The Monster Under My Bed • Peter Pan, Once Upon A Time •

Prologue

"Tired?" My mom asked me as I let out a big yawn. I nodded slowly, not turning to look at her. "Go to bed then. See you in the morning," I nodded again in response and stood up, walking to my room.

Now comes the hard part; falling asleep. I have a fear of the monster under my bed. Yes, I understand it's irrational for me to have a fear of the monster under my bed when I'm 17, but I just do. I can always feel something watching me, I could always feel something underneath the bed when I was trying to sleep- I can't help it! And whenever I did fall asleep, my dreams were haunted by the monster itself, like it had some sort of mindset where it could enter and affect my dreams. Nobody knew about my fear, and I was happy about that. But tonight I was going to try to have a peaceful sleep, I wouldn't let it haunt and ruin my dreams. I was determined.

But also very tired.

So I went into my room, changed into my pajamas, turned off the lights and lied down, pulling a blanket over me. Already I could feel the presence of something underneath me. I shifted uncomfortably under the covers, pulling the duvet over me as well. I started to close my eyes, and when I did, I felt the presence suddenly disappear. A smile crept across my face, and I slowly relaxed. Then I heard a noise.

Oh no.. I thought.

I pulled the covers up to my eyes and curled up in a ball.

Its not real. It's not real.

I kept telling myself; squeezing my eyes shut and expecting to be mauled for a moment, but then only feeling the mattress sink down next to me, as if the monster was sitting. I stayed under the covers, not wanting to see what it was that was haunting me.

It's only a dream. That's what it is and it can't hurt me. I continued to give myself a pep talk.

Slowly and yet suddenly, something pulled the covers off my eyes, I expected claws or talons, but they felt like fingers.

Fingers? Why would they be fingers? It's a monster, right?

Once the blanket was off my face, the hand moved up and rested on it. It was a cold touch to my warm skin, I was sweating underneath the covers because of how nervous I was, as well as the warmth from all of blankets that were on me. But to hell with that, the blankets protect me. Right?

Right?

I immediately tensed up, who wouldn't? It felt like a regular person's hand. A pinkie, ring finger, middle finger, index finger and a thumb. A human hand.

Huh, maybe the monster isn't a something, but a someone...

The thumb slowly started to stroke my cheek, moving up and down in the crease of my nose and eye, where the two features meet. Not gonna lie, it was soft and gentle, but I didn't know who or what this was.

Just a dream. You can open your eyes. And if you die, well, had a nice life so far anyways. I told myself, mustering up the courage to do the things I'd just told myself to.

Slowly I opened my eyes, barely peering through my lashes. What I saw surprised me. It was a boy. Not a young boy, a boy who looked more about my age, maybe a year or two older. When he saw me opening my eyes he gave me a soft smile. I couldn't see his facial features that well in the dark, but I saw the curve of his lips, and the slight glowing of his green eyes. I stared at him. Well, what I could see of him, as my eyes slowly opened further. Even if I couldn't really see him at all, he was a beautiful sight. But only really his eyes. I'd never seen anything so green. He shifted so he was ever so slightly closer to my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. Ever so slowly, I built up the confidence to finally speak.

"Who are you?"

He let out the smallest exhale that sounded more like a chuckle as he continued to caress my face. His thumb slowly ran over my eyelid and I closed it as he did. I opened my eyes after his thumb moved back to my cheek. Before he answered he glanced down, still tracing my eye.

"Not yet," his soft tone had a trace of dominance hiding behind it, as well as an accent. English accent to be exact.

"But-" I started but he cut me off by moving his thumb and running his finger over my lips.

"Shh shh shh. Soon darling, soon," he murmured as he leaned in. "I promise," he whispered gently. His breath was warm against my face, and he smirked at how afraid I seemed. "Go to sleep. I won't hurt you..." he said quietly.

I can't... I thought to myself.

"Trust me you can, I won't walk your dreams tonight. I'll leave you be.." 

Did he just read my mind?

He chuckled softly and before anything else was spoken, he disappeared. Gone. Above me was now thin air.

That was weird.. I thought as I sat up and glanced around.

Who was he..?

Could he have been the thing that was haunting me my whole life. He said he wouldn't walk my dreams tonight.

What's that supposed to mean?

I lied back down and closed my eyes, rolling onto my side and pulling the blanket up. I let myself relax, for once, trying to shake the memory of what had just happened as I let myself fall asleep peacefully.

A/N: Thank you to anyone who even took the time to read this! I really appreciate it so, so much! I hope something drives me to continue this, as it started out as me just writing down random stuff in my notes app.

Anyways, again thank you and hope you enjoyed!