By observing humankind, it can be known

That people like to mark things as their own

Mostly by the rich, barely by the poor, and by the lucky heirs

With a signature on paper, anything can be claimed theirs

You may think that owning things is an action that's not cruel

But do not forget people used to own people as much as they owned a jewel

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Blue bright sky. Familiar green trees. Jules was in her backyard in Reville Oaks. She instantly noticed a little girl with pigtails staring at the forest with her back facing Jules. The girl was holding a basket full of daisies.

"Hey little one, are you lost?"

Instead of replying, the little girl began to walk into the forest.

"Wait, hold on!" Jules called out before following the child. She walked down the familiar forest path that went from her home to her favorite sequoia tree.

Jules snapped her head to the right with the sound of a twig snapping. When she looked back at the path, the little girl had disappeared.

"Little girl," Jules called out, "Where did you go?"

Jules tried looking around the trees that surrounded the path but the child was no where to be found. The sun seemed to be setting at an alarming rate.

Jules then heard the little girl's cries.

"Mommy, where are you? Mommy! I'm lost mommy, please help me!"

The cries were distant. Jules began running down the path, trying to follow the little girl's voice.

"Mommy! I'm scared. Please help me."

"Little girl, where are you? I can help you." Jules screamed, hoping the little girl could hear her. Strangely enough, the further Jules ran towards the voice, the more distant it sounded.

Jules sighed in relief when she finally found the little girl. The child was facing the sequoia tree, crying into her hands, so Jules was still unable to see her face.

"Hey, don't cry. It's okay. I can help you find your mommy," Jules whispered soothingly while slowly approaching the little girl.

The little girl instantly stopped crying and grew tense.

"What did you say?" The little girl asked slowly. The tone of her voice revealed that she was very scared.

"I can--" Jules was going to repeat herself but then a new voice interrupted.

"I can help you find your mommy." It was a little boy's voice.

Jules looked behind her and saw a little boy wearing a rain jacket with the hood up standing eerily still on the path she had come from. He had his back to her.

"Who are you? Are you her brother?"

The little boy did not answer.

Jules was frustrated and turned back to the little girl. "Why won't y'all reply to me?"

"10...9...8...it's getting late," the little girl began singing slowly and placed a daisy on the ground.

"7...6...5...his hunger is on overdrive." The child continued to sing as she placed more daisies on the floor.

"Who? Who are you talking about?" Jules was not surprised that her question was once again left unanswered. Her heart rate began to quicken.

"4...3...2...1...your time is up. He will come." The little girl then ran away.

"Wait!" Jules called out but it was too late. The little girl was already out of sight.

Jules looked at the ground. The daisies the child had placed on the floor made the symbol of a 'D'. Looking at the symbol must have triggered something in Jules because the left side of her neck began to intensely itch.

Jules turned back around at the sound of crows squawking and saw that the little boy was still there. He had not moved at all. The forest had also become dark, barren, and foggy.

A swarm of crows appeared out of nowhere and flew around the little boy. There were so many crows that Jules could no longer see the child. The crows then flew away.

Jules placed a hand on her mouth to hold back a scream. The little boy was suddenly replaced with the figure of a man.

Jules could not believe what she was seeing. She blinked and the man disappeared. Jules began to pant and look around frantically. She was now alone in the dark forest. That did not last long.

Jules suddenly felt someone come from behind her. The person had placed a hand over her mouth, using the other hand to hold her arms together.

She tried to scream and fight her way out of the strong hold but she was no match for this man. Her screams were muffled.

"Shhhhhhh," the man whispered into her ear. Jules felt goosebumps crawl up her arm.

The man finally removed his hand from her mouth and placed it around her neck. The man's hand was very cold.

Jules was too scared to scream, fearing what the man may do to her if she did. He could snap her neck right now if he wanted to.

"Good." The man's voice was very deep and his tone was so sickening it made Jules' stomach turn.

The man's cold thumb began softly and slowly rubbing up and down Jules' neck. She had to hold back a satisfied sigh as it instantly soothed her itch. No matter how hard Jules had scratch her neck, the itch remained insatiable. But every time this man's thumb glided across her irritated skin, she felt waves of blissful relief.

Jules was then brought back to reality when she felt the man place his nose into her hair and sniff.

"You smell just as innocent and pure as before. I see not much has changed. Your scent still makes me terribly hungry." The thumb on Jules' neck was replaced with lips. He began to kiss her neck softly. She gulped.

"Who are you?" She stuttered.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You have asked the wrong question. It doesn't matter who I am. Rather, it seems you have forgotten who you are. So lets try this again. Who are you?" The main pointed to her chest as an emphasis.

Jules didn't understand what the man was trying to say or what he wanted her to say. She had no answer to reply with.

"Hmmm, no worries. Since you forgot, I'll just remind you."

The man let go of her arms but kept his body pressed against her back. For some odd reason, Jules still couldn't move. It was as if she was in a trance she couldn't break out of.

The man moved one of his hands slowly up her thigh. "This." He placed another hand under her shirt and slid it up her waist. "This." He then began to caress her face softly. "All of you," Jules felt his cold lips press against her ear, "belongs to me."

Jules' heart felt as if would leap out of her chest at any moment. The words that came out of this man's mouth were blasphemous.

"So let me ask you again Jules Moore. Who are you?"

Jules was still breathless. She had to use what remained of her strength to speak.

"I belong to God and no one else. He is my creator and the one I put above all things."

The man laughed bitterly.

"I see you like to tease me. Good. I like a challenge. You'll learn soon enough that you...," the man grabbed her chin and forced her head to turn to the side, making her look straight into blood red eyes, "... are mine."

Jules woke up with a gasp. She looked around frantically. She was in her room and it was still dark outside. She let out a sigh. It had all been a dream.

She then noticed her hand was wet. She went to the restroom to see what it was. It was blood. Jules had scratched her neck so roughly in her sleep that it bled.

After cleaning and patching up her neck, she checked the time and saw it was 3:20 AM. That was not a good sign. 3:00 AM was the devil's hour. Waking up at that time--especially from a nightmare--meant that demons were trying to turn you away from God.

Jules got her rosary and bible. She prayed until she fell back asleep.