Darren’s parents stood by his bedroom door with flat, forced smiles and exhausted eyes. They were still wearing their funeral best, her in a black shin-length dress and him in a matching suit and tie. His father had his arm around his mother, who was obviously trying hard not to break down in front of their son, who was laying in bed, having already changed out of his best little suit and into his plaid pajamas. Darren was almost ten years old, so they didn’t want to sugarcoat the devastation that comes with losing a beloved grandparent, but they also wanted to show a good example of strength in hard times. Darren looked up to them, figuratively, as the oldest of two children, and, literally, waiting on what they would have to say to him after such a day.
“Darren, honey,” his mother began, her voice thin and overused, “your Mamaw loved you and Suzie SO mu-“ she paused, choking on her words before a quick swallow and a big breath, “SO much. She loved y’all more than anything in the whole world. Now I know she was very sick for a very long time, but I want you to promise me that you will remember her like she was before she got sick, okay? Please, please remember her like she used to be, okay?”
Darren sat up in his bed, nodding, with his mouth slowly downturning. He hated seeing his parents so upset. At his almost ten years, he could only count on one hand how many times he’d seen either of them cry.
“You and your sister meant everything to her, and I don’t want you to ever forget that. Now I know today was so hard. So hard. But you were so brave!” She left her husbands arm and walked over to Darrens bed, leaning down and stroking his hair. “So. Brave. And I know Suzie saw that. You were such a good role model for her today, Darren. I’m so…so proud of you and the young man you’re becoming.”
“You’re gonna need to continue to be her rock, buddy.” Darren’s dad chimed in, still standing by the door. It wasn’t his own mother’s funeral but he was torn up, though not showing it, and wanted to offer some final words as well. “She’s always looked up to you, son. You’re five years older than her, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but to her it’s like a lifetime of experience between you two. She’s gonna need you to lean on in times like this, okay?”
“Okay dad.” Darren answered, closing his eyes as his mother continued to stroke his short brown hair.
“You’re such a perfect child, honey,” his mother said, smiling much more convincingly. “I don’t know what we ever did to deserve you and Suzie. Y’all are our little angels. We love you SO much. And so did your Mamaw. And now she’s a real angel. And she’ll always look after you and smile down on you from Heaven.” She kissed Darren’s forehead and stood back up, walking back toward the door and her husband, who took her back under his arm. “Now I want you to sleep well, and sleep in. Y’all have the day off of school tomorrow and we’re gonna do whatever you and Suzie want!”
Darren perked up. That was fantastic news, the first good thing he’d heard in days.
“Thank you Mom. Thank you Dad!” He said, trying not to seem overly excited given the days circumstances.
“You’re welcome, son. We all deserve a day off. Maybe we can go to the movies or something!” his father said warmly, before kissing his mother on her cheek.
“Well, we love you, and Mamaw loved you so so much. Promise me you’ll never forget that, and that you’ll always remember her for how she always was, okay?” His mother reminded him.
“I promise” Darren answered in a nod.
“Good. Night-light on or off?” She asked, looking down over by an unplugged little plastic football laying on the floor by the door of the bedroom closet.
“Ummmm, on please.” Darren replied. He could’ve plugged it in himself, but the closet was only a few feet from the bedroom door, which was over by the opposite corner of the room to where his bed was. It would be a quick task for his mother. She smiled and nodded before going and plugging it in, before walking back over and putting her fingers over the main light switch to his room.
“We love you son, rest well.” She said as only a good mother could.
“Love you buddy. Hope you get some sleep.” His father added, before opening the door and beginning his way down the hallway. His mother offered one last big, close lipped smile before she flipped off the light and exited as well, closing the door behind her.
