Today I woke up with a terrible feeling of dread, as well as this inescapable urge to search up “Vampires In Venice” on google to see if, well, there were vampires in Venice. The only results I found were some Doctor Who episodes, which didn’t help clear my doubts. I shall try and explain my dream as clearly as I can, with as much as I can remember.
I typically don’t remember my dreams, but this one, I can’t help but feel, that I’ve dreamt of before.
I recall being in Venice, perhaps for a vacation of sorts, which is odd because I’ve never traveled there before, or anywhere near Italy. I’ve only traveled to 1-2 places within Asia.
As the sky darkened, our tour guide suddenly began rowing towards the motel we [my family and I] were staying in. My parents began protesting, because the tour package they paid for had night activities as well, and they wanted to get their moneys worth.
The tour guide looked grim. He was a tan man, weathered, and he had been nothing but lovely and kind throughout the tour. He looked at my parents straight in the eye, and said to them with a tone that made me feel like a child again.
“If you want to live past the night, go back, shut up and sleep.”
At this point we reached the pavement [??], and he walked ahead of us, towards the little motel we were staying in temporarily. I dislike conflict, and I could tell my parents were ready to argue, or go off on their own, but something told me to listen to the tour guide.
I like to think of myself as a rather intuitive person, which has saved me a couple of times. I managed convince my parents to go back, citing some stupid excuses such as the city was dangerous at night because my parents may fall into the canals or whatever. I wasn’t sure how, but I managed to convince them to go back.
In the motel, I remember the owner locking the doors, and binding them with these huge iron chains. The tour guide had gone off to his room, and the last thing I remembered before falling asleep [in my own dream which felt really weird btw], was this odd sense that someone was watching us.
I was awoken in the middle of the night [in the dream] by my cousin’s movements. As I turned towards her to tell her to shut up and stop moving, I saw her hugging herself, trembling ever so slightly, trying to make sure her neck was covered.
There was something on her, human shaped, but off. I can’t quite describe it, but I suppose it looked like Gollum, from Lord Of The Rings, except smaller, with black beady eyes, and horrible, horrible fangs.
Instinctively, I pretended to be asleep once more, raising my shoulders and making a double chin in hopes to protect my neck. I can’t tell you why I did that, because I do not know why myself. Perhaps it was the teeth, which could explain why I kept thinking about the phrase “Vampires In Venice”.
But it knew. It knew I had woken up, and it knew I had seen it.
You know how when you close your eyes, you can visualise the room, and all the items in it? You know where it is, even if it is not physically seen. That’s how i “saw” the creature. My eyes were open, but I could not see.
My body was frozen. Perhaps it was sleep paralysis. I could not move, not even when I tried. But I knew I had to, for the creature was now hunting me. I tried praying, wiggling my fingers, telling myself that I was dreaming within a dream. I knew it wasn’t real, it couldn’t be, but the fear felt so real, and I knew the creature was there, waiting.
It’s odd to not be able to control your body. There’s a sickening sense of helplessness that comes with the territory. The moment I managed to wiggle my fingers, the creature pounced, and I woke up, still in the motel room, screaming.
I was alone in the dark room, awake and safe. My cousin was gone, but of course she wasn’t here. She never followed us on the trip to Venice. It must have been a nightmare, a bad dream.
As I left the the bed, to go wash my face, something lunged at me, this time real and tangible. It, no, she was small, gollum-like, but dead. Her body was rotting, bony and scarred, and the creature was barely clothed in what looked like remains of a pink dress. Her hair was sparse, and she was so small. Like a child.
I don’t know how, but I managed to hold her back till morning, pushing and kicking as she snarled at me, vicious. When morning came, the sunlight filtering in the blinds, the creature vanished. It was as though last night had not happened at all, but I knew it had, because I had scratches on my arm that were never there before.
When i went downstairs for breakfast, I saw my family chattering and eating. I felt relieved, but also confused. Some of them weren’t here before, and the room seemed to be moving, like a carriage on a train. I causally took a plate of food, and asked my family, “Did you all see something ‘dirty’ last night?”
The whole room quietened down, and my uncle stared at me before laughing. He pointed to the plate of food I was holding, and ushered me to take some fish, nuggets and chicken.
“Just go to the kitchen, and find the old lady, and tell her that her granddaughter helped you last night. Make sure to compliment her granddaughter lots, and offer the plate of food to the granddaughter as a thanks.”
I’m not sure why, but I did as he said. I went to the kitchen, and couldn’t help but feel that I was now on a train based on the surroundings, a rather old and fancy one. The old lady looked like my grandmother, but somehow, I knew she wasn’t. She seemed kind though.
I did as my uncle said. I complimented her granddaughter lots, telling her how her grandchild helped me last night when I was feeling afraid, and told her I wanted to offer her a plat of food as thanks. The old lady beamed, and she called her grandchild in.
A young child, no more than 6, came running in, wearing a pink dress and holding a brown teddy bear. She was adorable, but instinctively, I knew she was the creature from last night. I steeled my nerves, and offered the best smile I could, offering her the plate full of meat I was holding as a thanks. She stared at me, and it seemed like eternity before she gave a satisfied nod, took the food, and ran out.
I knew then, that I was safe. At least for now.
The old lady turned to me, and told me I should bring some food to the carriages upstairs. She said it would appease them. Somehow, I think she knew.
As I listened to her advice, and walked to the other carriages, I stopped at the stairs. I didn’t know old trains and carriages had an upstairs. But I felt this ominous sense of foreboding.
I felt as though if I went upstairs, I would never come back down.
Before I could do anything. I woke up, this time in real life, in my bedroom. It was raining today, and the sun was out, and I felt relieved that it was all just a dream, albeit a familiar one.
But to my horror, I awoke with odd scratches on my arm, caused by the creature in pink. It wasn’t there before.
As I sat in bed, the urge to search the phrase “Vampires In Venice” came, and simply wouldn’t go away.
I did try searching it up, but nothing seems like it would fit the incredibly vivid dream I had. So I decided to post here in hopes that someone will give advice, any advice.
I think this is the second time I’ve dreamt it, because there’s no other reason why it feels as though it’s happened before. If anyone knows of these creatures, of why the dream felt so vivid despite me knowing nothing about Venice, of why such scratches appeared, please, help me.