Venom

            “If I should die before I wake, I pray my lord my soul to take. Amen.”

Little Lisa Grabets finished the prayer and graciously climbed into her big fluffy bed, helped by her mother. Ann tucked her daughter underneath the layers of sheets and blankets then turned the gas down on the lantern next to the bed. She tugged at the long braid of graying hair which hung over her shoulder and pecked a kiss on Lisa’s forehead.

“Sleep tight, okay? Need more covers? You warm enough?”

Lisa shook her head and settled into her pillow, comfortable and content as could be. A thump against the wall made Ann turn and stare out the window. An old tree, now bare of leaves, rattled against the house, its thin limbs shaking as if in protest to the bitter cold wind. The barren desert surrounding the battered farmhouse the Grabets called home whistled and whirled, making little dust devils. A stray tumbleweed skipped lightly but quickly across the dust. She turned her gaze back to Lisa. Lisa stared troubled out the window, her blankets up to her chin. Ann sighed.

“I’ll close the shutters tonight.”

She got up but a sound escaped from Lisa’s mouth that sounded somewhat like a mix between a grunt and a whine.

“No mommy. I won’t be able to see.”

“Sweetie, there’s nothing to see. Shut your eyes and go night-night.”

“But mommy…”

Ann let another sigh escape her lips. It had been like this every night since they moved out to the Nevada hill country a year ago. Away from the city lights, the car honks and loud party music, Ann actually considered the move a good deal. She just wasn’t cut out for the city life. Unfortunately, being a single mom but wanting a fast track to a lucrative career, the tall skyscrapers and suits hadn’t been able to offer her much of anything but more stress and less time with Lisa. She felt her little angel had been resenting her for that.

But at least she had slept better in that apartment. Out here, where life was supposed to be calm and peaceful and quiet, so far it had been anything but. Night terrors, she called them. Lisa’s night terrors were not much of a thing before the move. Ann contributed them to being in a whole new place, isolated as could be, away from the car honks, the party music, the blinding God damn city lights. Perhaps they would go away as soon as Lisa got settled into homeschooling and no electricity and cold sandwiches for supper every night. Ann admitted several times a day to herself that it wasn’t a good decision, but the country was what she knew. She had been raised hard by her father on a pig farm in Montana. All the backbreaking chores which had come with it taught her self-discipline, how to work with her hands, how to work hard so that she could further appreciate the little time she had to play. Of course she had hated it and fought her father every step of the way. He beat her into submission. She forgave his hard hand, knowing now that it had actually been he who had sacrificed.

She often sat on the porch swing and wondered what it was going to be like for Lisa. She was not yet old enough to help around the farm, but one day she would have to. Ann often thought when that time came that it would be much like it had been for her and her farther. She could never be so rough on Lisa. She knew she wouldn’t be able to make the sacrifices her father had made for her. When thoughts like these crept into her mind, the tears welled in her eyes, but she would always be quick to wipe them away for Lisa’s sake. She had to be strong for her, not heavy-handed strong like her father but mentally strong. She had to make Lisa believe that everything would work out in the end.

“I won’t be able to see it,” Lisa whispered.

Ann snapped back from her thoughts and stared concerned at her little angel. She knew the “it” which her daughter spoke of. Something with huge green eyes with slits for pupils. Or hair coming out of the ears. Or huge slimy fangs. “It” was the boogey man, the monster that lies in wait underneath every child’s bed. A child’s imagination still amazed Ann even though she could relate to it, having seen her fair share of monsters and things in that stirred in the darkness of her own bedroom when she was little. She had cried and cried and cried for her daddy to chase them away, but he had never answered her. Many a sleepless night she had had, covers up to her chin, staring wide-eyed at the dark shadow in the corner, certain that she saw something there. As she got older, she gained the courage to finally close her eyes and never open them, never look at that thing in the shadow ever again. A few nights of successful sleep had cured her of her night terrors, because there wasn’t ever anything there in the first place.

“There’s nothing to see, honey.”

She put her hand over Lisa’s eyes, forcing them closed.

“Remember? There’s nothing to see if you keep your eyes closed.”

“I know…” Lisa said softly. She didn’t sound convinced.