Finally alone after the longest day he can remember, Darren was able to collect his thoughts. He laid back in his bed and pulled the gray comforter up to his collarbone. He breathed deeply, finally in a more relaxed state. The small football-shaped light shot pale-blue beams sharply up the wall, and then residually around his room, like moonlight on a cloudy night. He looked around his safe place. It was the only bedroom he’d ever known, but had everything an almost ten year old boy could need. By his bed was a small table topped with a lamp. In its drawer were football cards and Yu-Gi-Oh cards alike, along with pencils and even wrappers from a few sneakily eaten candy bars. Across the room from his cornered bed was a tv, which he thought about turning on, but decided he was too exhausted, and didn’t want to make noise. There next to the tv was the closet door, with a “No Girls Allowed” sign hanging proudly. To the right of Darren’s bed, eye to eye with the closet, was another door, that led out to the wrap-around porch that tightly hugged his one story home. It had a window that let in some natural light, since no night is completely dark. Darren didn’t mind, at least not anymore. When he was younger he had wished there wasn’t a window there, his growing imagination telling him that all sorts of terrifying monsters were looking in on him as he slept. But now he had outgrown those childish fears, at least for the most part. The nightlight was still a comforting friend, though. His parents didn’t seem to mind that he still asked for it to stay on. In fact, the only person who ever lovingly teased him about it was his Mamaw.
Mamaw. Darren had almost forgotten. He laid there, staring at the pale-lit ceiling, with a deep mixture of feelings. He missed Mamaw so much. He missed the old Mamaw, the version his mother had asked him to remember. She was always so sweet and playful with him and Suzie. Then, a couple years ago, her husband, Darren’s Papaw, had died. Soon after, Mamaw got sick. At first she kept her spirits up, still sneaking treats and sly winks to him and Suzie when they would all visit her in the hospital. Eventually though, she got worse. Way worse. So bad that Darren and Suzie could only visit her on her best days, which were far from good. Burned into his memory were the visions of her in the hospital bed, rail thin, with sunken, dark eyes and frail, wispy white hair. When she wasn’t asleep she would either groan in severe pain or talk about insane things, like how witches from hell were coming to drag her down with them. It frightened Darren so badly that he began to not want to visit her anymore. He would pretend to be sick so that he couldn’t go to the hospital, and his parents and little sister would go without him. Luckily, he didn’t think Suzie could really process it, as she never seemed scared of Mamaw and only ever talked about her as if she had never changed from the sweet grandmother she once was.
He did go one last time, though. It was only a few days before she died, just about a week from this night. She was in bed as usual, except she was laid on her side in a strange, twisted way that made her look almost inhuman. Her back was warped and hunched, her arms curled up to her chin, with all her fingers spindly and outstretched, like she was holding on to two invisible apples. Her mouth was down turned, baring her yellowed teeth in an excruciating scowl. In between nauseating moans she would try and inhale, making a horrible rattling noise. Darren remembered seeing his mother leaning down and holding her, sobbing deeply with her head on Mamaw’s shoulder.
Darren was replaying in his head the last terrible sounds he ever heard Mamaw make, when a real life noise suddenly broke through the silence of his room.
“Chshhhhh…..chshhhhh…..come in! Come in! Darren! Come in!!” A static-electric voice shot out from under his bed. He reached down there and pulled up a small walkie talkie that his dad had given Suzie and him. They hadn’t used them in forever so it startled Darren. He was surprised the batteries had still worked. He pressed it to his mouth.
“Hello? Hello?” He asked.
“Darren! Hey! It’s Suzie! I’m so glad the walkie talkies still work!”
“I know it’s you silly…” Darren playfully teased, “what’s up?”
“I can’t sleep. I miss Mamaw so much, and Mom forgot to read to me.”
Darren closed his eyes as hard as he could, trying to stifle tears that at this point would be painful to shed. His little sister sounded so defeated, even if in her own sweet little way. He was thankful that she was reaching out to him.
“I know, Suzie. I miss Mamaw too. And mom’s just really sad but I’m sure she’ll remember to read to you tomorrow night.”
