1 Prologue

The storm raged heavily outside of my bedroom window and to the mind of a six year old little girl, that was a terrifying notion. Storms acted as portals between the physical world and the world that nightmares came from. The nightmares that hid in your closet or under your bed. Reaching out from the recesses of darkness to grip their crooked claws around you and drag you back to the darkest depths of hell with them. In the end though, the storm always lifts. The sun comes back out to shine across those terrified children as they are comforted by their parents. That is not to be the case though for little Lisa Trusselmen. No, this night, would be the night that would always haunt this sweet innocent girl. This night would be the night that would sear itself into her memories for the rest of her life. This night would be the night that would change everything for her, for the worse.

Lisa curled under her blankets as she hid from the bright flash of lightning. Using her pillow to block the sound of the crashing thunder that would soon follow. For a moment, she peeked out from the covers. Her little body trembled in fear from the storm and contemplated the idea of going to her sister's room, or even her parents, for comfort from the storm. Though when she peeked her head over the edge of her bed, the thought of getting out of it made more fear run through her veins. For a second, she imagined she did just that. Her little feet touching the ground only for some monstrous hand to come snaking from underneath her bed. Wrapping tightly around her ankles before pulling down till she hit the floor and was dragged underneath. Being eaten by whatever creature resided there or dragged down to some other hell to torment the small child until she screamed for mercy. Lisa was a very imaginative child and those dark thoughts placed the images so vividly in her mind that she moved to the center of the bed and hid under the covers. Convinced that the flimsy but soft material would protect her against any horrific beast.

The childish protection helped ease her fear for a moment. Surely, if she could not see the monster the monster could not see her, right? Then she had the brilliant thought of safety in numbers but was too scared to try to venture into the dark to go to one of her family members. She reached out from the blankets and searched blindly around for her small stuffed bear that she had named Sir Cuddlkins. It was a small, dingy looking black bear that had a knights helmet sewed onto its head. Her father had gotten it for her when she had been born and always told her as she was growing up that if she was ever scared to hold him close. No matter what, her little bear would protect her from the scary monsters until mommy or daddy came to banish them back into the realm of nightmares. Finding the bear near her pillows, teetering on the edge of the bed, she quickly grabbed it and pulled it under the covers with her. Already feeling that much safer with the bear clutched tightly to her small chest. Closing her eyes tightly, she squeezed the bear as she listened to the sound of the rain beating on her window. Trying to turn her imagination away from the fact that the rain almost sounded like thousands of claws tapping on the window. Enticing her to come out into the storm with them and be whisked away in its chaos. She started to sing softly, a lullaby that her mother always sang everynight before bed.

Deep in the woods.

Beneath an ancient tree.

Lived a family of elves.

Who truly loved their tea.

Come to the tree and please enjoy the tea.

Then we'll dance in the night.

All the way to the sea.

The familiar song eased Lisa's mind for a moment as she repeated the song softly to herself. Allowing the soft melody to be joined by the phantom voice of her mothers to chase away her darker thoughts. Little by little, her nightmares were chased away, leaving the small child feeling sleepy. She crawled out from under her covers so she could rest her head on her pillow and curl into her teddy bear with an innocent smile on her face. Closing her eyes once more, she started to relax as her consciousness started to drift back into the realm of dreams.

BARK! BARK! BARK!

Until the sound of one of her dogs, a small terrier by the name of Lily, started to bark loudly throughout the house. LIsa opened her eyes for a moment as she glanced at her bedroom door. The small ankle biter was always barking no matter what time of day it was, nor did it matter what Lily was barking at. On several accounts Lisa had caught the dog barking at a stray leave that skittered across the pavement of their driveway. It wasn't a strange occurrence nor reason for alarm. She rolled over so that her back was now facing the door and closed her eyes once more to sleep. Now listening to Lily barking from downstairs in the living room at whatever leave had decided to trespass the dog's view. Her eyes grew heavy once more and she was about to relinquish herself to sleep when again,

BARK! BARK! BARK!

The sound of barks pulled her back. These barks though did not belong to the little terrier, but to their large german shepherd, Alana. The sound of the larger dog's barks made Lisa sit up this time. While Lily was constantly barking, Alana did so very rarely. The only times that Lisa had heard the Alana bark was either when she felt the family was in danger or someone was trying to break into the house. On a couple of occasions, barking and snarling at her father after he left his keys at home and was locked out. Forcing the man to have to sneak in through any of the windows that happened to have been left unlocked.

