I have had the same, or nearly the same, dream for years. Occurances wouldn't be close together, but only on rare occasions.

When I was younger, (I'm a senior in high school now) I would dream I was in my elementary school at night. I would be in the parking lot just looking at it and someone would be telling me, or I would be reflecting on having been told, that every night some foul machine patrolled the halls like a security guard almost. Only, if it found a student, well, something horrible would happen to the student. Perhaps the thing would kill the kid, maybe not. I was always hazy on that point, but I got the feeling they would just drop off the face of the Earth. Anyway, I went in and inevitably the machine--something like a large, stacked-cube Lego-like robot on wheels/treads would find and silently pursue me. It was never fast, but it was scarier slow. It gave a Terminator-ish impression, you know? It would always be on your tail and nothing could stop it. It wasn't so close behind you that if you stopped it would roll over you, but definitely close enough to be a looming threat. The power and Energizer Bunny-like indestructibleness and perseverance of it was scariest. Every time I had that dream, I would hide in the same classroom. It would corner me, but was so slow and plodding, I always managed to escape. It was mandatory that I escape. I was too afraid of it to allow capture.

Now, if you'll permit me, I will describe the recent evolution of this dream into a modern nightmare. It is difficult for me to remember which exact variation occurred first, but it doesn't really matter, as you'll see.

For whatever reason, I was at my school (high school), but it was different than I had ever seen it. Tim Burton could have designed the environments I now found myself in. The place was more or less derelict-- rusted over and condemned-looking. It didn't even look like my school anymore. The campus was huge and nightmarish. Outside catwalks between buildings (which do exist) now were many stories high and connected by twisting and turning rusted staircases, reminiscent of ancient fire-escapes. These stairs were so confusing that they could make you have a panic attack at the best of times. Some seemed to lead to nowhere, while others were closed in and dark. You could always see outside, as the stairs were sort of caged or barred or whatever. Anyway, that just goes along with how labyrinth-like the actual interiors of the buildings were. I remember going in the main one and being totally dumbstruck by its maze-like passages and rooms that never were, along with changing floor plans. It was huge, absolutely huge. I would have been too scared to explore the place, as it had a dark, dank, foreboding feel to it, but again I was being chased. This time, and all times since, I never see the face of my pursuer. Truth be told, I never actually see any part of my pursuer, yet I usually think of it as a shadowy, human figure. I only know that my fear of it is the overriding factor and that I must get away from it, whatever it is. These dreams are not of the simple, colorful, straightforward pattern of the old childish ones, but they do convey the same feeling of being chased, even hunted, by a mysterious entity of unknown origin or ability. Always, in the dreams, I run deeper and deeper into the building, obviously through a blueprint straight out of the Twilight Zone or something. It's absurd. "Maze" doesn't even come close. I swear, I run past the same rooms several times, eventually ending up in places I've never seen before, or some that I have but can't seem to escape. The thing drives me deeper into this insanity until my fear of being lost forever overcomes my fear of being captured, and I somehow stick my courage and find my way out. Only, I never actually leave the building. Once the exit is in view, an unbelievable sense of relief comes over me so that I tend to turn around and go back for no reason. The most prevalent emotion throughout the dream is deepest dread bordering on panic. Another variation of that dream is when I am, instead, inside the church my mother works at. In one of the first dreams, which had less to do with being chased than they do now, I ran from the school to the church, which was right behind it for some reason. Other than location, everything else is essentially the same. Even the interiors of these two places remain consistent over time, and vivid in my memory. They are dark and shady, with dark colors or at least dull lighting. The school tends to be white and morbidly institutional, though dirty, turning battleship grey and submarine-like in its deepest recesses. The church is more on a Gothic note, though with many reds and blacks and much stone. I think that the church I am in is actually based on at least 2 churches that I've been in many times. One room is extremely large with many seats in it. But at some point I escape tight confines of another area and end up entering the very tall and long room toward the top of it, like there are bars, rafters, whatever, on which to travel (It's been a while now, so it's hazy). I seem to get lost a lot and run down the same places over and over again. There are times when I almost feel like I'm running around for no reason, but I don't want to stop cause the thing might take advantage? In each version, the further I go, the tighter the halls, rooms, etc. seem to become. It's like crawling through a literal metal jungle. Both present near out-of-body experiences even dreaming. There is the rare first person viewpoint, but usually I'm watching it happen, and yet I'm clearly feeling being the one running. Sometimes, the scene before me pans out to let me get a better view of my surroundings-- like a video game or something.

I'm so sorry that this is so incredibly long, but it's just that the dreams are so detailed in my mind and I remember all of it. I have my own ideas of what these could mean, but what do you guys think? Thank you for your time! XD

Welcome to the forum!

Great imagery. The sense I get is that you are in a transition in your life. The part where you feel relieved to be out, you want to go back in tells me you long to be free from the current institutions (school and church), but also fear some aspects of growing up. The twists and turns in the halls could represent the different choices you are facing---college, career, jobs, living location, etc.

It helps that I know the floor plan of both schools

Like the person before me, I like the imagery alot.