I had the worst dream last night. It started out that I was at a party somewhere in some basement, at my college, but at a place that definitely doesn't actually exist. It was a huge labyrinth and very dingy and dimly lit. At the beginning, the party was fun. People were playing Beirut and there was music. I think it might have been a costume party because I think I was wearing a bumblebee or some other bug costume. Erick was there looking for me. I couldn't find him, but everyone else I saw told me he was looking for me. I saw notes written by him looking for me, notes like, "Bea, meet me upstairs." Anyway, the dream turned into a nightmare very quickly. All of a sudden we were running away from the building. It was daylight outside. People were screaming and running in every direction to avoid these gigantic machine monsters that were shooting people down like in District 9. Nora and I were trying to hide underneath a white plastic tarp. I was breathing so quickly and was so scared. I heard the machine's voice saying, "I can see your blue shoe underneath that white tarp. Come out now." I wondered if just maybe Nora was wearing blue shoes too, but she wasn't, and I knew the monster was calling for me. I waited until I thought maybe he had gone and then ran out to find my next hiding spot. I hid behind a wooden shed, but the second I peered around to see where the monster was, it shot me in the arm. It was really painful! I thought for sure I was going to die. All of a sudden I was lying on a gurney and being rushed back into the basement, which was no longer the site of a party, but a makeshift hospital. I couldn't move or speak, but I could hear the "doctors" around me saying I had almost no time to live, and discussing how they should take my organs now while they were still fresh. I was horrified and tried to speak to tell them that I was going to be fine, but they started draining blood and taking my organs. I don't remember the gory details, but I woke up in the same position (in my dream) after they had supposedly taken all my body parts. When I came to, however, I felt fine, as if nothing had happened. Even my costume was still intact. I was so happy I leapt off the gurney and raced around following the notes Erick had left me until I ran straight into him. I was so happy, but he looked terrified. He said we had to get out of here immediately. He brought me to some beautiful library with dark paneled walls, gorgeous built in shelves, and thousands and thousands of books. There were beautiful leather chairs, brass desk lamps, and huge skylights for the roof. It was dark and snowy outside, but cozy and warm inside. My whole family was there watching some National Geographic program about Siberian tigers. I started chatting online with Erick and some other friends. What was weird was that Erick was able to talk to me, but it was as if my other friends were ignoring me. I told Erick this and he said, "It's because you're dead." I distinctly remember my heart dropping as I realized this. He said that the only reason I could see him too was because the same thing had happened to him after he had been shot, and since we were both dead, we were on "the other side" and could talk to each other, but people who were still alive couldn't hear us. I guess I thought my family had been too absorbed in the TV to say anything to me when I got home, so I tried to see if they would acknowledge me now. I tried talking to my mother and brother separately, and then yelling at the top of my lungs "I AM GOING TO KILL MYSELF" to see if that would get their attention. But Erick seemed to be right; they just couldn't hear me. I started crying and ran upstairs, which was my room, even though we don't have a library like that in our house. I found my hairbrush, which I also knew to be some kind of sniper rifle, and ran into my room to shoot myself. If I died again, it means I was actually alive, but if nothing happened, then I must be dead. It was the most horrifying feeling and I kept trying to wake myself up. I literally said to myself "Bea, wake up! Wake up! This can't be real!" I looked into my full-length mirror and shot myself in the temple twice. I heard the gunshot and felt the excruciating pain, but got up right after I had shot myself. I started sobbing, since I was really dead. I ran back to the basement where all that stuff had happened, hoping to find someone who could bring me back to life. I was crying and screaming and trying to find anyone who would listen to me for just a minute. I hadn't said goodbye to anyone, and all I needed was a few days on "the other side" so I could talk to the living. It was so horrible, and every time I tried to wake myself up, I couldn't, so I just decided that I must have not been dreaming. And then I woke up, thank GOD!