The alley was dark, and that was all she knew.

Well, she knew that going into a random dark alley at night was a bad idea, but she was past reason. Shadows dashed in the corner of her eyes; whatever it was, she had to get away from it.

The figure. It had been following her for miles. Since she left the party, even, or maybe before that. She was a little tipsy, of course; who could resist the punch? But the walk home was seeming worse, and worse, and worse...

She was just going to skim between the two buildings, see if she could lose the follower. A glance behind, and then a dreadful crack.

She fell to the ground. Was that wall there before?

Footsteps. She shot up onto her feet, immediately regretting it due to her nausea. Something was approaching. The shadow was moving closer. She pushed up against the wall and fingered her pocketknife. She never thought she would be in a situation like this.

"Don't come closer!" she yelled, realizing her words were slurring together slightly. The shadow stopped, tilting its head.

Then it resumed. Chattering teeth echoed through the alley, like one of those stupid denture toys. She braced herself for the impact. The shadow's moves were stilted; puppet-like, almost, with flailing limbs. As it got closer, it gained definition, but still looked fuzzy, as if it were on an old TV. She could see it now, in all its glory; all lanky limbs and stringy hair, black eyes and dots for nostrils.

It smiled, thousands of teeth like needles, its pale skin shining in the moonlight. Its feet plopped on the ground in front of her, and it bent down.

It whispered her name, opened its mouth, the chattering teeth coming to a massive crescendo, and put it over her head. She cringed as its teeth sunk into her neck.

Then she woke up, sweat on her arms and tears on her face.

The chattering never quite stopped.