The music’s playing on the jukebox, old timey rock and roll,

Playing all the old songs that she really used to know.

All the words come back to each and every song,

As she catches the tune, she begins to sing along

The gathered crowd turns their heads to stare,

But she’s so drunk she doesn’t even care.

It had been such a long time she felt no fear,

Now, if only a prince would appear.

She hadn’t been anywhere for such a long, long time,

It was a night to relax and unwind.

At first she had been afraid, and almost backed out,

The remnants of the old fear and doubts.

Then she remembered he couldn’t hurt her anymore,

So what was she waiting for?

Far, far back in her mind, she knew this wasn’t true,

He would always haunt her till she found someone new.

She felt a chill and her voice cracked,

A sharp pain ran the length of her back.

She turned but no one was there,

And once again she relived the nightmare.

She tossed and turned so heavy her breath,

Eyes of fire, rotted flesh, the putrid smell of death

The whiskey in her glass had turned to blood,

And covering the floor, fresh prints of seaweed and mud.

Strobe lights flashed on and off, fire and ice,

And across the floor, the scurrying of mice.

She started spinning out of control,

Not just her head, but body and soul.

Around, and round, again and again,

Faster and faster, Oh God please let it end.

She was getting so tired; her legs were getting weak,

But she couldn’t stop, someone please help, she was beginning to sink.

The floor, but it had changed; it was no longer a floor,

What was happening, she didn’t know anymore.

It took her legs, then her knees,

Something grabbed her from behind, and began to squeeze.

Farther down into the depths of hell,

And she knew he awaited her there.

Still she spun, like a child’s top,

How long before it would stop?

Her waist was next to sink into the ground,

And she felt herself tumbling down, down, and farther down.

Seemed like forever her spiral trip,

Her hands were bloody and she bit her lip.

"Sing, sing, sing, she heard the shouts,

But as she looked, there was no one about.

It was totally dark, so empty and cold,

So many secrets left untold.

Everything got quite no sounds at all,

She stopped spinning from her fall.

So is this it, will she wake now?

Somehow her mind was full of doubt.

There was more to come, this she knew,

Though it had seemed forever it was really over too soon.

Should she stay, or should she wander where her mind led

Unfamiliar territory, what traps lay ahead.

The choice was taken from her as fiery flames emerged,

And within her a deep fear surged.

She took a step back to get away from the heat,

And a clawed hand grasped at her feet.

Then they rose, from a deep pit below,

And a harsh wind of fire began to blow.

Hot, so hot, she couldn’t catch her breath,

And she knew what awaited her, death.

The smell of blood brought them, one by one, then another,

And soon they were fighting each other.

She started backing away, and realized she was blocked,

Only one door and it was locked.

Then in the midst of the crowd he rose through hells fire,

And the golden red flames burned higher and higher.

Fire blew from his mouth as he spoke,

And sockets where his eyes had once been, where filled with gray smoke.

He reached for her, his fire burning her skin,

She screamed," Please wake me, let this end"

Maniacal laughter, echoed from the flames,

From every direction forcing its way into her brain.

"You are the one," the flames seemed to say,

"Never will you get away,"

"You will go back, sleep in your bed,

But each night, you will visit the dead."

"Never will your nightmare end,

Never will you live again.

Hell on earth for what you have done,

You will feel fear, sadness, but never love."

Flames surrounded her she felt the burn

Nowhere to run, nowhere to turn.

She knew he spoke the truth he wouldn’t lie

Hell on earth till the day she died.

She woke in her bed, shivering and all alone.

Thank God the nightmare was gone.

She felt a sharp pain in her right foot,

And she peeked under the covers to take a look.

Claw prints upon her feet, and mud in her bed,

It had been no nightmare; she had really visited the dead.

She heard his laughter deep into the night,

And shivered in fear, till the dawning of the first light.

© Cynthia Clark