The barking filled the night sky, bouncing of the dark trees which stood over me like monsters. I tripped over roots and stumbled every few seconds. I could hear my heart beating loudly throughout my whole body. I couldn't see anything anymore; all I could do was hear the dogs, my feet, and my heart. I looked behind me for a quick second; I saw the moon glinting off the dog's eyes and their sharp teeth. I turned back forward- just in time to see the tree in front of me. I smacked into the tree, feeling the bark scratch up my face. I fell backward, and lay on my back for approximately a millisecond, then felt the hot breath of a dog breathing on me. I looked up to see a gun pointed at my head. I closed my eyes, and heard the gunshot ring through the forest. I waited… And waited… And waited… And… It never came. I opened my eyes. The men and the dogs were gone.

"What the…"

I looked around the forest. I knew I shouldn't have been looking for the people who were trying to kill me, but hey, I'm curious. It wasn't smart… I just kept tripping and going in circles. Then I realized- if they're gone… and I'm not dead… then I'm free! I started running towards the parking lot where I kept my car, when I heard a sarcastic, whiny voice.

"Wherdya thinks you is goin'?

What I was thinking: oh crap. It was him again, the guy with the gun. I turned around, expecting the stale scent of tobacco to hit my face, and then right after, a bullet, but I didn't see anything. Or smell anything. I looked around, then I saw a glint near the bottom of a tree. I went closer, then made out a the shape of the tiniest most adorable little human dude I ever saw. He was about three feet tall, and had little horns on either side of his head. I could see a little tail coming out from behind him too, moving, like a snake was sticking out of him. His face was scrunched up, like he was angry and trying to look serious, but he reminded of an angry little toddler.

"Oh my gosh."

"Lawl, I love freaking people out with my voices. I can do anyone's. Come on, test me. Johnny Depp, Abraham Lincoln, Mariah Carey…."

"You are the cutest thing ever!"

What happened next resembled that of a crazy lion attacking an antelope. If you can imagine a crazy girl running in slow motion to a little devil guy, who sees hers, and also in slow motion, screams and runs away, you sort of get the gist of what happened. Of course he didn't escape. Pfhh, no one does from me! I squeezed him, and kept squealing about how cute he was, while he cursed under his breath, and told me to let go. I eventually did. He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"You… huff… are… huff… insane."

I giggled (shut up, I giggle okay?) and danced around. Then stopped.

"Hey… Did you see any men? Or dogs? In the forest?"

I figured since he was here, he must have heard them.

"Okay, listen to me. You are now dead."

At this point, I was pretty sure I was drunk, and to test that, I decided to walk into a tree. You know, the usual pinch to see if you're dreaming test, except with a tree.

Sadly, the tree hurt. Really bad.

"You're sure you're dead now?"

I looked up and saw the little devil guy. He seemed real. I looked at my hands. They did too. Everything seemed real.

"I'm not dead! See?" I flexed my fingers to show him. "if I were, I wouldn’t be able to do that!"

The little devil guy smiled one of those weird condescending smirks.

"You see… You are dead. We just haven't gone to the underworld yet. And trust me, when we get there, you'll wish you were dead. Or.. Er… you know what I mean."

I looked at him. I probably looked quite strange. I was blinking about 10 times a second, thinking he might disappear after each one.

"Wait… so I'm 'dead'… but I can still do stuff?"

He shuffled a bit uncomfortably.

"Well, yeah, but not good stuff…"

"Sweet!"

I started celebrating, because I figured out you don't actually die, you just go to another place, isn't that awesome?!

"Okay, shut up, come on, we have to go."

I bounced up, and followed him. Who knows? This might be fun.