Eyes peek from underneath. They shift from side to side as his shadow overflows.
Goodnight kisses were given to the young girl before she plopped onto her bed. Off she went, falling asleep quickly in her blanket’s warmth.
He crawled from underneath her bed. His long fingers stretched as he looked down at the young one. He was a leather-skinned, skeletal varmint with intense, piercing eyes. He stood over the young girl’s body, watching her closely. She slept profoundly.
He only watched her. He could not do any harm. His only job was to watch her sleep every night. Time went slowly.
Abruptly, she opened her eyes and gasped loudly.
Nightmares.
He had drifted into the hazy corner of her moonlit room. She noticed her corner. Tilting her head slightly, she tried to make out what was there. Then she got up.
She froze. The air grew cold; her room was dark, only lit by the moon out her window. She was breathing heavily, faster, faster, faster. She carefully grabbed her pillow and, with barely more courage, threw it to her corner. It only fell to the ground.
He vanished.
Or did he?
She heard them, all around her. They crept onto her arms, shoulders, back, and head; it was all around her. Whispers and wisps of the shadows underneath. She turned this way, that way, left, right, left, spun, looked up, down, behind her, beneath her. It was all around her.
Blood.
She woke up again. He was gone. Eyes wide. Sunrise.
