My nightmare had plagued me for years. Now, it was crouching in front of me. Everything looked the same but I knew it was real. I could feel the cold, damp stone under my feet and feel the stale wind moving through the... whatever this place was. It seemed like a cave, but the ragged prisoner in front of me made me think it was probably a dungeon. Wherever it was, I had no idea how I got there and no idea how to get out.

The prisoner crept up close to me, I could feel his rotting breath on my face. I flinched. I knew what was coming, I had seen it before when it was a nightmare. Now, I felt it. He grabbed my hand and twisted it. The ragged metal of a blade pressed against my skin, I braced for the pain. This time though, he went off-script. I heard a laugh. A maniacal, drunken laugh. "Finally..." He cried, his laugh getting louder and rougher with time. Something hot fell down my cheek, tears were streaming down my cheeks. Finally, his blade drove into the skin of my wrist and warm crimson poured out.

Normally, I would have woken up in my room, crying. I didn't. This time, it was real. His rotting stench was real. This place was real. My tears and my blood were real.

He pressed his lips to suck up my blood. He's a vampire! I thought, terror and a shiver ripped through my body. But he stopped. His hand grabbed to my chin and yanked it towards him. "Look at me." He commanded roughly. I resisted a moment, praying it was a dream. Praying to wake up. "Look at me!" He yelled, the stench of his breath burning my eyes. My tear-soaked eyes reluctantly opened to meet his bloodshot ones. "Hrrmph... Almost as pretty as ya sister's. Maybe in time..." I didn't have a sister and if I did I definitely wouldn't let this guy anywhere near her. He muttered something else under his breath before pushing me onto the ground. He waked up to the entrance of the cave. He turned back to me and with an evil smirk said, "Don't worry, I'll see ya later." Whit that, wings sprouted from his back. Black, scaled and rotting. Something broke, and I heard metal clanking on the floor. There were sounds and sounds of footsteps, but the man was gone.

An iron-clad woman came to the entrance. As soon as she saw me her face turned pale. "Was that... was that today?" She asked. I couldn't help but cuss at her... for a while. The poor lady. Once I finished she let out a breath. "Yeah... I deserved that. Well, I guess not me but, still. We should have been here, it's just... Adri, right? Weren't you supposed to turn eighteen next year? "I gave her a sideways look, why did she know who I was and how old I was? Why did it matter? my wrist still bleeding all over the place, mind you. "I turned eighteen yesterday. And why do you know that? And where the heck am I? Who was that disgusting..." I threw up in my mouth remembering his stench. "...man... demon... thing. Whatever! What the heck is going on here? Can we please like, get me a band-aid or something? A big one?" More iron-clad footsteps were coming down the hall.

The woman got pale again, even more than last time. She stood up straight and her hand flew into a salute. "Captain Marccus, sir we..." Her voice trailed off as he entered the doorway. His ice-cold eyes fell on me. Another shiver went down my spine. The man fell to his knees. "It... not yet... no..." He whispered. I could hear him crying. The woman seemed shocked at this display. I was so freaked out, I started crying again. Crying is contagious, ok? And how else was I supposed to react? He did not seem like the hugging type.

"Could someone please get me a bandage or something?" I cried, hot tears running down my face at full force.

"Oh!" The woman clumsily shimmied into the room, pulling something from a bag on her hip. She gently grabbed my hand. I expected her to put the bandages on, but instead, she waited a moment. My wrist started to warm up a bit, and an odd green glow came from her hand. Then everything went dark.