I open my eyes to see a spectral tree, moonlight piercing through the bereft leaves on its twisted branches. Branches that reach out like skeletal fingers that casts eerie shadows on the ground. A tree I've never seen yet so familiar, I turn to a fluttering of wings to see a bird landing on its top branch, crimson eyes that stares menacingly and a chill sprints down my spine.

I look around me. I am sitting on top of dead grasses, a garden filled with withered flowers as an old abandoned mansion stands nearby like a silent guardian as a full moon looms in the sky of abyss. A moon that feels too large, too near. I got up, searching for my book to see it lying nearby but its vibrant blue cover is now dark brown and weathered.

And next to it lies a bloody stone, my hand reaching for the back of my head, it is wet and slick. Am I dead? I turn to look around me once more, if I am then what is this place? Heaven or hell? A place that feels like home yet looks like a nightmare. "Mother!"  My voice echoes, whatever this place is, it is not reality.

"Yes?" I turn to look at the voice behind me, a pallid face with sunken eyes that are entirely black, its long hair flowing in the air as a cold breeze washes past. Whatever this thing is, it is definitely not my mother. "What is it my child?" It approaches, flickering in and out of existence as it does. 

"You're not real." Goosebumps spread all over me. "This is a dream. A nightmare." I take a step back, its face close to mine, tilting slightly to its right. It's lips snap open with a piercing scream and my eyes open to bright lights. My heart thumping against my chest, its beat drumming in my ears.

"Why is she awake?"