I felt ragged, hot breath on my neck, and despite the screaming in my head begging me to run or fight or something, I stood stalk still.
My eyes, wide with terror, stared straight ahead into the darkness of my hallway. The black abyss filled my vision, threatening to consume me.
Chills ran down my spine at the thought of running away. I could not make myself run into the nothingness before me, for my imagination only knew what lie in wait there.
Almost without thinking, my head began to turn to face my fear. I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see but still wanting to know.
As always, my hands began to shake violently, my legs turned to jelly, and my stomach lurched until I thought I would vomit.
The deafening screams finally tearing loose from my throat echoed through the hall, and my blood pounded behind my eardrums as my legs suddenly moved of their own accord.
Black. Pitch black. Nothing but my screams and the pounding of my heart in my chest and the slap of my large feet hitting the stone floor existed now as I ran down a tube of darkness that had no end.
That's when I felt it. The slimy, yet itchy feel of something on my legs and arms. I moved from my limbs to my torso, my chest, and finally my neck. I frantically tried to pry what ever was strangling me off of my sweaty, shaking body, even though I knew there was nothing to grab.
I couldn't breathe! And shadows started to invade my vision. Shadows with red eyes. Otherworldly fear gripped my heart at the sight of those eyes.
Those damned red eyes.
Just when I thought I would die of raw terror, I woke up.