Carrie found herself lying outside. She didn't know how she got there. The last thing she remembered was taking a nap in her house.
When she went inside, her house, which was a middle-class normal house, didn't look like her house at all. It looked like a palace. The walls were painted a stunning shade of red. Intriguing tapestries hung on the walls, and there were gold chandeliers inside. Embroidered curtains hung everywhere, and there was a strong scent of moonflowers, which was unusual because it was broad daylight — or at least it looked like it was. The scent was everywhere, but she ignored it because it smelled so sweet.
She checked every room, every corner she felt familiar with, and literally everything had changed. It terrified her but she had always dreamt of this. She always wanted to live in a palace-like place that looked normal outside and was gorgeous inside. She thought this was a dream and that she might as well enjoy it to the fullest because it didn't look like a nightmare, so she tried to calm herself down.
She went to the room that was supposed to be her bedroom. It was exactly how she wanted it. The mattress was high and super soft. The bed was near a window with vines growing outside. The pillow covers were made of silk. She was too stunned — it all felt so wrong yet so right at the same time. She touched the mattress lightly and was surprised at how soft it was She slowly climbed up the bed, which even had a small, beautifully carved staircase near it. As she lay on the bed, she sank into without a second thought and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. She had the most peaceful, blissful sleep of her entire life.
Then she started seeing something in her sleep. It was the exact same room, but she was standing in it this time. She could hear a voice. The voice said, "This is my territory. Staying has a cost. You can't leave until you pay a price."
It was a woman's voice, low, not quite human. She couldn't see anyone. Scared, she asked, "Where am I? Who are you?" The voice only said, "You'll find out."
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her right eye. She touched it and it was bleeding. She couldn't open her eye. Then it was morning. She woke up hoping it would have been a dream, only to discover that the pain she felt was real and it was still there. As she touched her eye, it felt like something big was there.
She thought to herself, _What could this be? Don't tell me it was not a dream?_ And she suddenly realised she was still in that place. She became severely anxious. As she touched her right eye, she couldn't open it. She tried to open her eye again and again, even though it gave her excruciating pain. Then she stopped because it hurt too much, and although it was no longer bleeding, it felt like a plant — or rather, a flower.
She searched around the room for a mirror with her blood stained hands. She desperately wanted to know what was in her eye. Finally, she found a mirror inside a drawer in that room, and as she looked into it, she was horrified.
Out of her eye, a closed bud of a moonflower was growing.
