Half-Baked Ideas

Past Your Bedtime

Anya had just fallen asleep. She jolted awake in her bed with a vague sense of uneasiness. The thick darkness that covered her room was only alleviated by a small break in the heavy curtains guarding the window, which allowed only the slightest sliver of moonlight to filter in. She pulled her sheets up to her chin. Her faithful teddy bear companion flopped over onto her lap and she scooped him up, desperately burying her hands into his fur. Still, the uneasy feeling prevailed.
Mommy had put Anya to bed hours ago, but she had stayed up and played with her toys, anyways. She had just gotten a new doll and there was no way she could possibly sleep without having the other dolls meet her. Apparently, the doll wasn't the only thing preventing her from sleeping.
In the thick, heavy darkness that blanketed the room, Anya couldn't even see her pile of dolls or well-loved dollhouse. She could barely make out the teddy bear she clutched so close.
She shuddered, but couldn't figure out why.
Anya had decided that a glass of water might help her go back to sleep, and carefully slipped out of bed. The soft carpet that covered her floor felt strange in the dark. She certainly hadn't noticed that while playing earlier.
She crept down the hallway, more by memory than sight, and felt up the wall for the handrail to help guide her down the stairs. Anya had never held her teddy bear so tightly before and she was worried she might hurt him, but she decided he would forgive her in this case.
She wasn't sure exactly how many stairs were in their home, but Anya was pretty sure she had been on the stairs for much longer than she had ever been before. She placed one little sock covered foot down firmly on the stair below her, desperately feeling for it and hoping not to lose her balance, before carefully bringing the other to a close.
A strange smell wafted up the stairs. Anya didn't know the name of the smell, but it made her stomach turn. With this smell came even stranger noises. They sounded wet, like toys for the bath or shoes for the pool.
After what seemed like hours of carefully maneuvering down the stairs, Anya and her teddy had made it to the landing. The wet noises and strange smell only strengthened as she finished her decline. Firmly holding her teddy in both arms now, she set her feet on the floor and immediately felt her socks get soaked. Anya drew in a sharp breath. It was like the time she had spilled juice on the floor and forgot to clean it up, but this was thicker than juice, and smelled sickly.
The kitchen was in sight, all she had to do was get some water and then she could go back to sleep. Every nerve in Anya's body screamed at her to go back upstairs, but she had felt similarly the other times she snuck out of bed. This just felt much stronger, which she assured herself was because of the strange darkness that had yet to cease.
The noises, she realized, weren't helping. The room was filled with strange clicking noises that she couldn't quite place, but Anya knew she had heard them before. It was hard to think with all the chittering and strange flitting noises. Everything sounded so busy and her skin was crawling. Anya tried to gingerly step back onto the ledge when something large flitted right across her face, causing her to cry out. She fell backwards and managed to catch herself on the landing by her elbows, but at the expense of throwing her bear out of sight. Tears welled up in her eyes.
What little light that had managed to follow her had only filtered through the little window above the sink where Mommy washed dishes. This light was immediately lost and any familiar shape the room may have held was taken with it.
"Ah," a horrible, scratchy voice somewhere hidden in the darkness called out. "A child!"
Loud, skittering noises immediately scrambled towards a frightened Anya, who was too petrified to move.
"Hello, my d-d-d-dear," the voice said, dangerously close to where Anya lay whimpering. "And what are you d-d-d-doing so late out of bed?" The voice was harsh and rusty from misuse, tripping over harsh sounds like a gear stuck in place.
Anya gulped hard and fought back more tears. "I just wanted some water," she managed to mumble weakly.
"Some water!" It cried over the sounds of the room. "P-poor child!"
Another something slapped into Anya's leg. She didn't dare move this time. She could feel it crawling near the top of her socks and she realized she did remember what the noises were, after all. It sounded like bugs.
"P-perhaps, we could be of assistance," the voice loomed closer. Anya could feel the heat of it's breath on her face, and could make out horrible, wide eyes. They were loud and wet when it blinked.
The mouth that manifested below the eyes held salivating jaws that opened too far when it attempted to speak, allowing her to see dozens of pointed teeth.  They welcomed her like barbed wire wrapped around a fence.
Anya let out a cry and was immediately met with the force of countless bugs that swarmed towards her mouth and suffocated her as they all tried to crawl deeper. Their legs desperately climbed across her face and tried to pry her lips apart again.
"Ah, ah, ah," the monstrous creature in front of her tutted. "We wouldn't want Mommy and D-D-Daddy to know you're up past bed time."
A slithering mass lumbered towards Anya and wrapped her tightly, squeezing and layering itself from her socks to her chest. Thousands of scratching legs clawed into her skin, preventing her from squirming or moving at all. Anya was encased.

The little stuffed bear lay alone on the floor, soaking up the strange and foul smelling liquid. No one would find it until morning. The same could not be said for Anya.