“Yeah, I hope so.” Suzie said softly. “I can’t believe mom’s an orphan now.”
“Yeah, I cant imagine how she’s feeling” Darren didn’t feel like correcting her.
“Yeah…hey! Come wave at me through the magic window! Pleeeeease?? We haven’t done that in foreverrr!” She pleaded.
Up until about three years ago Darren and Suzie had shared the room that he used now. When their parents decided that the siblings needed their own personal space, Suzie moved into the guest bedroom right next to Darren’s room, sharing the wall where his tv was put in. Suzie had a hard time adjusting to being alone, so their dad had a small porthole window installed between their rooms, in the back of Darren’s closet. If Suzie was scared she could simply knock on the wall, and Darren would go to his closet and turn on the light and show his face in the little plate-sized window and wave at her. She could clearly see him from her bed and this would make her feel safe. They hadn’t used the porthole window in quite some time, but Darren didn’t see any reason not to use it tonight.
“Okay! I can do that! Give me oooooone second” he said, leaving his bed and walking to his closet, walkie-talkie still in hand. He opened the door, turned the light on, and swiped hangers of clothes out of the way until he saw the small circular window. He leaned down to stick his face in view. All he saw was darkness.
“Suzie, can you see me? I’m here!”
“Yes yes I see you! Heyyyy!” She answered excitedly.
“I can’t see you. Turn on your lamp silly!” Darren teased. A couple seconds later there was a small burst of light and he could see Suzie nestled in her tiny bed, one hand holding the walkie-talkie to her ear and the other lowering from under the lamp.
“There you go! Hey Suzie!” Darren squeezed a waving hand into the porthole so that she could see. She flashed him a big snaggle-toothed smile and sat up, pushing down her light-pink comforter and hanging her little legs over the side of her bed, kicking them in relieved excitement from seeing her hero, her older brother. She was wearing white silk pajamas with a pink heart on the chest. The lamplight accentuated her platinum blonde hair, making it glow like neon against a mostly dark bedroom. All Darren could really see was her and her bed and bedside table, and the blurry shadowed area behind her where her closet was. He was glad she had asked him to use the magic window, though. For this moment everything suddenly seemed just like it was years ago when they were even smaller, when there was no sadness in their lives.
“Yayyyy I’ve missed the magic window!” Suzie softly squealed.
“Me too! It’s been a long long time!” Darren said, using his pajama sleeve to clear up the quickly fogging glass.
“Oh Darren look! Look! Look what I found!” Suzie blurted, before hopping off her bed and to the drawer in her bedside table. She slid it open and reached in, closing her fist around something small. She held up a yellow, translucent stone to the lamplight.
“It’s the special rock rhat Mamaw gave me! I found it!”
“What special rock?” Darren inquired, not remembering ever seeing the thing.
“She gave it to me one time when me and mom and dad visited her! You were sick I think!” She slowly turned the stone under the lamp with her thumb and index finger. Darren could see it gleam and sparkle in all of its tiny, yellow glory. “She said that if I hold it in my hand and wish really really hard, then she would be right there with me! No matter where I am!”
Darren couldn’t help but send a warm smile through the window as he watched how dearly she held the little gift.
“Thats very sweet of her to give that to you. She loved you very much Suzie! Hold on tight to that rock and don’t lose it again!”
“She loved you too! And YES I will keep it forever and ever and never lose it! I’m gonna wish on it really really hard!”
“That’s great! Now listen it’s kind of hard to keep bending down to the magic window.” Darren said, putting a hand to his young, but straining back. “I’m gonna go back to my bed now, but if you want, we can talk on our walkie talkies tomorrow night!”
“Okay! Thank you Darren!” Suzie replied, still holding the walkie-talkie to her mouth and the stone to the lamplight. She hadn’t so much as glanced at Darren since she pulled it out of her drawer.
“Go to bed, Suzie. We have a long day of movies and ice cream tomorrow!”
