The Chosen

The heat. She felt so unbearably hot, so warm she had difficulty getting any air to breathe.

Dark, why so dark?

She felt frightened, threatened, something was wrong. Her mind was rising in panic, simultaneously feeling pressure. Such a heavy pressure. She tried to move and could not, her panic now increased. Something was pressing on her. Adrienne's eyes blinked open. The room was intensely hot. The physical fright of feeling that she was unable to draw the breath that she needed to survive was almost paralyzing to her. Then, for a moment, she was completely still, her body frozen. She was looking straight up at a sight that almost stopped her heart completely. The figure seemed two or even three times her size. It was hovering over her body. It took up all the oxygen in the room and the creature was emitting heat that was so intense, as though the room was about to burst into flames. The creature was so close. As it drew closer, the pressure and heat Adrienne had awoken to increased. The face was beyond imagination-demonic, and horrific. She felt physical and mental shock and it immobilized her completely. Her mind froze. She had never felt death so close.

The thought of the finality of her situation slowly stirred some part of her incredibly frightened spirit. She began to talk to herself:

Fight! It's your last chance, don't give in.

Adrienne tried to open her mouth, a desperate attempt to get some air.

A dream, this must be a dream, pull yourself away. Wake up, try to wake... now! Adrienne was mentally shouting. Dream or not she felt as though she was dying. She forced her eyes to open she used all her strength to lift her head from the pillow.

I will get up. This will all go away, if I just get up.

Adrienne could barely lift her head from the bed. She tried to move in any direction. She was pinned to the bed. She realized with fear beginning to shake her consciousness that she was not asleep. This was no dream. She had no sensation of any breath, no oxygen left at all. She was numbed, her senses completely in shock. She could see clearly but she was afraid to look again. She was determined to force herself to look and see if the apparition was really still there. She steeled herself and forced her eyes to look up again. The manifestation was beyond her wildest imagination. The pure essence of evil reeked from this creature. There was power in its glare, great power. Her mind was almost completely frozen with fear. That face. It looked liked an animal of some kind, but also like a man. The whole body had hair covering it, hornlike protrusions, and teeth that were huge and sharp. It was drooling on her through its teeth, and emitting a low growling sound. It was almost grinning, enjoying her fear. It was completely on top of her, its hands with their long nails running up her arms. Adrienne felt that she was on the brink of dying. A death that was so horrible and so incredible to her psyche, it was beyond her sense of reality. In fact, she realized this was beyond reality, beyond this dimension, and for a moment she felt hopeless. She was so close to losing consciousness. Somewhere in her mind, a voice whispered,

One chance. Focus:

As from a lesson learned long ago, her spirit stirred.

Focus and allow your spirit guides to provide you with protection.

Her mind began to envision a spiritual presence.

Her eyes closed. She joined her spirit with the guides that were here to help her and she prayed. This was all that was left, all that could save her, if she were to be spared. If that was her destiny, then so be it. She imagined the white cloak of the spiritual guides covering her, protecting her, and she merged that reality in her mind. Her will grew stronger, she could feel it. She felt her concentration clear a bit more.