Jaxon RadioHead

The New Friend

Jaxon hesitantly clutching  his teddy bear, offers it as a peace offering. "This is Yuki, she's my teddy bear and my best friend."

Silence stretched, punctuated only by the ragged breaths coming from the closet. Jaxon dared to peek again. Two flickering red orbs gleamed from the darkness, growing brighter with each passing second, pinning him in place. Panic threatened to engulf him, but then he remembered his mother's words.

"Maybe it's not so scary after all," he whispered, taking a deep breath. "Can we be friends?" he asked slightly before pausing, "I... don't have any friends at school. They all say I'm weird."

The darkness in the closet writhed and shifted, tendrils of inky smoke swirling around Jaxon. A strange sensation washed over him, a mix of amusement and something he couldn't quite place. A chuckle, dry and humorless, echoed from the closet.

The sound of the bedroom door creaking open tore Jaxon from his stupor. His mother's concerned voice sliced through the tense silence. "Jaxon? Why are you out of bed?"

Jaxon scrambled back, his heart pounding. "I was just talking to June," he blurted out, pointing at the closet.

His mother's smile faltered for a brief moment, then she recovered quickly. "June? Who's June, honey?"

"The monster in the closet," Jaxon explained, his voice laced with a newfound confidence. "We became friends, just like you said."

Relief washed over his mother's face. "Oh, honey," she chuckled, scooping him up and tucking him back into bed. "That's wonderful! But next time, try making friends with someone you can see, alright?"

She placed a kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

Jaxon snuggled under the covers, a smile playing on his lips. He glanced at the closet door, which stood ajar. It was empty, but that didn't bother him anymore. "Goodnight, June," he whispered into the darkness.

A sudden gust of cold air swept through the room, extinguishing the nightlight. In the inky blackness, a figure materialized in the center of the closet. 

It was a woman, standing within the darkness, tall and slender, with pale skin the color of moonlight and fiery red hair that cascaded down her back. Her emerald eyes glowed with an unnatural light, a chilling contrast to her youthful beauty. A cruel smile stretched across her lips. 

"Goodnight, Jaxon," she purred, her voice a silken caress that sent shivers down his spine. But Jaxon, oblivious to the true nature of his new friend, drifted off to sleep, a sense of contentment washing over him. 

He wasn't alone anymore.