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 Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:26 pm
Quote: The Monster Under the Bed (5) : There’s a faint scratching under your bed. Maybe you’ve heard it in the nights leading up to now, or maybe it’s just started, but the scurrying noise is starting to drive you mad. What is it? A bug? A creature? Your imagination? If you try to ignore the noise, it grows louder and louder and louder, until it’s practically all you can hear. You can try to ignore it but sleep is impossible. If you’re hoping to get any rest, you’re going to have to investigate–but you’re not going to like what you find. A flashlight under the bed yields nothingness–a darkness so deep that it seems to swallow up all light. The noise is worse but you can’t see anything. But you’re already in its trap. If you try to reach into the darkness, something grabs your wrist; if you try to walk away, your ankle. Its grip is icy and sharp, like being grabbed by knives, and it pulls. No matter how hard you fight against it, it’s stronger–and it drags you into the darkness. You fall, for what feels like an eternity–and then you jerk awake, violently. Maybe it was just a bad dream. But it doesn’t explain the fading red marks from where it grabbed you. When you look again, it’s just your bed–but you have the distinct feeling that something is missing.
Not that Julian took up much space. Compared to Riker, Julian could have been curled up and gone completely unnoticed with how small he was. Riker, on the other hand, had to make sure he didn’t accidentally pull the covers from where they were tucked into the end of the bed as he tried to cover his shoulders.
In an effort to make sure Julian was comfortable with him being there, he offered to put a pillow between them, or even find a comfortable spot on the floor among the seemingly countless blankets that Julian had at his disposal. In the end, Julian always insisted that sharing the bed was fine. Which worked out for Riker because he really hadn’t been looking forward to sleeping on the floor.
And Julian was a lot warmer than having a pillow between them. Riker found that he slept better the closer he was to the person who was quickly becoming his best friend. Not that he’d mentioned that to Julian! He didn’t want to sound weird for deciding something like that when he hadn’t had a best friend before.
So when he woke up to a strange scratching under the bed, it wasn’t so surprising that he’d somehow ended up with his arm protectively over Julian as they slept.
He did his best not to move. He didn’t want to wake Julian up, especially if it was something that could just be ignored.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:43 pm
Julian was a quiet sleeper. He never snored, almost never breathed too deeply. It was like he was trying to disappear into the darkness. He rarely tossed or turned.
He was a very light sleeper.
Every little sound woke him up but it had never been much of an issue. He was usually just conscious for a few seconds and then drifted back to sleep as if nothing had ever happened. When Riker was over, he slept deeply. Maybe not the first few nights, but now he found himself very comfortable between the wall and Riker. Safe.
The scratches woke Julian up immediately but he didn’t open his eyes until he heard Riker’s breathing change just slightly.
He’d been sleeping comfortably under his arm until then, and though he and Riker never talked about how close they got at night, he was always grateful to have a constant physical reminder that he wasn’t alone. He didn’t dream when he wasn’t alone, and he always slept better for it.
…Right now, he wasn’t sleeping.
The first scratch might have been a dream, but the second, more vigorous scratching, made him tense beneath Riker’s arm. He tilted his head to look at him, confused. The light of the television made it easy enough to see some in the dim room. Riker had been so understanding about Julian’s sleeping habits. The volume was turned low, so if you wanted to hear voices, you could, but they were never loud enough to be distracting. A cartoon was on, something easy and safe.
Julian’s silence carried a question–what was that?
The scratches moved from beneath one end of the bed to the other, and as they moved, Julian found himself pressing closer to Riker.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:46 pm
Oh, so Julian was awake too. Riker glanced down at him when he felt him tense, meeting his questioning gaze in the dark.
Carefully, so as not to make any noise, Riker shook his head and tried to listen for where exactly the noise was coming from.
His initial instinct was to dismiss the noise as bugs or mice. They were sleeping above a garage, after all. Maybe Zac’s handiwork wasn’t as good as he lauded it to be. Maybe he left gaps in the insulation and now rodents were trying to make a nest inside the walls and between floorboards.
But something about it didn’t sound like rodents.
As the noise continued, Riker’s patience wore thin. Whatever it was? It was keeping them both awake. He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth, and then reached over Julian to bang on the wall, hoping to startle whatever critter was digging around into stopping.
