Single mom Selina Sardi would do anything for her 6-year-old son. Eager to turn their new house into a real home for him, she's devastated when she discovers that the monster under his bed is not a figment of his imagination but the real deal.
Elia...
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"I like what you've done with the room." Elias floated up to the starry ceiling, his face an exhibition of longing, and all of a sudden it overwhelmed her, suffocating like a fire blanket: his loneliness ... a feeling she recognized. She had felt lonely too, still did, many times, and yet, she had Lowie, her friends, colleagues ... whereas Elias had no one.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"I was thinking ... it would be easier if you would bring the kid." He swept over to the skylight, turning his broad-shouldered back to her. He tilted his head and watched the sky.
"Excuse me?" She stepped closer, peering up to see what he saw. A clouded sky. Not a star shone through. Desolate.
"Your son?" He turned towards her in a quick movement.
Startled, she recoiled. "You can't be serious?" The way he had his arms folded over his chest, he looked rather serious, but that was not the point. "Do you actually think I'd willingly submit him to your cruelty?"
"Believe me, it would be less cruel than this. Children are more flexible. Think about it. How many of them grow up continuing to fear the bogeyman? None. How many of them do not fall asleep eventually? It's not that big a deal for children, all part of growing up."
"You don't actually believe that, do you? Is that what you tell yourself?"
Under his soot-rimmed eye, a muscle twitched. He inhaled deeply as if to calm himself. "Listen! I'll keep him awake and scared for what? Thirty minutes, one hour tops. My belly full. The kid gets to sleep. There's nothing to it." He shrugged as if to him it really was nothing, reminding her of some mobster who casually proposed two different ways to die to his trembling, tied-up victim.
Anger sparked in her chest. It was bad enough that she had to deal with him, there was no way in hell that she would put her son through his abuse. Determined, she hopped on the bed and planted herself crosslegged in the middle. "You're not frightening my kid."
"Selina, I'm telling you the truth. It will be less traumatic for him than it is for you."
"It's not traumatic for me. It's a picnic," she fibbed, ignoring the knowledge that he could read fear from her aura like she could read temperatures from a thermometer. "You're just looking for easy prey."
The muscle under his eye twitched again. "Maybe. Like I told you, I need to eat. It's as simple as that. I get no other pleasure from this, so the easier it can be done the better."
"Well, I'm right here and Lowie is not, so get it over with. I'm your easiest option."
Elias lifted his eyes to the sky once more and let out an audible sigh. "You better not stab me with a toothbrush."
"You better not give me any ideas."
"At this point, I kind of expect you to discard any idea that comes from my mouth, same as you refused my very sensible suggestion just now. I'm not gonna lie ... I suppose I would've been disappointed if you hadn't. Still ..." He stared at her for a few moments, then rolled his shoulders and shook his arms as if preparing for a run.
