When Darkness Falls (Short Story)

Chapter Three

Jonathan stirred as the house creaked in different places. She was old and was settling, but this sounded different. It sounded heavy and almost alive.

He leaned up on his elbow. The sounds moved and stopped right above him focusing on Jades room. Jonathan wondered if his daughter had gotten something to drink or went to the bathroom. So he slid out from under the blanket quietly and grabbed his flashlight to take out into the living room where his brother was sitting up on the couch facing behind him.

“You heard it?” Randy whispered.

“Yeah. Did Jade get up?” Jonathan asked. Randy shook his head and rose up with his gun in hand. He had the small pistol stashed away in a box he had tucked away under the couch as he slept just in case he needed to investigate anything and now was his chance.

“You don’t need that.” Jonathan rolled his eyes. “It’s probably Jade.”

“Probably and is, are two different things.” Randy told him as Jonathan had just about made it to the stairs when there was a loud thud and Jade’s voice cried out, “daddy!”

Jonathan and Randy bolted up the stairs and rushed into the room slamming on the lights.

“Daddy!” Jade flew out of bed and against Jonathan crying.

Randy had his gun out and was circling the room. The only thing amiss was the closet door open and he gave it a fast inspection giving it the all clear and making sure her window was locked before putting up his gun.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Jonathan picked her up into his arms. Her breathing fast and tears rolling down her cheeks as her face contorted.

“Honey?” Roslyn’s groggy voice spoke downstairs.

“Go back to bed. We’ve got it.” Jonathan replied.

“What happened?” Randy asked running his hand over Jade’s hair.

She pointed over to her bed and then the closet. “It was in there.” Her voice cracked.

“What was?”

“The rat. It was big. It was in the closet. Then it came out and crawled under my bed.” She cried. Her small body trembled against Jonathan. He tried to hush her.

“I must have left the door opened after checking for the mouse. And it was so dark you probably thought you saw it.”

“No!”

“How about we plug in a night light for you?” Jonathan grabbed her purple Barbie nightlight and put it in the wall.

“I don’t wanna stay in here.”

“You’re too big for my our bed. Come on honey,” Jonathan kissed the side of her cheek. “You’re a big girl.”

“But it was huge!”

Randy raised a brow.

“No honey, you were dreaming.”

“No! I wasn’t. It crawled across the floor and hit my bed.” The pitch in her voice was raised and desperate as her small fingers tightened against his shirt.

“Hit your bed?” Randy looked back to the small twin sized bed. Sure enough, it was moved. The bed had slid over about an inch and a half. He could clearly see by the old markings in the wood floor where it used to sit.

The next question he wondered was if she moved it.

He quickly inspected under the bed.

Nothing.