Monster Under the Bed

I got into Billy's room to find him already in bed and staring at the doorway, waiting for me. He let out a visible sigh of relief as I approached the bed.

"What's the matter, champ? Was the movie too scary?" I asked. Billy just shook his head silently, still staring at me. "Okay, well then sleep tight. And just in case, I'll leave the door cracked open a little. I'm right down the hall if you need me."

As I pulled his blankets up to tuck him in, his little hand grabbed my wrist. Though it was barely able to circle my wrist, it still felt almost vice-like. "Dad," he whispered, "there's a monster under my bed."

Billy and his imagination, I thought as I chuckled to myself. Maybe the movie was too scary for him after all. "Alright, I'll check it out. Just lie down and go to sleep. You've got school tomorrow." Billy reluctantly let go of my arm and grabbed the blanket, pulling it up to his chin. He rolled onto his side, keeping both eyes on me as I ducked my head down under his bed.

My eyes widened in surprise and I suppressed a gasp so not to startle Billy. Either of them. Under the bed, eyes staring back at me just inches from my face. Billy stared back at me, breathing so heavily I could smell the fruity toothpaste he used to brush his teeth.

"Dad," he whispered, "there's a monster in my bed."

My heart raced, the sins of my past coming back to haunt me. I knew that eventually they would find me, though part of me wanted to believe it would never happen. I got out of that life a long time ago. I stared silently at Billy's face for a couple of seconds though it could've been an eternity to the terrified child. Finally, I managed to calm myself and put on my best dad-is-here-to-protect-you face. "Stay here, I'll be right back," I whispered softly enough that the Billy in tucked under his blanket couldn't hear me. I put my finger to my lips, signaling him to stay quiet. He nodded, putting his own finger to his lips, too.

Slowly, I stood up, my eyes meeting the fearful gaze of my son lying in bed. I raised both my hands, palms facing him, trusting him to trust me and to wait exactly where he was. I lowered one hand and brought the other to my mouth, one finger on my lips. He nodded, bringing one finger to his lips, too.

I backed away slowly out the door as not to startle either of them. I took two steps away from the doorway, then placed a hand on the wall to steady myself as panic filled my chest. There was a monster in my house! In my son's room! I staggered and I struggled to keep myself on my feet. I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself and get oxygen back into my brain. I ran down the rest of the hallway to my room. Flinging open the closet door, I started tossing clothes and hangers onto my bedroom floor. I grabbed boxes and cases, tossing those out of the way, too.

Finally I found it: a sturdy, black, nondescript case. I put in the four digit code I hadn't used for over a decade and the cover popped open. Inside were wooden stakes, a hunting knife, several vials of various liquids, and other concealable monster hunting tools. Obviously my bigger weapons were tucked away in a storage locker several miles down the road, except for one or two I kept hidden in the basement. I took a vial on a chain and put it around my neck. I took a silver-edged knife and tucked it behind my back. Then I closed the case. If this monster was anything more dangerous than what I thought it was, I wouldn't had made it out of that room.

I leaned against the closet door and took several deep breaths, steadying my hands. I looked at the mess I'd made: clothes strewn all over the floor, boxes with loose lids spilling their contents. Nervousness almost drove me to break out laughing. It had just been so long since I'd seen any sort of mess in the house. Probably not since Taylor died. Even though I tended to work overtime almost everyday at the factory and Billy was obviously too young to even operate a vacuum, the house was always immaculate and spotless. People would say that it was like magic. I guess maybe it was, I really wouldn't know how it got done.

Relaxed, I walked out of my room and back into Billy's room. I stepped through the doorway, motioning the Billy in bed to stay quiet. I got on one knee next to the bed and smiled at my son. Whispering, I said, "I want you to rollover and pull the blankets over your head. Don't pull them off until I tell you to. Okay?"

Billy looked back at me, tears starting to form in his eyes. But, he nodded, then slowly rolled himself over to face the other way. I helped him pull his sheets over his head. Reassuringly, I placed one palm on his head.

