Bedtime by Therine Aulet

“Its bed time!” I say trying to look stern. He grins at me and races in the opposite direction. “Come on Madden. I let you stay up like a half hour extra.” “Aww, Jordy. No one has to know. Mom and Dad aren’t going to be home for hours. Let’s watch a movie.” I shake my head. Oh no, I’m not falling for it again. I try to be the cool older cousin and then we fall asleep and get caught by my Aunt and Uncle covered in popcorn while the credits roll on a movie they probably don’t approve of. Last time my Aunt told my mother and I didn’t hear the end of it. He grumbles all the way to his bedroom. I pull down the covers and bend to give him a kiss which he skillfully evades.

“Good night Madden. May the bedbugs feast upon your flesh” I say wiggling my fingers in his face. He slaps my hands away and glares. “Real nice, I couldn’t possibly sleep now.” I roll my eyes, “Nice try. Go to bed” He pulls his blankets up around his chest with a silly grin “You need me to check under the bed for monsters?” I snicker. He gives me an unimpressed look “I’m not a baby.” I lean against his doorway, “That’s not what I heard, I heard Mommy still checks under the bed for her sweet baby angel.” I laugh as he throws a pillow towards the door. “Just for that, I’m really not going to check.” I see his back tense as he rolls over. It’s adorable that he still has fears like that. “Love you” I call out as I turn off his lamp. I don’t catch his muffled response as I close the door behind me.

Madden is a good kid. To be honest he is my favorite cousin. We have to stick together against my other Aunt’s three sons. Dumb as sand and not half as smooth. Besides his mom is sort of an over protective shrew so I take it upon myself to liberate him from his kiddie prison every opportunity I get. I had to suck up a lot to become his preferred baby sitter (astonishingly enough I had to provide references- so much for nepotism) but it was worth it because I could use the money and he could use the company of a well-adjusted human being. The kid spends way too much time alone with his parents. I’m not so sure he has any age appropriate friends. Despite our age difference, I consider myself his friend and I can’t wait until he’s old enough to have some actual fun.

About 15 minutes later I hear a yelp from upstairs. I give a little warning call and there is blessed silence for a while. I take the time to update my social media and cyber stalk a couple of frenemies. 30 minutes pass and then I hear him jumping around his room. I have two options, I could go upstairs and fight with, cajole and/or bribe my little cousin back into bed or I can pretend not to hear anything and go back to texting my boyfriend. The decision makes itself when Jeremy sends me another message. He’s such a sweet boyfriend I thought as I played with the bracelet he had just bought me. It was an artsy piece that he bought off a vendor in Manhattan; it’s not really my style but I’m just thankful he remembered Valentine’s Day, let alone got me something that didn’t make me cringe.

My musings are interrupted by what sounds like the window slamming. “Madden, I told you 30 minutes ago to get your butt into bed, “I began as I climbed the stairs. “If your parents come home and find you up at this hour, they’re going to kill me. Then my mom’s going to kill me. Then I’m going to have to kill you champ.” I pause outside his room and listen to the sound of him scampering across the floor. Peering through the open door I saw his shadow dash into the closet. “Madden come on, this room is trashed. Not cool man. Get out of the closet.”

I began picking up the toys and clothes strewn everywhere. Having knocked his lamp out of the wall, I use the moonlight to navigate the space which leads to a stubbed toe and language I’m not proud I used in front of my cousin. I ignore the pain in my foot and bend over to plug the lamp back in drawing in a sharp breath when I realize that the bulb is broken. Biting back my anger, I turn to the closet to drag him back into bed only to find him standing rather close behind me already. “What the hell Madden? You scared the crap outta me. What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing the peculiar expression on his face. “Something’s outside” he whispers. His eyes darted past me toward the window. I chuckled, it really was cute how he was still afraid of shadows and monsters. I remember what it was like to have to sleep with the light on because you were absolutely convinced that as soon as you relaxed in the dark, some long gnarled hand was going to come up from underneath your bed and drag you by the ankles to its lair.

