i was in someone's basement. it was filled with sealed cardboard boxes, scattered everywhere, no clear path through the jumble. other people were with me, carrying flashlights to light our way through the dark. we were looking for someone or something. there was a sense of urgency. i was talking to one of my companions, and i became aware of the fact she was a cop. we were talking about christianity in hushed tones.

"all cops are holy," she said.

"not all," i argued. "and what do you call an unholy cop?"

she shone the flashlight in my eyes and said, "a traitor."

something about being blinded by the light's glare, and the tone of her voice, and our setting, frightened me beyond measure. i tried to wake myself up. then i was awake, but completely unable to move, open my eyes, or make a sound.

suddenly, a roaring din crushed my ears. it sounded like thousands and thousands of women's voices, all screaming and crying at once, crashing and bruising against one another, shaking every last fibre of my soul. one of them grabbed my spirit, and started violently shaking it around in my body. "helpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehel

pmehelpmehelpme!" she screamed. i saw blinding light and a white face with hollow eyes, the mouth contorted in pain. i still could not move or open my eyes or make a sound. i felt my breathing become torn and jagged in my chest. i started to panic. then the noise subsided. i relaxed for a moment, thinking i would be able to roll over, to open my eyes and see the calm darkness of my room again, to touch my sleeping man. but still my body would not move. everything was silent.

then she grabbed me again and started shaking my spirit. the din rose up in a terrible chorus, like a ravaging ocean of horror. i felt my soul being knocked around inside my body. her voice was even more urgent, and again, her deathmask flashed in and out of my vision, and she cried again, "helpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpme!" this time it didn't stop of it's own accord. i tried to move, to call out for leon to stop this awful experience, but i could only succeed in making short, violent bursts of air jerk from between my lips. her screaming, the shaking, the blinding visions and the sense of terror all made me feel as though i was going to be pulled from my body and flung into the tide of whatever horror she was drowning in. "HELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPME!"

leons hand stroked my back, and silence fell around me.

i opened my eyes slowly, and rolled onto my back.

"what did you dream about?" he asked me, "you were breathing very fast, and you made a small moaning sound."

"they came back," i said, sadly. "they came back and wouldn't let me leave them."