Shroud finds the lead first. She walks past a newsstand, laden with tabloids and gossip magazines, and a shiver runs down her spine. Some instinct drew her eye to a tabloid bearing a crude photo edit of a shadow on a bedroom ceiling, paired with a photo of a man in a straitjacket. The headline blares "SANDMAN TURNED EVIL?"

The article is mostly hyperbole and speculation, of course, but does have a basis in fact. A cursory investigation reveals that the man in question, one Jeremy Villareal, has indeed been checked into a nearby hospital for observation following what was officially termed a psychotic break. He claimed something invaded his mind during his sleep and started eating his mind. He claimed that his neighbors were also being afflicted.