“Oh yeah? Well, we’re pretty safe in here. I’ll make sure all the windows are locked though just in case, alright buddy?” He shook his head and threw my arm off as I tried to guide him to bed. “It doesn’t matter, it knows how to get in. It’s going to find a way in.” I stared at him for a moment-this was decidedly less cute then I had originally thought it was. “What do you want me to do Madden-?” Moving faster than I expected him to, he rushed at me and pushed me towards the window. I lost my footing and nearly slammed my face into the glass before I caught myself. Whatever angry tirade I would have unleashed was cut off by the cold prickle of fear I felt at seeing the very tips of someone’s fingers slip off the side of the roof. For one terrifying moment, I did nothing.

“Jordy?” whispered Madden reminding me of when he was still young enough to be picked up. This little boy is in danger, I thought and it propelled me to move. I shoved him in the closet. “Stay and don’t make a sound no matter what you hear.” I sprang down the stairs faster than I thought possible and checked all the doors and windows. There was something out there. I could barely make out a shape on the other side of the bushes. It might be nothing. It could be some drunk idiot stumbling over himself trying to get home. It could be an animal. Maybe I didn’t see anything on the roof- its dark, I’m tired. I stared out the window intently at the shadowy figure which suddenly shifted and moaned inhumanly. Jerking back from the window, I raced to the living room to grab my cell. I tried to dial as I climbed the stairs and fell hard on my knees; the phone flew over the banister and skittered across the hardwood floor. I could see the shattered screen from the stairs. Really? If ever I could chose a better time to be a cinematic cliché. I took once step back down to retrieve it when I heard a scratching at the back door. Someone was in the back porch. I leapt up the stairs two at a time.

“Madden! Madden, does Uncle Terrance still go hunting?” “What?” He asked, “The poor kid must have been in shock because he couldn’t even make eye contact as he spoke. “Sweetie, I need you to help me. I know your Daddy hunts. He owns guns! Maybe your Dad has one hidden in the house?” He smiled suddenly and I was struck by how inappropriate it seemed. “He has a gun in his office. He thinks I don’t know.” Thank God! I grab his hand in my own and drag him down the hallway to his Dads office. The door has one of those flimsy locks you can open with a credit card. I swear and look around the room for something to block the door. I noticed the phone hanging on the wall. Jesus, they have a landline. Who has a landline anymore? I grab the phone and try for 911. There’s no dial tone. Well, that’s perfect.

I turned to find Madden standing calmly in the middle of the room staring at me as I have, what I am sure, is a heart attack. This poor kid is stuck with me and I have no idea what to do. I hear violent banging coming from downstairs. His eyes widen and he runs at me. He wraps his long arms around me. He’s going to be tall like his Dad. I waste a moment to wish that he was a few years older so he could be a little more useful in this situation.

“Madden, where’s the gun?” I whisper. He points to a closet in the corner and I don’t let go of him as I make my way to our best hope of protection. I only release him so I can root around his father’s closet. I find a box with a combination lock on the top shelf and pray to God that isn’t it. “That’s it,” he whispers. Really? Dammit! I laugh a little hysterically as my sweating, trembling hands nearly drop the box. Something is being dragged up the stairs and I grunts and whines. The noises are getting louder. It sounds like an animal-wounded and terrified. “Your Dad didn’t think this through did he- a gun for protection that no one can get at.” I’m rambling as I try every combination I can think of. It finally pops open at the entry of Maddens birthday. I hear it checking the rooms, knocking things over and making that horrible sound. Of course I drop more bullets on the ground then I get in the gun but by the time its outside the office, the gun is loaded and pointed at the door. I shove Madden behind me and scream out my frustration and fear.

