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Cold. She was chilled to the bone, unable to move. Even the talons of the creatures that mauled her were made of ice. They gouged deep furrows in her flesh that seeped drops of crimson.

Tala fought in the chilling darkness, desperately trying to escape the grasping tentacles that held her prisoner. They were everywhere, imprisoning her body, confining her in the nightmare world of black dreams.

They held her fast, unrelenting as they pried her legs and arms apart, preparing her for... him. The beast loomed over her, a giant with the face of evil. He was nude, his powerful muscles flexing under blood-red skin, his manhood jutting out at an angle from his mammoth body.

She screamed in horror as his laughter filled the air around her. One long tapered finger traced a single path between her breasts down her body, causing gooseflesh to rise.

"You are mine, Little Wolf," his deep voice said.

She felt her body being lifted, leveling her sex with his. Shrieking again, she renewed her struggles, growing dangerously close to hysteria. He really meant to fuck her.

His hand was on her skin again, his fingers plucking at her nipples, twisting and pulling. Even through the cold, she felt her body respond. She hated him for that.

Both his hands slid down her body, his sharp claws grazing the flesh of her abdomen. Then he reached the area exposed by her legs being forced so far apart.

"I wonder what you struggle against, Tala," the beast said, his lips curling in a sinister leer of razor-sharp fangs. "Is it your fear of me, or your own lust?"

"Get away from me, you freak!" she screeched, her back arching as she fought against the creatures that held her.

His laughter filled the air again, even as one large finger slipped between the wet folds of her flesh.

"Your body is ready for me, ripe and wet, and I shall have what I came for."

She could feel the bulbous head of his cock pushing at her flesh, trying to force itself in. Her body twisted, her muscles clenching tightly as she fought against the tentacle-like limbs that held her. They seemed to be growing barbs that pierced her cold skin, scratching her everywhere.

The cold spread through her, rattling her bones until her teeth chattered. The darkness closed around her as she thrashed, but still she fought. Finally, she managed to fight to the surface, away from the demons and the beast until she found herself alone.

"It's just a dream," she breathed, coming fully awake.

The full moon gleamed brightly, casting eerie shadows across the landscape. Her teeth clicked together audibly, causing her jaw to ache. Was she lying on a bed of thorns?

Upon inspection, she found that the barbs that gouged her skin were the dry grasses of the autumn field. She was lying in a meadow, naked and exposed.

Try as she might, she could not remember how she had gotten here. Shaking her head ruefully, she pulled herself up to sit with her arms wrapped about her bare flesh in an effort to protect herself from the bitter wind.

Tala had done this before. She had been a sleep-walker all her life. It only happened during times of stress.

"Stupid jerk," she whispered, thinking of Mikhail.

Mikhail had coerced her into going to the Jaycees Haunted House, telling her that all the other guys' girlfriends and wives would be there. He wasn't going to be satisfied until she promised to come see him as he did his best to frighten the kiddies in his monster costume. So she went even though she'd had a thing about those places since her early youth.

The evening had brought back those ugly memories of her childhood visit to the local haunted house. She'd hated it then and she hated it now. The hours had stretched out until her head ached and she finally left, seeking her bed and sleep.

Now she was paying the price. With no way of knowing how late it actually was, or even where she was, Tala struggled to her feet. The light of the moon was bright enough to give her a good glimpse of her surroundings. It didn't take long to get her bearings. How had she gotten this far out and why did she have to sleep in the nude?

Taking the first tentative steps toward home, she stopped dead in her tracks. A noise drifted to her, causing her heart to skip a beat. It was the sound of heavy footsteps steadily crunching in the dried grass.

Glancing warily about, she finally caught a glimpse of someone coming toward her. A hulking, shadowy figure was walking straight toward her. The sureness of his step told her that he was intent upon his purpose.

She dove into the tall grass, using it as camouflage as she tried to make good her escape. Keeping low, she scurried along the ground, attempting to keep distance between herself and the Shadow Man.

Her ruse apparently didn't work. She could hear him getting closer, each crunch of the grass behind her telling her that he would soon reach her. What did he want?

Finally, blinding fear took over. Tala bounded to her feet, running through the tall grass as fast as her bare flesh would carry her. The Shadow Man started running too.

He wasn't far behind. She could hear the grunts of breath that escaped his lungs with each step he took. Too late she saw where the ground dropped before her. With legs and arms flailing wildly, she tumbled into a gaping sinkhole.

The walls were too steep, the grass and weeds that had taken root over the long summer too slick with dew for her feet and hands to find purchase. Try as she might, every time she scrambled half way to the top, her body would tumble back down again. She was trapped.

Then he was there, landing behind her after leaping into the trench. Tala remained rooted to the ground, unable to move, unable to turn to see what nightmarish conjuring had taken shape on this All Hallows Eve. Not even the brisk autumn air on her nude skin could penetrate the terror that held her prisoner.

Whatever had been stalking her, it was warm. She could feel the heat of his flesh as he drew near, could feel his warm breath on her skin.

Run, fool, a voice inside her head shrieked, but she stood frozen, paralyzed with fear. A sharp whimper escaped her lips when she felt the grip of his fingers on her shoulder. Her body, shaken with tremors of dread and cold, was pulled backward into the hard embrace of her captor.

Tala squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to see what was surely the face of horror. She tried to keep her body erect, tried to keep as much of herself as possible from making contact with whatever had itself wrapped around her.

Her resolve weakened when his heat began to seep into her freezing bones. The warmth of his breath tickled her ear, further testing her limits. She wanted to scream, to lash out at him, but all she could manage was a hollow moan.

The arms that had snaked around her held her fast in their hard grip. They didn't feel like those appendages of her earlier nightmare, but they terrified her just the same. Yet, the hands attached to those arms were surprisingly gentle when they touched her breasts, caressing her as passionately as any lover.

She began, finally, to struggle, twisting in the circle of his arms, lashing out with her sharp nails. At this point, she didn't know if she was fighting out of the terror he provoked, or the fear that her body might react as it did to the beast in the dream.

The Shadow Man seized her wrists, pinning them to her sides.

"Stop."

That single word, whispered so softly in her ear, seemed to echo around and through her, stilling her movements. She was motionless again, her heart pounding a cadence of fright against the bony walls of her chest.

Tala felt the hands of Shadow Man caressing her once more, touching her bare flesh softly, grazing her torso with his palms. She whimpered, shivering almost painfully when his lips played over the curve of her neck.

One of his hands pressed against her belly, pulling her back into his hard center. His hips moved, grinding into the small of her back as his fingers moved lower. Her breath escaped in a shivery gasp as a single digit worked its way through the trim curls between her thighs, seeking her most intimate flesh.