We continued with homework and our nightmares kept us awake at night. The fear I felt kept me paralyzed. I couldn't move as I tried opening my eyes each morning. For minutes, I was frozen in my dreams, sluggish and unable to scream as monsters moved towards me. I began refusing to sleep, forcing myself to stay up through mindless scrolling of online feeds. Each night the shadows would bring forth the tall man who stood in the corner and in the other a plump woman hung from the closet.

It was midweek when I visited my friend. We were talking when she brought her own experiences around her. She explained, she had received a crystal clear rock meant to absorb negative feelings. That it would charge in sunlight and cleanse at night. The rock had turned pitch black. Fear began playing in my mind. She went on to explain how another friend had walked into her room, the temperature was at 90, and in the first five minutes it had chilled down to 75. I asked for windows, a possible draft, my friend said no; that neither were the cause. I tried brushing it off. It couldn't be paranormal. Her third omen was from the fridge. She was going to grab something from there. As she opened it the smell of rotten eggs hit her. She cleaned the fridge checking for expiration dates and I knew neither would be the cause.

I left, after a while, and it was nine when she came knocking.

"Can I sleep in here?" I hesitated but acquiesced. I never could turn down someone in need and she was one.

As we settled for the night. She slept on the floor desperate for human connection and protection. My fiance and I had pulled the beds together and cuddled into each other our feet hanging off the edge.

It was late at night when I realized my fiance had disappeared somewhere. Looking around, I sought the familiar shape of his body in hopes of comfort. Unable to find him in the dim room, I began to panic.

A faint lullaby drifted around the room. I sat up looking for the source. Andrea had her mouth open and without moving it a simple child melody escaped her lips. I laid back down bringing the blankets up over my head. It wouldn't protect me. I knew the woman would soon come. The blanket itself was ripped from my face and hands and a naked grotesque demon sat above me. Sharp pointed teeth grinning his clawed hands shoved deep inside my chest. I screamed thrashing about hoping to rid myself of the beast but it was futile. I could not move as the reptilian monster began to lean down it's maw opening up. Saliva dripping down splattering my face and neck. The smell of rotten eggs filled my senses drowning me in its heaviness. The noises around me reached a climax as my friend's lullaby turned to a panicked induced scream.