Whatever is on the other side of the door is banging frantically, clawing and moaning. “Shoot through the door!” Screams Madden, finally responding to the danger of our situation. Whatever is trying to get in, uses it whole body to crash into the thin wood that separates us. I squeeze the trigger by accident more than anything else and swear viciously as I realize the safety is still on. We are going to die because I’m an idiot. I take the safety off and shoot through the door without thinking. I clear the chamber before I stop. I’m still pretty sure I only hit it once. The silence is deafening after I lower the gun to the floor. I hunch over to throw my arms around Madden’s neck sobbing hysterically. “Oh my God Madden, It’s going to be okay. Are you alright sweetheart?” He nods in response. His eyes are wide and his pupils look huge in the dark room. “You’re going to be just fine honey. I got your back, always. I’m not going to let anything hurt you” I kiss his cheek and he smiles.

“We should look at it.” I jerk back in alarm. “Um, no. I’m staying in here until your parents come home.” He shakes his head. “We have to see if it’s dead.” He pushes me back and I nearly lose my balance. He wrenches the door open and stands before the body. It’s smaller than I thought it would be. I feel sick and I can barely draw in a breath. His back is rising and falling with each wet breath he takes. He’s still alive. There is so much blood I almost don’t see that one of his legs is covered in bite marks deep and ugly. The skin is mangled and his bare foot is little more than a mound of chewed up flesh- it’s a wonder he got up the stairs. There is a knife on the floor next to him. I’m sobbing uncontrollably now. I don’t understand. I gently pull the boys shoulder so that he rolls onto his back and my mind can’t process what I’m seeing. I’m looking down at Madden’s face. His eyes are wide and frightened. Tears and blood streak his cheeks. His mouth is gone, a layer of skin where it should be. His eyes widen further as he stares past me at…Madden. The Madden I have been protecting all night.

The Madden behind me wraps a surprisingly strong arm around my shoulder and draws me back. I feel his body shifting behind me. It’s growing larger. It’s the oddest sensation to feel his muscles rolling, bones breaking and mending in a writhing mass pressed against my back. The Madden that lays broken at my feet is shaking with muffled sobs. “You did so good Jordy,” it says, Madden’s little boy voice shifting into something deeper, something rasping and inhuman that stabs at me; cold fear like a shard of ice shoved into my belly. I can’t move, I can’t scream, all I can do is be thankful that I don’t have to see what it is. Poor Madden, he can’t look away from what’s happening over my shoulder. Then it hits me- Madden got out the house, came back in for me and I shot him. I begin to cry in earnest, my body sagging in its arms in a mockery of an embrace. “You protected me. You’re my hero Jordy… This was fun, a real adventure but I want to play a new game.” It presses its face to my neck and teeth sink into me just as I find my voice. I scream but it’s too late, I feel something pumping hotly through my veins. I feel sluggish. My mouth feels tight, the skin around it is mending together as if my mouth were an open wound. It seals in my scream and I choke on it. Drawing harsh breaths through my nose. I struggle but it squeezes me in a crushing hold. It rips its mouth from my neck and I feel it shifting again. My stomach rolls and I let out a wounded sound I hadn’t thought myself capable of. Its voice is changing from the sinister rumble to something softer, and very familiar.

When it pushes me down to lie beside Madden I can barely keep my eyes open. “You know, I think I’m going to call Jeremy when I put the phones back on.” It says playing with what looks like my bracelet on what looks like my arm. “I can’t find my cousin you see. Dorky little kid playing hide and seek in the dark- I’m starting to get worried. Jeremy is just the sweetest boyfriend, he’ll be here in no time to help. So very very sweet.” It says as it licks my blood from the corner of its mouth. I hear the smile in its voice. Maddens hand finds mine, sticky and too warm. My eyes are too heavy to hold open. They shut against my will but I hear it get close to me, feel its breath on my face and I catch a whiff of my perfume coming off its body. It hisses in my ear soft and mocking, “You should have checked under the bed.”