It seemed to work… at least for a few moments. Now it sounded like it was getting louder.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:57 pm
When Riker banged on the wall, Julian tensed. He held his breath, like he was waiting for someone to start yelling about the noise. He knew this house wasn’t like that, he just always expected the worst.
For a moment, he thought that whatever strange noise was coming from under the bed was gone, but then it got louder so he sat up.
“I don’t know what that is,” he finally whispered, because if there was something under his bed then it had to already know they were there–especially with Riker’s banging. “It’s never done that before.”
Julian didn’t have enough stuff for there to be anything under his bed, either. His room was clean and organized and he took meticulous care of everything. If there were any sort of rodents, someone would have figured it out before now.
Soleiyu was the only one who could fit under the bed, probably, and he definitely wasn’t the type of person to harass them like this.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:57 pm
He hadn’t meant to startle Julian, although he realized he must have with the way he’d tensed. He’d been concerned about getting whatever was making the noise to stop, because he didn’t want it to draw attention to them. Getting it to stop quickly was better than finding out what would happen if they were accused of making all of the scratching noises as well.
When Julian sat up, Riker did as well. He didn’t like the tone of Julian’s voice. Not because it was Julian, but because he didn’t like hearing that kind of worry from someone he desperately wanted to keep safe.
Although every fiber in his being told him to stay in bed, he knew that he had to do something.
“It’s probably just a mouse,” he lied. The sound was too much for a mouse. He suspected Julian knew that as well.
He pushed the covers off and reached for his phone to turn on the flashlight app.
“Stay up here,” he instructed as he tried leaning over the side of the bed to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything. When it was too difficult to see, he turned the phone around to record, hoping that he wouldn’t have to put his feet on the ground to see anything, and did a slow sweep of the camera under the bed.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:58 pm
“Do mice sound like that? I thought they just stayed in the walls,” Julian whispered, a bit more frantically now. He was trying to stay calm but when Riker leaned over the edge of the bed, Julian leaned with him. He stayed away from the edge as instructed, and he was squinting because the brightness of the flashlight was a bit too much for him, even when pointed away, but if there was something dangerous–like a scary, giant, feral rat or something–he didn’t want to lose Riker to the floor.
He wrapped an arm around Riker’s, ready to pull him back if he needed to.
He’d heard mice before, he’d lived in places that were just meant to be a roof over your head and little more. It sounded big enough to be a raccoon. Or a dog.
Neither of which had any reason to be up here.
Julian was talking just to fill the silence, just to try and ground himself, or Riker, or–maybe they were just hearing things! Maybe someone was watching a really loud movie downstairs. Maxim couldn’t have gotten up here , not without Julian noticing. His collar made too much noise, and he was more likely to climb into the bed than try to tear up under it.
There was a lump in his throat because the fear of not knowing was worse than anything else.
And it wasn’t just the scratching under the bed; he heard thumps from–what was it, downstairs? The stairway? The scratching was so loud that he couldn’t tell what he was hearing, or if that was just in his mind, too.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 5:58 pm
He was conscious of Julian holding onto his arm, so he made sure not to lean too far over the edge. He would just reach down and take the video and see if anything came up on the recording.
Except suddenly he let out a startled yelp.
Something grabbed him. Something sharp and painful. He tried yanking his wrist away as he dropped his phone.
“Let go--” he hissed over his shoulder at Julian as he bit back the pain of sharp claws or something digging into his flesh and bones. He was doing his best to keep himself on the bed, and he knew Julian would do everything he could as well, but he was afraid that if whatever this was did pull him over--
What would happen to Julian? If it was just him, he could figure it out, but he didn’t want Julian getting hurt!
There didn’t seem to be any time for argument. Whatever was digging into his wrist was stronger than the both of them, and he suddenly fell himself toppling forward and into the darkness.
He couldn’t tell if he was alone. His heart was racing and he was worried that Julian would get hurt, but while he wouldn’t admit it, he selfishly wouldn’t mind someone with him if he was going to be lost forever in the darkness. It was cruel of him to think that, he knew. How could he want someone else to give up their life to be with him? But in this strange abyss where there was nothing but darkness and falling… falling… he wished he had someone to hold onto. Even if it was just to say goodbye.
