Running, no, sprinting. I was sprinting for my life. I didn’t know what I was running from but I knew I couldn’t stop. The room seemed to get smaller and smaller as I ran.
“What do you take us for?” a voice boomed in the dark room. I looked around, trying to see who the voice belonged to. The lights in the room were to dim for me to see. Running was getting me nowhere. I decided to search for a door. My fingers felt along the velvet walls searching for any way out.
“How dare you underestimate us!” the voice from before screamed. At the haunting sound, I quickened my pace. Desperately searching for a door, I kept praying for a way out of this hell I was in. My fingertips were met with something cold and smooth. It felt like a door. I let out a shaky breath of joy as I felt for a doorknob. Nothing. I began to panic. My breath hitched as the door I was touching moved beneath my hands.
“No. That’s not possible.” I thought aloud. My ears were met with eerie laughter. The throaty laughter made my pulse quicken. I felt a hand reach for my throat. Calloused fingers wrapped around my neck. I tried to scream but only a weak, strangled sound came out. The hand around my throat began squeezing harder. I could barely breathe. The hand tightened around my neck crushing my airway. I tried to gasp for air but the hand only got tighter. The lights in the room brightened and illuminated my attacker. Long, silvery horns. Half man, half beast. His hand around my throat tightened and his long talons ripped into my flesh. I could feel the warm blood dripping down my neck and into my shirt, pooling around my feet. I could feel myself losing consciousness as my intake of oxygen declined drastically by the second. I struggled to breathe, stay awake, and stay alive. This beast was killing me and he knew it.
“Poor unfortunate soul,” the deep voice of the beast met my ears as I took my final breath.
My eyes fluttered open. Bright lights and padded, white walls were all I could see. I stood and walked to the mirror. The only decor in the room except the bed I was just on. I was met with the reflection of the beast from my nightmare. He stood staring deep into my eyes.
“No,” I screamed as the mirror shattered. I collapsed into darkness with only the image of the beast to comfort my nightmares.