The first time I got the nightmares I was 8. I was thrashing going in and out of a nightmare, or at least like it seemed like a nightmare. I was in the forest looking down at a massive hole littered with bones. My nightgown brushed against moist soil and seem to stain the edges .. red. The bones were animal or maybe something more gruesome. I lunged away, trying to run but was held in place by something, someone. My screams were muffled, the humming silenced my thoughts. Like thousands of bees singing a solemn tune. It was coming from the pit, almost like it was alive, breathing out into a long hum. I was thrust in the air violently by the shoulders and slammed back down to the ground. The tattoos glowing a green glow on my skin. My eyes opened and I realized I was in my bedroom, my mother hovering over me with concerned eyes. "Wwhat happen where am I??" I stammered.
Mother eased her concerned expression and soothed me saying "Its all gonna be fine Anna darling." She dipped her slender fingers into a bottle of dark oil that smelled of pine and rubbed it in a half moon shape across my temple. Uttering words I did not understand and I regarded it as nonsense as I drifted to sleep, she rocked me in in her arms only to tuck me back into bed when she believed me asleep. As she walked out the floor creaked, when she stopped in the door frame. In my half-asleep state I could hear a faint sob and her saying "Not yet please"