So, i had this exact dream, but with different names and such. I thought 'hey, this would make for an interesting one-shot! So I did it. Please let me know your thoughts. And I know, I have really messed up dreams.

I was five years old the first time it happened. And the first time it happened, I couldn't comprehend it. I huddled into the corner of my room as it came closer, its long claw-like hands reached out toward me. I brought my knees to my chest, and curled into fetal position.

It was dark. It was scary. I was alone. Closer and closer came. The shadow crawled along the wall toward my young self. I shut my eyes tightly. When I opened them, it was gone. My eyes darted around the room.

Nothing.

I slowly uncurled myself from my little ball on the floor, and gradually pushed myself up. Cautiously, I walked toward my bedroom door. I pushed it open gently with my foot, careful not to make a sound. I poked my head out into the hall and glanced around. There was no sign of my tormentor, so I left my bedroom. Gradually, I made my way to my parents bedroom.

"Mommy?" I called out. Pushing my parents bedroom door open, I hurried inside, afraid that the shadow would get me.

"Mommy?" I called again. I seen movement under the blanket, followed by my mother sitting upright, and stretching her arms.

"Sweetie, it's late. Is there something wrong?" she asked me.

I ran across the room, and jumped onto the bed. I snuggled under the covers, next to her.

"Mommy, I saw the scary shadow man again."

My mother sighed and held me in her loving arms. "It's okay, sweetie. It's just a bad dream."

I shook my head violently. "No. He's real. He wants to hurt me."

My mother sighed and released me, telling me to get some sleep.

"Mommy, where's daddy?" I asked her.

My mother kissed my cheek and smiled. "He had to work late. He'll be home soon, don't worry."

Just as I got comfortable, a noise caught my attention.

"Mine..."

My eyes shot open. "Mommy, he's here!" I whispered. I looked over to her, but she had fallen asleep again.

"Come to me..."

I hid under the blanket and snuggled closer to my mother, hoping it would go away. The cover was pulled off. I almost screamed, but I sighed in relief instead. It was just my father.

"Daddy!" I grinned and jumped up to hug him.

"Hello, my angel. What are you doing up so late?"

I tensed, and crawled back under the blanket. "The shadow man is back," I whispered.

My father frowned. "Angel, there's no one here. Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?" He asked.

I nodded. "He's hiding in the shadows, waiting for me. He says I'm his."

My father frowned further at my words. He fished into his pocket, and pulled out a silver necklace with a silver cross hanging from it. The cross itself was slightly bigger than my hand.

"Wear this. As long as you have it on, he can't hurt you."

Maybe he believed my story.

Maybe he just wanted to give me hope.

It made me glad that he didn't outright refuse my story. But what happened next changed my life.

Forever.

My father helped me put the necklace on before patting my head. As he stood again, my eyes widened. Standing behind my father, was the shadow.

"Daddy..."

My father cocked an eyebrow at my squeaky voice, and before I knew what happened, the shadow grabbed onto him, dragging him out of the room. I had to help him. I jumped out from under the covers, and ran after them. The shadow stopped halfway down the hall, and grinned at me. On one swift movement, the shadow snapped my fathers neck, and then his spine. I screamed at the top of my little lungs, as his lifeless body fell to the floor.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" I turned around to face my mother, who was standing in the doorway.

I was too frightened to cry. The shadow crept up behind my mother, and grabbed her. I ran toward her. Just as I came to a halt, the shadow slid one of his claw-like fingers across her back. I watched in horror as blood dripped down to the floor.

"M-mommy!" I ran toward the shadow, and attempted to hit him. Before I could strike him, he snapped her neck like a twig. Swiftly, he did the same to her spine. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You are mine. Just like they were. No one can have you. You belong to me and me alone."

Nine years later.

The second time it happened, I was fourteen. I woke up drenched in sweat. Every night I dream the same thing. Every night, I see a part of my past. I glanced at my alarm clock, and dragged my ass out of bed. I was adopted six years ago, and was given a new last name.

My first name is Amber.

I got dressed for school. I wore a yellow T-shirt, a brown jacket, and torn black skinny jeans. My brunette hair was pulled into a high ponytail.

"Amber! You're going to be late!" My adoptive mother called.

I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Amber, what in blazes are you wearing?"

I glared at her. "Clothes. Do you mind?" I pushed her out of the way and grabbed an orange from the table's fruit basket. I received a smack to the back of the head.

