The late evening was warm and humid as Nancy locked the door to her bedroom. She turned on a small fan near a window and removed her thin, sleeveless white nightgown from her slender body. It felt much too warm to sleep with it on, so Nancy slipped bare underneath her blue bed sheets. She pushed her long, dark hair back, spreading it behind her, over her soft pillow. Nancy immediately began to feel drowsy, but also very fearful about falling asleep again. For the past three nights, the girl had been experiencing terrifying dreams about an extremely peculiar man who seemed all too real to Nancy. He would always stalk her, dressed the same everytime, in a red and green sweater, rumpled fedora on his head, and on his right hand, the man's four fingers resembled deadly blades. The most frightening part was that the man knew her name.
Nancy tried her best not to think about the strange man of her worst dreams. Tonight, she would try to dream of pleasant things. Afterall, it was her mind, and she was in control. With a long sigh, Nancy pulled the blanket over her breasts and closed her eyes, silently praying for sweet dreams.
Two hours past as Nancy appeared to be sleeping peacefully. A clock resting on a nearby nightstand read exactly two seventeen A.M. The bedroom was quiet, except for the sound of the small rotating fan doing its best at cooling the sleeping teenager. Suddenly, Nancy's eyes fluttered open, wide, in terror. She was still not yet awake as her left hand clutched at the blanket over her breast. Nancy looked as if she were in a terrified trance as perspiration glistened on her young face. She could see a skeletal, bladed hand hoovering above her face, as if prepared to strike. Behind the horrid hand, a sadistic, skeletal looking face loomed, with the most insane looking eyes. Nancy was paralyzed with fear, as a grayish white streak formed in her long brown hair, and in her mind, she repeated to herself over and over that this was only a dream. But at the same time, something else told Nancy that if she did not wake up screaming, she would not wake up at all.