The sunlight was shining through the opened window. The curtain was flying towards the bed’s direction. It was summer, thankfully, and the wind didn’t feel that cold, as the sun warmed up the room.

           There was a constant ringing from the doorbell. Someone was talking outside. The noise was very soft, barely reachable. A very, very soft groan escaped her lips, and her hand unknowingly reached out for the closest thing to her-pillow. She was hoping she could mute out all the other noises and continued sleeping.

          After a while, the noise died down, and the peacefulness resumed. And that was when the girl finally opened one eye, and smiled at the brightness of the sun. As she normally would, her left hand automatically reached out to the table on the side of the bed. She had memorized it clearly for the past eighteen years of her life.

           There was nothing in reach. No table, no phone, no alarm clock. And when her hand flailed around, trying to find what she was looking for, she accidentally slammed into the bedhead.

           She never had a bedhead before. And it wasn’t supposed to be soft- the sofa kind of material. It was supposed to be solid wood. Which could only mean one thing-she wasn’t in her room. !

           The girl’s breath hitched and she stood up in alarm. This wasn’t her room. This room looked very much like a hotel’s room, and a very expensive one, on top of that. There was no way she could afford this kind of room. Frantically looking around, the girl pulled down her blanket, and she almost let out a very bitter laugh, as if this was all a dream.

           A bad horrible nightmare-She was .

***

“What happened to you? You look horrible!”

           For once-or maybe twice or thrice- in her life, Hana hated how brutally honest her best friend was. Hwang Miyoung didn’t bother to filter out most of the things that came out of her pretty little lips. There were times when Hana wished Miyoung would just shut up instead of talking like there would be no tomorrow to come.

          “Nothing happened,” Hana replied, her voice rough and worn out. Miyoung didn’t seem convinced. Something was off with her friend and she had to find out why. “Really… Nothing happened. I just had a nightmare yesterday, that’s all.”

          Hana knew it wasn’t just a nightmare. She woke up in a hotel’s suit room, with breakfast and room fee paid by a stranger she didn’t even remember. She was . Hana cringed. She was , for God’s sake!

           She must remember something. The stranger’s face, perhaps. Or how did they meet. She didn’t remember anything at all. It was her first time and Hana wanted to cry out loud. The red-colored sheet of the bed gave out nothing. She didn’t know whether or not there was blood on it…

           “Blood on what?” Miyoung’s eyebrows were furrowed together. Hana almost gasped inaudibly. Did she just speak her mind our loud? “You are saying something about blood on something… What is it?!”

           Hana clamped shut. Another slip of word and Miyoung would suspect a lot of things. “Tell me, Hana!” Then came the gasp, as if Miyoung was shocked, “Don’t tell me- you just killed someone!”

         “That’s not it,” Hana answered, almost grumpily. Miyoung looked like a balloon- one minute she was ready to blow up in happiness (or outrage) and the other minute she just deflated, like a defeated soldier. “I’m not telling you anything because there’s nothing to say. So stop asking me!”

           “Okay,” Miyoung nodded, almost too calmly, “I won’t ask anymore. Sorry. I just thought if you have anything in mind… you could share it with me. Anything. You’re my best friend, and I want to help you, in any way that I can.”

           “I know, so don’t start with the guilt talk,” Hana rolled her eyes playfully. She could never stay mad at Miyoung. Miyoung giggled and giddily bumped into Hana’s back. Hana laughed and bumped right back at her. She didn’t care if the others were giving them weird looks.

           “You guys are seriously disgusting!”

         The intimidating tone belonged to the queen bee of the campus, Kwon Yuri. Yuri was the granddaughter of the university. She didn’t have any friends that she hung out with, and seemed particularly mean only to Hana and Miyoung.

           “You guys are really showing your lesbian side in front of everyone. It’s really disgusting, you know.”

          “Mind your own business, . You’re just jealous. You’ve got zero friends around you. I pity you, really,” The good thing about Miyoung was her foul mouth. Hana didn’t have to say anything because she knew Miyoung knew very well how to talk back.

          “I can get any friends that I want in a snap of a finger-“ Yuri said, snapping her finger as a dramatic effect. Miyoung was fast to cut her, also snapping her finger, and Hana muffled in her laughter, “Yeah, those - friends you got. They are real good, huh? They sweet talk you in the front and stab you in the back. But I guess you like it, don’t you?”

