It was chilly. The wind whistled outside, rattling the screen on the window. She could hear branches clinking together further out. She had no idea where she was. The darkness was complete. She blinked to clear her vision. There was something in her eyes. She moved her hand to her head. She hurt all over. Touching her fingertips lightly to her temple she felt blood, sticky and fresh, but not flowing. She didn't think it was hers. She reached out a hand and felt something. Soft and smooth like skin, but too cold to be another person. They were sticky too.

Somewhere in the distance a scream was let out. It was thin but bloodcurdling. Someone was in immense pain or terror. Maybe both. Suddenly she understood the other that she felt. It was a body. Someone long dead and sticky with blood. Blood that was fresher than the body itself, but wasn't hers.

The scream ended abruptly. Her own breathing quickened. She breathed in shallowly. Trying to be calm but verging on terror. She desperately looked around, vainly trying to see anything. She was too terrified to move, to think, to act. A small part of her brain told her that if she was to survive, she must move. The other knew where she was. She needed to find a way to defend herself. But the voice of terror was much greater, and drowned out the logic the way that a forest will drown the grass.

Slowly the door creaked open. She could feel rather than see it was moving. Maybe it was the breeze caressing the hair on the back of her neck. She held her breath. A rancid smell emenated into the room. A smell that threatened to unleash the terror inside. She couldn't hear anything.

Suddenly she felt a gentle shove in the small of her back. Silently she fell, eyes closed, mind screaming

I opened my eyes and stared wildly around, heart beating wildly. It was just a dream. The cat wasn't happy to be moved on. She had just settled herself down to sleep.