Jake lay in bed staring at the ceiling, hoping to fall asleep before it arrived. There was a steady creaking that he could hear somewhere in the house, accompanied by moaning and the occasional loud bump or laugh. Nothing unusual since his father liked to have females over, but it did make sleeping difficult. He realized he also had to pee, but that was something he should have thought about when the lights were still on. Nothing he could do about it but hold for as long as possible. A task the pup knew was hopeless.
Jake could feel its presence as it arrived. There was no sound or smell of it, just the pure knowing that he was no longer alone. He didn't know where it came from or where it goes. Was there a doorway? A portal? A slip between the cracks of reality? Jake had no idea. All he knew was that during the day it was not there, but at night -- when the lights were out, his eyelids were heavy, and his mind was frightened -- it arrived.
It first appeared not long after his mother passed away. At that time it was a meek thing that hid and barely caused much worry. A curious intruder no more threatening than a moth or a spider. A small noise or a soft creak on the floorboards was the most it would do. When it did finally gain the confidence to venture out into his room it was just a wisp of undefined shadow that couldn't interact with any objects. So dim and misshapen that Jake could easily convince himself that it wasn't there.
Not so anymore.
It always remained quiet at first, allowing the cub to lay there pondering and sweating. Jake pulled the blanket up to his eyes, which darted around searching for the intruder's inevitable appearance. It had rules it followed that Jake was instinctively aware of. Its body had to stay where it arrived, only its limbs could wander. It couldn't make noises loud enough to be heard outside the bedroom. It couldn't damage anything. It couldn't be seen by an adult. It couldn't be in bright light. It didn't get on the bed, but anything on the floor belonged to it, including any feet that dared to wander. The blanket was the most effective barrier against it which it could not breach. However, there were fringes to these rules. The space between the bed and blanket could be accessed, so the cub always kept the bedding tucked up under his body, not allowing it to dangle to the floor where it could reach in.
At one time it would arrive via the closet, but Jake had learned to tie the knobs of the bi-fold doors together with a shoelace before going to bed. For a while that had kept it at bay and it would scratch at the door and shuffle items about in the closet with frustration. Sometimes fingers would ply under and rattle the doors, but forcing them open would break the rules so all it could do was watch him. Jake thought he had won... but it had discovered another way in. One that couldn't be easily blocked.
A small toy car rolled out from under his bed, stopping in the middle of the floor. Jake watched the car with wide, glistening eyes, and his breath quickened. Underneath him he could feel movement press against the bottom of the mattress. The toys and clothes Jake had stuffed under the bed had worked for a little while, but it had learned how to make room for itself. Part of the barricade collapsed out, spilling dirty clothes and several plush dolls, which joined the car on the floor. There was a noise between a sigh and a growl as the sound of its claws slowly tapping the hardwood floor began to ring in the cub's ears.
Click, click, click.
One grey, furless finger emerged from under the bed. A long and grotesque finger with far too many bony knuckles and segments. The claw of the finger searched around, tapping blindly until it touched one of the cub's plush dolls, a little mouse warrior with felt armor and a plastic sword. The finger hooked the doll and dragged it under the bed. Jake could hear the little squeaker in the toy as it examined the doll.
"I CAN HEAR YOU IN THERE!" A voice boomed from another room. "STAY QUIET AND GO TO SLEEP!"
The squeaking stopped. A hiss emanated from under the bed and the doll sailed out, bouncing off the wall.
Click, click, click.
The finger appeared again, this time followed by more fingers. Each reaching out and hooking a claw into the floor to drag itself forward. Slowly the entire emaciated hand crawled out like a giant insect. It had seven impossibly long fingers - each the length of the cub's arm - but no thumbs. The base of the hand was attached to an arm with wrinkled skin that writhed from something moving inside of it. Just above the wrist the hand had a vertical dripping maw that opened between the bones of the fourth and fifth fingers. A mouth with a multitude of needle teeth inside of it that looked more like shards of broken glass than teeth. The mouth gaped to reveal that the opening passed all the way through the hand and the floor could be seen through the palm. The skin on the arm shifted and moved as the tongue that slipped around underneath wormed its way past the wrist. The black tongue came out of the hand mouth, glistening with saliva. It stretched out and ran it's length down each of the fingers, moistening them to its satisfaction before withdrawing.
The hand crawled out further, revealing the arm had an elbow. More arm, and then another elbow. A third, fourth, fifth and sixth segment of arm, each with an elbow bent in a random direction. The arm raised up from the ground until it was looming over the center of the room like a serpent. The back of the hand faced Jake and the mouth quavered and drooled. The fingers all bent backwards, curling over with snaps and pops of joints until they created an inverse fist. The inside of one knuckle split open, revealing a small, bloodshot eye. Then dozens of knuckle eyes popped open, looking around wildly until fixing on the young male.
The cub whimpered and clung tightly to his bedding. It wants him to cry out but things would get worse if he did that. If it reached for him he would retreat his head under the protection of the blanket. Once he'd done that he wouldn't dare remove it until dawn, despite how hot it would get underneath. He would be blind. The ignorance of not knowing what it was doing was almost worse than its physical presence, so he would try to hold out as long as he could.
The multitude of eyes started to water and blink out of sequence. The moisture rolled down the fingers like tears. The tongue came out again and licked at the tears. It let out a hiss and turned toward the nightlight. The eyes shut and the hand folded back into a less painful position as it dropped to the floor. It skittered across the bedroom and a claw snagged the light, prying it from the wall socket.
In the darkness Jake drew his knees to his chest. It would take a minute for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light and in that time anything could happen, and he didn't yet know where the other hands were. He slid himself to the center of the bed to keep all the edges as far away as possible. It can't attack if you're not looking at it. That's another rule, isn't it? If his eyes were closed the darkness doesn't matter, right? He shut his eyes tightly to try to hold out just a little longer.
"Go away. Go away. Go away!" Jake whispered.
For a while it was quiet and all he could hear was his own shuddering breath. He didn't dare believe it was gone. It never left. It tormented him until he fell asleep under hot covers from exhaustion, usually soaked with urine. What it did after that Jake didn't know. Perhaps entered his nightmares to continue the cruelty.
The cub gasped as he felt his fur move. He realized his breathing was far too loud in his ears. It was mimicking his terrified wheezing perfectly, masking its approach. If it was close enough to feel its breath than it was closer than it had ever been to him before. Too close. The rules! It has to follow the rules!
"Please, go away." He mewed.
The breathing withdrew and it adjusted its position under him. The sound of a claw being dragged along the bottom of the mattress was accompanied by a grumble. Then it laughed softly, a horribly dry chatter of a sound. Jake felt a bump from underneath. Then a second, harder one. He snatched onto the mattress to avoid getting bounced off, fighting against the need to scream. A third bump and an unwelcome warm sensation flooded his pajama bottoms.
Then it was quiet again. For a long time Jake didn't move, only held onto the bed as tight as possible while the warm sensation slowly became cold and clammy. His fingers ached, and colors and spinning patterns danced behind his eyelids from squeezing them shut. He tried to control his breathing and relax.
