Tavi needed more oxygen. Her lungs burned for more than what a short breath could provide, but she feared taking the time to breathe deeply would prove detrimental. Time was a luxury. If she dawdled, they would catch up to her. As it was, the two men, if you could call them that, couldn't be more than twenty feet behind her. With each passing moment their footsteps intensified, the tragic crescendo of predators about to overtake their prey.

She increased her pace, careful not to trip as she sprinted blindly through the corridor. For whatever reason, this hallway reminded her of the infamous 'light at the end of the tunnel' that she'd heard a plethora of people talk about on TV. They'd chosen to walk away from the light, and here she was, running into it. She'd never heard a tale of someone being chased into the freakin' light. But that probably didn't make for great television.

The hall was white, devoid of any color save for Tavi and her pursuers, and its brightness evoked in her a desire to shield her eyes. But that, too, might slow her down. It seemed as though she'd been chased for several minutes, and she was winded, sucking in breaths at every opportunity. Was it possible that the tunnel was a mile long with no exits to be found lurking at the sides?

And why hadn't she reached the end?

Another few minutes of running passed. Why couldn't she have had the slightest bit of athletic prowess? She looked the part of an athlete with her hipbones jutting her yoga pants and her six-pack abs, but that didn't mean she was in shape. She was simply skinny, no strength to muster when needed and certainly no endurance for a marathon, or around the block at that.

I have to rest or I'm going to die. Heat touched the nape of her neck. But if I stop, I'll die. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

In defiance, she took the breath. A waft of decay curled into her and she stifled a heave. Death was coming for her, beckoning her to accept her fate, but she wanted nothing of it. She pressed forward until she met a wall, a dead end, and resisted the maniacal laugh that bubbled inside her.

No way out, she turned to face her assailants. The tall, thin man flanked her first and she shuddered. He was the creepier of the two, seeming less human and more evil than his counterpart. Perhaps it was the gauntness of his face or the black emptiness of his eyes that forced her hair on end, but the man oozed death and she was now his quarry. Intuition told her the Thin Man was soulless and a force to be reckoned with by someone more omnipotent than she, which would be about anyone else the world had to offer.

The other man, bald, paunchy, and a head shorter than the Thin Man, now hulked over her left side. She chanced a glimpse at him, hoping she could appeal to his humanity, but it was to no avail. He met her eyes then leered at her.  

Was that blood rimming his teeth?

A grinding noise pulled her attention to the wall in front of her, its movement shifting her hands to the right. She jerked her hands back as the wall formed a crevice and the crevice gaped into a door wide enough for her to bolt through. A dimly lit chamber offered refuge to her. Forward into it was her best bet.

She staggered inside, relieved that her small stature had afforded her this opportunity for escape. The two monsters couldn't fit through the door just yet. If she could just locate another door before they could follow her inside the room, she might be able to survive this.

Too soon to sigh in relief, she scanned the round room for an exit. Eleven shapes were spaced at equal intervals around the circle. In the twelfth spot, manacles and shackles hung, the clinking of their chains a beacon for her to join them.

The only door to the room was the one she'd just passed through. She spun to see it was also the one in which the two men stood guarding. The Thin Man smiled, and Tavi envisioned the cat that had caught the canary. She deflated as the men each grabbed an arm and dragged her backwards to the wall.

"Look at me, Tavi," the Thin Man said, his voice dark and powerful.

She cast her glance downward, taking in the rust spots that marred the floor. Curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "What do you want?" Her tone was angry and defiant as she kept her attention on the floor rather than her captor.

"The same thing you do: To leave this place."

They cuffed her wrists and ankles, tightening the shackles to where they almost scraped her bones. She would not be able to wriggle free. The shorter man stepped towards the door while the Thin Man seemed to be waiting for a reaction from her.

What was she supposed to do? Scream? Cry? Beg? Invite them over for dinner?

Tears threatened to well in her eyes, but she willed them away. These men—no, monsters—would not garner any reaction from her; she wouldn't permit them that satisfaction. She inhaled deeply to stifle the pain. She felt his eyes on her, seeming to challenge her to stand her ground. How firm could she stand when she was chained? She wasn't going to waste her energy on a fight she'd inevitably lose.

"Very well," he said as he walked away. "Seal it." With that, the two men left the room and the door closed behind them.

Moans and cries immediately thickened the air. She craned her neck, trying to determine their origin. They were everywhere. She locked on the eleven faceless creatures that joined her in this hell. It was only then that she realized these creatures were people, and it was their sorrows that filled the chamber.

They were truly faceless, as though the suffering had eroded their humanity. How much longer had they been trapped in the room than she? Rationality fled her as her own hopes and dreams dissipated, leaving nothing but emptiness. She began to gasp as her own screams added to the cacophony.