But apparently his mind was being dramatic, because then he gasped and opened his eyes to the light of the television. He took just a moment to get his bearings and then scampered away from the bed, searching for Julian to grab and pull to safety if he could in the process.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:16 pm
Let go.
How could he let go when Riker looked like he was falling over the bed? If Riker had looked like he was moving of his own volition, of course Julian would have respected his request, but like this something just seemed wrong.
Riker was gone before he could have even asked. It felt like he was yanked from Julian’s grip before he even understood what was going on.
He waited for a sound, for Riker to hit the floor, but it was just silence. The light on the television flickered, everything was so dark.
Julian couldn’t move. He wanted to lean over the edge of the bed to pull Riker back up but his body felt frozen. It wasn’t fear, he wanted to move. It just felt like he wasn’t allowed to.
The television flickered back on. He had no sense of time, all he knew was that his heart was pounding.
And Riker was next to him again, propelling out of the bed, and–
“Riker!” he blurted, hurling himself towards Riker. He took his hand again, and this time he wasn’t going to let go for anything. “Are you okay? What was it?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:16 pm
Riker immediately took hold of Julian’s hand, tugging him against him to hold, just in case he had to pick him up and carry him off.
His other hand burned. It was still dim in the room, but he could tell that the color of his wrist was darker. It didn’t seem to have any external injury, but it was like he’d been stabbed or something. <********>--” he hissed, angry at himself for letting something like that happen. Annoyed that there were tears in his eyes from the pain in his wrist. Upon closer inspection there really didn’t seem to be any cuts or scrapes. It was just very painfully red.
“Yeah I’m okay,” he choked on the words, lifting his hand to scrub at his eyes, and then shook out his wrist as though that would help with the pain.
“I don’t know, but we shouldn’t stay here.”
He didn’t want to risk Julian being hurt. His wrist was really painful.
“Are you okay?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:32 pm
Julian saw the wetness in Riker’s eyes. He knew he was trying to hide it, because Riker preferred when everyone thought he was strong and unshakable, but Julian knew there was so much more to him than just what he let everyone see.
In the dim light of the room he couldn’t quite see whatever damage had been left on Riker’s wrist but he could tell there was something. The light was really only good for drawing attention to how glossy Riker’s eyes had gotten.
“I’m okay,” he said, but it was hard to find words when he was so busy worrying about Riker. WIthout much thought, he grabbed the blanket at the foot of the bed and began pulling Riker away. “You got hurt,” he said. He was walking lightly but quickly, and his voice was still quiet. It was shakier than before because he didn’t know what was going on or how Riker had gotten hurt.
They could get downstairs and figure it out. There was light down there, and ice, and people who could help figure things out, and–
Julian almost screamed when he rounded the wall to the stairs and there was a ghastly white face standing there.
Zac looked unamused but he had a naturally sour face. “Hey, keep it down, will you? I can hear you banging from downstairs. What are you two doing up here?”
“I’m sorry,” Julian blurted, and without much thinking he’d kept himself between Zac and Riker. He didn’t want Talia or anyone to decide that he didn’t want friends over anymore so the words tumbled from his mouth before he could even think about how silly it sounded. “There was something scratching under my bed, I freaked out.”
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:44 pm
“It was me banging on the wall,” Riker immediately spoke up, not about to let Julian take the blame for something he did. He furiously blinked away any moisture in his eyes and puffed out his chest like he was ready to fight Zac if he needed to.
“I was trying to get whatever is living in the floor to go away, here--” he started, reaching over to turn on the light. Naturally, the scratching had stopped by now, but if Zac was going to get mad at them, then he might as well see what a garbage job he did on the construction of the room.
Of course, with the light turned on, Riker had to blink even more, but he kept one arm over Julian’s shoulder and across his chest -- an unnecessarily protective gesture -- and held out his other hand to gesture for Zac to inspect the bed if he wanted.
In the light, it was clear that something had caused Riker’s wrist to redden and swell from injury. He was again thankful there was no blood, but he didn’t appreciate Zac just assuming they banged on walls for fun!
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:48 pm
Julian’s eyes went to Riker’s wrist at the same time Zac’s did and they were both easy to read. Panic had already spread across Julian’s face when he turned to face Riker, and Zac already knew that Julian wasn’t responsible for that damage. He’d stepped in front of Riker like he was going to protect him, why would he have done that if he’d been the one to attack Riker?
