Between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The lightning storm started seemingly from thin air. No warning, just bright flashes of blindingly white light, deafening thunder rolls. The sky was an eerie shade of dark burgundy red with black clouds. The cherry blossoms where gone, or at least the flowers were and the trees looked dead, old.

The river was gone, and now I was running and stumbling on a dirt road full of mud puddles and sharp rocks that were cutting my feet. I'm not sure where my shoes were at, and it wasn't my primary concern. The trees formed a canopy over my head, where the red moon shone through and illuminated only parts of my path...the ones I tried to stay on. I could hear cackling laughter chasing close behind me, I could see them keeping up with me both in the shadows on my path and as I looked up I saw several dozens of them also tracking me jumping and swinging from the trees above. They looked men carved out of ash and stone, with black torn wings that seemed to be partly on fire. They had beautiful facial features, and long limbs...dead sneers. My name was being whispered or giggled between them, some pulled at my hair as I ran by, others at my torn skirt. I could see the path separating ahead into two smaller worn down trails.

I had to make the choice quick. Left or right. Life or death? The storm got worse, and fire was now raining down from the sky like small cinder drops. The smell of burnt flesh was nauseating and filling my nostrils, forcing me to breathe through my mouth. The hot air burned at my lungs, and I tried screaming at them or anyone. I tried calling out to God, but I was too afraid to do so. Of not getting an answer. Of nothing being there. In the end. Alone.

I woke up just as 5 of them tackled me down, right before the road split. Their claws were tearing my back to shreds, I felt my bones crackling under their weight and last I saw was one of them grin as he hit my head with his stone hand, feeling my skull crack and an insane pressure building up behind my eyes.

It was 6 a.m. I made it through the night.