I had a dream last night.

I wasn't myself, just a raggedy man.

A wanderer drifting place to place, deteriorating all the while.

It was deep in the brush, late at night.

Must've been the witching hour.

A bright light shone above me, and she descended from the heavens.

She floated just above me, her face shrouded by silk and lace.

She had six arms, the middle two grasping and pulling at the end of a cut noose.

The upper and lower pair stuck gracefully in the air with beautiful jewelry and ribbons connecting the separate sets of arms.

She spoke to me deep inside my hollow chest.

She never moved her mouth.

She told me she could fix all of my problems.

She sang of bringing me great health and prosperity at a cost.

She wanted me to gather three things.

The purest heart.

A leaf of gold.

And the light of sun.

She gave me three things to complete this task.

A knife.

A basket of bread.

A small purple rag.

I set off to complete these tasks.

I wandered into a town, which seemed to be a gathering place of peasants.

I saw a woman, cloaked in robes.

She had deep black hair and slid between buildings, bringing food to those in need.

I hid and used the mirror to see around the corner, and saw her coming.

When she was close to my section of alley, I had plunged my blade to her neck.

She fell, and I cut away the cloaks and rags she had worn.

I tore into her and took her heart.

I hid it in the basket under the bread.

Next I had set about the golden leaf.

A man had a brooch with golden leaves imprinted into it.

I took my knife and mugged him.

I made off with the brooch and a bundle of silk.

Lastly I had the light of the sun.

I had broke a branch away from a dried dead tree.

I fashioned it into a handle with a large wood extrusion which was easy to carry.

I had come to the church and stole their candles, effectively making a torch.

I set back into the thick of the woods past the brush where she had waited.

I presented her what I had collected.

The heart of an innocent woman.

The brooch and silk of a wealthy man,

And a bright flaming torch.

Her form quickly thinned and emaciated before me.

The silk and lace fell away with blood and maggots, and her blades clattered.

"This wasn't what I asked for"

I begged and pleaded with her while she held her decrepit hands downward, pointing directly at me.

I didn't want to die, and I pleaded.

She told me I had to face consequences, but I didn't listen.

I pleaded and prayed and begged for my life.

She told me there was another way, and without even letting her words reach me, I immediately took my chance.

I craved a most dangerous thing, driving me to insanity. I couldn't control it.

All I could do was think and feel, but I couldn't, I just couldn't speak.

My body wasn't mine.

Blood, blood everywhere.

Then I awoke naked in the woods, with a sickening metallic taste in my mouth.

My phone was gone, I couldn't talk to anyone, but I was no longer dreaming.

I was myself.

Surrounded by carcasses of deer, rabbits, foxes, and a bear.

Ripped apart, organs torn out.

I was covered in fur.

The fur of something else.

Of something inhuman.