Paranoia

Believe

"I don't know what she wants", said Mariah. Mariah was in therapy with her counselor. "She'd appear in all of them though." Mariah was talking about the woman of her dreams, but not a love interest. Since Mariah was a young girl she had been very imaginative. "Mommy, Don't you see her?" Mariah had been talking about her Imaginary friend, Ana. "She looks beautiful today", her mother would say playing along. Mariah had other friends, but Ana was the only one who truly understood her. She would take Ana everywhere she went. As she got older however, Ana slowly faded away, and made way for a whole new set of real friends. This all changed with one night, however. Mariah had dozed off into her sleep, and had a warm dream about her future, but a figure would always be standing in the background. Mariah walked up to the figure, and when it turned around, it was a disfigured version of Ana. On eye was on her forehead while the other was on her cheek. Her skin was pale blue and decaying.
"You got rid of me, I'll make you believe!" She then lifted Mariah of the ground, but right before Ana could strike Mariah awoke in a sweat soaked bed, and started crying as if she was four. She couldn't help but to, seeing something beloved turned so utterly disturbing. She forgot about it but when she went to sleep the next sleep, she dreamt again. She was on about sailing, fog surrounding her. "Hello?" She looked around trying to see if she could find something to explain to her where she was. A dark figure stood in the corner of the ship. Mariah quickly moved backwards and turned around to run. "I'll make you Believe!" Ana grabbed Mariah, but before she could harm her, Mariah again awoke in her sweaty bed, the same tears hitting her face. She kept having these dreams, Ana becoming more and more prevalent in Mariah's life. "We're going to the hospital", her mother screamed dragging her out of the house. "No, Anas out here!" Mariah sat in the back of the car crying the whole time, her mother scared for her daughter. Once they arrived Mariah was put in restraints, then taken in. She stayed in the hospital for 5 months, recovering from her childhood trauma. Once out she was perfectly like her old self. Ana had finally disappeared, just like all imaginary friends eventually do. Mariah graduated high school with a 3.5 gpa, and got into a great college. This night she was going to sleep early because she was going to dinner with her parents, so she wanted all the beauty sleep she could get. As she fell into slumber, she was transported to the jungle. "Just like where I want to travel," She thought. She walked through as all the animals moved around her gracefully. Something caught Mariah's eye though. In the distance she seen a figure, and almost lost breath, she closed her eyes, hoping to wake up. She opened them to Anas gnarled face , this waking her up to the same way she always awoke from this dream. "Well I think you should take these." Her doctor prescribed Mariah with some meds, and sent her on her way. Mariah then hit the road to her parents house. She went back and forth on if she should tell her mother about what happened, knowing her mother could flip. She sat in her car quitely. She sat in her car waiting for the light to turn green. "Aye, there something wrong with your car", a driver in the back of her said. "Follow me". Mariah followed them off the road, and the light flashed green. A grey Mercedes flew by as the side light flashed, letting all the cars come from the side go threw. A. Gmc flew by, right into the Mercedes. The driver flew out of the passengers window, hitting there head against a rock. "Wow, That would've been me. You just saved my life!" Mariah was in all while thanking her savior. She looked up to see a name tag . Her eyes melted as she read the name Ana. "Do you believe Now!" Mariah looked up to see the disfigured face that had been haunting her. Her gnarled hand wrapped upon Mariah's neck, lifting her into the air.