Mourning

Andrew

"Do you know the tales and stories of people saying that they saw something in their closet? You would normally brush it off like a trick of the light or a stuffed toy. But what if there really was something there? Something that watches you secretly as you play games, as you change clothes, as you sleep.

"What would you do? Would you call the police? Would you hide under your bed? Would you grab a knife and stand up against it? What would you do?

"Please tell me. I'm curious."

~~~~~

A boy, about the age of fourteen, with hair like a raven and eyes like amber, lay on his bed and browsed the internet. The tablet in his hands cast a faint glow onto his face as his finger moved, down and up, as he read through conspiracies and boring newscasts.

The curtains in his window billowed gently to the coming breeze and sent a shiver up his arms. The light was off and the clock ticked, making the noise echo through his ears and make him more paranoid than he already was.

He wasn't supposed to be awake this late, at twelve a clock at night in New Jersey. He could hear his parents as they shuffled off to their room and heard the click of the hallway light as it was turned off. Now it was almost completely dark, save for the electronic device in the boy's hands. He stayed like that for a while before looking at the clock. An hour had passed and he wanted to get some sleep to be able to get to school tomorrow.

~~~~~

The boy woke about half an hour later to have his bladder practically screaming at him for use of a bathroom.

As he got up and went into his bathroom, he went and remembered that he forgot to brush his teeth. As he did so, he heard something.

"Andrew... Andrew..."

The voice was a whisper, but he could still hear it beyond his door. It sounded like his older brother, Kyle. He must have just remembered that he has a test tomorrow. Its just like him for him to stay up this late as well, He thought.

As he finished brushing his teeth, he got to the door and opened it. In the darkness of his room he could just make out a figure on his bed. He reached for the lamp on his desk next to the door and froze at the sight he saw.

On his bed stood a creature the size of the largest bear, with fur grey as ash and a hunched back. Its arms were long and spindly and touched the sheets of his bed with long furry claws. Its back legs were heavily muscled and in a crouched position. A long, dinosaur like tail swayed from behind it as it turned to him, the fur near the spin longer than the rest. It had a long, dog like snout with no visible nose and two horn like appendages protruding from its head, also covered in thick grey fur. And what got Andrew the most was how it was staring at him with two, empty, black eye sockets. The skin around where the mouth would be pulled back and ripped as it revealed clean, sharp teeth. Its mouth bled but didn't move as it talked in the same exact voice as his brother.

"Hello, Andrew."