In the Nightmare Void, even dawn was as black as midnight and that's where Phenomena Willow was…all alone. The young witch found herself standing on a fragment of a stone statue, floating in the center of the abyss. The enormous head she stood on was carved into a woman's face frozen in permanent anguish. Wind whipped around her as she gazed into the endless sky where clouds formed demonic faces with orange flames for eyes. 

But she didn't have time to gape; she heard cackling behind her followed by a loud explosion. 

Mena turned around. 

Her eyes met Bubble, Toila and Karen–three wicked green witches who served under her malevolent mother. The wide faced Bubbel held a small green pumpkin, with a short sizzling fuse. She chucked it at Mena's foot, causing her to cry and leap up. 

"What's wrong, dearie?" Bubble cackled. "I thought you liked a little pumpkin spice in your latte."

Mena couldn't even respond. She was met with a barrage of pumpkin bombs. Her heart raced as she ran along the slowly turning stone head. She ran faster than she ever did before to escape her pursuers, but something stopped her dead in her tracks. 

Dark Mena, her wicked half, blocked her with a wicked dagger grin. Her eyes glowed blood red. "You can't hide what's inside!" Dark Mena giggled. 

Mena turned to the edge of head. There was nowhere to run, even less places to hide. 

She looked down at her feet. 

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The Dream Heels–the only thing that could negate the nightmares–was nowhere to be seen. 

She was trapped. Completely. 

With no one to come to her aid…Mena only had one thing left to do–jump. 

But soon, even that chance was cruelly snatched away. 

Rising from the dark abyss was a gargantuan version of ber mother. Her skin was a sickening frozen pink, her eyes were black and hollow–stained permanently with tears glistening on her sallow cheeks. Anguish's triumphant voice boomed through the Nightmare Void. 

"Your dream is over, honey," and Anguish raised her enormous tree-like fingers to her daughter. "And this is your end."

Chanting a dark spell of the damned, Anguish consumed her daughter in a burst of white light. 

***

Waking to another dark morning in the Dream Castle, Mena leapt up with a start, causing her friends to ask her, "again?!"

"Miserable Magicaps," Mena moaned, tossing her head backwards and letting her long hair spill out like a pumpkin spice latte. "Even the billionth time, it's still scary. I'd even prefer a dream about being in my underwear in Professor Caligari's class, and considering I already embarrass myself with my clothes, that's really saying something."

Janis Harvestar, Mena's reaper skelebone friend, curled her shriveled lips into a frown. "My mother always said that reoccurring dreams about the same death are not a good thing…"

Mena cringed. Janus continued to smile nervously. "But fortunately, it could be just death anxiety and you should not appraise it yourself unless you are a seer."

"Nope," Mena said, shaking her head frantically. "Nope nope nope! I'm not a seer. I can't even predict if there will be a handsome wizard man in my future. Oh how I wish I could go back to those kinds of dreams!"

Mena's other best friend, Trudy Cumberson, who sat pretzel-style on her bed, (her legs had healed since last semester) spoke with a slightly brighter point of view. "But Mena, it's your destiny to face Anguish, perhaps that's what your dreams are telling you!"

Mena threw herself back into bed and pulled the covers up over her eyes. "Destinies suck."

"Well," Janus sang. "Right now your destiny is breakfast and a special announcement for our next semester. One destiny at a time!"