This made Lisa's heart beat faster once again. Tonight her father had gone to sleep with her mother. Having watched her father make sure that all the doors and windows were locked for the night. Surely it could not be her father trying to sneak back into the house. Her sister, Joanna, was only a couple years older than her. She wouldn't have snuck out of the house herself and her mother very rarely left during the day, let alone at night. So, why were the dogs barking?

Slowly, Lisa pulled the covers from herself and scooted to the edge of the bed. For a moment she was terrified once more of the monsters that could be lurking underneath her bed but her curiosity was far stronger now. She quietly dropped her feet to the soft carpet and approached the door cautiously. Despite her fear, Lisa had always been a curious child and often was warned by her mother about that curiosity. What did she always say again? She couldn't remember as she approached the door. Her shaking hand reaching out for the doorknob when something made her stop dead in her tracks.

The loudest roar that she had ever heard ripped through the house. Sounding unlike anything she had ever heard before even on T.V, or when her sister tried to make her watch scary videos just to make Lisa scream in fright. Nothing could have made such a gut wrenching sound. Not even any of the animals that wandered the woods just down the street from where she lived. No, this was something dark, ancient and purely evil.

This was a sound that came from the very depths of Hell itself.

Her hands went to her ears to protect them against the sound of the roar as she dashed for her bed. Diving under the covers and pulling them over her head as she once more trembled in fear. Lisa could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she trembled in fear. Afraid of what could have possibly made such a horrible sound.

It felt as if the thing screamed for hours until it abruptly stopped along with the dogs barking. Plunging the house back into a still silence. Lisa hid under her blankets, terrified that if she came out she would be grabbed by what ever terrible monster had made that sound. She just had to wait until her parents came rushing in. They couldn't have slept through something so loud, could they? She waited in tense silence for the sound of her parents thunderous steps to come rushing to her room. Hoping that they would burst through the door and grab her to take her somewhere that was safe, but nothing happened. The house was just as still and silent as it had been before the dogs had started barking. Peeking out from her covers, Lisa turned to look at the small Hello Kitty alarm clock that sat on her nightstand.

3: 55 A.M

It was almost morning, so why hadn't anyone started to stir at the sound of the roaring? Maybe it was because of what her sister had told her about just a couple days ago. A stretch of time between one and four in the morning known as the witching hour. Where demons, monsters and other creatures of the night could travel to their world and wreak terror and havoc on unsuspecting humans awake at that time. According to her alarm clock, she only had five more minutes until it was over. Maybe whatever had made the sound wouldn't come this way, or at least not until the witching hour had passed and would be forced from whatever nightmare it had come from.

That hope was dashed away by the sound of something rattling.

Peeking out from her covers once more she looked at her door only to find that the knob was wiggling furiously in its place. As if something was struggling to turn it and open the door. Every nerve in Lisa's body was telling her that it was neither her parents or her sister that was trying to get it, but something she wanted to stay out. She glanced at the clock again quickly, afraid to take her eyes off the door for too long.

3:58 A.M

Two more minutes, she just had to wait two more minutes and the monster would have to go away. No monster can be around after the witching hour has begun and that end was only two minutes away. That hope was ripped away though when the sound of the jiggling stopped to be replaced by the quiet creak of the door opening. She didn't take her eyes off it for a second, staring into the pitch black darkness that filled the hallway as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Funny thing about darkness though, is that you may stare into it but there may be something staring back.

Two glowing green eyes appeared out of the darkness, as if they had been closed and had finally opened to look into the room. They hovered high in the air, not a trace of white to be seen. Just that eerie glowing green white pupils slitted like that of a snake. When her eyes met them they changed a deep bloody red and a smile materialized from the darkness as well. Its teeth were sharp and jagged, almost like sharks but somehow more menacing. Something red was stained across them and it took a moment for the child to realise what exactly the red substance was. Blood, bright red, fresh blood.The door opened wider as it stepped into the room. Towering above Lisa as it watched her but the creature moving finally snapped LIsa out of her trance.

