Something wet tickled my hand.

I thought I was dreaming at first, but then the sticky wet tickle slowly creeped up my arm.

My first instinct was to slap it away, but a trembling voice of caution told me not to move.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The room was dark, except for the flicker of a candle I had left burning by my bed,

and the moonlight that softly fell through the window.

Cautious not to flinch, I used opened eyes to search my body for the

invader that had disturbed my slumber. I could see my torso covered by my favorite cotton sheet.

Something was moving beneath it, but it wasn't me. Terror instantly gripped my heart, and it seemed to turn to

stone in my chest. I held my breath, holding back the scream that I knew would soon escape

me. Finally, summoning an ounce of courage, I tossed back the sheet ready to do battle,

expecting to find a rat that thought I was a snack.

It was no rat.

What my eyes saw my mind could not comprehend.

It was the head of a woman, not a monster with wild hair and fangs

dripping with saliva. She had no neck or chest, no arms or legs, only entrails soaked in shiny

blood. Her eyes locked with mine, and she gave a feral angry hiss

as she stretched her jaws, the bones crackling beneath her pale skin as her mouth grew.

My mind was racing, but my body wouldn't move. Horrified, I watched helplessly as she sunk her teeth into

my shoulder with a force that tore through my entire body. Finally my limbs came alive as I contorted

in pain and terror. I found my voice escaping me in a desperate scream, but I did not recognize

it. Slowly, like a veil, the scene faded before me, the candle flickered out, and with sadness

...