Short horror and thriller stories

Check twice

"Mummy!! Mummy!!"

Sudha entered the room, "What is it, honey?"

The child was kneeling on the bed looking at her wide-eyed. She has obviously not slept for long, her big red eyes speaking of a horror that Sudha's adult mind could never comprehend. She had not slept a wink for the last two days. The child was keeping her up all night. Shifting to a new house coupled with forced insomnia was not a good restraint for her temper.

"There is something under my bed" the child screamed.

Not again, Sudha thought. When she heard the child, she rolled on her bed to wake her husband, but he wasn't there. He must have gone to the bathroom, she thought. Wearily, she got out of the bed to go to the child's bedroom.

"There is nothing under the bed, sweetheart, you just had a bad dream."

"Nooo, I know there is something there." with the conviction that comes with being a child.

Sudha sighed. This is going to be a long night. I am going to end this tonight, she thought.

"Ok, if I check under the bed and find nothing, will you go back to sleep?" she asked the child.

"Maybe..."

"Ok, let me get the flashlight..." she said.

She walked out of the room and called her husband. There was no answer.

"Mummy!!"

Sudha walked back into the room.

"Daddy went under the bed with the flashlight..."

"What?"

"Daddy went under the bed with the light... it must be lying there."

Mildly surprised, Sudha bent down to peer under the bed. She can see something shiny under the bed. She reaches out for it and touches it, but it rolls further away. She feels something sticky on the floor. She pulls back her hand and checks it under the lamp on the bedside table. It is something dark and sticky. She looks at the child.

"Did you drop something under the bed?"

"A chocolate..." the child murmured in a guilt-ridden voice.

"Where is Daddy?"

"He is still under the bed..."

Surprised, Sudha bent down again. The flashlight has rolled towards the other end of the bed against the wall. She crawled under the bed and reached it. Before she could turn it on, she felt something or someone grip her hand. She let out a small scream, but the grip only tightened. She shouted and thrashed, but something clutched her throat and her voice was cut off. In another five seconds, her body stopped moving.

The child peered over the edge of the bed and saw the edge of a small dark puddle of liquid. The child smiled.

"Are you still hungry?"