That Night -A SHORT STORY-

That Night PART 3

Makenzie laid in her parents bed that night as they were still very worried and didn't want her to be out of their sight. She attempted to fall asleep but simply couldn't. Something kept her up. She knew that the monster under her bed was real, she saw it with her own eyes. But of course no one would believe her because she's just a little kid with a wild imagination. As soon as she heard her parents snoring she steadily got out of the bed and made her way to her room. she opened the creaky door and scanned around her room. She bent over and looked under her bed, nothing. She sighed and said in a hushed tone "hello? Is anyone in here?"... nothing all you could hear is the tree branches outside rubbing together from the wind.
She decided that she'd tuck into her own covers and did just that. She stared up at the ceiling, just waiting as nothing happened. A few minutes go by, and she feels a cold hand brush against her cheek. She gasped and shuddered, but she remembered his acts of defense to her. So, she slowly turned her head to look at his pitch black hand as it stroked the top of her head.
"Hello, my dear. I believe your parents wished for you to stay with them. It's dangerous for a little girl to be alone in the dark." He said softly, continuing to be comforting in his tone of voice. Makenzie shrugged a little, granted, she was still a bit frightened by him, but now, she knew he wouldn't hurt her. A few seconds go by and a question escaped her lips before she could register it.
"What did you do to the bad guy?.."
He responded with a low chuckle.
"No need to fret, Makenzie. I merely told him to never cross with you or your parents again. He listened really carefully." He whispered back to her. He continued to stroke the top of her head, strangely, just as her mother does when she wants to soothe Makenzie to sleep.
Makenzie's eyes start to feel heavy as she feels sleep consume her whole, "Goodnight my dear" the monster spoke as he continued to stroke her head. She attempted to mumble a quiet goodnight but she was too tired. Makenzie fell into a deeply needed slumber after all that went on the last few nights.
"Makenzie, come out, I just want to talk.." a raspy voice was heard from the basement. She recognized that voice, it was the criminal. Makenzie was terrified, she couldn't move or scream. She didn't know what to do. Loud heavy steps echoed through the house as they trailed up the basement stairs. Reaching the top of the basement the door flung open and there emerged the tall skinny criminal. He appeared in front of her and a small squeak erupted from her throat and he lurked over the small girl.
Suddenly she bursted up with cold sweats, tears dripping down her face as she realized it was a horrible dream
Both of her parents flinched and moaned. Makenzie looked around her, she was back in her parent's room, sleeping in between her parents, as if she never left. Her father turned and lazily stroked her arm.
"'Kenz, hun, what's wrong? Bad dream?" He said as he sluggishly sat up to firefly look her in the eyes. Makenzie nodded and wiped her eyes profusely. Her father wrapped a long and supportive arm around her. She continued to whimper as she told him about her nightmare. He nodded along, occasionally reminding her "It was only a nightmare, just a dream." That's when she thought of the monster under her bed. She decided she'd tell that bit as well.
"Why did you go into your room? I thought me a mommy told you to stay in here with us.." he said a bit disappointedly, giving her a stern look.
"I wanted to see the monster under my bed. He made the bad guy go away!" She complained, her eyes pleading.
"Makenzie, that's enough. You know the police took the bad guy away. Here, why don't we go eat some breakfast and let mommy sleep?" He didn't wait for an answer before he swept Makenzie into his arms and made his way to the kitchen.