This, indeed, was Hell.

Time stood still for her until the drip, drip, drip of water falling onto the concrete floor provided focus.

She tried to recall her memories as she listened to the steady drops, but they'd fled with her ability to reason. Terror was what came to her as the water crept to her feet and slowly clawed its way up her body.

Oh, how it was a patient executioner while she twisted in the manacles. Eventually the water sloshed against her mouth, and Tavi inhaled a deep breath. She struggled to remain afloat, the cuffs etching further into her prune skin as the chains offered no slack. She took another breath, and water rushed into her lungs.

There were no more breaths to take.

Drip, drip, drip.

*                                                *                                                *           

She woke to the soft growls of her Great Pyrenees. The dog was hovering over her and once Tavi stopped flailing her arms, a cold nose pressed into her cheek. She squinted for the time, 3:45.

"It's okay, Nieve. It was just a dream. Lie down."

Nieve sighed and lay down practically on top of Tavi. The dog didn't buy the dream bit any more than she did.

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Tavi reached for her glasses on the cherry nightstand beside her bed. Something, most likely her glasses, thudded onto the floor, and she stretched for the lamp, feeling blindly for the switch attached to its cord. When the light flicked on, she squinted in search of her glasses, but they weren't on the floor. They were still on the nightstand, nestled between the lamp and her tablet. Perplexed, her gaze shifted again to the floor as soon as she could see. It was clean except for a few tufts of white fur.

What the hell had made the noise? Had Becky come into her room while she was sleeping?

Tavi slid off the bed and tiptoed to the door. The deadbolt was latched. She unlocked the door and opened it. The only light on in the house was the one in her room. Becky couldn't have been the source of the noise, but if not her or the dog, then who? Or what?

In the kitchen, she filled a glass with water and her thoughts returned to the nightmare. She'd had the dream off and on since she was three, but now it was increasing in frequency. Sometimes a week would pass between occurrences, but for the past month, it was every night. Many nights, like tonight, she was plagued twice.

She chugged the water and tried replay the dream to discover anything new in it. It was always pretty much the same: the two men chasing her into the chamber where she drowned along with the other people inside it, but this time, something niggled at her. There had definitely been a difference with this dream.

She walked back to her room and retrieved her journal from atop her desk. This was where she documented any changes in the dream. The journal was helpful while she was awake. However, during the dream, the knowledge was useless since she never realized that she was asleep. She couldn't control herself in order to gain the upper hand on the two men.

Flipping to the end of the journal, she recalled the Thin Man saying that they wanted the same thing. She jotted down the memory and shook her head. He assumed she wanted to leave the area. What she truly wanted was to never see him again, but how could she make that happen?

A stalling engine that sounded too close for comfort jolted Tavi from her documentations. The vehicle started and next she heard the unmistakable kick-up of gravel while Nieve fired off a 500-pound bark. Tavi scrambled out of her chair to catch sight of whoever was leaving their driveway, the only one in the vicinity that was unpaved.

"Becky so had a guy here," Tavi muttered as the old, red Ford drove away.  "It figures. I have to inform her if I'm having an overnight guest, yet she can't show me the same respect. God."

Nieve continued barking and Tavi tried to calm her, but the dog wasn't having it. A few seconds later, Becky was pounding on the bedroom door. Nieve stopped her tirade.

"Please control your dog," Becky said. "I'm trying to sleep."

Tavi opened the door to a yawning Becky, her chocolate hair a rat's nest. "Whatever. You had someone here and he woke Nieve as he left."

"I haven't had anyone spend the night since you moved in, so I don't know what you're trying to imply. I just know that your dog wakes me up every night and I'm getting sick of it." Becky didn't wait for a reply before she stormed off.

What's up her ass? Tavi wondered as she latched the deadbolt once again.

Tavi hoped that Becky was lying or that perhaps a neighbor had told a guest to use their extra parking spot. Regardless, that explanation didn't account for the sound of something dropping in her room.

She reached for her tablet and clicked on Wattpad to see if her favorite writers had updated. They hadn't, so she reached for a Sookie Stackhouse novel. For some reason, reading about vampires was preferable to sleep. 

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed what you read, please vote and I'd love to hear your feedback. Where do you think the story is heading? 

My apologies that it took so long for this update. Part can be blamed on being so pregnant and (still!) not feeling well, part can be blamed on about three weeks of overnight guests, and part was that I just couldn't get that dream to come out the way that I wanted. It's still a bit heavier than what I would like, but it gives you some good insight to what is plaguing Tavi. This will be a dark story, but I don't want it to be stifling. I'm hoping for another two updates within the week, provided that the kids and my pregnancy cooperate.