The Monsters under the Bed

1943

“Hurry, they’re almost here!” Cornelius urged. As soon as the last person climbed down the hole, he pulled a rope sealing off the entrance. Cornelius had the only source of light and even that was barely enough to see what was in front of him. He held up his lantern and squinted, trying to see through the thick blackness all around him.

“I think it’s this way,” he decided. He led the way towards the stairs and they slowly descended into the basement. He found the lever and pulled it down using both hands. The lights turned on, one by one, slowly illuminating the area. Banging and crashing could be heard above them, but they tried their best to ignore it. Cornelieus looked around at his friends, he hadn’t been expecting this to happen today but it was the reason that he built this part of the house.

2020

           Howie was stuck inside his house for weeks because of everything that was going on outside. He’d tried so many things to entertain himself: watching TV, reading, playing videogames. He still found himself bored most of the days. He looked outside, the streets were completely empty. It looked like they had been abandoned for years, the only sign of life was a squirrel scurrying around his yard.

           “It’s crazy out there isn’t it? Almost as if it’s some kind of dream.” His mom said as she walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

           “Yeah mom, it’s pretty bad,” was Howie’s short reply. He was a senior this year, and he was going to miss out on so much. He walked over to the couch, and sat there staring at that big portrait over the fireplace. It was his a picture of his grandfather, he looked so somber and serious, you could almost see the pain and stress in his eyes.

 Howie’s mom sat down beside him putting an arm around him. “Everything is gonna be alright son. Don’t you worry.”

1943

           “So, we just stay here and wait it out?” Teddy asked, with a worried expression on his face.

           “Unless you want to go up there now, then I suggest we wait it out.” Amelia replied sarcastically.

           There were only five people in Cornelius’s secret room, although it could probably fit about 20 more inside comfortably. In the center of the room was a lime green sofa, it was bright and clean. It was the first thing that would catch your eye when the lights turned on.

           Teddy sat on the couch, twirling his moustache, trying to keep his mind off of what was happening upstairs. Teddy was what you’d call a worry wart but it wasn’t without unjust cause this time. Everyone was a little bit frightened. Steven laid his lantern on the red table that was in front of the couch and then walked over to the pool table at the end of the room.

           “What are you doing?” Jasmine scolded, “Are you trying to get us all killed, that would make far too much noise.”

           Steven lined up the balls and started the game by hitting the white ball with his pool cue. He gave Jasmine a triumphant smirk before walking over to hit the ball again.

2020

           Howie traipsed into his room bouncing his ball on the floor as he entered. When he bounced it the last time, it hit something on the floor and then rolled under his bed. He sighed in annoyance and then lied down beside his bed to look for it. He shined his phone light underneath it and saw a glimmer of something shiny. He grabbed it, pulling it towards him, which lifted up the floor under the bed. Howie jumped back in fear, hitting his head on the bed.

           “Mom?!” He called, but there was no answer. He looked under the bed again, making sure that he wasn’t hallucinating. Grabbing the side of the bed, Howie pulled it to the other side of the room.

“Here goes nothing,” he said before pulling up the trap door.

1943

           Cornelius grabbed Steven by the shirt collar, “Stop you fool!”

           “Get your hands off me,” Steven demanded pushing him away.

           Amelia smirked, “We could play cards,” she suggested. Cornelius gazed at her as if every word that she said was a butterfly landing on a nearby branch.

           “That sounds like a lovely idea.” Cornelius decided.

           “I don’t know, sounds risky,” Teddy admitted. Amelia just rolled her eyes and dealt out some cards at the dining table on the other end of the room. It was a nice, oak wood table and you could still smell that fresh nature scent, like it had just recently been made. She dealt 2 cards to everyone who was playing they started their game.

2020

           Howie turned on his phone light and looked around, he was in a narrow stone hallway leading to a flight of stairs going farther down. He crept down the stairs and shined it around the room when he got to the bottom. He pulled a lever, crossing his fingers that it wasn’t going to activate a death machine. The lights flickered on and he could see everything around him more clearly.

           In the middle of the room was a musty, old couch. It looked like it used to be green but now it was more of a yellowish brown. In front of it was a broken red table. There was a dusty pool table in one corner and on the other there was a wooden dining table flipped on its side. There were a few red stains on the concrete floor but other than that it was completely bare. Howie took a video of it and then walked back up the stairs.

1943

           Teddy decided that he would play with them, they played a few rounds of blackjack and Teddy lost almost all of them, except the last one. Everyone went over the limit except Teddy and Cornelius. Cornelius had 20 and Teddy had 21.

           “Good job Teddy.” Cornelius congratulated him, forgetting that Teddy was an excessive celebrator.

           Teddy threw his cards and flipped over the table. He started dancing all around the room, but above them the Nazi forces heard the commotion. “Unter uns” the leader shouted pointing at the floor. All of the soldiers started searching for an entrance that might lead to a basement or a cellar. Finally after moving everything, they eventually moved the bed that had been concealing the hidden entrance.

           “Teddy, quiet down, they’ll hear you!” Jasmine squealed.

           Cornelius heard the hatch slam open, “Hide!” he stammered.

           “Where!?” Steven asked in a panic.

           They heard the footsteps rushing down the stairs and by then it was too late. It was a bloodbath. The Nazi troops shot down all of them. Jasmine tried to run but didn’t have anywhere to go. Teddy fell down breaking the little red table in front of the couch. Steven managed to pull out his revolver and shoot one of them before he perished. Cornelius died holding on tightly to his love, Amelia.

2020

           The first thing that Howie heard when he climbed back into the house was his mother calling his name. He found her and she hugged him tightly.

           “Howie, there were some people sneaking around our yard, I think they’re going to rob us. You go hide and I’ll call the police.” His mom told him.

           Howie thought for a moment and then realized something, “Mom, come with me I know where we can hide.” He took her hand and they went into his room. After he moved the bed, he started to climb down the hatch and pulled the bed back a little, so that it would cover the entrance. He led her down the stairs and into the secret room. They heard two sets of footsteps stomping around above them.

           After looking around Howie found a deck of cars. “Wanna play?” He whispered. His mom agreed and they played blackjack. Let’s just hope that neither of them are excessive celebrators.