“Okaaaaay, fine! Goodnight!” She clicked off her light, keeping the stone in her hand and not returning it to the drawer. After a couple of seconds her own little night light flashed on, her having to crane down almost to the floor to plug it in. It cast her room into a feint, sunset-orange hue. Her dark outline gave Darren a wave and then curled up under he covers.
Darren gave her one last brotherly smirk before he removed his face from the porthole and backed out of his closet, fixing his clothes hangers back how they were and turning the light off. He left the door cracked and walked back over and into his bed heavily. He was once again alone with his confused thoughts. The dim blue glow of the room helped soothe him over though, and soon his eyes were closed, his sleepy equilibrium gently rocking back and forth like a boat in a no-wake zone. Soon the intentional pictures in his mind became more obscure and more vivid, and he gradually slipped past the edge of memory and into dreams.
“Cshhhhh Darren!! Cshhh Darren! Wake up! Cshhh Darren wake up!” He was snapped back into consciousness by the whisper-yelling of Suzie on the walkie-talkie. He inhaled deeply through his nose and stretched out his arms before turning and reaching back under his bed and picked up the little two-way. He felt like he had been hit by a bus, having been interrupted from the deepest part of his night’s sleep.
“Mmm…Suzie? What time is it?” He slurred, rubbing his right eyelid with his thumb.
“I don’t know I don’t know! I just woke up! There’s scratching on my door! I think someone’s at my door Darren! I’m scared!” She said desperately.
Darren perked up for a second, but then relaxed once he had a simple explanation for her.
“It’s just Mathilde, Suzie…she just wants to get in.”
Their family’s cat, a large calico named Mathilde, was notorious for acting much more like a dog than your average feline, scratching on and even opening doors using her long limbs and big paws. She did this all the time, enough to where locked doors were seemingly her only true boundaries.
“I don’t know Darren, she always sleeps in mom and dads room. Can you please go look? Pleeeeaaase?” Her softened voice truly sounded unsettled.
Darren banged the back of his head on his pillow out of slight annoyance.
“Ughhh…come on Suzie. I was sleeping so well.”
“Pleeeaaase Darren? I’m begging you! I won’t be able to sleep if you don’t and I’m too scared to look!”
Darren sighed hard, inconvenienced but trying to remember his role as a caring older brother. His little sister was scared and needed to be her hero.
“Okay Suzie, hold on one sec.” he said calmly.
“Oh thank you! Thank you!” She responded with sharp relief.
He slowly got out of bed, leaving the walkie talkie behind, and stumbled to his door, still drunk with sleep. He could only barely see the doorknob in the lowlight. He turned it, before a sound made him freeze and flex his hand on the down- turned knob. Scratching, just like Suzie had said. He leaned in and pressed his left ear to the door. It was similar to Mathilde’s eager swipes, except it was slower and…heavier. Way slower, and way heavier, like someone was repeatedly scraping a rake down the wall. Darren felt his heartbeat pick up. For Suzie, he thought to himself. Hand still flexed on the knob, he slowly pulled his door open, mostly hiding behind it as he did, save for enough room to see the hallway. The scratching stopped before he could squint and get a look at a shadow moving slowly away from Suzie’s door and down the ever-dark corridor. His eyes woke up instantly. He didn’t get a good look, but whatever it was, it was bigger than a cat. At least he thought. He blinked hard and shut his door quickly, stopping and slowing his movement just before it closed so he could keep it quiet. He walked slowly, but way more consciously back to his bed than he was when he left it. He sat on his bed for a moment, unsure of what to tell Suzie. He truly didn’t get a grasp of what it could be. Shadows stretch in the middle of the night and tired eyes are unreliable narrators for the mind. It very well may have just been Mathilde. Picking up the walkie-talkie, Darren made an executive decision.
“Hey! I just looked and it was Mathilde! I saw her run down the hall toward mom and dads room! There’s nothing to worry about!”
