The air was damp and chilly as the pale young woman made her way through the swampy patch of land, which smelled like dead, rotting things. Her eyes swept the dark marshy area, and she knew that all of this had to be a dream. No matter how fast or long she walked, she couldn’t get any closer to her destination.

In the distance was a tall healthy grove of pine trees, in a patch of green. They were untainted by the cold gripping mud and quicksand of the marshlands. It was her exit, her sanctuary. A place where the demons could not reach her.

She shivered partly from cold, and partly from a remembered sensation of icy, lifeless, reaching fingers with long sharp yellow claws brushing the skin on the back of her neck. They had been trying to ensnare her flesh. They had reminded her of chicken's feet. The scaly feel of them against her white papery skin.

Her heavy boots made a squelching sound each time she took a hesitating step forward. First testing the ground, and then when she was convinced it would not pull her into the deep clutching mud, she firmly took the step. There was no source of illumination, save the ghostly glow of the demon moon full and powerful above her. It provided to much contrast of light and shadow. It was like one of those old black and white horror films, which had impenetrable shadows. Ever since she had been young she had despised things she could not see or explain. She was a logical person and anything, which was a mystery frightened her. But, she knew this was all a dream! The squelching sound, which was coming along behind her, was part of this unreality.

She heard a low savage growling which came from some huge scaly monster who had risen from its muddy confining grave, only to seek her out and have her join it internally. She tried to speed her slow walk to a sprint, but the mud had finally taken possession of her boots. She could not move. Her body was immobilized. Her feet, one in front of the other, as if she were about to take a step. The thing was coming now, coming closer and closer! She heard other heads breaking the thick surface of their underground existence, coming to get her at last.

Her eyes moved here and there wildly, trying to seek out some chance of escape, but there was none. She was doomed to be eaten up like a little boy in a monster video game. A little boy who had run through his 9 lives rather quickly.

She tried to scream, her mouth open, but no sound came out. All she heard was a low whoosh of air, as if she were screaming silently. She felt those cold muddy, dead fingers with their long thick claws close on her shoulders, and its hot breath tickle the back of her neck, making the hair there stand straight up. A low growl emitted from its fanged mouth again, and she felt the head, hairy and wet, bury itself in her back, the grip tightening on her shoulders. It was ready to tare her to bloody shreds.

Her alarm clock woke her, and she sat up breathing hard, her heart pounding. "Thank God it was only a dream!” she thought as she tried to get control of her breathing. She feared going back to sleep because the dream would continue. She had read somewhere that if you think you’re dying in a dream, your body would go into shock, and you would die in reality.

“You awake yet?” Her mother’s shrill voice pierced the silence like a train whistle. She swung her legs off the side of her bed, and rose reluctantly, rubbing her head.

“Yeah. I’m coming.”

“Good. Breakfast’s ready. On the table. Cereal this morning. Didn’t have time to fry any coldcuts.” There was a cluttering of pans and dishes in the kitchen, and the sounds of the front door opening. “I’ll see you this afternoon. Have a good day at school.”

“Bye mom.”

“Don’t get into trouble.” The door shut with a residing bang.

She dressed slowly, not really looking forward to the up coming day. She hadn’t realized that there was no time to go back to sleep. She had thought her alarm would wake her earlier than it had. She had been almost positive that she had set it for an earlier time in the morning. Another miserable day at school was awaiting her. She had two tests. Her mind slowly went into work mode as she reached her closed bedroom door. She grabbed the knob, and turned. It turned easily, and she pulled the door open to leave her room and go downstairs.

What greeted her made her gasp with horror. It was the swamp. The swamp ready to consume her, to pull her back into itself. She tried shutting the door again, but it was stuck. A sudden wind pushed at her back, forcing her to trip on the thresh hold of the door. She grabbed the wall, but the wind intensified, throwing her forward. She landed hard on a slightly drier and firmer patch of marshland than she had been on the last time. She stood quickly, breathing hard, and looked behind her. Her bedroom door was slowly shutting. She could still hear the cars outside her room driving by on their daily routine, but this was not her world. Everything from that other world sounded distorted as if it were coming through a thick sheet of glass.

She rushed forward, trying to jump back through the doorway, but it slammed in her face, and disappeared in a flash of brilliant white light.

She turned in slow circles looking at the endless twighlight lit swamp. She let out a gasp of fear. How the hell would she get back to her own world? She was in a lot of trouble. Her only hope was the far off grove of pine trees. She started for it slowly, praying to god that the demon from before would not follow her.

Without giving it much thought, she wondered forward through the marshland. As before, her boots made unpleasant squelching sounds as she stepped through the sucking mud.

Her heart was beating double its usual speed, and her breath was irregular. This was only too familiar. Only too real. But what if it wasn't? What if all this foolish nonsense was part of an even larger and more complex nightmare she was having? She would wake up for real this time in her comfortable bed. The softness of the sheets and pillows would swallow her, and she would forget this horrible place.

"Squelch! Squelch." Breathing! She froze. Something was following her, following her through the mud. "Squelch." It took enormous will power to get her feet moving again. She started walking, starring only ahead, and her feet sluggish and heavy. She forced herself to move faster. The greenery was getting closer unlike before. If only she could reach its safe haven.

"You shan't escape me." A whisper floated to her from somewhere behind her. She dared not turn, but started to jog and then to sprint. The greenery was getting closer and closer. She tensed her long Cheetah's legs to leap across a small bluish brown river and reach the grassy bank of that ingaging place. The grass blades were still wet with dew, and the leaves of the nearby fruit tree hung low with sweet blood red apples. Oh what she wouldn't give for a taste of an apple. But, "At last." A low satisfied growl came from the demon as it powerfully tensed, and grabbed her skinny shoulders. She let out an involuntary cry, and tried fighting her way out.

"Let me go! This can't be happening!"

"You were promised to me long ago." If it had been human, its voice would have been that of a twenty-year-old male. Its voice would have been pleasant and low. But now that it was half animal half human, it's voice was a savage growl.

It pulled her around, and looked with its flaming eyes in to her wide blue ones. She stared, not able to resist him. Her gaze was locked internally with his.

"Why me?" She sounded as if she were half asleep. Her body began to go limp.

"Because you were chosen." He pulled her to him; almost crushing her bones, and lifted her into his arms. He prepared to dive into the clutching mud of his grave. "And because I am starved for flesh." There was barely a sound as he pulled her with him into the slime, her throat already clogged with it. She tried to scream, but no sound came forth. "This is a dream, this is a dream a dream a," His claws parsed her chest as they surged downward into the blackness. He wrenched her dying heart from her chest, and ate it raw with one crunch of his powerful jaws. Her soul was gone, swallowed by the demon.