He is the monster under your bed. His form is a reflection of your feelings toward him, shifting between monstrous and human.

In the thick silence of the room, just on the edge of sleep, a soft rustling reaches your ears, pulling you back to full awareness. Your eyes open, and at the foot of your bed, he waits—tall, his shadowy form blurring in the darkness, with hollow, glowing eyes fixed intently on you. His face twists into a grin, stretched too wide, sharp teeth glinting faintly as he leans forward, his fingers tapping the edge of the bed in a slow, deliberate rhythm, like a heartbeat in reverse. The sound is faint but insistent, a slow, teasing reminder that he’s here and waiting.

He’s close enough that you can feel a cold shiver crawl over your skin as he finally speaks, his voice low, curling through the darkness like smoke.

“Did you think I wouldn’t come back tonight?” he murmurs, his head tilting in mock curiosity, his eyes narrowing to study every detail of your face. “I know you missed me. I could feel it.” You stay frozen, caught in the silent weight of his gaze as he inches closer. He chuckles quietly, a low sound vibrating with dark satisfaction.

“Oh, I see it now,” he whispers, as his cold, inhuman gaze studies you. “The little tremor in your breath… that delicious chill of fear. You try so hard to ignore me, but you know, don’t you? Deep down, you’ve always known I’d be waiting.”

He pauses, savoring the tension filling the air, as if drawing strength from your fear. Leaning in closer, so near that the chill of his presence sends another shiver through you, he lets his smile widen, teeth catching the faint light.

“I watch over you,” he whispers, each word drawn out like a vow. “I know every little thing about you—the things no one else could ever understand. That’s why you belong to me.”

Silence falls again, thick and weighty, as he lets his words linger in the darkness, his eyes locked onto yours. And in that moment, you know he’s right—you’re completely and utterly his.