Monster

Part 4

Andrea lovingly smoothed Ethan's hair down as he slept. She smiled as her eyes gazed upon the now unboxed room. She looked at the Superman night light plugged into his wall, then whispered to her son, "Goodnight my little Superman."

...

Andrea stood by the top of the staircase, overlooking the basement. She flicked a light switch on, but it failed to work. She cursed to herself, and began making her way down. The steps creaked as she descended into the void. She clicked a flashlight on and pointed it around large stacks of boxes until she found a pull chain light switch. She tugged on the chain and the dim light illuminated the basement. It appeared rather welcoming all lit up.

"I can at least unpack two or three boxes..." Andrea whispered to herself.

She needed to get her mind at ease. With the divorce and everything that's been happening, she wanted the house to be welcoming at least for her son. Maybe then they could move forward with their lives.

Andrea walked around the boxes, and flinched at a putrid odor. She followed the odor to a broken wooden panel on the wall. She moved the panel with her hand, and jumped a foot back as two rats ran out of the opening. Her body hit a stack of boxes, and tumbled over with them. Andrea let out a scream and viciously rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. She could almost feel the rats crawling underneath her skin.

She looked back at the panel on the wall, took a deep breath, and stood up. She moved the panel, and shifted it wide enough for her to fit through it. She thought of the worst case scenarios. There might've been a dead animal back there that the rats were feeding on. Something must've died for it to smell that bad. She choked on the air as she got closer, covered her mouth with her hand, then shined the flashlight into another hidden room.

Her flashlight hit the ground before she was able to reveal the whole room. What she saw was more horrific than what she would have imagined. She scrambled to pick up her flashlight and pointed it at hundreds of pictures of Ethan scattered across the ground and pinned to the beams. Each of the pictures were dated from when they first moved into the house until present day. Pictures of him sleeping in bed, at school, outside... The missing food from the pantry was scattered across the floor next to a pile of dirty blankets and other pieces of rotting food.

On the floor, was a portable DVD player. Already numb, Andrea crouched down and turned it on. Her emotions haven't fully hit her yet. Her face was pale, and she moved blankly.

The light from the screen illuminated the hidden room, bouncing off the pictures of her son around her. A recording of Ethan sleeping in his bedroom started to play. He is wearing the same pajamas he slept in last night. An emaciated arm of an older white man with long yellow fingernails reached under Ethan's blanket and felt it's way up his leg. Ethan began to spaz out and started screaming. The video cut out.

Tears rolled down Andreas face, the shock had her paralyzed, but a loud scream broke her out of it.

"Mom!" Ethan's cries rang down from the black void above her.