“Oh okay good!” Suzie breathed with bone-deep relief, “Silly Mathilde! Ugh! I’m so happy it was her! I thought I had-“ she paused sharply, “I-uh…I’m just so happy it was her! Is she okay? I heard her meow and it sounded like she was sick!”
“She looked fine to me! What do you mean she sounded sick?” Darren asked.
“Her meow was weird! It was really low and sounded like she was hurt or something!”
“Oh I didn’t hear that. She looked fine though! I’m sure she’s okay.” Darren felt strange, like he was making a mistake.
“Okay good! Darren…can I ask you a huuuuuge favor?”
“Yes?”
“Can you read to me? Pleeeease?? Pretty please? I promise just for a little bit! It will be hard to go to sleep but I will real quick if you just read a story!” Suzie asked with sweet desperation.
Darren looked at the clock. 3:17 AM. Ouch.
“I, uhhh…I don’t think I have anything here to read that you would like.”
“It doesn’t matter! Any book will be good! I just fall asleep so easy when I hear someone read. Pleeeaase Darren?”
Well, the sleep was already ruined, but they could sleep in as long as they want, per their parents approval, so Darren sighed and reached into his bedside drawer and felt around. His hand found a small book in the back corner and he pulled it out, holding it to his face in the dim night-light. He exhaled in a small laugh.
“I have The Bible? Will that work?”
“Yeah sure! Oh read Do Not Worry! Please? That’s Mamaws favorite! She used to read that to us all the time remember?”
“Oh I remember!” Darren knew exactly what she meant, and turned to Philippians chapter 4.
“Thank you so much!” Suzie said, already sounding sleepier.
“Sure! Okay…Philippians chapter four…” Darren began. He read to her for several minutes, using one hand to talk to her and the other to hold open the Bible. He read all of chapter four and even got halfway through chapter five. The words were calming to him. The timeless message touched him, making his heart smile softly and made him see his circumstances through a lens much bigger than his own perception. After he realized he had read more than he intended to, he paused, listening for anything coming from Suzie’s end. There was only silence. It was true, she had always enjoyed being read to, and usually went out like a candle quickly, even if it was during the day. Darren felt warm, happy to have helped her fall back asleep. He laid back on his pillow, still holding the walkie-talkie and the Bible in his hands. He exhaled for several seconds before raising back up and putting the Bible back in his drawer. He looked over to his closet. He forgot he had left the door cracked. He decided he would go shut it, and before that he would peek in to the magic window to make sure Suzie was asleep.
He got up and walked over to the closet and creaked open the door. He winced, not wanting to wake his sister up with any unnecessary noise, and silently pushed aside his hanging clothes again. He leaned down to the porthole and stuck his squinting eyes in.
He heard himself gasp as deep as his lungs could hold. The muscles in his chest and shoulders flexed to the point of pain, and the back of his scalp felt like his hair was trying to escape his head. There, in the low orange light of Suzie’s room, right behind her bed, was the silhouette of a person. The sickeningly thin, shadowed outline had arms with elbows raised and hands unnaturally bent to the sides, with bony fingers stretched and locked like half-plucked, black feathers. It’s back was crooked, and it’s head was unnaturally cocked to the left, with a dark cloud of transparent, wispy hair. It was reaching a warped arm down to Suzie, who was laying still in her bed, fast asleep. Darren looked on in horror, shocked into silence, still not having exhaled from his gasp. He kicked his right leg back and his heel caught a shoebox, making him lose his balance and fall backwards and out of his closet. He shot back up and threw himself back to the porthole and pressed his brow to the glass.
