The Monster Within.
- By Jane Serol -
“Hello?” You could hear by something in Delilah's voice that she was scared again, Whether it was the sound of her speaking through her fluffy duvet or the meek pitch of an innocent child’s voice that filled her bedroom, she felt uneasy and frightened.
“I-I’m scared” she whispered, as she crossed her legs and hid herself under the duvet as if there was an earthquake and she had to stay under something to stay safe.
Her mother always told her that if she was ever afraid in bed again or thought there was a monster in her room to not call mommy and daddy, she was told to stay hidden under her duvet, to pretend she was asleep and count sheep until she was able to relax and able to let the sandman drift her off into actual sleep.
“I know I can’t call mommy and daddy again” “I have to be a big girl, I know daddy will be angry if I disturb them downstairs…last time mommy wouldn’t stop cry-“ Delilah shook her head and grunted re assuring herself that all she needed to do was peep her eyes out of the duvet and look at things she liked about her room to prove and show to herself that she’s too big to be afraid of monsters!
Delilah's big blue eyes peeped out from the top of the duvet and scanned her pink princess bedroom. Delilah always loved the colour pink; it's her favourite sweets flavour too! She would always pick out the pink ones in all the packets of jelly or sweets she’d get and give the rest to her mom. Delilah knew that her mom would take any flavour sweet so she knew she could get her mom to finish the rest of them before dad got home. “Dad never ate that kind of stuff but he always drank this red water like drink from those fancy glasses I was never allowed to touch.” She thought to herself.
It always made Delilah feel so happy when her mom would bring her to the little corner store to buy sweets! It always put a smile on Delilah's face and she had always thought it made her mom happy too.
Thinking of all the times that she did that with her mom filled her with determination to fight her fears.
Delilah sighed extremely quietly making little to no noise and in between that sigh you could hear a slight tinge of sadness. Delilah took a deep breath and then noticed the dim yellow lights from the streetlights outside reflect on the walls in her room,
having that little bit of light filled Delilah with encouragement to be less afraid in the darkness of her room. She had always been afraid of the dark since her dad accidentally left her in the basement on spring cleaning day last year. She knew her dad didn’t mean to forget about her being down there because her dad loved her just as much as he loved her mom. Delilah's train of thought was interrupted by the faint scream of a female voice coming from the house… it sounded so familiar… Delilah had lost track of what she had actually intended on distracting herself from because of the reassuring things in her room that made relaxing a little easier for her but that scream made her remember alright. nothing in her room was able to distract her from the fear that she was feeling now. Before it was just the darkness and the shadows that had spooked her, now it all seemed a little too real for a little girl to have to deal with, she really wanted to call her mommy and daddy but she was more scared of what would happen then… rather than she go on hiding under her duvet for another while…
“I know, I’ll think of a song from one of those barbie movies I like and I’ll sing it and it will make it go away”
“Believe, believe, believe your song will hold the key believe believe your song will hold the key…”
“Delilah's peeping eyes returned from underneath the covers to check out the rest of her room and to her surprise things had gotten even worse...
She made noise.
She knew they knew she was awake now.
Her large princess wardrobe had been slightly opened more than she can remember it being before, the darkness within it seemed more petrifying than it ever had.
Delilah began to shake and tremble as when she looked up above her princess curtains there were clear black scratches on the ceiling oozing horror and danger no matter what angle she tried to perceive it.
Slowly and slowly she looked around more but as she did things just kept on getting fuzzier and darker and harder to decipher what was what.
A loud pitch ringing noise filled Delilah's ears making it harder and harder for her to listen and hear, everything seemed mumbled now she couldn’t hear her parents using their outdoor voices indoors anymore it all just sounded like grumbles until all the noise had completely stopped.
Delilah then looked towards her bedroom door, the handle was moving and it was too fuzzy to clearly tell what was going on.
That summer warmth had died down and there was a cold chill on the back of the girl's neck. The kind you get when someone leaves two doors in the house open so the draft is pushed around the house, the kind you get when someone tells you they’re ill… the type you get when you’re at a grave...yard…
A tall black skinny silhouette was leaned over Delilah's bed covering the light from outside that reflected in, crushing Delilah's encouragement to be less afraid, she was indeed more afraid now… the room really was pitch dark none of her favourite pinks could be seen everything was just a dark fuzz now...this stole Delilah’s determination.
Everything Delilah had thought of dissolved in her fear, Delilah couldn’t move. This was different than before, before she was just scared of small noises or little shadows but something about it this time really really made her think it was real, it couldn’t have been a hallucination this time, it couldn’t have been a bad dream…
“MOM-“ Delilah's loud scream was cut off by a hand being raised to her mouth forcefully pushed down on top of her face. Delilah was struggling to breathe, she tried to squirm and wiggle away but slowly she began to lose strength and will, the encouragement and determination gone… all she wanted was to see her mother… The monster had gone too far this time normally he’d watch, normally he’d just scare but Delilah just wanted to be with her mother, Fear had faded away and for a five year old girl that’s a lot but it was as if her mind was calling her. As Delilah made her last attempt to breathe in some air the hand was released from her face, The dark shadow let out a loud crying scream as the sound of glass breaking and a loud thud was all that could be heard.
The lights in her bedroom turned on and while Delilah was gasping for air, she saw her father collapse onto the floor with that red looking liquid but a little thicker than normal coming from his head…
The shadow man had disappeared and behind Delilah's bed frame was her mother with a broken glass vase she had gotten for her wedding in her hands, smashed to pieces. Delilah's Mother had clearly been crying before all of this, for the first time in a while Delilah had seen her mother smile. “I guess daddy really can make you happy mommy” Delilah smiles with the face and mind of pure innocence etched on her face. Delilah's mother's smile started to become deformed and warped as it turned to a face of fear, she dropped the broken vase pieces and walked out of Delilah's room shaking leaving the lights on and leaving Delilah puzzled.
After about an hour Delilah’s father still hadn’t gotten up or moved since she saw him and Delilah’s mother allowed some men in a fancy blue uniform to enter the house. They had those toy guns and circles attached to circles with them… They put the circles on Delilah's mommy’s hands and took her away in the car with the flashy lights. Right before they did that they took Delilah away from the house and took her to her grandmother's home further out of town into the countryside. “Will I see mommy again?” Delilah asked the woman in the fancy blue uniform who took her to her grandmother's house over and over again. The woman just stared at her with her arms crossed and didn’t answer her.
Delilah's grandmother took Delilah inside and let her sleep with their small Yorkshire terrier dog for the night. It was the first time in a long time Delilah wasn’t afraid of bedtime. The very next morning Delilah woke up fully rested and headed out into the kitchen where her grandmother had been making toast. The smell of the toast filled the whole house. There was a woman with her in the kitchen. She didn’t recognise her.
“Delilah love, this woman is going to ask you a few questions about what happened last night, you know… about the monster?” After an hour the nice woman had finished asking Delilah questions and before she left, Delilah had a question to ask.
“Will I see mommy again?” she asked. The nice woman smiled and said “I’m sure you will.”