The man was hypnotic. Gorgeous blue, crystalline eyes paired with a lopsided smirk settled on his face. His hand, reaching out to me, beckoned me to come forward. He was promising me wonder, excitement, a vow to make all my dreams come true and worries melt away. A tug towards oblivion. I placed my hand in his and the world immediately shifted. Blackness, suffocating, and never ending, closed in. Not even the stars shone through.
I looked at the man in front of me. He was no longer the hero he led me to believe , but the villain himself. He wore the darkness like a cloak around his shoulders and his now wicked grin as a crown. Hands, midnight black, reached up through the shadows and started clawing at me. I fell to the ground but they wouldn't let go. A high pitched scream escaped my lips and I looked to the man for help, now desperate. He just chuckled and flicked his own hand. One of the phantom hands clawing at me slashed my chest, right above my heart, with a long and curved nail. I screamed and pulled away but still could not move. The man flicked his hand again and the phantom hands held me still. Slowly, as if savoring every moment of this, he stepped forward and leaned into my ear. He smelled like the forest and soil, his breath warm against the chill now streaming through my blood. "You're mine now," he whispered. His voice a rumbling thunder against the darkness settled around us. A crash of lightning sounded in front of us. I screamed in pure terror and he laughed. Another crash and shock of light surrounded me.
I bolted upright in my bed, a cold sweat pouring down my back. It was just a dream. I turned to look at the clock but a searing pain near my chest stopped me. I looked down to see a slash, inches deep and streaming blood, right above my heart. I stifled a screamed and ran to my bathroom. Slowly, I cleaned the cut. I guess watching all those medical shows paid off. As I pulled the thin plastic off the band-aid, I felt a sudden chill on my shoulders. And deep in the shadows of the room, I heard a throaty chuckle that resonated with me deep within my muscles.