There was nothing there. No horrible silhouette, no broken limbs grabbing for Suzie, nothing. Only a comfortable orange glow surrounding a cozy bed, holding a sleeping little girl. Darren exhaled finally, scanning all he could see of the rest of her room in the warm lowlight. He craned his neck to get a look toward her bedroom door. The soft shadows of her room gave way to a tall, slim column of pitch black. Her door was cracked, spilling in darkness from the hallway. He could feel his heartbeat in his neck. No, his eyes had not lied to him. Nor his ears. The only deceit was his own, when he convinced Suzie that the only nocturnal visitor to her room was the cat Mathilde.
Against his own will, Darren knew he had to act. Whatever was trying to get to Suzie wasn’t going to stop. He had to be her rock in this moment. He would go to her room, wake her up, and they would then go wake their parents up, and he would tell them exactly what he saw, even if it sounded insane. His little sister’s safety was far more important than his ten year old ego or his parent’s night of sleep.
He exited the closet and walked over to his door, once again flexing his wrist as to hold the knob down silently. He gently pulled the door open, the dark and cooler air of the hallway washing his face. All he could see was the skinny tower of orange glow through Suzie’s slightly opened door. His mouth felt instantly drier as he noticed dozens of scratch marks above and around her doorknob. Having opened his door wide enough to fit his body through, he weaseled himself into the hallway slowly. Eyes on Suzie’s room, he lowered himself and tiptoed almost halfway there, trying to avoid any unnecessary creaks in his step. When he was almost to her entrance, and could see in to her sleeping peacefully, he suddenly froze. Somewhere far down the long hallway came a noise. A soft noise, yet debilitating to Darren’s already waning sanity. It was a sound he recognized instantly, having heard it both in real life and in his worst nightmares.
A painful groan, followed by a deep, wet, rattling inhale. The sound shot down the dark hallway toward Darren like a swarm of bats. Then came slow, heavy footsteps, like someone was struggling under an almost unbearable weight. “Ca…….lunk……..ca………lunk………..ca……….lunk” Darren’s vocal chords were paralyzed, so the scream he let escape was entirely mental. His legs thawed first as flight mode was suddenly activated and he shot through Suzie’s door like an animal escaping a cage. He slammed the door behind him, and in an instant his little sister was sat up in bed and fearfully alert.
“Darren?” She sweetly squeaked in her disorientation.
“Suzie! Suzie! Listen, listen, you have to listen! You are not safe! At ALL!” Darren shouted as he ran to her bedside. “We gotta wake mom and dad up NOW….we gotta go-“
His plea was interrupted by the now-familiar sound of a scratch at her door, which Darren had slammed shut, but had forgotten to lock. One long, slow scratch, seemingly starting at the very top of the door, stopping about halfway down. Then the knob slightly twisted. Then it was jostled again, turning a little more. Then again, and again, until they heard a small pop and the door just barely moaned open.
Suzie screamed as only five year old girls can; ice cold and as piercing as a needle. She dove under her blanket instantly, forming a shuddering little pocket on top of her bed. Her cries were muffled by the fabric but were desperate all the same. Darren was still standing at her bedside, his mind absolutely scrambling. The door was being scratched open wider and wider, inch by inch, spilling the deep dark of the hallway into the bedroom like so many gallons of oil. In a chaotic instant, Darren reached down and unplugged Suzie’s night light and fell on her bed, on top of the comforter, and put his arm around the shaking, crying little girl under the covers. There was no hiding anymore, but he could still protect her, taking the brunt of the forthcoming attack.
“It’s gonna be okay, Suzie. Okay?” He said, laying on his side and squeezing his right arm around his sweet, scared little sister. The room was pitch black now, and the door had groaned almost all the way open with a dreadful, serrated creak.
“This is all my fault Darren. ALL MY FAULT!” She cried.
“What do you mean Suzie, no it’s not! It’s all gonna be okay.” Darren wasn’t convincing himself but tried his best to console her as she continued to shake under his arm. They were both roaming past the point of sane fear, and as their uninvited visitor entered the dark room, they were shocked into utter, breathless silence.
