Night Terrors

Zackary

The ticking of the clock was the only thing that could be heard throughout the house. That and what sounded like claws scraping against the hardwood floor as something walked back and forth downstairs. Zackary, a young seven year old boy standing on the top of the stairs, listened to this creature go from the kitchen to the living room over and over again. He wanted to be a brave big boy and investigate what had woken him up. His mother always told him that the best way to get over your fears is to face them. So when he heard a crash downstairs he wanted to see what had happened.

He clenched the bottom hem of his pajama shirt as his heart rate began to climb. He gripped the railing and began to walk down, his socks muffling his steps. His little body started to shake in fear as he made his way down, it growing worse as he neared the bottom. Once he made it to the first floor he could hear running water coming from the only room of the house with a light on. The kitchen. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and took a deep shaky breath as he slowly walked to the kitchen. He saw that the water was coming from the sink but he didn't see anything or anyone down there. Taking another deep breath he began to relax.

"Mommy? Daddy?" he called out thinking one of his parents was up. He walked to the sink stepping up onto his step stool that they kept for him so he could wash his hands in the sink, and reached over and turned it off. As he stepped down he noticed red footprints going from the sink to the living room. He then noticed a small smeared puddle of something red that had another set of footprints but much much smaller than the others. He looked down at his own and noticed that he had stepped in that puddle and had made the marks himself. Reaching down he wiped some off of his socks, noticing how sticky it was, and brought it up to his mouth to taste it. The reaction was almost immediate. He gagged and choked a bit trying to get rid of that awful metallic taste. He thought it might have been jam that had been spilled or dropped on the ground. Sniffing it, he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the penny smelling odor it emitted. It definitely was not jam.

Whipping his hand on his shirt he faintly heard humming coming from the living room. He turned around and made his way to the entrance. Again he called out "Mommy? Daddy? Are you awake?". The humming stopped. Not noticing Zackary jumped up and hit the light switch. A giant puddle of the disgusting tasting red stuff was everywhere. Zackary walked further in, his eyes wide. He rounded the corner of the couch and saw his mother sitting there motionless. She was staring blankly at the black tv screen covered in red. "M-mama?" He whispered as he reached up and shook her knee a little bit. The motion caused her head to shake and roll off onto the seat next to her and then onto the floor. The red juices started to come from where her neck ended. Zackary's body started to shake violently as he stumbled to back away from the scene, his vision blurring with tears.

"You know. I had just gotten the bleeding to stop." a voice said from the darkness. "But you just had to ruin it and make more of a mess." It continued. Zackary held his breath as he slowly turned his head to where the voice was coming from. What he saw was a monster. A monster who had sharp claws on one hand and was covered in red stuff. It wore a wicked smile with sharp red teeth. It's eyes bore no emotion but a black endless void to stare into. It also had two sharp pointed horns on the top of its head that curved like a goats. It had a human body but it moved like it wasn't used to walking on two legs, but it moved fast. One second it was in the dark corner of the living room, next it had its clawless hand around Zackary's throat lifting him up from the ground squeezing what little air he had out of him.

"I knew that this might have woken you, but I thought you would have been a smart boy and stayed in bed. I guess not huh. This is your fault, you know. What's about to happen?" it said without a care in the world chuckling under its breath. "Ugh and all the extra cleaning up too. Why couldn't you have stayed in bed!" it shouted at him hand tightening. Black spots began to fill his vision, but Zackary could only sob and scratch at the hand that held him. It was beginning to hurt not being able to breath so with a final effort Zackary kicked up and hard. Suddenly pain bloomed in his knees but he was able to breathe again! He sucked in air greedily as he heard the monster curse.

"Ugh! You stupid little brat!" It shouted at him again. Zackary looked up, panting seeing it cradle it's chin. Without wasting any more time he stood and ran. He heard the thudding behind him as he bolted for the front door. "I'll make you pay for that!" he heard it cry behind him. He reached the door and tried to turn the knob but it was locked. He turned around and saw the creature just standing there watching him panic.

"Oh no. Do please carry on Zack." It said walking towards him leisurely. The clawed hand seemed to glow in the faint light behind it. Zackary felt behind him searching for the lock of the door watching as it got closer. "You have nowhere to run to." It sneered and began to reach for him. Zackary felt a surge of panic and dove between the legs of his attacker, feeling something sharp pinch his arm. Now behind the creature Zackary ran for the stairs going up as fast as his little feet would take him. "A game of cat and mouse can only go on for so long Zackary!" He heard it say sweetly almost like it was singing downstairs. "I'll let you hide for now, but when I find you Zack." it huffed a laugh. "It'll be the last game you ever play" it mumbled.

Zackary slid to a stop when he reached his room taking in lungfuls of air. He needed to do something quick. A plan, anything! He looked at his socks seeing they left a trail up the stairs to where he was. He got an idea. He made sure he left marks leading to his parents room. Stepping inside he quickly made a trail leading to the bed then to the bathroom. Taking the socks off he threw them somewhere and tiptoed around the room back to the door. Stepping back out into the hallway he locked the bedroom door from the inside and closed it. He strained his ears listening as he heard heavy footsteps climbing up the stairs. As quickly and quietly as possible he rushed to his own room, cheering internally that it was closest to the stairs, and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He walked over to his bed and made sure it looked like he had chosen to hide under the bed in case the monster came into his room. He walked over to the closet and hid in there, pressing his ear close to the wall listening.

Heavy footsteps made their way following the trail he made. He held his breath waiting for the creature to break down the door. Once it did that he would be able to bolt it down the stairs, unlock the door and run out and get help. Before he could delve deeper into the thought his bedroom door flew open. His eyes widened and his hands flew up to cover his mouth muffing a choked sob. "I saw what you tried to do Zackary. Smart boy you are, but not smart enough." it growled out. Zack peeked through the small opening of his closet door. The monster was facing away from the closet leaning down and looking under the bed. He watched as it stood up and looked at the closet door, the mouth curving upwards into another wicked smile. "I found you" it sang out. It made its way towards the closet doors but before it could reach and open them Zackary with all his might pushed open the door and threw clothes at it. Not expecting it the monster fell back ripping the clothing off of it's face. That's when he took his chance and booked it out the door. He ran straight for the stairs, almost tumbling down them.

He heard the scream of rage and the thudding as it made its way down to him at an alarming rate. Zack ran for the front door and reached up on his tippy toes unlocking the door. He twisted the knob and opened the door to the outside world. He smiled wide and made a move to run out when a hang gripped his hair and yanked him back. The door slammed shut, cutting out his scream when he was lifted in the air. He was now full on crying and screaming out for anyone to help him. Help would never come. He came face to face with this demon which only made him cry harder. It chuckled softly, staring at him. "I'm sorry it had to be this way." it said sadly. With that it raised the clawed hand up and swiped down at him.