Where Monsters Roam

Where Monsters Roam

They’re Out of the Shadows Now

Monsters seemed to be everywhere as a kid. In the closet, under my bed, behind my door, under bridges, watching me from behind trees. While my family thought it was silly, I would always check twice for any monsters in my room, easing my paranoid and fearful thoughts, letting me settle into the darkness of my cramped room that always had a funny smell to it that nobody could find the source of. I’d be falling into my dreams where I would be flying, free in the sky, fearless, carefree, I’d be alone. No monsters were haunting me above the clouds as fresh air made its way in my lungs, bringing me to peace. In my other dreams, I’d find others, my people I’ve never seen before, but they’d be shouting at me. The strong winds soared through the air, cutting off their words, and jumbling things in my head. I heard them trying to reach me, but I was far to ignorant, far to carefree weaving through the clouds, desperately wishing to touch the stars shimmering above me. I didn’t even try to hear them, and I paid the price for it.

After the tight hold of my dreams had finally released me. I exited my dark room, attempting the light switch. The old light above me wouldn’t turn on, none of the lights would. I looked in the house, in the fenced backyard, awaiting a jump scare. But the house had been empty and dark. There was dust on the counters and floors, visible only in the faint sunlight that seeped through the window in the kitchen, right above the sink. I had called out for my family one by one, this time carefully looking in the best hiding spots. The smell in the house was different. Before I had time to place it, I heard a loud screech from outside the house. I jumped, feeling my heart rise to my throat and everything inside me sink. I could’ve absorbed into the ground if I had let that happen. It was a terrifying noise, inhuman. Bloodcurdling. I remembered my dream, floating around the sky, incapable of getting any lower, as if I was being drawn elsewhere, out into the vast universe. I remembered all those people I’ve never seen before, their panicked voices rising up and down through the wind as I flew free without care.

In that moment I had decided to take a look outside, a flash of bravery I was keeping a desperate hold on, just like that dream. I fiddled with the locks on the door until each one of them were open and then, as the door pressed itself open outwards, I felt the air rush into the house. A rotten smell, like the one in my room at first, then it changed. It was like smoke, the smell was strong, and I let out a few coughs before sticking my head outside, looking for anything different. There were no people, no cars zooming past on the road with the engines roaring and sputtering. Slowly, I exited the house, taking cautious steps down the stairs that led up to the front door, and continued down the path that stretched towards the sidewalk. My voice had been lodged in my throat as I looked around, wanting to call out names, but none were coming to my head. I watched the sky, feeling the heat of the sun grazing my skin. I followed the sun beams, my eyes drawing towards trees standing firmly in the ground, casting shadows onto the grass and street.

I watched the borders of the shadows bounce slightly. It had just barely caught my eye, but it drew my attention back to the shadow. I’ve been told that shadows play tricks on your eyes, that people’s mind create shapes without there actually being anything there. But there was just something strange about the movement of that shadow. Like a claw. That’s when I heard that shriek again. It thundered through the neighbourhood, all the way down the street, both ways. It had come from the shadow. They all had. There were more than one, all the shrieks were in unison. From every shadow around me. Every spot pushed back into darkness. I picked a stick off of my neighbour’s overgrown lawn. One they usually took very good care of. I began to wonder how long I’d been asleep for. How long had I been flying free in the sky? I didn’t know what I thought a stick would do, but I began to feel defensive. I was alone, but I wasn’t. There was something hiding away in all the shadows. The smell of the air had gotten to me again, and as I let out a loud cough, I watched claws tearing at the dirt, reaching out of every shadow around me.

With my hand over my mouth, I watched with wide eyes filled with terror as monsters creeped, slithered, and tore themselves out of the shadows, like the shadows were cages. The one my eyes landed on was tall, maybe eight feet tall, even with its back hunched over heavily enough that its large claws made purely of nails dangled to the ground. Dark scales and pointed teeth emerged from under the tree, the risen sun shining on the monster. I met its large, drooping, red eyes, it looked like it was part snake. Maybe even a dragon. Others stopped around me, legless creatures, creatures with over four legs, like spiders. All looking right at me. I wondered if now was the right time to melt into the sidewalk. I backed up, stumbling onto the grass and scotting backwards to get away as quickly as possible as they continued to fumble towards me, their eyes adjusting to the bright light of the sun. I was backed into the front of my neighbour’s house, right beside their driveway.

Through the shadows of wall, I felt hands grab hold of my arms. I looked down as I fought against the grip and screamed when I realized they were skeleton-like with some leftover rotting skin. I felt a haste but light pull, that same pull that used to bring me into my dreams, that I would feel as I was rising towards the glimmering stars. Then, I felt as though I had been yanked past the stars quicker than I could blink, flying like a star in the universe. I’d been pulled into the shadows. Once the hold on my arms had finally released, I felt myself falling, I was falling from the sky like a comet. Dripping right past the stars and being forced from the sky as I screamed and shouted, plummeting to the ground. I wasn’t flying, I wasn’t free, I was dying. And as I felt the warmth in the air rise towards me, I shut my eyes.

When my eyes reopened, I heard voices around me. There were people, staring down at me as I laid on the coarse dirt. The people from my dream, I recognized each of their faces. I was alive? How? Nobody could survive that fall. One freckled man seemed to hear my thoughts. As he spoke, this time I listened. Death wasn’t an option here. As I rambled on with a dozen questions, I was shushed. Where were we? As I asked that quietly, I looked at everyone for some kind of help. This was earth, but it wasn’t. People had been taken one by one, and I was the last one. They were certain about that. They were trying to warn me in my dream, and I hadn’t listened. When I finally asked my last question, a teenage girl looked down at me, her eyes glistening with tears even in the darkness of the endless surroundings. All the monsters had roamed the shadows since the beginning of time while humans lived freely in the sun, carelessly. Monsters had been trapped in this never-ending dark place, watching us live. It was their turn. They were out of the shadows now.