Reamous

The dream began as I attended a track practice, except this one everyone would stay the night in cabins. Once we were all in our cabins, we went to bed. As soon as I fell asleep IN THE DREAM, I begin dreaming. So basically I was dreaming within a dream. In the dream dream, I am walking down a hallway. The walls are made of glass, but most of them are busted out. The sky is a dark grey. I approach a part of the hallway where there is a man with a glass butterfly. The butterfly is made of shards from the windows, and the man is rubbing his hands along the butterfly (it's a big butterfly, about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide). His hands slide along the top of the glass, and when I get near him, his neck snaps up and he says, "I never left you, but you left me." Then he resumes his work.

After that I turn and walk further down the hallway, but a famous actor (don't know who, just know they were famous and an actor) appears in front of me. My voice comes over the dream and, like in those movies where diaries/journals are read aloud, I say, "And I'll be damned if--you know what? Why the hell is [actor's name(can't remember)] so scary?" At that moment, the actor twitches uncontrollably and attacks me.

I wake up screaming. IN THE CABIN.

I sigh, saying "It was only a dream." I roll over and go back to sleep in the dream, going back to the exact same dream. The actor is replaced with someone different. I go through the exact same steps, wake up screaming in the cabin, and then re-enter the dream dream six times. At the end of the sixth dream dream, I'm finally aware that I'm dreaming. I become lucid in the dream dream and run to the end of the hall, which has a large piece of glass on it. I reassure myself, saying "I'm in control here, not the nightmare." I try to calm down, but when I look into the window, I see my reflection. Panic engulfs me as I recall hearing how mirrors are usually scary in dreams. Behind me, there is a shadowy woman with frayed hair and contorted arms. She screams and leaps onto me.

Scared but relieved to be out of the nightmare, I wake up. And I still see the cabin. I'm borderline hysterical by this point. I felt trapped inside a never-ending nightmare. Luckily, I force myself to awaken from the cabin dream and wake up in my own bed. I'm burning up and sweaty, but also scared senseless. I try to sit up, but find I'm apparently still in sleep paralysis. None of my limbs work, and I can practically feel the woman jumping onto me. My heart is pounding faster than it ever has before, and I eventually get my muscles to cooperate. I get up and sit on the couch, where I watch TV, nearly cry, and eventually (after 2 1/2 hours) fall back asleep.

I am completely baffled as to how I became TRAPPED inside the nightmare. Can anyone here please give me more information on this, and how I can combat it if it happens again? I'm almost afraid to close my eyes.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'll be looking for any responses.

--Reamous

PS. This is the first nightmare I've had in a long time. Don't know if that information aids you at all, but there it is.