Shadows quivered on the wall as the candle flickered, then fizzled to nothing as the light faded out of existence. It wouldn’t have been a problem if she wasn’t afraid of the dark, and the things that lurked within it. Seirsha was sitting alone in an empty hallway of the abandoned castle she lived in, trying to keep herself calm. Something else was with her, and it made her feel terrified.

      She moved her hand to the box of matches that sat beside her, but stopped immediately as she heard the sounds. It had found her again. It was going to hurt her. She was only 8, too young to die.

      Seirsha quickly got up and began to run, her heart beating wildly, adrenaline coursing through her veins for the third time that night. It continued to find her, even now as it stepped in front of her path. It was shadowy in appearance, its white soulless eyes staring at her blankly. It was tall, had sharp ivory teeth, claws as sharp as knives, and a walk that confirmed that it wasn’t human at all.

      The hall filled with mechanical whirrs and creaks, a disembodied screech coming from the demonic creature as it came for her. She herself screamed out and ran in the opposite direction of the beast, slipping on a rug that she encountered on a sharp turn down another hallway, but she quickly got up. She had to live. She had to survive. 

      After a few minutes of dashing as fast as she could, Seirsha slowed herself down to catch her breath and to look around to see where she was. She was standing in front of her bedroom door, perfect. Seirsha immediately opened the door, slammed it shut, and walked as fast as she could to her bed, crawling underneath the covers and closing her eyes. And in the darkness of her room, she prayed the beast wouldn’t find her.

      At first she thought her silent prayer was granted, happiness filling her emotions, but it drained as she heard the soft twinkling sound of the beast singing. Her door steadily creaked open, and she peeked out from under her covers. There stood the creature in her doorway, its eyes getting not only brighter, but a lot more sinister in color, turning from a glistening white to a vivid blood red.

      “How bout you close your eyes? Will you dream sweet, or will you lose your life? I know you think you won’t cry. You can run from your captor, but not in this Final Chapter..” it sang, its voice distorted when it sang the last of its verse.

      She stopped and stared at it, then jumped off her bed and began to run, but it caught her in its claws. Its grip was tight, and it walked over to the farthest corner of her room and smashed her head against it, leaving a crack in the wall from the impact. She screamed out loud and tried not to cry, but the tears came forth against her will. The beast continued to sing.

      “You will never wake up, this is no Disney dream. Forever after you, are hunted by machine.”

      It slowly opened its jaws, a series of creaking noises emitting from the creature as it did the action. It then paused, letting her gaze into the deep void of its mouth, looking as if anything dropped into its deep abyss would never escape from it’s jaws. Smells of rotting flesh bombarded her senses, and she could almost see the beast’s last victim.

      Then, ever so subtlety, it began to lower her into its mouth, ignoring her cries for help and pleads for it to stop, slowly closing its jaws around her and..

      Seirsha quickly sat up in her bed and screamed, her voice echoing harmlessly against the empty walls of her bedroom. She heard footsteps, knowing her parents had heard her. First, her father entered the room quickly, his blonde hair messy as he walked over to her and gave her a tight hug, attempting to calm her. Her mother quickly followed suit, black hair also a mess and sat next to her father. Aunt’s and Uncle’s slowly gathered at her doorway, worried and curious as to what had happened.

      She began to sob into her father’s embrace, hot tears spilling down her cheeks, thankful that she was safe and it was just a nightmare. Slowly, she peered at her bedroom walls, and her eyes widened.

      In the farthest corner of her room, was a crack in her wall; its fingers extending from the middle of the wall and fanning out.  The soft twinkling of the creature’s music could be heard in the background, but was heard only by the frightened girl as she was held desperately by her parents, and she screamed for them to protect her.