Lisa snapped the blankets back over her head. Hoping, no praying that whatever this thing was it would lose interest in her and go away. Hot tears pricked the corner of her eyes as she listened to its lumberings teps get closer and closer to her bed. The sound of something scratching across her nightstand and Lisa couldn't help but imagine the source being a set of twisted claws. A dark shadow appeared over her blankets, further plunging Lisa into darkness. The terror in her made her veins freeze with ice as she froze. Holding her breath as if she could vanish if she didn't move or breath. The shadow of a single claw rose up over the covers before it started to come closer. Gently pressing its finger there, it traced down her sheet. Not hard enough to tear the fabric but enough to make a slight hissing sound as it passed over her face. A shiver went down Lisas spine as she saw those claws tearing the blanket away from her so the monster could lunge and devour her whole. Dread filled her as she watched the hand reach for the top of the blanket before suddenly the fingers lifted away from her. The shadow stood there for a moment longer before it too, in a blink of an eye, vanished.Taking with it the feeling of anyone else being in the room. For a moment Lisa laid still under her covers. Counting her breaths as her ears strained to hear anything that could tell her that the creature was still there but all was quiet. Taking a deep breath to steal her nerves she peeked out from under her covers and looked around her darkened bedroom.

Whatever that creature was was gone now. Her door firmly shut once more as if nothing had happened. She stared at it, expecting it to fly off its hinges and the monster to come barreling through. Jagged fangs bared and claws poised to tear her insides out for the world to see. Sitting frozen in her spot, Lisa took a deep breath before gathering the courage to rise out of her bed, against her better judgement. She slowly approached her door once again, wrapping her hand around the freezing door knob. Taking another steadying breath she opened the door and the minute she did Lily and Alana came rushing into the door, whimpering and crying. They jumped onto her bed and curled into a small huddle. Their keen eyes trained on the door as if they were expecting something to come charging in after them. Turning back to the door, Lisa peeked her head out and looked down the dark hallway.

The walls had deep gouges in them. Something having pressed hard enough into the walls to make some of the plaster to come loose and drop to the ground. No doubteldy having been caused by the creature. Not seeing anything there, Lisa became a bit bolder and stepped out into the hallway, looking down both ways. There was nothing there, not that she could see before she turned towards her sisters room. The glowing eyes appeared again with that same jagged smile that struck fear into Lisas heart. She rushed back into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Throwing herself on the bed but not before she had managed to slam her ankle against the metal bed frame. Ignoring the flash of pain she curled up with the dogs and the small terrified trio watched the door with the eyes of an eagle. Not getting one more blink of sleep for the rest of the night.

************

It wasn't until the sun was up and Lisa had already heard the rest of her family moving about for the day that she emerged from her room. Cautiously looking both ways down the hallway before she made her way downstairs. Lily and Alana had stayed with her the whole night and still did not leave their side. As if they knew that she too had seen what they had and it had frightened her just as much as it had them. Making her way to the kitchen, she found her mother already finishing up cleaning up her mess from making waffles. Her father seated at the table with a coffee and newspaper as Joanna happily ate her breakfast. Having smothered her waffles in melted butter that dripped down the sides and a pool of syrup resting on top. Her mother had looked up as Lisa entered and gave her a warm smile. Not a hint of evidence that she knew what had occurred in the night.

"Good morning Lisa, did you sleep okay honey?" She asked as she started to fix a plate for her youngest daughter. Placing a stack of waffles on the Lisas plate, aware of the child's monstrous appetite.

Lisa only stared at her mother before she turned to look over her father and sister as well. They all looked at ease, as if they had no clue of the events from the night. She shook her head slowly as she made her way to the table and pulled a chair out for herself. Just enough so that she could wiggle herself onto the hard wooden chairs.

"Did you guys….hear anything strange last night?" Lisa asked as her mother set the food in front of her. Her mother looked at her confused before she shook her head.

"No, nothing at all. Are you feeling okay LIsa? You look like you didn't sleep all night?"

Lisa only shook her head as she turned her eyes to the waffles in front of her. For a moment the syrup looked red. As red as the blood that had been smeared across the teeth of the creature from the night before.

"There was a monster in my room last night. It had scared the dogs and it was going to eat me before it vanished." She looked at each member of her family, searching for any sign that they too had known what had happened, "It roared so loud it shook the house."