…Well, because it was Julian, and Zac knew he had more empathy than any human should have been made with.
Riker looked spooked. The boys weren’t screwing around up here, they were trying to leave. They both looked like they’d seen a ghost.
“I don’t care about who was banging on the wall. There shouldn’t be anything living in the floor, what happened to your wrist?” Zac asked as he climbed the last of the stairs. He made room so the boys could pass. He wasn’t going to trap them up here, not when they both looked so spooked.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:56 pm
His attention was immediately pulled to Julian, and he offered him a small, hopefully reassuring smile. He didn’t feel like smiling. Too many weird things were happening for him to actually feel happy about anything. But if it kept Julian calm and from panicking too much, then Riker would do whatever it took.
His frown was back when he glanced up at Zac, and then down at his wrist. It looked bad, but not like the still months new scar down his forearm.
“Something grabbed me. Pulled me right off the bed. I was using my phone to try and record what was making noise under there. I wasn’t going to get down on my hands and knees to look if something was going to jump out at me. Guess it didn’t matter, anyway,” he grumbled, glancing back over to the bed.
He’d somehow managed to retain possession of his phone and pulled it out of his pajama pants pocket to hold up the newest recording.
There was a faint glow from the television, but there was nothing but complete darkness under the bed. And then the video stopped abruptly.
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:01 pm
It didn’t matter if Riker’s smile was real or not, the fact that he was trying to reassure Julian was enough to bring him some comfort. He mimicked the smile, and even if it didn’t reach his eyes, he was still trying to put on a brave face. For himself, for Riker. For Zac, even.
Zac just didn’t seem very convinced.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe them, it was just that he didn’t believe their smile. And their story was weird but Julian wasn’t the type to lie about something like that, and Riker was obviously injured. He doubted Julian did it.
Leaning in, Zac watched the video but there wasn’t really much to see. It cut off strangely, so Zac squinted as if he could see more. “Play it again? I don’t see anything under there.”
So no rats, no raccoons. The scratching and banging had stopped but he didn’t see anything else in the room. When Riker replayed the video, there wasn’t much else to see, no matter how hard he stared.
“...I think Evan’s still up, let him take a look at your wrist. Get some ice for it. I’ll check up here and see if I can find anything. You didn’t leave a window open, did you?”
Julian shook his head. “No. I don’t think so, at least. I didn’t mess with the screen at all.”
Zac clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and nodded. “Well, I’ll do a sweep in here so you two can get back to bed soon.” Julian swallowed, and Zac suspected he knew what that meant even with Julian keeping his thoughts to himself.
These two weren’t young enough to imagine monsters under the bed, and even if Zac had come up here to fuss at them for making so much noise, he was more awake and alert now anyway. Maybe it was just one of Julian’s other friends playing a prank or something, he didn’t know what kids got up to these days.
…Riker’s wrist really didn’t look good, though. Maybe he did it in his sleep and scared himself awake? Maybe not. Evan would fuss if he brushed the boys off, though.
“...If you two want to sleep in the living room you can. But I’ll make sure it’s safe up here so you don’t have to.”
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Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:29 pm
Riker huffed when it was suggested that they’d be perfectly okay to come back up to Julian’s room after that. He wasn’t even sure he wanted Zac to be up there by himself, but at least it was easier to see with the lights on. Maybe. He hadn’t tried getting close to the bed again.
“I think we’ll take our chances in the living room, thanks,” he frowned, keeping an arm around Julian to make sure he didn’t get pulled away from him by some invisible monster. He knew it was probably rude to choose for Julian where they’d stay the rest of the night, but he didn’t like what just happened.
He pocketed his phone and--
Hesitated about leaving. He really didn’t want to just leave Zac there, but… he knew Evan would fuss over his wrist, and Julian was already worried, so he gave Julian a little squeeze and released him enough to start heading down the stairs first.
“Be careful,” he warned, although he felt a little silly saying it to Zac who would likely just shrug him off. He took one more moment to glance around the room, and then nodded to Zac before descending with Julian.
Whatever it was, he was sure Zac could take care of it. He would have to thank him properly later.
FIN
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