The Halferne Incubus

So many people, all of them lost.

Like bluish-white apparitions made entirely from the swirling light of memories, they walked through fog, oblivious to the strangers who walked among them. They seemed to stretch on forever, or at least as far as Serah could see in the billowing gray clouds. She walked through the crowd without purpose. Occasionally, brightly colored words formed in the air in languages she couldn't read, but somehow, she still knew what they said.

After a few minutes, she came to what, for all practical purposes, could be considered a wall -- a slightly darker, denser patch of fog that pushed back with equal force when she touched it. Puzzled, she turned left and changed course to follow along the wall.

Her path led her into another large group of people, the same as all the others, except for one. To her left, in a small group of seven or eight, one of the figures abruptly took on a sharper focus. No longer an indiscreet bundle of swirling light, this one had the face of an older woman. Serah quickly looked away and picked up her pace, trying not to engage with the judgmental stare. They passed within arm's reach of each other. Serah could feel piercing eyes studying her intently as she passed -- head turning to follow her in her peripheral vision but making no move to approach.

Serah carried onward, accelerating her pace. The wall she had kept on her right and was following abruptly ended, and she found herself in the open again, surrounded by more of the featureless, ghostlike figures. There seemed to be fewer on her left, so she proceeded in that general direction, focusing all her attention on nothingness in front of her, afraid to look directly at any of the people.

On her left, she saw it again – this his time, a tall, thin man wearing some kind of workman's coveralls. She caught a quick glimpse before looking away, probably too obvious this time. A shiver of adrenaline shot up her spine. She felt her face flush and her heartbeat quicken. Knowing she had seen him, the man turned his whole body toward her. She did not look back but could feel the same piercing eyes as the old woman's. He was studying her.

She continued walking, fighting back feelings of panic. She had lost track of the direction she was traveling, unsure if she was even moving in a straight line. Signs appeared again in the air around her. She avoided looking at them. Some were directional, she knew. Others were informational. The language was still foreign, yet familiar at the same time. Abruptly, she came to another wall like the first one. This time, she turned to her right, keeping with a wall on her left and following it along.

Just in front of her and to her right, another flash of recognition appeared, and one of the vaporous figures took a solid form. This time, it was an older man, possibly in his mid-60s. He had silver hair, neatly coiffed, and a black and gray business suit. His general stature was that of someone in good health and physical condition. Unlike the other figures, however, he immediately started toward her as soon as he appeared, pushing other people out of the way as he inched closer.

Consumed with panic, Serah broke into a run. She stayed as close to the wall as she could, still excusing herself as she burst through crowds of people, sometimes pushing them, sometimes knocking them over. She had no idea how close the man was, but she knew he was somewhere behind her, pursuing her. He would never stop. He would only change form.

She was approaching a corner in the room of fog. This would force her to turn right. The crowds were growing thinner. If she kept straight to the end of the wall she would go through at least two more large groups of people, which she believed might slow down her pursuer. If she moved to her right now, she would be out in the open, and it would be a dead sprint. She was reasonably confident she could still gain ground on him in the open, but something about him seemed to move inhumanly fast for a man his age, and she was sure the crowd wouldn't slow him down significantly. Even if it did, he could just appear as someone else in front of her.