Kinda scary chapter, this one. Please review and most importantly, ENJOY!

Aerith was running from a horrific beast—no, not a beast… more like a human that was experimented on its whole life. It was tall, a sickly yellow color, and had large arms long enough to touch the floor. Its head was completely bald, and it looked as if bolts were digging into its scalp. In its hands were two large knife-like objects, big enough to be confused for swords. This image was forever engraved into her mind, not only because of how frightening it looked. But what it was trying to do to her, how it smelled like decaying bodies, and how it thunderously screamed as it chased her was what made her able to never forget it.

As she ran she noticed she was in an old mansion, running down a long-almost endless-hall of flickering lights, creaking floorboards, and a dripping roof. On each side of the hall were doors, but every time she reached to open one, she'd realize they were locked. And if not locked, she would hear something on the other side banging on the door to get out.

Aerith didn't want to look behind her, she didn't want to see the monster chasing her, but her body would lead her to glance behind her if not to at least see if it was gone or just behind her. This time as she looked back at the beast, she saw it open its mouth to an inhuman size and howl at the top of its lungs, its thick spit like venom.

As quickly as she saw the sight she turned her gaze back to in front of her and quickened her speed of running. If she hadn't been so scared, she would have felt her feet bleeding from the dozens of cuts on her heals put there by the rotting floorboards giving way under her light weight.

She was dampened by the musky water dripping from the roof above her, and despite the white, short gown she was wearing and how fast the frigid air was hitting her body, she never felt cold. Instead, the air was humid to her. Her once soft brunette waves of curls were now stained and dirty. Her body pale from fear.

As if a sign of sure death, Aerith reached the end of the hall, her body slamming into a metal door. She slammed her fists into the cold steel of the door, hoping her little strength left was enough to open the door.

Just as she reached the door, she heard the blood chilling howl of the beast thunder behind her. She immediately looked behind her and saw the beast running from behind a corner and slamming into the weak, rotting wall of the mad house. For a split second, the beast stopped and stood to its fullest height, raising the two weapons in its hands as if it were a battle call.

It felt as though Aerith's heart fell to the floor at the sight of the beast beginning to run towards her. She quickly turned back to the door and began to jiggle the knob desperately—a sad attempt to escape from her soon doom.

The sound of its trampling feet was as fast as the sound of her heart pounding in her chest. Aerith glanced around the area, looking for anyway to escape her fast approaching death.

Like a million thunderous bolts of lightning, the beast howled once more, this time Aerith couldn't help but look back. Its howl paralyzed her with fear. Her body becoming like stone as she helplessly watched the monster drawing nearer to her.

Without any consent of her own, her body shivered violently as her legs suddenly became like jell-o, causing her to fall to her knees.

Just as the monster was close enough to surely kill her with its weapons, she screamed at the top of her longs, a final attempt of trying to end this sudden darkening scene.

She closed her eyes as if to accept her doom...

…

"Aerith! Aerith!" A familiar male voice woke Aerith, and as she opened her eyes, she saw Cloud's face painted with worry and confusion.

"Aerith, are you okay!" a look of sincere concern flowing through his Mediterranean eyes.

Aerith felt a weight the size of the moon lift off of her heart. It was a nightmare.

Even though she was now awake, she was still confused; "Wha—?"

"It's all right—it was just a nightmare."

Cloud gently tugged her body closer to his as he laid on to his back, Aerith's face resting on his chest.

"Sounded like you were running from something… what the hell was going on?" Cloud comfortingly brushed his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her scared nerves.

"It was so scary, Cloud. I had never seen something like this-this thing before—"

Hearing her voice becoming hoarse, Cloud placed a lingering kiss atop her head, trying to take away her fear; "It's okay, it's gone now."

Aerith nuzzled her face closer to Cloud's chest, shaking away the nightmarish sights and events she just experienced. "Cloud, will you stay up with me for a while…?"

Cloud securely placed the blanket around their bodies and placed another soft kiss on her forehead;

"Yeah, of course…"

As Cloud tightened his safe embrace he could feel Aerith nuzzle against his chest. "So, what was your dream about?"

"I'm not sure… it was so strange, though… I was running from a huge monster; it looked like a human but it was experimented on I think." Aerith paused and added in a yawn; "It had these huge knives… and it was running so fast. And I'm not sure why, but the roof was dripping water…I remember there were dozens of doors but something kept banging on them… Everything felt so real."

Aerith paused for a second, noticing Cloud hadn't said a word.

"Cloud?"

Still, nothing.

"Cloud?" she asked again, leaning on her elbow so she could see his face. But when she saw his dimly lit features, she noticed his eyes were closed. He really was asleep, even after she had been so frightened from her nightmare.

It hadn't been more than a few minutes and he was already asleep. Just as Aerith was about to shake him awake, Cloud wrapped his arms around Aerith, tugging her down to the bed until he was pinning her back to the soft cushion of the mattress.

Aerith was surprised at his acting but somewhere in the back of her head, she knew he was teasing her.

"Cloud, I really thought you were asleep."

Though it was dark, Aerith could see Cloud's boyish smile from the moon light. "It's not funny, Cloud. I was really freaked out by that monster."

Realizing Aerith really was scared and that she never admitted when she was scared, Cloud pushed aside the teasing and placed a soft, lingering kiss upon her forehead. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he placed another gentle kiss on the tip of her nose, then at the corner of her lips.

Aerith couldn't hold back the soft smile on her face. The sense of safety from his embrace took away all of her fears. She really did feel like the safest person in the world when he was near her. She knew not even a nightmare could scare her when he was there with her.

She smiled and murmured softly; "I know."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN