutched in their hands was a teddy with a missing eye and torn arm. Danny waited for them to drift into a deep sleep.
But they didn’t.
Instead, their gaze was locked on the other side of the room.
“You know, Danny, I gave you everything… All the knowledge you could ever need. All the power you could ever want. But it wasn’t enough, was it?”
Hat Man walked to the centre of the room, revelling in the child’s fear.
“No, it wasn’t. I want to be more than a random guy who stands in the corner of rooms and smiles creepily at things. I want to reach my full potential.”
“Then you will have to kill me to do that.”
Danny was surprised. He never said anything about hurting Hat Man, but he felt a little bit too awkward to say anything since Hat Man had clearly committed to this suggestion.
“Fine.” It wasn’t fine. Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny (who definitely existed before YouTube personality Danny Gonzalez, don't Google it) had no idea what he was doing. He had never fought a demon before. He hadn’t fought anyone before.
Hat Man dived toward him, swinging a sharp jab to Danny’s jaw.
Danny dodged it at the last second; kicking his opponent's ankle so that he became unbalanced. Seizing the opportunity, Danny pushed himself away from Hat Man and towards the toy box by the child’s bed.
Quickly rootling around, he pulled out a sharp feeling object and threw it at Hat Man. It bounced off the shadowy figure, as did the next to and the one after that. He grabbed one last toy as the Hat Man loomed over him; the intent to kill rolling off him like waves.
Danny swung around and stabbed the toy into Hat Man’s body.
As Danny pulled his hand away, he saw a small purple horse toy sticking into his mentor’s chest. Apparently, it had a horn which caused a shallow wound on Hat Man. A wound that, under any other circumstances would have done no harm, slowly drained the blood out of the injured demon. Danny was a little bit surprised that Hat Man went down so easily but he's not going to complain.
Hat Man collapsed backwards onto the ground and impacted it with a thud. A dark, viscous liquid spread out around him.
“I knew you had it in you, kid.”
Danny rushed to his mentor’s side, tenderly holding the shadowy figure as it began to fade out of existence. He could feel a couple of tears roll down his cheeks. Despite everything, Hat Man had raised Danny when no one else would. And the death of the demon was always a harrowing sight for anyone present; reminding them that existence is only a temporary thing.
“You could have been the greatest paralysis demon of us all,” the Hat Man choked, “but you still have to defeat him.”
“Him?” Danny sobbed, confusion furrowing his eyebrows.
“One who is older than anyone else…”
“Who?” Danny was beginning to feel a bit frustrated. Sure it was meant to be a sad moment; the mentor dying and leaving his legacy to his junior… but Hat Man was rubbing it in a little bit. He was also a lot heavier than Danny expected; especially for someone who was effectively a living shadow.
“You know…. Him… My arch-nemesis?”
This was getting ridiculous.
“No. I don’t. I would have said his name if I knew.”
“Slender Man,”
Danny let go of Hat Man, letting the upper half of his body drop back onto the floor. What sort of benign plot twist was this? He just wanted to be more popular than Hat Man… he wasn’t going to go on some sort of pointless quest to fulfil this old man’s wish.
“I thought that whole Slender Man thing was just an early 2010’s thing,” a voice from the other side of the room piped in. Danny had almost completely forgotten about the kid whose room they were fighting in.
“He’s not even got anything to do with sleep paralysis,” a more adult voice chimed in. Standing at the door was one of the kid’s parents; clearly woken up by the loud disturbance. They seem relatively calm for someone who has two demons in their child’s bedroom. But who was Danny to judge?
“Yeah, I don’t even think he’s a demon…” Danny adds.
“Neither are you, "Sleep-Paralysis Demon" Danny (who definitely existed before YouTube personality Danny Gonzalez, I said do not Google it!)…” Hat Man whispers, putting air quotes around the "Sleep-Paralysis Demon" part of Danny's name. Danny felt his world freeze. “How else could you exist in both the dreams and half-dreams of mortals without dying?”
Would this revelation change his world and send him off on a journey of untold horrors, unending misery, and unrivalled riches?
“Mmm… I’m still not fighting Slender Man.”
Of course it wouldn’t.
Danny had more important things to do and his own dreams to fulfil. He was, however, kind enough to wait for Hat Man’s body to fully dissipate, picking up the lone hat and placing it on top of his head. It was the least he could do to honour his mentor’s memory, even if he was a little bit miffed.
“Uh, about the stain…” Danny turned to the parent who had just stuck their index finger into the sludge left by Hat Man’s blood.
“Oh, one tablespoon of dishwashing soap and one vinegar to two cups of warm water should do the trick.”
And with that, he faded back into the world of dreams and nightmares; planning the next step of his increasingly convoluted ADG. Not-A-Sleep-Paralysis Demon Danny (who definitely existed before YouTube personality Danny Gonzalez, please believe me) would strike again, but who knows when or where… maybe his next victim will be you.
Probably not, but never say never.