Boneca [Doll]

Chapter 17: The Child and The Monster

Jona was jolted awake by something truly bizarre.

"Sensei."

A nudge to his rib.

"Sensei, wake up."

"Professor Smit?" As he fumbled for his bearings, his hand encountered someone's cold, trembling fingers on the right side of the bed. Then, it struck him—it was Luuk, and he was crying.

His eyes snapped open. "Professor?" Jona sat up on the bed, bewildered, and reached for his glasses. The bedside lamp cast a weak, wavering light that revealed Luuk's pale, tear-stained face. "O que se passa?" [What's wrong?]

"Sensei. Help me." Luuk leaned in closer, resting his forehead on Jona's shoulder, his body damp with sweat.

"Help you with what? Sir, did something attack you?" Jona's heart raced, and he grabbed the flashlight from the floor, scanning around the bed for any potential threats—poisonous insects or lurking snakes.

"Under... Under the bed." Luuk gasped as if he'd seen something shocking. "There's a... a monster under the bed."

Jona's immediate instinct was to laugh, but then he noticed the terror in Luuk's eyes, and he realized that this was no laughing matter.

"It's here to hide me again." Luuk groaned and gasped loudly. "Feel that?" He clung to Jona's wrist with a vice-like grip.

Was he having a nightmare, or had something genuinely frightened him? Jona wondered. His feet touched the cold, hard cement floor as Luuk dragged himself closer to his side of the bed.

"Professor, please, let go a bit? I'm sure you just had a nightmare. There's nothing under the bed. There's only us in this room."

Instead of answering, Luuk shook his head and whimpered.

Jona couldn't deny that he wasn't afraid. His heart pounded in his chest, and he couldn't help but fear the dark as he reached down to search for something—anything—under the bed, a lurking monster, or perhaps a figment of Luuk's imagination.

"Professor Smit?" Jona called out, but there was still no response.

With trembling hands, Jona got onto his knees and peered under the bed.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing under the bed, not even a cobweb. The relief was palpable.

Luuk sniffled and reached out to Jona, so he set the flashlight on the bedside table and climbed back onto the bed.

"Sir, there's nothing under the bed," he reassured Luuk. "It was just a bad dream, okay? Please don't cry. You're scaring me." Jona's own forehead was damp with cold sweat, and the eerie silence in the room only amplified his unease.

Luuk mumbled something into his palms, something that sounded like "I want my brother." At that moment, Luuk didn't seem like a pompous adult but more like a frightened child. His tone, his demeanor—they all spoke of regression.

Luuk reminded Jona of one of his students, Siew, who would regress to a three-year-old and hide under the dojo's reception desk every time they did their made-up karate oath of allegiance. Siew's mother had told Jona that the boy had experienced a childhood trauma, although she'd never shared the details.

"Professor Smit?" Jona rubbed Luuk's back, and he jolted. "Did you hear me? There's nothing under the bed. You're safe, okay?"

Luuk clutched Jona's arm with cold, trembling hands, his eyes pleading. "Sensei, can... can you... hold me for the night?" he asked in his childish demeanor. "Please."