Ann pecked her a kiss on the forehead once more. She got up and before exiting the room, looked back at Lisa. She was forcing her eyes to stay shut, trying not to peek. Ann held back a smile, praying inside that Lisa would get a good night’s rest for once. As she shut the bedroom door, she was plunged into an inky blackness which didn’t faze her in the slightest. The ancient farmhouse hadn’t had electricity for quite some time, and even when the power did manage to surge back on it was only for a little while. The incessant blinking had annoyed Ann so much that she had taken out all the bulbs in the house. She thought it better for things to be consistent, reliable and stable.

She felt her way to the master bedroom and immediately stole underneath the covers to knock the chill from her back. Her teeth chattered underneath her tightly shut mouth and she shut her eyes tight, trying hard to keep them closed. But thoughts kept drifting back and forth rapidly across her mind and she gave up trying to sleep, sitting up and staring blankly out the large double windows. She took great comfort in knowing how cold it was on the outside and how warm and cozy she felt in her bed. She let the calmness and warmth drift over her and within minutes was fast asleep.

 

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A shriek filled the house. Ann bolted upright from her pillow and immediately made her way to Lisa’s room. The night terrors. The God damn night terrors! She burst open the bedroom door only to find the bed completely empty. She suppressed a thought dwelling within her that something had come and taken Lisa and stole off into the night. Oh dear God, please no. But out of the corner of her eye she spotted her.

Lisa sat trembling in the corner furthest away from the window, her hands on her knees, staring petrified at something outside. Ann hurried over to her and brought her into a tight hug, rubbing her back and trying to stop the shaking.

            “It’s okay it’s okay it’s okay,” she repeated over and over.

            “I saw it, mommy, I saw it,” Lisa moaned into Ann’s shoulder.

Ann instinctively followed her child’s frightened gaze towards the window. The wind had died down a bit and the clouds had drifted past the moon, allowing its light to penetrate inside the bedroom and cast long shadows everywhere. But she could detect nothing other than the barren desert.

“Don’t let it get me, mommy.”

“Calm down, sweetie, just calm right down,” she said as she rocked Lisa gently.

Ann stared at the shadows on the floor. A stray cloud drifted past the moon, transforming the shadows into odd, grotesque shapes. Ann shuddered. It was easy to see what had scared her little angel so. Hard as she tried, Ann couldn’t help but see monsters in those shadowy shapes. A hand with long, bony fingers and sharp claws. A face with slanting eyes and a wicked grin. She shook her head, fighting off the nightmares in her mind. Yes, Lisa had probably seen the shadows and got scared.

Ann slowly lifted Lisa back into her bed and tucked her in. Lisa clutched at her arm, pulling her close.

“I wanna sleep in your room, mommy. Please?” She looked into Ann’s eyes with her own big blue ones.

“Sweetheart, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Please mommy pleeeaaaase?”

It was so difficult to say no to her sweet, innocent little angel. Had she ever appeared this irresistible to her father? No, no it was impossible to ever break a man that rugged.

“Just shut your eyes…and keep them closed, okay? Remember? Nothing can get you if you close your eyes.”

“But I can’t.” There was a longing, almost pleading tone in her voice that irked Ann a little. She sounded desperate, something Ann hadn’t ever heard in her child’s voice.

“Why not, sweetie?”

Lisa stole another scared glance towards the window.

“It won’t let me,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Ann was beginning to feel a tad annoyed, more so at herself than at Lisa. Why hadn’t she just let Lisa sleep in her room?

“When it stares at me, I can’t move,” Lisa said.

“Okay, honey, listen.” Ann took Lisa by the hands. “It’s all in your mind. You see it because you want to. That’s all. Come, now, come with mommy. You can sleep with me tonight, okay?”

“But it’s still out there mommy.”

“Enough, Lisa. Now come.”

Lisa ducked underneath the covers. Ann put a hand on her hip and the other to her forehead. Not again, she thought. I’m much too tired for this tonight.

“Lisa…”

“Noooooo,” she moaned quietly.

Ann heaved a huge sigh and decided to let her curiosity get the better of her. She shuffled over to the window, pulled up hard to open it and poke her head out.

