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“Charlotte,” came a whispering voice through the air.

She froze in fear.That’s not my friend.A shiver ran down her spine.

Charlotte had heard this voice a thousand times before.Oh god, he’s found me,she thought, terrified.Not once had she ever seen the man or monster the voice belonged to, but somehow, she knew that if it found her, something unspeakable would happen.

She turned, running as fast as she could, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, she could hide.But the fire ahead of her moved, creating a wall in the distance, blocking off a clear path.She could have sworn there’d been movement in the flames.She started backing up, getting ready to take off in the other direction, when she saw it—a clear shadow of a man moving in the fire.

“This can’t be real,” she whispered, trying to remind herself that none of this was real.It was all a dream…

Then, a beautiful man stepped out of the fire, completely unharmed.

“H-h-how is this possible?”she said in disbelief.

Her mind was racing, the line between dreams and the waking world blurring.Things that shouldn’t be real were.Someone kidnapped and hurt her.There was a man with wings and glowing red eyes, and there were talks of demons and the devil.The violet-eyed man she’d thought was someone she’d conjured up in her dreams to help her had physically walked up to her in the real world.Charlotte couldn’t tell if she had finally gone insane or not.

The man walked toward her, a magnificent smile on his face, and her fear slowly disappeared as he got closer.His blond hair shone in the light of the flames, and he was close enough now she could see his intense, beautiful, ice-blue eyes as they looked her up and down.It was only then that she realized something was wrong.He was looking at her like she was his prey, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.

Devil with the face of an angel.The thought suddenly popped into her mind.

“Hello, Charlotte,” he said, almost within arm’s reach now.

The minute he spoke, she took a step backward.It was the voice she had heard forever, the evil, terrifying voice that whispered to her.

“It’s y-y-you,” she stuttered, terrified.

“I have been searching for you for a long time, Charlotte.But now I have finally found you, and you will help set me free.”His voice chilled her to her very soul.

Charlotte turned, fleeing as fast as she could, sprinting around a corner and past a burning building.The horrifying sounds of the yellow-eyed monsters followed her.To take me to him,she thought, petrified, pumping her arms harder.One creature got close enough to slice the back of her right leg open with its claws, and she cried out in pain and stumbled before righting herself.But not fast enough.The creature grabbed her by the arm.

She screamed.Her arm felt like it was on fire.She ripped out of its grasp, falling to the ground.She gasped in pain, blood gushing out of the slashes the creature’s claws had sliced into her.

Charlotte dragged herself to her feet, trying to run, but her injured leg caused her to limp.She looked around for somewhere to hide as a creature leaped onto her back, knocking her down.She screamed, her head hitting the ground hard as the creature rolled off her.

Her vision blurred, her head pounding as she pushed herself onto her knees, watching the creature on all fours stalk toward her, eyes glowing that eerie yellow.

As its mouth widened, its long, razor-sharp fangs dripped with saliva.It was hideous.Four small horns jutted out from the top of its head.Patches of black fur covered its leathery skin, its spiked tail whipping back and forth as it walked forward with its long-clawed paws that clicked on the pavement.The screeching and growls from the other monsters came from all around her as yellow-eyed creatures started closing in on all sides.

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run.These monsters were going to kill her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Charlotte huddled in a ball, covering her ears with her hands, trying to block out the shrieks of the evil beings.Wishing they would disappear, she squeezed her eyes shut, trembling in fear as the hot breath of one monster hit the side of her face.Its breath reeked of rotten meat, making her want to vomit.She trembled uncontrollably, keeping her eyes clamped shut as the creature growled in her ear.She screamed, unable to stay still any longer.

There was a loud thump and warm liquid sprayed over her face.She opened her eyes to find the monster lying dead in a pool of black blood next to her, its head gone.

“It’s time to wake up, little one.”The giant tattooed man crouched in front of her.“You need to wake upnow,” he told her sternly, his violet eyes taking in her injuries.

Two monsters attacked from either side, knocking him down and savagely clawing and biting at him.Charlotte huddled in a ball once again, covering her ears, rocking back and forth, screaming for help.She willed it all to go away, the roar of the monsters growing louder.She could hear the man fighting the creatures.Slowly, their shrieks faded, her screaming the only thing she could hear.

* * *

Charlotte opened her eyes,her hands clamped over her ears.Tears streamed down her face as she screamed.Someone was gently shaking her.

“Charlotte, Charlotte, wake up.You’re safe, I’ve got you.You’re safe,” said a man’s deep voice.

Charlotte stopped screaming, her eyes focusing on his face.His warm hands were on her shoulders as striking crystal blue eyes full of worry stared down at her.Images of the monsters flashed back through her mind, panic hitting her again.

She sat up as fast as she could, slapping the man’s hands away as she scrambled backward, her back hitting a hard, icy wall of stone.

“Get away from me,” she cried, holding her arms out in front of her.

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