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help noticing that her right foot was sticking to the ground. A piece of skin was slowly dissolving her shoe. She screamed and threw off her shoe, thus hobbling towards her now visible house.
When she got home, she closed her eyes for a moment. Nothing happened, nothing ever happened, she thought. Katie opened her eyes. Everything was normal. She almost screamed in joy. She ran towards the dining table, and found her mother sitting there. She ran towards her mother, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
“Mom, I just had a terrible nightmare”, Katie sobbed, her tears flooding her mother’s shirt. “I just had a dream that my boyfriend died, and someone tried to kill me”, she gasped.
“Kate, it’s alright. Everyone has nightmares, it’s a normal thing”, murmured her mother softly. Katie stayed in her mother’s arms, enjoying her warmth. She felt like she hadn’t seen her mother for ages…Realization struck her. No…My mom has been dead for three years!
“Who are you?!” Katie screamed as she looked down at her mother’s hands, which were now shriveled. Laughter issued from the melting woman’s throat, and a piece of her skin jumped off her face.
Katie ran up to her bedroom and locked the door. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to block out the sound of raspy laughter echoing throughout her house. Suddenly, it stopped. Katie could feel her heart beating all the way to her mouth. She could hear the monster travel up the stairs one by one.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Desperately, Katie piled everything she could against the door. But she found that even objects she found light now felt extremely heavy. Horrified, she looked down at her hands. They were shriveled. No, no, NO! This can’t be happening! She pulled at the skin near her pinky, and ripped it off, the finger with it. Katie stood mortified at what she had done, watching her pinky hobble towards the door. She decided she could take it no longer. In a mad frenzy, Katie ripped off the skin on her face and body; it did not hurt her at all. In fact, she did not even notice the door of her bedroom open…
Katie woke up. The sun shined brilliantly in her bedroom, and she had never felt better. Suddenly the events of the other night struck her. Katie looked at her hands and felt her body. Looking at the mirror, Katie thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She glanced at the door, nothing was there.
“Whew, just another nightmare. Worst I’ve had in days”, Katie exclaimed. She went downstairs; everything seemed to be fine. She went to the living room.
The sight that greeted Katie was worse than any of the other events from the other day. There stood her grandparents, mother, father, and boyfriend. Their hands were all shriveled. She screamed.