Page 4 of Under My Bed

Maybe I'll wake up and feel normal.

That was just wishful thinking. Reality had its own agenda and decided to smack me in the face with everything, repeatedly playing it like a broken record. Then, the feeling of disgust crept over my body with waves of goosebumps until I felt utterly filthy. I couldn't stay in bed after my own mind and body got to me, so I booked it to the shower in the adjoined bathroom to scrub myself raw.

Which was where I currently remained because the scalding water gave me some strange comfort. Also, the bathroom was brightly lit, so maybe that would deter whatever that thing was. Or, at the very least, it might look less intimidating in the light if it chose to peek its dark, ugly mug into here.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay in the shower or bathroom forever. I don't know how long I kept myself cooped up in the steamed-up room, but I instantly regretted it when I worked up the nerve to leave.

A small shriek of anger ripped out of my throat at the sight of my room. "You said you'd leave me alone!"

Seeing the thing—demon or whatever—sitting on my bed upon exiting the bathroom irritated me beyond belief, much to my surprise. I should probably be pissing myself out of fear, not feeling upset toward the damn thing.

"I am." Damn thing sounded so smug. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a smirk under all that misty black shadow mask of his. "I'm not bothering you, not touching you, not doing anything to you. Not my fault you didn't ask me to clarify my words."

I probably shouldn't talk back against this creature, but I guess I had a death wish tonight. "Can you do your own thing elsewhere that's not my bedroom? Or better yet, not my house." I snarked with a soft scowl as I steeled my nerves.

Whatever nerves I did work up ran away faster than a startled rabbit the moment he shot up from my bed and closed the distance between us in an instant. Stunned, I couldn't avoid his hand in time when he reached out and wrapped it around my neck. Then, a hard thud filled the room from my body being slammed against the wall. "Your house? Yours?"

The demon laughed in my face for a good second before tightening the grip around my neck and forcing my head up at him. "This place belongs to me, and it has been for centuries. The moment you signed your name on that stupid deed, you signed your life away to me." His seething words sent shivers down my spine as I tried—and failed—to shrink away from him.

"You are all mine now, so get used to it, doll."

Then, he released me and stepped back. "Be a good girl and get your ass in bed and sleep. Tired prey is no fun to mess with."

Yet, he made no indication of going anywhere. All he did was stand there, staring at me until it felt like my bones would crawl out of my skin. When it became too uncomfortable for me, I darted towards my bed and jumped into it. Immediately, my hands grabbed at the sheets and bundled them around my body, a silly way for me to make a stupid barrier between him and me.

"Would you relax? You're not going to get any sleep soon if you act like I'm some kind of monster waiting to kill you the moment you look away from me." He remarked with a curt laugh before he melted into the shadows under the bed and basically disappeared before I could quip anything back.

5

Stella

It was quiet the next morning, not a peep from the monster of last night. I managed to go through my whole morning routine in peace and even got some unpacking done.

As I was busy in my future home studio, I let myself get too comfortable with the peace—bad call on my part.

Okay, maybe it was a fucked-up nigh—

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

A stark coldness shocked my terrified body at the sight of a shadowy figure in the large mirror the moment I pulled the covering off.

Spinning around, I hoped to all that was holy out in the world that I hallucinated the damn thing, only to have it shattered in an instant when I found the figure to be standing a mere inch from me. Yeah, the thing was definitely real, which meant last night was very real.

"Aren't you supposed to be burning in the sunlight and shit?" I bit out with a snarl and stomp of my foot.

"I am a demon, not some stupid made-up vampire." He retorted with a scoff. "Also, they don't even burn up in the sun. Honestly, where did you humans even get that notion? And don't even get me started on the garlic shit, like out of all the things, garlic? Really? I mean, at least the holy water is believable." Well, at least his attention withdrew from me as he went on some tangent about us humans and our construed stories about supernatural creatures. Although, speaking about holy water…

Ah hah!

I knew I saw a bottle of it in the box by my foot.

Splash. Splash. Splash.

Stunned silence filled the room as we stood there staring at each other. "What the… Did you just… Give me that!" A violent swipe of his hand and the tiny plastic bottle of holy water was snatched from my hand. "What in Lucifer's domain is wrong with you, woman? And where the fuck did you even get this?"

"Okay… So holy water doesn't work on you either…?" Considering how he wasn't sizzling up, I would assume no. "And I think my mother threw it into my moving box." I didn't have any use for holy water, so why would I obtain some? Also, that was why I didn't mind wasting it on him.

The bottle hit me right in the face after he chucked it at me. "If it was real holy water, then yes, it would have worked."

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