My legs pound so hard against the concrete I feel the bones might burst through my knees at any minute, but that's preferable to what'll happen to me if I stop. If I allow myself even one second to catch my breath, he'll get me and that'll be the end. I don't know what he wants from me, but I do know if I give it to him, the consequences will be terrible.

The sound of his thudding steps bursts so loudly into my brain an inadvertent sob falls from my mouth. He's big, he's terrifying, I hate him. I don't need to know who he is to know that much. He would overpower me in an instant. He would kill me before I could even speak a word.

Ring, ring...

What the hell? That's new. Everything else is really familiar, but I've never heard anything like that before. I glance my eyes everywhere trying to locate the source of the sound but I can't pick it up. I don't think I should bother worrying about it either because there's a ball of black cloud circling above me, threatening to consume me once and for all.

Ring, ring...

"Lila." Holy shit, it's calling me. He's calling me. His voice is gravelly, almost inhuman. "Lila, you need to stop now. You have to give this up."

"No!" I probably shouldn't yell back but I do. I have far too much pent up aggression in me to give nothing back. This has been going on for far too long, I'm too scared to go to sleep for crying out loud. It isn't normal. "No, I won't."

Ring, ring...

"If you don't, I'll start on everyone you come into contact with. You won't be able to speak to a single person without them being affected by me. In the worst way possible."

The voice comes from everywhere in this mass expanse of emptiness. I can feel it all around me. It sends a deep shiver racing up and down my spine almost causing me to halt in my steps.

"There isn't anyone here," I pant back loudly. "There isn't anyone for me to get into contact with."

"Not here, no. But in real life."

Ring, ring...

"No, that isn't possible," I mutter more to myself than anyone else. "This is just a dream, just another nightmare. I must be asleep, there's no way this is real. Nothing to worry about, nothing at all."

"Is this only a dream?" the voice taunts. "Or have I already affected your real life? Why not give Brad another call, see what I've done to him."

"No, you haven't," I scream. "You've done nothing. Stop it, I can't call him again. I just can't." The thought of even speaking to him makes my stomach cringe and twist. Me and Brad are done, as much as it sucks that's just a statement of fact. I will never speak to him again.

Ring, ring...

Ring, ring...

Ring, ring...

"Then why don't you answer the phone?"

I bolt upright in the chair with a sick iciness careering through me at a million miles an hour. My hair sticks to my forehead with sweat, my clothes hang from my body as if they've been stretched due to the few days I've been wearing them, my pulse thunders in my brain, making it incredibly difficult to think.

Ring, ring...

Oh my God. I stare at the phone in terror. The ringing sound was in my nightmare, the voice told me to answer it. Now, it's really ringing in real life. For some crazy reason I feel like the events might be linked.

No, don't be silly. That's not possible. It's all just a dream, nothing to worry about, nothing at all.

Ring, ring...

I gulp loudly, wondering what the hell I should do. Maybe it's Brad calling out of the blue, maybe I can check for sure that nothing has really happened to him. Maybe it's work, firing me once and for all. Maybe it's one of my friends, checking in on me. It might be Clair, she's always been the most caring one out of the group.

Ring, ring...

I slide my body upwards from the chair until I'm in a standing position, refusing to take my eyes off the phone the entire time. I don't feel good, my insides all ache.

Ring, ring...

I don't want to move towards the phone, I'm not sure I want to know who's on the other end, but I'm also not convinced it's a good idea for me not to find out at all. Maybe the anticipation, the mystery will drive me closer to the edge of insanity than I already am. Maybe I need to do this, even if it's terrifying.

Ring, ring...

Maybe by doing this I'll put an end to the nightmares once and for all.

Ring, ring...

I move my feet with trepidation. I wrap my arms tightly around myself as if I need to hold my body together. I feel as if I could fall apart at any given moment.

Ring, ring...

I slide, my brain buzzes, my fingers curl so tightly I can almost feel my knuckles going white.

Ring, ring...

I have to do this, I need to. I mean, it'll probably just be a normal phone call anyway, right? My nightmares can't actually be affecting my everyday life, that would just be insane.

Ring, ring...

I grab the cold plastic before I can second guess myself and I tug the phone off the wall. Instantly the ringing stops, but my fear doesn't. It shakes in my trembling fingers as I pull it towards my ear. It's almost as if I'm having an out of body experience and this isn't happening at all.

Except for the fact that it is.

I press it to my ear, I listen to the other side for just a moment, but all I get back is a deathly silence. It's up to me, I need to make the first move here. I'm going to have to be brave.

"Hello?" I whisper, probably too quietly for anyone to hear. "Hello?"

And then the whole world changes.

The lights flash, eventually plunging me into darkness, the phone becomes too hot for me to keep hold of it. I drop it, yelling, as my fingers blister and burn. The terror is real, it's so cold I nearly grab the phone again just for something warm to hold onto before my skin ices over.

My nightmares, they feel like they're coming true. I want to put a stop to it but I can't.

"Lila."The voice rings out from above me, beside me, behind me, inside of me. "Lila,you've let me in. Now the world is mine!"