Selina immediately fell asleep after she took the medicines that were prescribed to her for her fast recovery. Alysha on the other hand also stayed in her room and slept on the sofa. It was already near midnight when Selina started moving restlessly while sleeping; she was having a dream.

She found herself walking barefoot on an empty forest road in the middle of the night. She tried to look for other people but there was no one around – there were only her and large trees around her.

Where am I? She thought to herself as she observed her surroundings. It was dark and there was nothing to light her path; even the moon did not spare her of its light and hid behind the thick clouds.

She felt the dirt on the ground on her feet, as well as the cold temperature that surrounded the place, making her shivered. The only thing that filled her ears was the gentle sound of leaves as they danced with every blow of the wind.

Then suddenly, as she was walking, she heard a crisp sound of dried leaves and branches coming from the side of the road that was surrounded by trees – indicating that something was there.

She stopped walking and stared at the area where she heard the sound, but she did not get close to it as it was completely dark in there and she was cautious of what was in there. “Who’s there?” She asked but there was no response.

Selina thought there might just be an animal that passed by and decided to ignore it, but when she turned to continue walking, she unexpectedly saw someone standing several meters away from her. It was dark, but she could see its figure.

Selina froze in surprise as she stared at the thing in front of her with fear, but before she could start panicking, she noticed that the moonlight was slowly spreading around the place. And when it reached where she was, she was speechless and could not believe at what she saw in front of her.

She gently smiled in relief that her tears started flooding her eyes. “Grace.” She mumbled and slowly took a few steps towards her friend. “I knew you would wake up.”

She ran towards her friend and reached out her arms to welcome her when all of a sudden, she felt something wet underneath her feet, and when she looked at it, she found a black and thick liquid. She stopped walking and stared at it for a while. What’s this?

She raised her foot to look at it carefully – it was slimy that Selina cringed when she felt it underneath her feet. Her eyes followed where it was coming from and found out that it was coming from where Grace at – exactly underneath her feet.

“Grace, there’s something under –”

Selina’s words were cut off when she saw her friend’s face and met her eyes. The person standing in front of her was smiling wickedly and it sent chills to her spine; she then felt hostility coming from her friend.

She stared at her friend for a while, trying to understand what was going on; she had never felt that kind of fear towards Grace.

Selina was in deep thought then all of a sudden, she saw Grace’s lips opened and moved.

“Found you.” She said in a deeper voice that made Selina’s blood ran cold.

Selina could not move even an inch from where she stood; she cannot even avert her gaze from her friend. Then her eyes widened as she watched with horror when the same black and thick liquid underneath her feet started slowly bleeding out from Grace’s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Selina’s legs started to tremble that she had a hard time balancing herself, but she kept her eyes at the person in front of her – watching what was next to come. It was at that moment when she realized that the person in front of her was not her friend, but someone that was not human. I-I have to get out of here, she thought to herself.

She unconsciously took a step back and turned around to run despite the weakness that she was feeling on her knees. But before she could run far enough, she heard the impostor spoke again; this time, its voice was the same as Grace’s.

“Selina! Don’t leave me here.”

Selina halted and contemplated whether she should turn back or ran away but before she could make a final decision, she suddenly heard something like a sound of bones cracking.

Her muscles tensed from her shoulders down to her legs and her heart started pounding hard on her chest like it was about to pop out any moment. It was at that moment when she felt someone’s breath behind her – on her nape.

She was sure of it – someone was behind her.

Selina felt like the world had stopped moving and that all she was aware of was the monster that she knew was standing behind her. Gasping for air, she slowly turned around and met the impostor’s bleeding eyes, with Grace’s head turned upside down.

*

Selina’s eyes flew open while she was gasping for air. She could feel her heart pounding as hard as in her dreams. It took her a few seconds before she realized that it was just a dream.

She slowly touched her nape where she felt the breath of that monster in her dream; It was just a dream yet, it felt so real, she thought to herself. The chill and fear that she felt were still lingering inside her. She slowly tried to sit up and felt something dripped down from her forehead – she was covered in sweat.

“That dream scared the shit out of me.” She mumbled while wiping the sweat on her face with the back of her trembling hand, and it was only then when she noticed her mother sleeping on the couch across the end of her bed. Somehow, knowing that she was not alone in that room made her felt relieved.

The only light in the room was the lamp beside her hospital bed, but that was enough to calm her down and made her relaxed after the horrible dream that she had. If she had awakened with no lights at all around her, she might have been started panicking.

She heavily sighed. Maybe, it was because of what mom told me about Grace’s condition, she thought to herself.

Afraid that she might have that dream again, she unconsciously reached for her necklace that she always wore, but then realized that she did not have it and had lost it during the accident.

