The Monster

He walked towards the house with a vengeance. No one else knew about what happened here.

Jonathan wished he was one of them.

First, he lost his favorite toy. This he could do without.

But then, he saw it.

He saw it kill his dog. He was scarred. Traumatized.

Scared.

But after his mom and dad were taken by it, he wasn’t scared. He was angry. He didn’t care if he was just 10. He was going to kill it.

He stopped in front of the entrance. He checked his watch. 2:46 am.

He was tired, but he was ready.

He walked in. And there it was. Waiting for him.

“Johnny, what are you doing here?” it asked with a chillingly nice voice. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to be in bed right now?”

It’s playing with you.

“I just want my mom and dad.”

“We all want something, Jonathan. In your case, it’s your parents. In my case, it’s your last breath.”

Jonathan flinched at what it said.

“But I want to live longer.”

“Like I said, we all want something. But we don’t always get it, now do we?”

“How long could you wait for it?”

Maybe I can reason with it. It seems intelligent.

“I could wait years. But I will be the one to kill you, you got that?”

Okay, here comes the deal.

“What if you come to me when I’m 20? I won’t have my parents to worry about, and I’ll do all the things I want that I can do as a kid.”

A moment passed. Then another. Then five.

Finally it spoke: “Seems reasonable. But why should I trust you?”

Jonathan smiled. “Well, it’s not like you’ll be leaving me, right?”

He thought back to the monster he’d seen under his bed when he was seven. It looked just like this one.

“I suppose you’re right. I can make sure you won’t break our deal.”

“So, can I have my parents back?”

“Of course. And just so nothing’s wrong, they won’t remember a thing.”

*  *  *

Jonathan looked at the house. It was a bright, sunny day.

Ironic, he thought, for what’s about to happen.

He walked into the house, and accepted his fate.

Funny, he thought again. It started out as a way to kill it.

Now it's gonna kill me.