It was 9:30 at night and I couldn't fall asleep; it happened every night since I accidentally tore the fabric of that dream catcher that my friend Remina gave me when I turned sixteen. It was a gift in response to the uncomfortable dreams I started having since I was fifteen. I wanted to stop feeling overwhelmed by those nightmares, so one day I decided to tell my friends what those dreams were about: they were horrifying creatures that invaded the city while people ran for their lives and others were attacked by these beasts.

In my dreams I would always fix my attention on that boy I had never seen before, he would appear in front of me covering his face under a black hood on his coat. He fixed his gaze on the monsters and confronted them with a sword that gave off a bright blue flame until he killed a large number of these beasts just after engaging in this amazing combat and finally defeating the monsters, he directed his gaze defiantly to where I was. I could not understand why he did it, until one of those aberrations appeared out of nowhere and attacked me immediately, waking up with a scream that more than once scared my parents.

I would wake up agitated, trying to catch my breath and become aware that no matter how real it seemed, it was nothing more than a horrible dream that kept repeating itself over and over again.

That's how my nights were since I was fifteen years old, the same dream in different scenes: the invasion of the city, the monsters, the attack on people and the combat of that boy with the beasts.

"Come on Mera, you should stop having those horrible nightmares already!" I would say to myself, when I was already standing in front of the bed to go to the bathroom.

That night something different happened, I heard the rumbling of a terrifying sound outside the apartment. I felt nervous and scared. Was this the kind of dream where you think you wake up but it turns out you're in another dream? I wondered as I walked to the window hidden by the curtains that Anetta, one of my friends and roommate hung at the beginning of the year. The window had a balcony overlooking the alley that led from the building where I lived to the next one.

I looked at the clock trying to confirm with the movement of the hands if this was one more of my dreams. But to my surprise it was 12 a.m., the time was still unchanged as I used to see in my nightmares, Remina and Anetta would not arrive from the party until one o'clock, the party I did not want to accompany them to because I did not feel like going, instead I stayed in the apartment excusing myself with the cold I had this week and here I was, tormented, alone and unable to distinguish a dream from reality.

I felt the desire that it was already 1 o'clock, my friends would be in the room, waking me up to hear from them the amount of handsome and attractive guys they met at that blissful party But it's not like that! Now I was in front of the window, alone and listening to a horrible sound, my heartbeat increasing with every second I debated whether or not to look out into the alley.

And venturing to find out where the sound was coming from without any protection other than a coat for the cold, I opened the window and crossed through it immediately.

"Who's there?" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I passed the window and entered the balcony.

I leaned my hands on the railing, trying to give myself courage and courage to be there at that precise moment, I inspected the street for a few seconds realizing that there was no one at either end of the alley. Instead, trash cans could be seen lying around and debris scattered everywhere.

Grief-stricken by my illogical fears, I set about looking up at the balconies of the neighboring building, trying to convince myself that there was no one on the other side laughing at me.

My eyes widened in shock, I was immediately horrified by what my eyes caught at that moment. It was there stuck to the walls of that building as if the laws of gravity were not valid, it was a creature with skin as dark as the sky of a stormy night, it had protruding, sharp fangs of great size, two huge jaws and FOUR eyes! Four glowing eyes that swiftly landed on where I stood, staring at me as if it had found me.

"Aaaah!" I cried out in fear.

I rushed desperately to the window, trying to get into the apartment in a hurry. When I managed to pass the threshold, I noticed that something heavy jumped onto the balcony and immediately I heard that roar, a guttural howl that shook me from head to toe.

I was paralyzed and only my sight followed my will being able to see from the open space between the curtains the beast that was raising its claws up the balcony railings, its gaze was set on me; the ebony colored beast made it clear to me that I was its prey, what I could not understand was why; why would a monster like that attack me? Its muscles and limbs contracted, pouncing then towards where I was ignoring the glass window that separated us, I saw how its maw drooled as if it had a great desire to devour me with haste and without mercy.

I tried to give orders to my legs to run away from there but they did not respond. Fear had paralyzed me and my mouth was unable to exclaim any words to scream, in supplication for help, I held my breath as I watched in slow motion as its sharp claws extended as it leapt from the metal pipes that made up the balcony in my direction, shattering the glass window followed by a shrill noise of shattering glass and ripping Anetta's curtains.

"Wake up Mera! Wake up!" I tried to speak to my subconscious, but my body was unresponsive "Nooo!"

I screamed at last as I heard my heart beating fast and at the same time my eyes focused on the approaching beast.

Realizing that the dream didn't seem to want to end, my sense of survival unconsciously rushed me towards the door. The monster passed by, tearing with its claws the sheets and the mattress of my bed, which ended up breaking under the weight of the horrifying beast, until it crashed against the wall where the broken dreamcatcher had been before.

I reacted immediately, slipping behind the door and closing it at the same time as I started running towards the main entrance. My heart was pounding as my breathing became scarce, I was sweating with fear. A few seconds after I started running out of the apartment, I heard a sound coming from the room, the door did not resist the monster's advance.

Removing the locking pin from the door, I turned the handle at a speed I had never thought my hands would have, once the door was open, I ran out ignoring the elevator and fixing my eyes on the stairs leading to the roof where I could hide without a second thought, I ran with all my strength up the stairs, I heard a roar of fury as the door of the entrance to the apartment came off, the beast was still following me, I ran staggering before the steep steps, the monster seemed not to slow down, I wished not to lose sight of me, I hurried up the stairs out of desperation.

When I reached the door leading to the roof, I noticed that it was open; someone had left it open. But fear and the need to survive overcame me, and as strange as that fact was, I decided to ignore it and keep running until I ran into one of the walls that had the electrical system of the building.

"It can't be possible!" I shouted when I realized that I had no place to go.

I heard again the shrill growl of the monster, making sure of its presence in that place. And although I wanted to run away from the situation, I stayed still; immobile, with my back against the wall, immediately feeling the icy and penetrating cold of the concrete on my spine. I watched as the beast slowly approached, as its eyes glared at me, its mouths drooling. I had no choice but to close my eyes and turn my head to the side, involuntarily raising my hands in an absurd attempt at defense.

"Help! Help!" I screamed in my mind, panic would the fear not let me.