The necklace was given to her by her grandmother when she was young, and she had always told her to keep it beside her no matter where she goes and what she does. She could not understand why she had to do that, but she still did it.

She asked her grandmother about it again when she was eight, and her grandmother told her that the necklace will protect her from bad dreams and any bad things that might happen. She even warned her not to let it break so that she could be protected all the time.

Alysha, tried asking the police who investigated the accident if they found the necklace, but they told her that they did not find anything like what she was referring to. Since then, Selina had been worried about how she was going to tell her grandmother, especially in her condition now.

Selina took a deep breath and was about to lay down again when she felt thirsty. The pitcher was just on the table near her bed; she did not need to wake her mother and she can get it on her own. She slowly raised her blanket and moved out of the bed, carefully stepping barefoot on the cold tiles of the floor as she held on her IV.

She was about to return on her bed after when suddenly, as she was about to take a step, she noticed something on the floor.

She froze with horror when she saw the black footprints on the floor going towards where she was at. She broke cold sweats and her mouth went dry when she realized what those black and thick liquid were – it was the same liquid in her dream.

She was silent for a while, anticipating what would happen next; whether the impostor in her dream will show up in front of her face or…it will show up behind her. And as if the horror she felt was not enough, she heard something clicked from the doorway, which was followed by the creaking sound of the door opening.

Selina’s eyes widened. Who…was that? She trembled in fear thinking of what might have been waiting for her there, but she did not move an inch, nor turned her head even a bit. She kept her eyes fixed on her bed in front of her; then the creaking sound stopped.

The door was far from where she at, but she will be able to see what was in there if she turned her head to her side. She was trying hard not to see the door even through her peripheral vision.

She was scared that she could hear her heartbeat and felt like her head was throbbing, but she stood there without making any movement – even if she felt like her knees would give up any moment.

However, a minute had passed and nothing happened; no one showed up nor popped out behind her. It was then when she decided to take a look behind her, and just like what she thought, no one was there.

She then slowly turned at the door – it was hanging a bit open that she could see the hallway outside her room. There were also only a few lights opened outside, but it was enough to let her see clearly what was there – and she saw nothing.

Selina exhaled heavily out of relief. She was not sure if she should feel at ease and relieved that no one was there, but she could still feel the fear growing inside her.

She then looked at her mom who was sleeping soundly on the couch. She wanted to wake her up and to stay beside her to ease her fear. However, when she was about a few steps away from her, she heard the creaking sound of the door again.

Fear clawed up her throat and her body trembled from her shoulders down to her legs. The door was creaking longer than it was a while ago – opening the door at its maximum width, and without thinking, Selina's eyes turned to look at it.

She was prepared to see what was in there, but she did not expect the horror that would creep in her body when she saw that no one was there – only black footprints on the floor.

Her eyes slowly followed the steps and almost collapsed when she saw that the footprints stopped behind her. She gasped for air and opened her mouth to scream, but she was so frightened that she cannot let out her voice; she just stared at the footprints with horror in her eyes.

Selina could not think straight in fear then suddenly, someone grabbed her hand, which scared her to death and caused her to lost her senses.

Selina shouted hysterically and started crying while struggling desperately to the person who was grabbing her. She then lost her balance and crouched on the floor – covering her ears, screaming, and sobbing while trembling nonstop.

“Stay away from me!” She desperately pleaded between her cries.

“Selina! Selina! It’s mom!” Alysha tried to calm her daughter when she saw her frightened and trembling while lying on the floor. She was confused about what was happening and was worried about the way her daughter was acting.

Soon Selina stopped screaming, but she kept crying while covering her ears and shutting her eyes close as tight as possible. She stayed on the floor and did not stand up; she stayed like that for a longer time that Alysha started to panic.

“Selina, what happened? Please tell me…please tell your mom.” She said as she held her daughter’s trembling body in her arms.

At that same time when Selina was struggling to get back on her senses, something strange going on inside the ICU room of her friend, Grace.

Faint rattling sound can be heard from Grace's room as her unconscious body was shaking nonstop like it was struggling unto something. She then started choking up until black and thick liquid bled out from her mouth, eyes, nose, and ears.

The line on the heart rate monitor flattened and its beeping sound filled her room, but no one noticed what was happening. There was no one in the dark hallway outside her room.

Grace’s body continued to bleed until she stopped shaking, and the heart rate monitor showed signs of life again. And as if a miracle happened, Grace woke up and her eyes flew open. But there was something strange in her eyes. They were all covered in black – from her pupils to her iris, and the sclera, as she stared blankly at the white ceiling of her room.