           Yuri’s face remained stoic, and Miyoung gazed at her, trying to read off the expression. “You’d better shut up. One day, when you turn your backs against each other, I’ll be the one laughing at your broken friendship.” With a sharp turn of heels, Yuri made a clicking sound as those killer stilettos strutted through the hallway.

           “Laughing my a-“ Miyoung retorted, but Hana sharply spoke, “Miyoung, language. Yuri’s gone. I don’t want you to curse to me.” Miyoung seemed a bit disappointed, but looking at Hana’s warning look, she threw her hands up in surrender, “Fine. At least I’m not cursing at you.”

***

           Every time Hana went home, she had to go through those abandoned alley in the dark streets. There weren’t many people passing around, only her, and occasionally, a few neighbors that lived in the same building as Hana. The place was so quiet, and despite the rumors of ghosts and dangerous criminals around the area, she had never encountered any.

           Her phone was at its loudest volume, playing some soothing ballad by some unknown artist. Hana would hum along if she remembered the lyrics, and this was one of the few moments she could truly relax. When she got home, house chores and home works were waiting for her.

            Unknowingly, her mind drifted off to the incident this morning. Thank God her father didn’t even bother asking why she didn’t come home. The father seemed to know that she wouldn’t come home, but she dared not to ask. As long as her father was convinced, Hana would rather not tell him that she spent the night with a stranger whom she couldn’t remember anyway.

           Hana’s trail of thoughts were cut by a voice, at first it sounded very faint and far away, but after she paused the music in her phone, she realized the voice might not be as far as she thought. Chills crept onto her skin unknowingly like a snake.

            “I’m hungry… I’m so hungry…” Hana slowly turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw a man-maybe not exactly a man… It was a boney figure walking towards her, straying left and right, but approached faster than a normal walking human would be.

           “I craved for blood… I want more blood… I’m hungry.”

           Hana froze. Did she just hear him right? The nearer the figure got, the more she realized how inhumane it looked. Hana couldn’t take a step back. She was glued to the ground, with saliva on , not being able to swallow anything at the moment. Her breath was shallow, and she grasped tightly onto her school bag. Hana’s eyes focused on the man until he was three meters away from her.

           “That’s nice. I smell your blood from far away. I can already breathe in your scent. So delicious…”

           No, the figure wasn’t human.

           It couldn’t possibly be human. It was like a bigger version of Gollum, the creature Hana watched in the Lord of the Rings. It was ugly, with the grey skin barely covering the bones and saliva dropping from its mouth. Hana was surprised herself when she let out a muffled cry. She was scared.

           “Yes, yes. Fear me more. The more you’re scared, the tastier you’ll be…”

           This was like a scene from a horror movie. The boney figure smirked cruelly at Hana. And she cringed even more, finally strong enough to take a few steps back. She shivered at the sudden contact of its slimy fingers to her face. Oh, how she hated and feared it at the same time.

           “Get… away from me, you… you freak!” Hana swung her bag against the figure, slamming away the hands away from her face. She quickly wiped off whatever he had left on her face. She still couldn’t believe what she had seen. Was this creature a cannibal? Could cannibalism have this kind of effect? Most probably not.

           For a skinny freak like this creature, it had an unbelievable strength. With one swift movement, it had Hana in its grip. She tried to struggle and thought that she would at least break a lot of bones in that skinny figure, she was wrong. The body was hard as stone, and she could do nothing against it. The more she tried to struggle, the tighter it held her.

           “You surely are very feisty…” It breathed and Hana closed her eyes, feeling the gush of air sweeping through her skin. At the moment, Hana couldn’t register anything properly. It was as if all the fairytales and ghost stories had come true. A freakish creature was standing in front of her, wanting to eat her.

           This is just a dream. A bad dream. When I wake up, I’ll be safe and sound in my bed. And my alarm clock will ring. I will slam it because it’s too… Hana clenched her fist together, reciting her daily activities. Her words were cut short, though, when she heard a slicing sound in the mid air.

           Hana fell down a split second after that. The loud thumping sound made her cringe in pain, but beside that, nothing else was injured. She quickly opened her eyes, wondering if this was really just a bad dream, or if she had hallucinated in daytime.

           Instead, Hana found a grey robe, covering the person behind it. The freakish creature backed away, looking scared, but it was no use. Hana’s eyes widened when she saw a shining surface cutting through the creature’s neck. When Hana had tried to struggle against it, his body was really as hard as stone. But a single blade cut through the neck so easily.

           “I’m dreaming…” Hana knew she sounded doubtful. She felt lightheaded and dizzy. “I must be dreaming…”