Grace's Gift

Chapter 1

I woke up to see my daughter shaking me, clutching her teddy bear, who she named Chuckles, to her chest.

"Daddy," she sobbed. "There's monsters in my room. They said they would take me when I'm sleeping."

I sat up and pulled Emma up onto my lap. "Nobody is going to hurt you, okay? Daddy's here for you."

"I don't want them to hurt me!" Her brown eyes watered. The same color as her mother's.

I sighed. She would not go back to bed unless I checked. It's been like this for the past few days. She was never like this since my sister gave her the toys she had when we were kids.

"Hey now, don't cry. What if I go check your room for monsters and make sure they leave you alone for a while?" I proposed. Maybe this would help her go back to sleep.

Emma nodded. "Please?"

"Alright."

Emma crawled off my lap, pushing me off the bed with her feet. Or trying to, at least. I laughed. So rude.

"Emma, stop being so pushy on your old pops, will you?" I joked.

"Dad!" Emma pouted. "Just go."

"Alright, fine," I chuckled, holding my hands up in defeat as I made my way down the hall. Pictures of me and Lauren, Emma's mother, hung on the wall. Lauren was usually away on business trips so I took on the 'mom' role in our daughter's life.

I gently pushed Emma's door open. It made a loud creaking sound as it revealed the white and yellow color scheme of Emma's room. The dollhouse she received from my sister stood in the far corner of her room. I didn't even know why my sister suddenly gave away the toys. She loved them more than anything.

"Now, let's get down to business."

I checked around her room for 'monsters'; under the bed, behind her curtains, within the pile of stuffed animals, and the closet. All while humming 'let's get down to business'.

"Emma?" I turned at the creaking sound from outside the door. There was nothing there. Not that I could see. Emma was a stealthy one, though. "There's no monsters anymore. They're all gone."

The creaking went down the hall.

"Emma?"  I turned my entire body towards the door. No answer.

Flick.

A tiny flick went off behind me, scaring the fudge out of me.

"The fudge?" I whispered. The doll house was to my left with it's lights on.

Flick.

The lights turned off again.

"What the loving fu-"

"Daddy?"

I screamed. Poor Emma was so frightened she started screaming with me. I won the screaming match after 2 minutes.

"Dad?"

"Sorry, honey. Just sleep in my room tonight. I found a monster and they won't hurt you if they can't get you."

The dollhouse lights turned on for a split second, then turned off. Whatever was in there definitely heard me.