“Ca……lunk………ca……..lunk………ca………….lunk” The heavy, uneven footsteps began their way across the floor from the door to the bed. Then the horrible, nauseated moan gently called out to the children, following by that deep, painful death rattle inhale.
Darren squeezed his covered little sister even harder. He felt himself sweating hard, and trembling. He clamped his eyes shut until it almost hurt. He only hoped that this monster would take him, kill him, and spare little Suzie. He was happy that even in this probably final moment, he still wanted to be there for her, to be her rock.
“Ca….lunk…….ca……lunk”
The footsteps had reached the end of her bed and were working their way over to the side where Darren was laying. The skin on his back and his neck electrified, chills screaming at him to flee. He resisted, tensing his entire body. Another groan, this time coming from right beside the bed, belted their ears, this time much louder than before, almost triumphant. Darren felt tears falling down his cheeks and tasted salt in his downturned mouth. Suzie was strangely silent, and had stopped shaking. Darren could hear her whispering, too softly to make out what she was saying. Another dreadful moan and painful inhale stung his hearing and painted a frightful picture on his blind eyes. The thing was now standing over him. He began to feel sharp, hard, bony fingers touching his back. He made a noise like a whining dog.
“I take it back! I TAKE IT BACK!!!! I WISH YOU WOULD GO AWAY FOREVER!!” Suzie suddenly screamed from under the blanket. Another bony hand grabbed at Darren’s turned back, clenching spindly fists around his shirt and beginning to pull at him. He just pinched his eyelids shut and gritted his teeth. Another devastated howl cried out to the children.
“GO AWAY MAMAW!! GO AWAY!! I TAKE IT ALL BACK!! I TAKE IT BACK!!!” Suzie screamed, still muffled under the blanket.
Another moan, this time defiant and angrier, escaped from right behind Darren’s ultra sensitive ears. The clamped hands shook at his shirt, stronger than expected. Darren began to feel himself being pulled away from his sister. He fought it, but felt himself losing the will and the ability to hold on.
“GO AWAY!! MAMAW, GO AWAY!!! NOW!!!” Suzie shrieked fearfully, yet with some sense of powerful certainty.
Then the ghastly voice over the children erupted into a scream. A huge, slicing scream, like a doomed wailing of the damned. The bony hands clenched on Darren’s back shook violently, tearing into his shirt and pulling him harshly in all directions. The scream grew impossibly loud, as Darren began to feel himself losing consciousness. He couldn’t bear another moment of this blind hell. Just as he began to feel sharp nails latch onto the skin of his back, the room exploded into light, appearing red behind his clenched eyelids.
“What the HELL is going on???!!!!”
Their mother’s voice shocked their battered ears with sensitive relief. Both parents stormed into the room as if there was a raging fire. The world was still light red behind Darren’s closed eyelids but he could hear the concerned panting and quickly feel his fathers hands on his shoulders comforting him.
“What happened buddy?? What happened? What’s wrong?! What happened to your shirt??”
Darren slowly cracked open his eyes. His mother was sitting on the bed, holding Suzie, who had buried her head in her collarbone. He looked up at his father, who was still rubbing his back and shoulders. His eyes looked confused and exhausted. Darren then twitched as he anxiously scanned the rest of the room, awaiting another ghastly attack from that evil, unwanted visitor. There was nobody else there. Whatever that thing was, it had vanished. It was only his family around him.
“I….I….I…” Darren began, but couldn’t get his screaming brain to calm down enough to where he could speak.
“It’s okay buddy, it’s okay.” His father said as he sat Darren up and hugged him tightly. Darren only now realized how cold he was as he shook and rested his chin on his father’s shoulder. From here he could see the magic window over on the adjoining wall to his room. Through the translucent glass a dim light flickered pale blue. Darren clenched his eyes, not even entertaining the idea of seeing anything else that would further damage his inflamed psyche.
