Hey readers, sorry about the weird text problems and having to delete my first attempt of uploading this. I'm kind of new to posting here so please hold out for me to get all of the kinks worked out. Thanks, and enjoy.

A dark forest surrounds her. Anxiety fuels her every carefully placed step and breakneck turn of her head at every strange russell in the bushes. She needs to get out of here, NEEDS to get back home. She jumps at least a foot in the air when a raspy cackle rings out.

You want to go home. Ha. What makes you think you even deserve to go back there? To go back to Her? She looks all around, trying to find where the voice was coming from, but she couldn't focus. She was finding it harder to breathe.

Have you forgotten how you failed her? Failed to protect her and the place you still call home and yet you feel you will be welcomed back.

She fell to her knees with her head in the dirt, the words hitting her with full force and weigh down her body. The inability to catch her breath made it too hard for her to keep going. The voice wasn't right, she told herself, but she couldn't completely convince herself of that. Its words felt too familiar, like the words she told herself so many times.

Fear not pitiful child, I will always be here to make sure you know your place.

The voice was now in one fixed place and sounded like it was getting closer. All the rustling seemed to cease.

I will be here to tear you down.

She heard a footstep, then another.

I will be here to show you just how pitiful you truly are.

The figure of the voice was standing right in front of her but she could find the strength to raise her head to see higher than their ankles. The feet of the figure were rough and scaly, the toes had sharp, pointy claws at the ends of them. She had seen feet like that once before. On that night.

She quickly shut her eyes and ceased trying to get up. She didn't want to look up. But the figure didn't seem to respect her choice as their clawed hand tightly gripped the back of her shirt, pulling her slowly off the ground.

I will be here to take away anything you come to hold close.

Her airway was completely closed off now as she was hanging in the air by the collar of her shirt. The tears that pooled in her eyes were starting to fall. She was face to face with the figure but continued to keep her eyes shut, though that was a losing battle.

Her eyes fluttered open and her blurred vision landed on the face of a feathered reptilian creature with a razor-toothed smile and glowing blue eyes. Pure, cold fear hit her like a bullet train as the creature pulled her closer and whispered into her ear.

I will be the last thing you see as feel the slow release of death.

She felt something plunge into her stomach and pain rage throughout her body, but she no longer had air in her lung to make any sort of sound. She could only look down to see the creature's claw burrowed deep in her guts, her blood running down its hand and sticking to her shirt. The scene looked so eerily similar and that was what scared her the most.

Say hello to your Mamí for me.

That was the last thing she heard before the creature twisted its clawed figures and everything went black.

Luz shot up from the bed but quickly stopped herself as her head was an inch away from the vent duct. 'Why did I just have to have a top bunk?'

She tried to take a breath to calm herself down but still found it difficult to take in air. She then realized that was because her own hand was clamped tightly around her throat. Quickly letting go she focused more on getting air into her lungs and heart rate down and least on the fact she almost choked herself out in her sleep.

Or her dream.

Luz shook her head trying to rid herself of those lingering thoughts, but she needed to go to her spot if she truly wanted to clear her mind. Maybe there she could get at least an hour more of sleep. After taking a few more minutes to calm herself, Luz looked throughout the dark room to make sure she hadn't woken up anyone else. When no one showed any signs of consciousness, she balled up the thin blanket she was provided and peeled herself off her sweat-soaked sheets.

With years of expertise, she landed silently on the carpet below and made her way to the door. Pushing her ear to it, Luz listened for anyone who could be patrolling the halls. After she was sure the coast was clear she slightly opened the door and slipped through. She sneaks down the long hallway. The marble floor felt cold as ice against Luz's bare feet though she didn't mind too much. It helped her know for sure she was here and no longer in her nightmare. It was also hot in her nightmare.

Luz turned towards the stairway and went down them skipping every other step but stopping at the second to last one. Pressing herself against the stairway wall she listened closely once again. When she was met with silence, Luz continued to the bottom and took a left. She soon found herself in the lobby/waiting area.

She went towards the front desk and hopped over it to get to the exposed water pipe that went all the way through the ceiling. Luz tucked the blanket into her shirt and once she was sure it was secure, she began to climb up. Once to the top, she transferred herself to another pipe that spanned the entire ceiling and put one hand in front of another as she made her way to a large single-pane window.

She made sure her feet were firmly placed on the wide window sill before letting go of the pipe. Wiping the dust off her hands on her shorts, Luz took the blanket out and wrapped it around her shoulders before sitting down facing the window.

She couldn't tell from her room since it had no windows but she could now see that the moon was still high in the sky so it couldn't be that long after midnight. Luz took in a deep breath then pressed her forehead against the cold glass as she released it. The chill of the night relaxed her body but her mind was still going hot. Not even being in her spot seemed to stop the onslaught of thoughts and memories that the nightmare brought up.

So much for sleeping anymore tonight.