I ducked under the bed to see Billy still staring back at me. "Okay, champ, I'm going to take care of the monster, but I need you to get out from under there and go into the hallway where it's safe." I extended a hand and smiled. Billy nodded and reached out to me. Quickly, I pulled him out and lifted him to his feet. As he turned toward the door, I grabbed the vial of holy water from my necklace and yanked it off the chain, sending the water in a narrow arc. The spots where the water splashed on Billy's back started to smoke as my son cried out in pain, a sound though no human could make. I pulled the silver knife from behind my back and shoved it through the creature's back where a young child's heart would be. The creature fell backwards into my arms, convulsed once, twice, then stopped. Slowly Billy's features melted away and revealing the changeling beneath: three feet tall with gray skin and a pig's snout and tusks.

I lowered the creature to the floor, blood still spilling from the wound. I tried to wipe off as much blood from my hands onto my pants. I stood and leaned over the bed. As I lifted the blanket, Billy slowly sat up and turned to face me. "Did you get it?" he asked hesitantly as he tried to peer around me and over the side to the bed.

"Yeah, the changeling is gone," I said, taking a seat on the bed and blocking his view. I pulled him close. "Don't worry, dad will protect you." I felt him wrap his small arms around me. We stayed like that for a moment. As he pulled away, I held his shoulder a moment longer. "I just need to ask, why didn't you hide in the closet like we practiced?" The boy stared up at me, confused. Then, his eyes widened with understanding. I felt him starting to transform as I brought the knife in my other hand up and drove it into his chest.

Before the body could fully transform to it's original shape, I ran from the bed and flung open the closet door. "Billy, are you alright?" Peering into the darkness, I saw my son sitting in the back of his closet. Then I jumped back as the yellow eyes of the giant serpent appeared in front of my face. The rest of its great body formed a circle around Billy, a one foot gap between it and my son. Toward its middle, I could make out a giant bulge that would twitch ever so slightly. "Dammit Nagaragaca! Get the hell out of my face!"

The snake slithered past me and out into the bedroom where it transformed into a seven foot tall middle-aged man, slender except for the distended belly which he jiggled with his hands. "Look master, I got a third one," he said with a smile.

I just shook my head and turned back to Billy. I extended my hand, then, seeing him flinch, I tried to wipe as much of the blood onto my pants as possible. I reached out again. "Come out, everything is okay now. You were so brave and you did it exactly how we practiced."

Billy slowly stood and reached out to me. I pulled him out of the closet and held him tight, debating on if I would ever let him go ever again. Holding Billy with one arm, I turned to Nagaragaca who was still playing with his belly. "Thank you for protecting my son. Your blood oath is fulfilled. You're free to go." I released Billy just long enough to place my free hand upon his chest.

The other man just shrugged. "So, no more housework. I think I'll grab a beer," was all he said as he headed out the door and probably down to the kitchen.

Finally, I felt Billy's arms let go. I saw him look at the two dead changelings. After a long moment, he said, "Dad, what's going on?"

"I'm really sorry son, but this is all because of a job daddy used to do until he met your mother and well before you were born. I tried to run and hide from it my past, but it looks like they've found me." I looked at my son in the eyes, seeing my wife's strength in them, and silently apologized to her for what I would have to say next. "It seems though that your training is going to have to start much sooner than I expected."




Inspired by Reddit Writing Prompts: in short, "You're child tells you there's a monster under the bed. When you look under the bed, your child is hiding under there and tell you there's a monster in the bed." I actually wrote this one before I did the zombie story, but I meant to go back and expand it and change the ending, but now I figure I'm never going to do that. Just to get it out of the way though, I meant for the changelings to be minor creatures that distracted the retired hunter. After killing the second one, some sort of stronger monster would appear, a vampire or a warlock or something along those lines. Something about the main character having killed it's family and it was there for revenge. When it's revealed that the main character killed the creature's family for enslaving and killing the house elves in the region, the closet door opens to reveal a pocket dimension/house that the house elves he rescued live in (like the tent in the 4th Harry Potter book). Then the house elves restrain/kill the intruder (I didn't decide which). I'm hoping to have one more Halloween story done by tomorrow, but writing is hard.