Closet Monster

Bedside Horror

I lay awake under my sheets, the window ajar only slightly, but sleep doesn't come. Behind my eyelids I can only see the bright irises surrounding the darkest pupils - like if you shine a flashlight on a cat, but these eyes were terribly... human. They hadn't left my mind since I saw them so many days ago, laying where I lay now at this time now. I haven't slept right since then. I'll lay awake staring at the wall or the ceiling praying to god I don't see those eyes again, knowing that I won't be the same if I do. I can only wait for sleep to overtake me like a wingless insect just waiting for death when it's meant to come. It was late, the alarm etched 2:34AM into my dark-adjusted eyes. I laid awake thinking about this life event or that when, at some point, I had heard a puff of air much like a sigh of exhasperation or like something lying in wait. I glanced around, quite used to the creaks and moans of an old building, and felt relieved that nothing was standing along my bed. Now everything was more silent than it was before, no chirps or hoots from outside, and even my alarm didn't produce its electronic ticking that I imagined imitated an analogue clock. Like time had stopped. I glanced around once more, satisfied to see nothing, but my eyes rested on the opened closet door a little too long. This made me anxious, my heartbeat a little faster now, and I considered closing the door but for the cold of the wooden floor. I turned away and forced my eyes shut, knowing that nothing was there and I was safe. Hours must have passed before I woke up again in a cold sweat while at the same time, for merely a split second, I felt a cold breath on my neck. I jumped and feverishly turned in my bed to see... nothing. The wall, the floor, the shelf, and the same opened closet-door. My eyes were still drawn to it as I breathed heavy and fast, stil shaken by taht strange feeling of air on my neck, wet with sweat. The window was cracked open, and I remembered feeling warm before going to bed. I must have opened it for the cool air. I slowly stepped out of bed to the cold floor, and I crept to the window to close it. Out of the window I could only see black - it must have been 4:00AM by now, but still the night shone no light. I closed the window, struggling a bit to lower the wooden panel frame until it THUNKed closed. I stared a bit before turning back to my bed. In the blur as I spun around I caught a glimpse of yellow from the open closet. Bright yellow lights behind the coats and clothes, amongst the hats and small boxes I kept for storage. I flicked my eyes to the closet, but nothing was there. Black silhouettes of jackets and shirts hanging to form ghastly images that I knew weren't really there. I sighed with relief. Under my sigh, however, I heard a small THUMP in the closet. Slight, almost inaudible. but just enough for me to hear. I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the dark of the closet doorway, adn of course I could see nothing. Then I heard another THUMP, slight still but a bit louder - it sounded like a sack of potatoes hitting the wall. I slowly approached the closet, reaching my hand out to touch the siding to stabilize myself in the blind. I flipped the light switch that lead to the light in the closet. I jumped back as the bulb flashed and revealed something - something with slimy and wrinkled skin the color of sand - standing in the closet with bright eyes reflecting the light before returning to original darkness. "What the fuck? Oh my god!" I shouted, closed the door, and sat back in bed. I raked my fingers through my hair saying "that wasn't real. That wasn't real," as the covers wrapped my legs. "Fuck." I looked back at the closet and saw nothing through the open door but the previous darkness and sillhouettes I was used to. I took as deep a breath as I could (which was quite shallow since I was breathing so rapidly) and exhaled shakily. "That wasn't real," I said aloud as I stared into the dark closet doorway. "That wasn't real," I said as I threw the covers aside and stood from the bed. I stomped to the closet determined to show myself that what I saw was merely my imagination while saying, "that wasn't real." I flipped the light switch just as I thought to myself, "Didn't I just close this door?" The light flickered once more, and the thing that wasn't real blew hot, putrid air onto my face before I felt its claws close around my neck. I struggled as hard as I could, but nothing worked. Its skin truly was slimy, and no amount of pounding its flesh seemed to harm it. The slime caused my grip to faulter. As the room began to fade to black, and all I could see was its shining yellow eyes, I thought, "it... was... real."