And when the door opened, Jasmine saw him clearly for the first time. The bogeyman. And he was more terrifying than Jasmine ever could have imagined.
He had the shape of a person, but was scaly as a snake and red as blood. Even in the dark, the red scales practically glowed.
And he was wearing the mask. Even if Jasmine wanted to wear it for protection, it was his now. There was nowhere left for Jasmine to hide.
He just stood there. Jasmine could see his bright yellow eyes through the holes in the mask. They shone like flashlights. They were round and bulging, like the bug’s from the night before.
Jasmine fell backward off the ladder and landed on the hard wet grass with a thud, but then she got right up to run away.
But the bogeyman jumped down the ladder in one swift move before Jasmine could get anywhere. He crouched low to the ground.
And then Jasmine felt it. A cold wet grip around her left ankle. A slimy grip, like something between a hand and a claw. And then the bogeyman began to pull, hard.
Jasmine dropped her weight and planted her feet in the mud as if she could hold on to it and keep from being dragged away. But the bogeyman was trying to make her fall down. No matter how hard she tried, Jasmine couldn’t keep her footing. She lost her balance and fell back into the mud. And the bogeyman’s grip around her ankle got even tighter.
Now they were both down in the mud. Jasmine wasn’t even thinking. Every ounce of her was just trying to protect herself and get away. She scratched and clawed at the bogeyman’s face, and as she did so, the mask came off and fell facedown into the mud.
Now Jasmine could see the bogeyman’s face. Even in the dark, it was scarier than her worst nightmares.
And the last sensation Jasmine felt was the cold burn of the wet grass on her legs as she was dragged away, through her backyard, through her front yard, down the sidewalk, and far, far away from her home. And the last thing Jasmine heard was her own chanting: “It’s just a dream, just a dream, just a dream. You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”