A lone street stretches through a dark forest, curving just slightly. A chain-link fence stretches along the edge of the trees, barbed wired wound around the length of the top. A tall gate hung off its hinges, inviting any who dared enter. I don't know what possessed me to turn into the dirt driveway, but that's exactly what I did. I turned my car off and stepped out, leaving the car unlocked. It was just after dusk, right before twilight, and the sky was dreary and gray. A windless breeze rustled the trees, and I noted that there were no leaves on any of them; the trees were dead.
My heart pounded against my ribs as I made my way to a particularly large tree. The trunk was as wide as my car was long, and the roots were exposed, wrapping around and creating pools. Pools in which a dark liquid rippled, a sweet, metallic scent drifting through the humid air.
I didn't linger there too long.
Blood pounding on my ears, I turned to a path that entered the forest on the right. The path was nearly overrun, and despite the pit in my stomach I continued on. Ahead was a playground, one I might have enjoyed playing on as a child. The structure was covered in a dark aura, and I dreaded the thought of going near. So I crept closer, the pit in my stomach revealing itself to be pure fear. The fear choked me, and I found it hard to breath as I finally found myself standing on the first platform.
I forced myself to look upon that which I did not want to see. There were children there, lying in pools of their own lifeblood. I choked on the fear that took hold of my body and spun around. The bodies were fresh, and I could feel the presence of their killer nearby. I ran as hard and as fast as I could, the path back to the gate seemingly longer than I thought before.
Adrenaline kept me going as the fear tried to choke me out still, preventing me from breathing.
Once I finally reached the road, and my car, I jumped in and started the vehicle. I tore onto the highway and took off back the way I came, not looking back.
That is where I woke up, struggling to breath, in my own bed at home. This was a nightmare that I had a few years ago. It still plagues me today. What was it about? Why did I dream of almost running into a child killer? It took me the rest of that night and all of the next day to finally calm down enough to sleep again.
