“Give them pleasure, the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”

Last night I had my first nightmare in a long time. The last time I remember having one was when I was around 7 years old. I didn't think I'd ever have one again, but this one kept me from sleeping once I woke up in a panic.

In this nightmare, I remember walking through a street filled with tourists somewhere in Europe with a very close friend of mine. There were these overly happy people, one whom I remember was a beautiful woman with blonde hair (others in funny costumes, dressed up as super heroes, or mythical creatures), who excitingly dragged us into their shop to give us a tour of what they had to offer us, in terms of entertainment. My friend and I went in, and found many other tourists enjoying themselves in a pool with a waterfall. In this shop, there were many rooms of "fun-filled" things to do. As we passed through each one, the rooms seemed to get more and more unpleasant. My friend and I decided that we had had enough when we reached a room where seemingly brainwashed tourists with blank faces were beating us with objects in what looked like a daycare room for children. We ran out of this shop with the blonde woman chasing us, threatening us if we leave, to which my friend jokingly responded with "We'll kill you!" We were relieved once we exited and continued to walk down the crowded street, but I had an eerie feeling that something wasn't right. We entered a video store, was browsing, until we noticed a man in a hat kept staring at us and following us around. A second man in a mask soon did the same thing, even eventually getting too close for comfort, pretending to look at the movies we were holding. We later noticed that everyone in the video store, even its employees were watching us in the same manner the other two men were. Putting the pieces together, I slowly understood that everyone there was from the previous shop and wanted to take us back. This was something I solely realized on my own and didn't have time to tell my friend because at the point of realization, my body was quickly filled with terror and paranoia. I felt I had no where to run - I was trapped. Then suddenly, people in the store didn't seem to stare so hard anymore. I ran to a lady in the store, panicked, and asked her for help, saying people were after us. She gave me a look of confusion as if I were crazy; onlookers began to give me the same expression. This one look was enough to sink me even deeper into terror as I began to contemplate on if I had become mentally ill. My mind was racing fast; and all the thoughts going through my head, I hysterically expressed into words to my friend with a mix of agitation and confusion. She looked at me with bewilderment and concern, and that's when I woke up. I tried going back to sleep, only to find myself in the same nightmare, being dragged back through the street to that first shop. Then I woke up again, refusing to go back to sleep.

I don't know why I'm sharing this. I think it's just something I, oddly enough, want to remember in the future, before it withers away in my mind. It was one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had. Maybe it just means becoming mentally ill is one of my biggest fears. Or that I'm really scared of cults lol.