You couldn’t sleep.

You could feel him down there — under the bed. Breathing. Waiting. Every second dragged against your skin like a blade, every creak of the floorboards reminding you he was there, patient, hungry, listening for the faintest sound of your feet touching the ground.

The monster wanted your soul.

And maybe… maybe you were too tired to keep it anymore.

So you got up. Slowly. The dark pressed close around you, thick and heavy. And instead of running — you knelt. Lifted the edge of the blanket. Looked into the black beneath.

Then, without a word, you crawled under and wrapped your arms around him.

He froze. You could feel his heartbeat — or something like it — fluttering against your chest. The thing you’d feared your whole life didn’t move, didn’t growl, didn’t take you. He just stared. Shocked. Confused. A little disgusted. You weren’t scared anymore. You just didn’t want to be alone.