Her father looked up from his newspaper at Lisa at this tidbit of information. His reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose that made him have to look over the rims to look at his daughter properly.

"It was probably just the thunder that you heard last night Lisa. You must have had a nightmare".

"No daddy, it was real. It scratched the wall in the hallway." Lisa protested to her father, not believing that they hadn't heard anything.

"You always had a vivid imagination LiLi. You probably dreamed the whole thing up" Joanna said around a mouth full of waffles, earning herself a small disapproving look from their mother.

"No, it was real I saw it!" Lisa turned to her sister, knowing that already she was going to start an argument.

"Oh yeah, just like how you thought you saw a werewolf in the woods last month. Or a deer walking on its hindlegs the month before?" Joanna teased knowing she was getting a rise out of her sister.

"Joanna don't start," their father warned quietly but Lisa had already been provoked.

"I did see those and I saw this too! I can prove it!" She yelled at her sister before she stood up and rushed from the kitchen. Heading back to the hallway where she had seen the claw marks.

"Lisa come back and eat your breakfast!" her mother called as the rest of the family stood to follow her.

Lisa rushed up the stairs, her footsteps making loud thuds as she climbed them before reaching the top and rushing down the hallway. Her family closed on her heels but at a much slower pace. When she got to where the claw marks had been she stopped dead in her tracks. Not wanting to believe for an instant what she was seeing.

There was nothing, no claw marks, no plaster littering the ground. Just a clean unmarred wall that mocked Lisa. As if saying that she really did imagine the whole thing or that she was going crazy. Her family came up behind her and looked at the spot that Lisa was staring at in confusion.

"Nice wall Lisa but when are you going to show us the proof of your monster" Joanna goaded.

"But...it was here. There were huge scratches on the wall and a bit of it was on the floor. Did anyone clean it up this morning?" Lisa turned to the rest of her family with wide eyes, pleading for them to believe her.

"Joanna enough." her father scolded her sister making her shrink back at the reprimand as he turned back to Lisa. He knelt down on the ground and put a hand on Lisa's shoulder gently.

"There was nothing here Lisa. It was just a bad dream and remember what we said about bad dreams?"

"But daddy there really wa-" Lisa started but her father cut her off.

"It was just a dream Lisa. What did we say about bad dreams?"

She stared at her father, internally begging him to believe her but his gaze remained unyielding. Glancing back at the wall, then down to the floor, Lisa gave a heavy sigh as she ducked her head, her voice soft and defeated.

"They're not real. The sun chases them away in the morning and it's all in my head".

"That's right Lisa. Nightmares aren't real and when the sun comes out it chases the bad dreams away while we chase the bad feelings away." her father smiled as he pulled his daughter close into a small hug.

Lisa only stood there in her father's arms. NOw wanting to believe for a moment that she had dreamed the whole thing up. The dogs were still by their side and looked up at her with a look of deeper understanding. They had seen the creature too after all and they were just as afraid of it as she was. After a moment her father released her and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Why don't you get changed out of your pj's and then come down and have some breakfast. I'm off work today so I'll take you to the park okay?" Her father smiled at her and Lisa could only give a half hearted one in response.

The family made their way back downstairs to finish their own breakfast as Lisa walked back to her bed room. She shut the door quietly and started pulling out clothes for the day to get changed. When she pulled her bottoms off though what she saw made her freeze.

In the same spot she had hit her ankle against the bed frame was a large dark bruise. The swirls of black, blue and purple almost felt like taunting to Lisa as she stared down at it. She remembered that she had hit her ankle against the bed frame last night when she had ran back into her room. Leaning down, she gently poked the bruise and whimpered as she felt a small flash of pain.

The bruise was real.

Which meant what she saw last night was real.

There had been a monster in the house.

It had been in her room.

It had tried to get her but was chased away when the clock struck four am.

So what had happened to the claw marks in the hallway?

How come her family didn't seem to hear or see anything last night?

What was that thing last night?

Lisa found that she wasn't very hungry but knew she would have to go downstairs anyway and eat. Least her mom start to worry and start shoving food down her throat at any opportunity that she had. She took her time getting dressed before she headed downstairs and as she was walking down the stairs she remembered the saying that her mother always told her whenever she became too curious about something.

Curiosity killed the cat.