Under the Bed

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. A girl emerged from inside the cabin. It was a chilly spring night. The black sky covered in hundreds of stars, all twinkling looking as if they were winking at the eight friends huddled near a camp fire.

The fire crackled loudly. “Okay,” said the girl as she took a seat on the log next to a boy and handed him a flashlight. “Now it’s Nicks turn.” She said. Nick grabbed the flashlight eagerly, and clicked the button, turning the flashlight on.

He held the flashlight under his chin, casting an eerie shadow across his face, he smiled. “My story is called Under The Bed.” Loud groans can be heard coming out of his friends mouth. “Are you serious? Under the bed?” Said a boy. “Just listen,” said Nick. “I promise it’ll be good.” The friends murmured and rolled their eyes but quieted down, waiting for him to start.

“It all started with a mom and her son.” Began Nick.

“Okay kiddo, time for bed.” The women said as she put her magazine down and stood up, walking towards the stairs. She turned to the boy and waved at him to follow her.” The boy who was playing with his toys stood up, grabbing the hem of his shirt nervously. “But mommy, I don’t want to go to bed…it’s scary.” He admitted.

The mother looked at him confused but decided to play along. She walked towards him and crouched down to meet his eye level. “And why is it scary?” She asked him.” He looked around, as if someone might hear him. “Theirs someone under my bed.” He whispered with big blue eyes. The mother sighed not of annoyance but amusement. She never understood why kids were afraid of what was under the bed or the closet.

She looked at him and smiled. “Look, how about if I tuck you in and see what’s under the bed,” she said as she held his small hands in hers. “Maybe it’s a nice person.” She said, trying to reassure the boy. But he was hesitant, but gave a small smile. “Okay, mommy.” He finally said. The mother grinned. “You’re so brave. And for that tomorrow I’ll buy you some ice cream, hm?” He let out a small giggle and nodded.

“Nick, come on! That’s not even scary.” A girl interrupted.

“Let me finish the story.” He said before he continued.

The mother and the boy walked up the stairs unto the hallway, that’s when the boys hand started shaking and his pace slowed down. The mother looked down at him. “Kiddo? Are you okay?” But he didn’t answer, instead he fell behind his mother hiding behind her.

How strange she thought. He wasn’t one to scare easily. Was there someone really under his bed? There couldn’t be, she would’ve known. But there was a slight doubt deep inside. When they arrived at his door, she opened it cautiously. The room was cold, colder then usual. She flicked the light on. Everything seems to be in order. She looked at the bed that was neatly made. The blanket being to big, draped down inched from the floor, covering the opening.

She let out a breath. “Okay, let’s tuck you in,” she said but he didn’t move in inch, his eyes were glued on the bed, his hands visibly shaking. She tried grabbing him but he yanked his arm out of her grasp. “Mommy, please don’t.” He whispered but he didn’t look up at her, his eyes were still on the bed. Now this is weird she thought. “Kiddo,” she said leaning down. “I want to know what’s under the bed.” She asked quietly.

This time she was serious. He looked at her then quickly looked at the bed again. “I-I don’t know, he’s just there.” He whispered, pointing to the bed. He? She looked back in forth between the bed and him. “I’m going to look under the bed, okay?” He didn’t say anything. She slowly crouched down, her heart beating hard against her chest. She lifted the blanket and saw,”

“What! Saw what!” Another boy interrupted. Nick let out an annoyed sigh. “Maybe if you let me finish the story, then you’ll see what she saw.” The boy put his hands up in defense. “Sorry, keep going.”

“She lifted the blanket and saw her son.” There was confused murmur going around. Nick continued. “Her son was under the bed. The women sighed in relief. She smiled, “kiddo don’t sca-“ she turned around to see her son was still standing near the door. His eyes looked at her, fear clear in his eyes. “Did you see him?” He whispered in a trembling voice. She could feel herself trembling now.

She slowly looked under the bed again to see the boy who looked like her son sprawled on the floor, smiling. But his smile was terrifying, his teeth were sharp, the corners of his mouth stretched almost touching his ears and talked with a voice that sounded like her son, only distorted. The words that came out his mouth chilled the mother to her core. “There’s someone on my bed, mommy.”

“The end!” Nick shouted, his voice echoing into the night. The friends jerked up by his sudden shout. “So, what did you think?” He asked. The friends looked at each other.

“That’s it?!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?”

“It can’t end that way!”

“What happened to the mom and the boy?”

Nick only shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“You’re the one that came up with the story!”

“Alright, alright, alright.” The girl said standing up. “It’s getting late. Let’s go to bed.” She waved for them to follow her to the old cabin. They groaned as they stood up.

“Well, that was a cliffhanger.”

“I really want to know what happened to them?”

“They probably got eaten or something.”

“I’m going to look under my bed tonight.” One said. Laughter irrupted from the group of friends.

“Now that I think about it, there was a murder that took place and it was similar to that story.” A boy said.

“You’re joking.” Another said.

“I’m not kidding. It was when I was younger, maybe about ten or twelve years old. A mother was brutally murdered but only the son survived. Apparently, he was hiding under his bed.”

“He’s just doing that to scare us.”

“Am not.” He argued.

But none of them noticed Nick, who was falling behind them, smiling. But his smile wasn’t normal. In fact, it was terrifying.