“Suzie, what is this?” He heard his mother say. After a moment he felt his father stir and then pick him up and carry him over to the other side of the bed. He sat them both down and then turned Darren around, still keeping an arm around him. Darren opened his eyes again, seeing his mother with an arm around his sister’s stomach, the other holding the small, yellow stone in her hand that Suzie had been cherishing earlier.
His mother turned the stone in her hand, her face calm, but her eyes filled with surprise and wonder.
“Where did you get this, Suzie?” She leaned her face into Suzie’s, who had her head down, the way she does when she’s being reprimanded. “It’s okay sweetie, I just want to know.” She kissed Suzie’s forehead.
“Uh….I…uh…Mamaw gave it to me. She said it was special, because…because…because I’m special too, just like her. She wanted me to have it. I’m so sorry Mom!” Suzie began to cry and turned back into her mother’s chest and hugged her tightly.
“Shhh…shhh…shhh…it’s okay sweetie.”
Darren looked up at his father’s face. His eyes were glued on the stone in his wife’s hand, which was in half a fist as she rubbed Suzie’s back. The look he gave was a still concern, eerily similar to when a really bad storm was about to come over the house, or when his favorite football team misses a field goal.
“I thought we were past this, Julia.” He said flatly, obviously trying to keep his frightened children calm.
She met his gaze and something lit up in her eyes. She glanced away, bringing Suzie back out onto the bed so they could be face to face.
“Suzie…Suzie…listen to me.”
Suzie wiped her damp eyes and raised her head. She was frowning and her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment.
“Listen to me, Suzie. Your Mamaw loved you SO much. Both of you…” His mother shared a tired, loving look over to Darren, still shivering under his father’s arm. “And this gift that she gave you is very special as well. I’m very glad it’s yours now, but I’m going to keep it for you until you’re old enough to use it the right way, okay?”
Suzie wiped her eyes again and nodded, locking eyes with her mother as her downturned mouth flattened out and even curled at the ends in a small smile. Darren shot a look up to his father again. His face was almost gaunt as his left eyelid twitched, before a long blink of defeated understanding.
“We love you both very much, and we’re very sorry that you’ve had a bad night. But now let’s all go to sleep, and maybe we’ll even forget about this whole thing tomorrow, okay? Do you two want to come sleep with us in our room?” He asked. Darren and Suzie both gave a couple of small nods to their father.
The parents picked up the children and started out of Suzie’s room. Darren was happy to not use his legs, and his body finally began to warm back up as his father carried him into the hallway, his head on his shoulder. Suzie and their mom were behind them, and suddenly the bedroom light clicked off. Darren’s father waited for them and let them pass before slowly closing the door behind them. Suzie had her arms around her mothers neck. The hallway was now darkened but in the silver pre-morning light Darren saw a look of heavy relief on her young face. They walked down the long hall and through their parent’s bedroom door.
“Come on buddy, let’s go.” His father breathed in a deep, sleepy voice.
He slowly carried Darren down the hallway. Head on his shoulder, Darren’s eyes began to grow weary and narrow. As his father walked, the bouncing view of the hall grew longer and longer. Through his blurred vision he saw the crawling scratches on Suzie’s door in the lowlight. He also noticed his own door, right next to hers, slightly cracked open, letting in the fumes of his blue nightlight. As they progressed further down the hall, he could see his door seemingly pulling open ever so slowly, and silently. Darren decided it must be his exhaustion, and turned his forehead down on his fathers shoulder as they made their way through the master bedroom door.
Before he knew it, Darren, and all the rest of his family, were snug under the thick comforter of a king size bed, quietly escaping into the warm oblivion of sleep. Curled on top of them was Mathilde the cat, who’s dreams had been unbothered by the whole affair. In his final moment of consciousness, Darren almost thought he could faintly hear slow footsteps from far down the hall, making their way to the door of the master bedroom, before turning away and leading down the staircase toward the front door of their home.