Monsters

Evan sat on the bed, smoothing down the maroon duvet and fiddling with the little silver knife in his hand. The handle of it was an elaborate pattern of feathers embroidered on a dusky wood and his fingers slid over the familiar grooves with ease. His father had given it to him when he was 15; right after his older brother Tyler was killed.

The coming of age tradition in their town was a little unorthodox and resulted in people were dying all the time now. Half of the youth population ended up dead by 18. The tradition involved slaying the beasts that came to huddle beneath the beds of children when they were little more than a couple weeks old.

Evan clutched the knife close to his chest. Tyler had tried to kill his beast just over a year ago with this very knife. It was the only thing left of him in the morning, but Evan still remembered the screams that echoed throughout the house that night. Evidently, the monster had wanted to prolong his brother’s torture for as long as possible. He swallowed uncomfortably. And now it was his turn.

He stared at the window where the last tendrils of light were pulling back, sucking back into the sun and disappearing over the horizon. His breathing was stilted as he started to hear the first rustles of creature beneath his bed stirring. The room was barren except for his bed; his only tool was this stupid, flimsy knife. How the hell was he going to defeat some insane monster with just a knife? I mean, look how well that turned out for Tyler!

Panic started to claw at his heart and turn his limbs to stone. His hands shook with fear but his grip on the knife never loosened. A soft clicking sound started from somewhere near the foot of the bed. By this point it was almost impossible to see his surroundings, but his other senses were running wild. An odour coloured the air that was impossible to place and he could almost taste the tang of blood in his mouth.

Slowly, a creeping figure emerged from the darkness, its legs rounding the sides of the bed and coming closer and closer. Evan fought back a scream and held his knife out in front of him.

“Get b-back!” He said, trying to sound tough and failing miserably. The creature didn’t say anything. Instead the clicking sound got louder and it came closer. Finally it reared its head in the moonlight.

“Prepare to die,” It hissed. Evan stared in horror.

“Mom?”