The Intruder in the Attic

The rain hit the roof of the house with a force unlike Edward had ever remembered. The nine year old boy had just gotten over his fear of thunder which seemed to be creeping it’s way back in his mind. As if on cue to surge the fear back into the boy’s psyche thunder ripped the sky open with a marvelous crack. Edward cried out since the sudden thunder seemed to shake the house. 

Edward thought of calling his mother or father which were away on work for the day, the family not having enough to pay a babysitter. Edward began to shake gently as he slowly walked towards his room’s door, it seemed to be a very conscious effort to move one leg after another. He was expecting another world ending noise to spear through him and his home, yet after pausing for a few moments nothing came. 

A sigh of relief escaped from the young boy as he quickly made his way to the kitchen for a snack, even if it was only around the middle of the day he was hungry. That was until he heard a crash from above him, the boy’s instincts were that it was thunder. But no, this sounded a bit different as if something fell over in the attic. 

“H-hello?...”, Edward croaked out after gaining the courage to, only silence answered him back, “Is..is anyone there?”, he tried again but again only stale silence filled the air as an answer.

Figuring it was just his imagination he began his journey towards the steps when he heard another crash above him but this time it was accompanied by small steps skittering around. This made Edward’s blood cold as he felt a surge of tingles down his back, his heart thumping in his ear. He was alone in the house, he had to be it was only his parents and him. His mind started flashing images of different creatures it could be; one with big long arms to tangle, one with big twisted teeth to mangle, and one with claws to scratch. As the images were invading his mind he stood still, frantically listening for more noises, his breathing growing more and more unsteady. 

Thunder ripped through the air again pulling Edward back into reality as he jumped. It hadn’t been louder than the first but it still shook the house nonetheless. Edward slowly went down the steps which turned into him practically running down the steps as fast as he could without falling. 

He decided he’d just spend his time downstairs away from the attic, away from the teeth. The boy shuddered as he turned on the TV, pushing the volume up so he couldn’t hear any more noises from the creature. He quickly fixed himself a snack and sat on the couch, still paranoid as the rain grew heavier and heavier. However Edward soon got engrossed in a show until he was pulled back into the lonely little house from movement from the corner of his eye. He had seen a shadow move, it had gone off the steps and out of his vision. The boy had not dared to move, If I move it’ll get me with the arms to tangle. The surge of fear had struck him yet again as he imagined the creature behind him, slender with long arms that reached towards the ground just waiting for the opportunity to trap him. It would drag him to the attic and eat him. 

He sat there for what seemed like an hour, his hands had begun to shake. A large crack of thunder boomed through the house, this jump started Edward to run. He didn’t dare look back as he bolted up the stairs, but he could hear it. Breathing and clamoring to get him. Arms to tangle, teeth to mangle. Edward knew it was just behind him he couldn’t stop or it would get him. The boy lunged into his room and slammed the door, pushing the small pin to lock it. He had escaped it, he was safe. 

The wind howled and Edward could hear it calling his name. Somehow the creature had him trapped, it was the thing outside his door, it was the wind on the outside of the house. The wind began to call his name again, it wanted him and it wouldn’t stop until it had him. 

Edward began to cry in the corner of his room hugging his knees, this had been the first time he had felt real fear. But he began to cry harder as he heard scratching on the ceiling, claws to scratch, it was everywhere. There was no escape. 

The boy sniffled and shook his head, “There’s no such thing as monsters, that’s what dad says”, he jumped slightly not realizing he had spoken to himself. 

He sighed and got up and rummaged through his toy bin and got a mini flashlight he had gotten out of a kids meal a few weeks ago and decided he was going to look in the attic. Edward wasn’t going to be a little kid about this. 

Edward pulled the door open suddenly and looked left and right for signs of the invader. The hallway was empty, with a gently nod he slowly made his way out of his room. His destination was the attic door at the end of the hallway. The journey seemed to take forever, one careful step after another not wanting to make the floorboards creak and alert his pursuer. He was at the door, his hand wavered on the door knob for a moment, his body tense from fear. What if he opened the door and it jumped out at him. 

The boy shook his head, that wouldn’t happen, he assured himself in his head as he turned the knob. He took a breath and pushed the door open. It was nothing but dark up the looming steps, but he had come prepared until he could reach the light in the middle of the attic. Edward turned the flashlight on and clenched his teeth slowly going up the stairs, he heard small footsteps around him and a growl like noise. Biting his lip he continued looking around the attic as he saw a small shape zip past him. Edward screamed out and fell on his back dropping the flashlight, as he saw a shadow of a beast slowly coming towards him. 

He put his arms up as if it would protect him and instinctively he closed his eyes and turned his head waiting for the creature to use it’s long arms, jagged teeth, or claws. He waited for a moment, then two, then three. Edward felt something get on top of him and lick his face, as confusion struck him like a shovel he put a hand on the thing. He felt wet hair as he heard the growling noise again, but up close it sounded more of a purring. Picking up the beast he went to the small string and turned on the attic light and saw a small black cat in his arms. It seemed the cat had taken shelter in the rain and had come in through the hole his dad said he would fix but never did. 

Edward felt like an idiot smiling like one too, “You gave me quite the scare you cat”, he laughed as the fear washed off of him. He turned off the light and walked down the stairs, even as thunder boomed through the sky he was too busy petting his little intruder.

Later as his parents came home he explained he had found a cat and surprisingly convinced his parents to let him keep it. The boy never felt too alone or scared of intruders because of his cat that would protect him. Edward gave the cat a fitting name for how the two met: Beast.