"Do not treat your mother like that!" She yelled.

I turned to glare at her. "You listen here, you prissy, no good, rotten, worn out old whore; you are not my mother. You are just some piece of trash that was looking to make someone's life hell. Well guess what? I was already there. If you lay another hand on me, I will gladly show you what hell looks like and return the favour."

I ignored the feeling I got. I felt Shadow near me. He was with me. I hadn't felt his presence in nine years. I glared at the woman with such hatred, I felt my eyes burn. I turned away and grabbed my book bag. Almost instantly, Shadow's presence vanished.

"Goodbye, Lynda. Have a nice day!" I said sweetly, as I grinned and waved before walking out the door. "Bitch." I mumbled to myself.

I trudged down the street toward my school. At school, I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't smile at anyone. I didn't even acknowledge anyone.

"Hi Amber!" A girl called.

I looked at her. Her reddish-brown bobbed hair bounced as she ran around to greet everyone. She grinned and ran toward the next person on her list.

"Good morning, Pamela! Jeremy! Damon!"

"Hi, Maddie!"

I rolled my eyes. Stupid popular seniors. I felt Shadow nearby.

I clutched the cross that still hung around my neck.

"Please, not here." I was brought away from my thoughts when someone bumped into me.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." It was a young man. His dark blue eyes darted around the room. "Hey, do you feel that?" He asked me.

I stared at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"It feels like there's a ghost or something following you."

My eyes widened. How did he know this? His messy raven hair fell in his face as I stared at him.

"S-sorry. I'll just go." I watched as he ran down the hall.

"Bye, Jack." I felt bad for him. He came from a broken family, much like I did. He lost his birth parents the same way I lost mine, only I was blamed for my parents' deaths.

"Hey, looser! Get your obnoxiously fat ass out of the way!" Some girl yelled, before pushing me over. I looked up to meet the eyes of Sasha Reynolds. Head cheerleader, straight-A student, girlfriend of one of the best-looking guys in the school, and all around royal pain in the ass.

I got up off the floor and glared at her. "You wanna repeat that, powderpuff?"

She returned my glare. "I said; get your obnoxiously fat ass out of the way."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't speak 'stuck-up-bitchy-snob.' Please check your attitude, then die in a hole," I told her, impersonating the voice of an operator.

"You bitch," she hissed.

I shrugged.

She lifted her hand and moved to slap me, but I caught her wrist and twisted it.

"Don't you ever speak to anyone like that. If I hear any of those words come from your mouth again, I will be forced to silence you. Do you understand?" The fear in her eyes spoke for her. There was something behind me. That something, was the shadow man. I wasn't afraid though, for my fathers rosary still remains in the same place.

At least, until she switched to glare at me. With a smirk plastered on her prissy little face, she tore the cross away from my neck. I stared at her in shock, before punching her in the face, and retrieving the cross from her hand. As I reached down, I got a clear view of the shadow.

"Mine..."

That day, everyone in that hallway was killed. Snapped necks, and snapped spines. Maddie, Damon, Jack, Jeremy, Pamela and myself were the only ones left alive in that particular hallway. Afterwards, I was homeschooled.

Two years later

The third time it happened, I was sixteen. I cried as I stared at the object held in my hand. The little pink plus sign seemed to mock me.

"Amber, are you okay in there?"

I threw it at the door. "No!" I screamed.

The door flew open, and my boyfriend Mike walked in.

He lifted the test. "So..."

I jumped up and punched him. "You stupid mother fucking prick! I'm fucking pregnant! Are you happy? Are you?"

I kicked him out of my house and cried. I fell asleep alone that night. I awoke a few hours later, and realized that I couldn't fall back asleep. I lifted my acoustic guitar from under my bed, and began to play. There goes my dream of being in a rock band. I stopped when I got the feeling that I was being watched.

"Shadow."

I jumped to my feet and ran out of the house. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I had to find him. I got to my Mike's home five minutes later. I ran inside, and what I saw made my heart stop. Shadow crept up behind him, just as I came to a halt. The shadow slid one of his claw-like fingers across his back. I watched in horror as blood dripped down to the floor.

"M-Mike!" I ran toward the shadow, and attempted to hit him. Before I could strike him, he snapped Mike's neck like a twig, followed by the sickening snap of his spine.

"Mine..."

Six months later

The fourth time came only six months later. I came to terms with Mike's death. Like everyone else's.

