What if your nightmares no longer haunt your dreams, but your real life.
Valeria Draven has spent weeks waking from the same terrifying visions.
People turning into monsters.
Friends fighting for their lives.
Strangers holding their hands like they...
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I was running.
Not the kind of running that leaves your legs burning after a race.
The kind where stopping meant dying.
Smoke swallowed the sky.
Buildings burned on every side, collapsing one after another. Ash drifted through the air, sticking to my lungs every time I gasped for another breath.
Someone was shouting my name.
"...Valeria!"
The voice was distant, buried beneath the screams and the explotions.
I couldn't stop.
I didn't know what I was running from.
I only knew it was after me.
The street were filled with abandoned cars, shattered glass, and bodies that should've stayed dead.
A low growl echoed somewhere to my left.
Another came from the rooftops.
Then dozens more.
I risked a glance over my shoulder, and I immediately regretted it.
Poeple...or at least they use to be.
Their mouths were stained with blood.
And the worse part is.. they were all after me.
I turned the next corner, my lungs screaming in protest.
A familiar laugh cut the screams.
"Val!"
Madline?
She was alive..
Relief flooded my chest for exactly one second before an explosion threw both of us off our feet.
Heat slammed into my back.
My ears rang.
When I forced myself to look up, I couldn't see Madline anymore.
Only fire.
Only smoke.
"Mad?"
"..."
"Madline?"
No answer
"Alicia!"
Nothing.
"Bellatrix!"
Silence.
Panic clawed at my throat.
No.
No, no, no, NO.
NOT AGAIN
I ran.
I searched every street.
Every alley.
Every burning building.
There was no sign of them.
Only monsters.
Only death.
Then...
Everything became quiet.
Too quiet.
The infected stopped moving.
The wind died.
Even the fire seemed to shrink.
A heavy..
Slow...
Thud echoed through the streed.
with each thump, it came closer.
The pavement vibrated beneath my feet.
My body froze.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my body refused to respond.
Then, a massive shadow emerged from the smoke.
Towering.
Broad-shouldered.
Wrapped in black.
Its face hidden behind something that looked almost human.
Then its glowing eyes met mine.
And I knew my life reached its end.
The creature raised an enormous hand and a lazer sight settled on my chest.
My heart stopped.
The world exploded into white.
I bolted upright.
My lungs fought for air, making me choke.
Sweat soaked my pajamas.
My hands trembled so violently that I had to grip the nightstand to stop them.
3:46 A.M.
Again.
The same dream.
The same monster.
The same ending.
I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands.
"It was just a nightmare, Val. Pull yourself together," I whispered.