“No mommy!” Lisa cried.

An instant blast of freezing, dusty wind hit Ann’s face, causing her to cough violently. She peered out into the night, craning her head in a wide sweep. If not for the wind, the farm would have been eerily silent. Ann turned back towards Lisa.

“See? Nothing.” She closed the shutters and pushed down on the window to seal it tight, enclosing the room in total darkness.

“Mommy!” Lisa said in a panic.

Ann, a bit more used to finding her way in the dark than Lisa, picked up Lisa and held her, rubbing her back, trying to calm her as she made her way slowly towards her bedroom.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” she whispered.

“It was there outside my window mommy, I swear,” Lisa said.

“I didn’t see anything, sweetie.”

“That’s cuz it hides, underneath the house.”

Ann decided to play along.

“And why does it hide?”

Lisa’s answer didn’t come right away. Ann found the doorknob to her room and opened it. She lay Lisa down on her bed, feeling for the covers to tuck her in.

“I think cuz it doesn’t like grown-ups,” Lisa said.

Ann tucked herself in next to her, holding Lisa tight to her body. She knew she shouldn’t keep placating her, but somehow she just couldn’t hold back her inner child. Lisa’s excited imagination had won her over.

“What is it exactly?” The question escaped her lips before she could stifle it.

“It’s huge and has lotsa colors on its head and scary red eyes and fangs as big as my whole body!” Lisa said excitedly. “It’s got a slimy fork tongue that it always hisses at me with!”

Perfect. Now she had done it. With Lisa this ecstatic she would never get to sleep. But more importantly, Lisa was bringing back the old night terrors from her childhood. As Ann stared into the pitch black of her room she began to see long, bony fingers with razor claws, faces with red eyes and large fangs. She shut her eyes, trying to keep them closed.

“Shut your eyes, Lisa. Just calm down and shut your eyes now.”

She gently scratched Lisa’s back until she felt her little angel grow calmer as she drew closer to sleep. Soon she could hear her daughter’s soft breathing. Sure that she was now asleep, Ann climbed quietly out of the bed and felt her way to the window. The dark was beginning to overwhelm her. She would open the shutters and let some of the moonlight come in. Then and only then could she fall asleep.

She heaved up on the window. The cold had it stuck tight, so that she had to try several times before she finally got the window up. She felt for the shutter latch, unhooked it and pushed out. And then she saw it.

It was just like her daughter had described. It’s gigantic, oval-shaped head bore shades of yellow, maroon, and emerald. The head was attached to a black, thick body. Large scales glistened from the moonlight barely penetrating the blackness of it. Ann couldn’t tell just how long the body stretched, for much of it was hidden beneath the house.

Large fangs opened wide for a thin red fork tongue which hissed viciously at Ann. But what were most terrifying were the eyes. Blood-red, with vertical slits for pupils, they captivated her, horrified her, kept her from breathing or even blinking.

The large head swayed slightly from side to side. The vibrant colors hypnotized her. The tongue darted in and out, sometimes coming within inches of her face. Ann stood rigid to the spot. She couldn’t move if she tried. The monster had her. It would surely eat her. All those night terrors she had as a child had all boiled down to this moment. She thought her father’s tough love had saved her from them, but she knew now that her end had only been postponed.

Take me, she thought. Take me. Lisa, shut your eyes. Keep them closed. Nothing can get you if you close your eyes. Close your eyes!

Ann forced her eyes shut. This is it, she thought. Any moment and the monster will take me. I’m sorry, Lisa, my little angel. You deserved better, much better.

She opened her eyes and was greeted by nothing but the cold wind in her face. It was gone. Vanished. Ann stood breathing heavily, staring wide-eyed at the now vacant spot in the air where that monstrous head had just been.

Had it been another night terror after all? So real, so very real it had felt. Ann turned back towards Lisa, who slumbered peacefully, her tiny thumb in her mouth. So innocent, so safe.

Ann fell back into bed, putting her arms around Lisa, stroking her hair.

Keep those eyes closed, Lisa, she thought. You’re safe now. She drifted off into a deep sleep, free from the terrors of the night.