Kyla went to bed at 10 every night without fail, but that never meant she went to sleep. It

always took her an hour. In that hour, she stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep that the night-owl

didn't really want. That night she happened to turn the lights out at 9:55. At 10 exactly, Kyla saw

a shape in the corner across the room from her bed. She looked over, swearing she could see a

shape in the darkness. It looked a lot like a bird of some type, maybe a crow...The shape

changed into something else that looked very familiar that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

She woke the next morning remembering the night before quite clearly. She went to school

and went through the day in a zombie-like state as usual. When evening finally came, she was

exhausted but knew sleep would not come easily; it never did. Finally Kyla's routine day came to

a close and she got into bed somewhat gratefully.

At 11 'o clock Kyla lay in bed staring at the cracking paint directly above her face. Suddenly,

a flash of light blinded her. After a few blinks, she realized the light had words in it. "I'm coming

for you" was all it said. Kyla nodded numbly, but later didn't know why. The light vanished and

the girl fell asleep.

The night of her birthday was the most fascinating and amazing night of her young life. Nobody

else would have been able to tell you it was her birthday, though. Her mom had passed out after

drinking, and she had no friends or other living family. After school, Kyla made herself a cake and

had a slice for dinner. Friday was her free day so she didn't do any homework. Her present to

herself was 4 hours of TV straight. Tonight she made an exception and let herself go to bed at 11.

she would have stayed up later, but she would have to help her mom with her hangover in the

morning.

It was midnight and Kyla was still looking around her room and wondering why she wasn't

falling asleep. Her eyes took yet another sweep around the room and locked onto a framed

picture of a pink cartoon tiger. 'I should really take that down,' she thought irritably. Suddenly,

the eyes blinked, and when they opened again, they were a deep indigo. Then everything

happened very fast. Kyla got up, apparently in a trance, and walked over to the picture. She

brought her face close to the picture then reached out a hand to touch it. The moment she

touched the glass, she blacked out.