Coffins, Moons, and Dark Rooms

Monsters had snuck into my home while I was away. Then again, what had I expected? My house was the only one on the cul-de-sac that was dark, cold and vacate for the taking. At first, everything was normal when I returned home from my sister’s place after a weeklong trip turned into a month. Something that happened more often after she had her twins. Not that I minded. 

However, I did mind the strange growls and creaks that began to echo throughout my halls one night and never stopped. And the eerie feeling of eyes watching me whenever I left my room. There was grossly matted hair in clumps all over my floors, and I once bumped into a sanity clad woman running out of the basement with deep holes in her neck. There was a set of nicely craved coffins in my closet and heavy satin curtains to keep the moonlight out on bad nights. I wasn’t allowed to have garlic or anything silver, and when it came to wanting guests—I had more luck asking to go outside. 

Monsters had snuck in and made my house their home. 

The first time I tried to escape, I happened upon the hairy creature dining on a corpse. The fanged beast was there too, swishing blood in a glass as if it were wine. I had been so shocked, I gasped and hurried away before they could catch me. I hated the basement, but it was the first place I thought to hide, pressing my ear to the door as my hands trembled over my lips. The floorboards squeaked under a monster’s heavy-weight as the sound of my racing heart threatened to expose my location. I rushed downstairs to use the countless boxes of clothes and knick-knacks I had stacked around as a barrier between me and the monsters that inched closer in the dark. One of them angrily shoved a pile to the ground, and I heard my mother’s good china shatter into pieces. 

There was a terrifying hiss in the air, and the sound of dragging feet alarmed me. I saw a flash of light scan the area, passing over my rattled form, and when they couldn’t find me—they continued their hunt. My eyes darted to the wide-open door to the garage, and even though I heard a creak in the floor, I ran. It wasn’t long after that I bumped into my neighbor and best friend, Vivi. I was out of breath and begging for help in a panicked fit, eye locked on my house.  

“You look awful,” worried Vivi as she brought me into her home. “What’s been going on? I feel like I barely see you?”

I contemplated my next words, scared they would come after her next. “I think I’ve been overworking myself.”

It wasn’t a total lie. I don’t dare close my eyes for more than a few minutes, knowing the monsters would slither out of hiding and feast on my unconscious body. I avoided the kitchen like the plague, hearing the most horrid sounds of bones being ground into dust and the hair-raising sound of thick liquid being slurped like soup. I can’t go anywhere, really, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying the second the damned monsters left me alone. I was young. That was what I told myself. Young and invincible as long as I avoid the monsters.  

“Ahide...did you hear me?” Vivi’s voice snapped me from my thoughts, and I looked at her as if I had been present the whole time. 

“Yeah. Sure,” I smiled weakly.

“So, you do have brothers,” marveled my best friend. “How come you haven’t told me? I always see them outside at the oddest of times.”  

“Brothers...” I trailed off as a rough thump came at Vivi’s door. 

I pleaded with Vivi to act as if she weren’t home—she didn’t. And I spotted familiar shadows at her door and heard their voices seep into the air. My best friend wasn’t fazed by the monsters as they waltzed into her living room as if they owned the place. Like the other creatures of the night, the monsters hide behind their glamour, portraying themselves as model-like humans. The whole cul-de-sac was tricked and charmed by their crooked smiles and sweet words— but not me. I knew the horror and secrets they hid behind my walls. 

“Ahide, come back home. It’s getting late,” insisted the fanged beast.

“It’s almost time to eat,” added the hairy creature. “You’ll miss dinner.” 

One of their hands pulled me to my feet, and I was sure all the color from my face drained to the floor. My best friend wasn’t looking at me as my eyes screamed for help. She was entranced and giggling like she used to do in high school. It took seconds for the monsters to drag me back home since resisting them always failed. 

The hairy creature locked the door as the fanged beast gripped my shoulder hard enough to bleed. He was mad—they both were. And in seconds, their human facade began to melt away, leaving behind the nightmares they truly were. They loved to make me watch the disturbing way their bones grew and broke, and their faces distorted into creatures from the deepest parts of Hell. 

“Once you stop acting up, we’ll let you out,” growled the hairy creature as he forced me into my room.

I heard the fanged beast laugh from somewhere within my house. He liked it when I was sent to my room, which had been fixed into a makeshift cell. The monsters had snuck in and kept me as a pet—chained to my bed with little treats thrown on the floor. My lights stopped working a week after they arrived. And all of the windows in my room had been barred to keep me from escaping. 

At first, I had been curious as to why the two kept me alive or refrained from harming me whenever I disobeyed them. However, as time rolled on, I concluded that I was simply a means of entertainment. A doll the monsters could make dance then put away whenever they got bored. The hairy beast always glared at me, and the fanged beast constantly teased me, yet, we only ever talked whenever I misbehaved. And to my surprise, the two let me keep my phone—not that I would dare tell a soul that monsters have snuck into my home.