Cryptic dreams that don't make sense.

The first thing I remember is walking through an abandoned school. I can tell it's a school from the slightly moldy, but still identifiable posters everywhere that have the alphabet and other grade school concepts on them. The building itself is in an odd state of disrepair, with some sections being totally ruined and overgrown with moss and roots that don't seem to go anywhere, and others being pristine and flawless. From the windows that line the hallway I'm walking through, I can see that it's raining outside, and lightning flashes intermittently. There is a smell of rotting meat that pervades the entire complex no matter where I go.

I'm dressed in my grandfather's flight jacket from WW2 with a white scarf wrapped around my neck. In my right hand there is a silver .357 magnum, and I can feel fistfuls of bullets in my jacket's pockets. A long knife hangs in its sheath on my left side, and I constantly find myself resting my left hand on it. Finally, there is a small bag slung over my shoulder, and I can hear some objects banging up against each other as I walk, but I don't check what's in the bag just yet.

I continue walking for some time, always checking over my shoulder every few minutes. However, out of nowhere, all the doors in the hallway open up and the undead begin to pour out of them in huge numbers. Their faces are rotting and green foam forms around the jagged teeth in their mouths, their clothes ragged, and their fingers all end in black, bird-like talons. They begin to shriek in one continuous cry as they begin to charge at me by climbing walls, crawling on the ground, and jumping from the ceiling to the floor. I quickly raise my gun and fire off a single shot into the horde in front of me. The gun is much more powerful than it might seem, as the mere act of firing the gun shatters all the glass around me, and the bullet's force rips through every monster in front of me at once. I then turn and dispatch the undead behind me in the same manner.

This proves to be a useless act, though, as more begin to charge down the hallway behind me, so I take off, running to a stairwell. After quickly climbing the stairs, I drop the bag I had down the stairwell and shoot the bag as soon as it hits the floor. The bag explodes and destroys the fragile staircase, and the rubble blocks the horde from chasing me any further.

This new floor is not much different from the first aesthetically, but now I begin to check each room. In the first six rooms, there is nothing but ruined classrooms, but in the seventh, I see the woman-in-red sitting at a desk. This time, her hair is tied up in a ponytail, and she's wearing a Catholic school girl's uniform with a red sweater-vest and white stockings. Her red eyes meet mine, and she smiles and gives a small wave, after which I close the door.

All of a sudden, I feel the hairs on the back of my head stand up and I impulsively duck and roll away. The place where I was standing is suddenly torn apart by the claws of what appears at first to be a wolf-man in ripped clothes. However, as the wolf-man turns to me, I can see that it's actually my best friend. While her face and body seem human, many periphery features such as her ears and the color of her eyes are a wolf's instead. In addition, her fingernails are sharp claws, she has pointed canine teeth, and a tail swishes back and forth behind her.

She lunges at me again, and I respond by shooting four shots at her. She is able to dodge these bullets, and knocks my gun aside. We then begin to strike at each other, her with her claws and I with my knife for some time until I'm able to knock her to the ground with a tackle. I then jump over her prone body, snatch up my gun and frantically begin to reload it as she gets up and begins to howl in fury. At the last instant, I finish loading the gun and point it at her just as she slashes at my throat. I can feel the sharpness of her claws on my neck as I pull the trigger, and muzzle flash and crack from the gun is the last thing I'm aware of before I wake up.

I've been having this dream with some alterations since I was twelve. Small things have changed, like how I and some other characters look in it, but it has more or less been static since it began. I have it once a week, and I had it when I went to sleep last night.

The dream starts with me standing outside a cathedral looking up at it. It is built with white marble, and shines under a noonday sun. All around the cathedral is nothing but a peaceful meadow, with a single dirt path running to the doors of the church and seemingly stretching out forever behind me. My shoes are caked with mud, I run a hand over my face and feel that I've let my facial hair become overgrown, and I'm carrying a bag slung over my shoulder. As I continue to look at the church, I begin to hear a hymn of sorts. It's slow, low in tone and in a language I don't understand.

Prompted by the hymn, I push open the doors of the cathedral and walk inside. Inside is a multitude of women, all dressed as Catholic Sisters and all singing the same hymn that I heard from the outside. When I look at their faces, I recognize them as all the women I know or have known in my life. The inside of the church is made of the same marble, with a deep red carpet extending from the door all the way up to a golden altar at the head of the church. Behind the altar is an ornate throne, decorated with gold, red silk, and diamonds. Sitting on the throne is a woman who is always in my dreams, with black hair down to her ankles, shocking red eyes, and in this dream she wears a red and white Nun's habit, with her black hair spilling out from the headdress. She sits on the throne, propping her head up with one arm, smirking at me. She is the only one who does not sing.

High above the throne is a circular stained glass window, filled with pastel blues, greens, and pinks. The light from the sun outside shines through the window and lands down on the last figure in the dream, the friend I've had since childhood. She is dressed like a Sister as well, though her clothes fit less loosely, the uniform itself is white instead of black, and her head is uncovered, revealing her dark hair to be as messy as it always is. Her white-gloved hands are folded, her eyes are closed, and she has a peaceful expression as if in prayer, completely unlike how she is normally.

After a few seconds she opens her eyes, looking right into my own eyes, and begins to sing. Her voice, while still recognizably her voice from reality, is much softer and more pleasant. Her song is faster than the hymn the others have been signing, though the two songs seem to fit together. She begins to sway in time with the rising and falling of the notes, and unfolds her hands, spreading her arms wide. I still don't understand the words, but I believe it sounds beautiful and I become fixated on my friend.

I drop my bag and begin to walk forward, like I'm compelled. I stop just a few steps shy of her and continue to watch her until she finishes her song. After she is done and all the singing has stopped, she puts a hand to her chest and takes a deep breath. Then, she turns to me and smiles--which particularly strikes me, as in reality, my friend is something of a grim person and has never smiled to my knowledge. Something boils up inside me, and I push her down on the golden altar, placing my hands on either side of her shoulders.

She starts to exhibit more atypical behavior by putting on a frightened face, and crossing her arms over her chest defensively. The crowd of Sisters behind me all gasp in unison, and she begins to fearfully shed tears. I seem to be only spurned on by this, and grab at her clothes beginning to tear at them. As I'm doing this, I lean in to her frightened face, and out of the corner of my eye I can see the woman-in-red's smirk grow into a full smile, bearing her teeth. When her clothes begin to rip, and I'm just about to finally touch her skin, I wake up.

Honestly, my dreams tend to extremes of violence, but this dream always leaves me shaken in the morning.