They couldn’t reach her. She was certain of that. Sam sat bolt upright in bed. Her shoulder-length brown hair clung close to her head, drenched in sweat.
Sam held her arms out stiffly at her sides, her palms raised protectively up and out.
An iridescent green light filled the air. In the middle of the otherwise dark room, a rectangular green shelter made of the shining light surrounded Sam in all directions.
The shining walls crackled lightly as they interacted with the surrounding air.
An unfortunate fly floated into the bedroom. It was instinctively drawn to the mesmerizing green light.
Buzzing absently, the fly flew closer, closer… As the fly finally touched against the glowing field there was a sharp popping sound and then the fly was no more.
The sound made Sam turn her head in that direction. Mercifully, this was all it took to break the spell her nightmare had cast on her.
She shook her head from side to side, took a deep breath, and worked on calming down her racing heartbeat.
Sam dropped her hands back to her sides. The protective field around her flickered and vanished. There was no evidence it had ever been there.
She knew it was only a bad dream, but this time it felt more real than ever. In the dream, Sam saw herself in a dark claustrophobic room, surrounded by strange hooded figures.
They towered over her, unnaturally tall and lean. She instinctively knew they meant to do her harm.
Just like every other night this week, Sam had thrown up her shields to protect her from their approach. The shields kept them at bay but the creatures refused to leave.
They moved closer and closer to her, testing her shields with slender fingers tipped with impossibly long curving blades.
The largest creature leaned down into her face and regarded her with jet black red-rimmed eyes that flashed green as he tilted his head and growled like a cornered beast.
Sam fought these images as fatigue progressively took over and pulled her into a deep and dreamless sleep.