Tonight, I was hosting a weekly sleepover with my friends.

"Any names yet?" Arielle asked, flipping her blonde hair.

I shrugged. "Sam."

Corrie scrunched her nose. "Isn't that a boy's name?" She asked.

"Oh, like Samantha or something. Right?" Bridget asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Samantha. I'll be calling her Sam though."

Corrie snorted. "Why?"

I glared at her. "I don't know, maybe because calling her Samantha Elizabeth Roselin McLain is going just a bit overboard? She will introduce herself as Sam. She'll meet a nice boy, and I'll have to force them to go out. And if she's anything like me, she'll hate all that girly, feminine shit. Including going by 'Samantha.' Deal with it."

Arielle squealed and jumped on me. "I still can't believe that one of us is going to have a baby in a few months!"

I rolled my eyes. A sharp pain hit my abdomen, and I cried out.

"Amber, are you okay?" Bridget asked worriedly.

I sucked in a deep breath. "I-I don't know. S-something's wrong with Sam!"

Corrie jumped to her feet and yelled, "I'll call an ambulance!"

I felt that same presence. That dark energy. It was here again. And it was hungry.

"Corrie, no!"

Shadow appeared behind her, and snapped her neck. Her lifeless body fell down the stairs. Arielle and Bridget screamed.

"Go away!" I hollered.

The shadow's face smirked at me.

"You are mine. No one else's."

With that, he killed my two remaining friends. I tried to breathe. To move. Anything! But I couldn't.

"You see, you were always meant to be mine."

Three years later

The fifth time it happened, I was nineteen years old.

I tucked Sam into bed and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight sweetie. I love you." As I went to move, she pulled my sleeve.

"Mommy, why do you wear that cross?"

I frowned and held the rosary tightly. "It was a present from my daddy. He said it would keep me safe from danger. So far, it has." I pulled the necklace off, and put it around Sam's neck. "Wear this at all times. It will keep you safe like it did for me."

Sam nodded and pulled me down to kiss my cheek. "I love you, mommy."

I smiled at her. "I love you too, now it's time to sleep." I flicked on her nightlight, and closed the door. I sighed as I made my way to my own bedroom. I flicked the light off, and crawled under the covers.

I was almost asleep, when I heard Sam scream.

I shot out of bed and ran back toward her room.

"Sam?!"

Her door was wide open. She glanced fearfully from behind her door, to me.

"Sam?"

She started crying. "Mommy, there's a scary shadow man in my room!"

My eyes widened as my heart dropped. I caught a flicker of black and red at the corner of her room, coming from behind the open door.

Sam's expression quickly changed to a blank stare. The shadow crept around her feet, then wrapped his arms around her.

I ran toward them quickly. "Shadow! Leave her alone!" I screamed.

The shadow grinned evilly as I walked closer. Sam looked at me with hatred in her seemingly dead eyes, the darkness from the shadow made it all the more eerie. I stared at her intently.

In one swift movement, Sam jumped toward me, and shadow launched at me. The last thing I felt, was my neck snap. The last thing I saw, was Sam's evil smirk as she set the house on fire. She was overshadowed.

Eleven years later.

I watched the same events unfold for her. She was lucky though. Her friend was a ghost fighter, so he had been able to protect her. I smiled as I played another note on my guitar.

In the end, I did end up getting them to go out. In a way I guess. I put the boy under a love spell. I tried it on her too, but for some reason she was immune. But it wasn't meant to be that way.

I stopped playing and glanced at my cold blue hands. It has been eleven years today since I died. I finally became part of a rock band. My life's dream. But I'm a dead rocker now.

I put my guitar away, and pulled my flaming blue hair into a ponytail. I changed my name once I passed into the ghost zone. I am now know as Ember McLain, not Amber.

I walked to my mirror and began to apply a heavy layer of eyeliner.

I am the mother of Samantha Elizabeth Roselin McLain, whom was given a new last name once she was adopted.

I brought out my mascara, and began to apply a heavy layer of that as well.

She has short ebony hair and violet eyes. Today, I'm going to see her.

I put my makeup away and flew out of my lair.

Today, I get to see my daughter for the first time in nearly a year. Today I get to meet her all over again. "Samantha Manson, mommy's coming back."

A/N: Who was expecting that? If you knew who it was the whole time, you are a genius! Or... I failed at fooling you. Let me know how I did! Please leave a review :)

(No flames, please.)

- Lucy