I had a dream where I was staying at the mansion of some acquaintance. I was up to some kind of Jules Verne-esque science thing, and he was some rich enthusiast who was sponsoring me. Aside from the rest of the family which I had met, I was aware that there was a daughter in the house who was sick or something, but she wouldn’t be out and about. I was busied with research and planning for a while, and I’d completely forgotten about her. She was mentioned only briefly and never came up again.
One night, I entered a study in some kind of rush, looking for charts. I could see them on the desk from the hall light, so I didn’t bother turning on the light to grab them. While I was standing at the desk, I heard a faint sound of movement, and something knocked some books I’d been using to the floor. I stepped partly around the desk, further into the shadows, intending to retrieve them. As I was beginning to bend down, I felt something small hit the back of my left leg pretty hard, and stay there. I was too surprised to stop myself mid-kneel, and as I went down, I felt it unwrap itself from my leg and move back. As I landed, I turned around, and from under my field of vision, the family’s daughter I’d forgotten about popped up with her arms open, and grabbed for my shoulders. I couldn’t see her face, because she was backlit by the hallway light pouring in from the half-open door, and her hair was also cascading over her face. She was wearing a really fancy dress, to the point where she almost looked like she was wearing doll clothes. The one feature I could see clearly was her hands, as they crossed through the light. They were three-fingered, and ended in claws. Kind of like in It’s Alive, but her claws weren’t as gnarly.
I woke up with a jolt as she was wrapping her arms around my neck. It’s been a while since I’ve been spooked like that.