Monster Within Me

If walls could talk, the world would know the truth about the monsters that walk among you. I would know, there’s one that’s been living within me for many, many years.

He came home swaddled in a white and blue hospital blanket, his parents smiling and cooing to him. They showered this little boy with love only parents could supply. A blind love that prevented them from seeing just what their child really was. I knew something was wrong as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. He would stare at me while no one was around, his gaze so focused like he knew that I was there.

Those months turned to years and before they knew it their little boy was able to walk on his own, he spoke some words clearly but he babbled just to entertain them. He was smarter than he was letting on. This became apparent to me when his parents brought home a tiny kitten, they thought he could use a little playmate. The poor thing only lasted a few days before he pinned it beneath a pillow and laid down on top of it. The cartoon playing on the TV muffled the tiny mewls as the kitten desperately fought for its life. When there was no longer any movement or sounds from the kitten the little boy stood up, put the pillow back on the couch and then picked up the lifeless body of the kitten and placed it in the sunlight coming through the sliding door that led to the back porch. He then turned to me and held his finger to his lips before returning to the couch and laying down. He pretended to fall asleep until his parents came to discover the body of the kitten in the sun, it warmed the body making it impossible to know exactly when the little one died. This continued to happen with every pet they owned as the boy grew from toddler to child and then child to teenager.

He was a straight A student, head of the student council, the star quarterback on the football team. He went to church every Sunday and helped out his community. He had everyone fooled. For his 16th birthday his parents allowed him to move into the basement, he had more privacy down there than he did living upstairs. I tried to tell his parents, I screamed at them, begged them to open their eyes but they couldn’t hear me. I think he did though because after my failed attempt to awaken his parents from their blissful ignorance he stood in the hall and put his fingers to his lips, his dark eyes burning holes through me. There was nothing I could do and we both knew it.

I remember the first night he brought someone home after his parents had gone to sleep. She was a pretty little blonde, all smiles and twinkling eyes. She was so excited that someone like him was paying attention to her. He led her into the basement turning back to look at me with a predatory smile before closing the door behind him and locking it. A moment later music came on, the beat thumped with a heavy metal base. How his parents were able to sleep through it, I would never understand but it wasn’t more than a couple of hours later that I could hear his footsteps coming back up the stairs, the sound of the deadbolt releasing as he opened the door. At first I thought he was carrying a bag of dirty clothes but then I realized that it was a body. The body of the young blonde wrapped in black plastic and sealed with silver bands of duct tape. He smiled at me again before slipping out the back through the sliding glass door and disappearing into the darkness.

A few days later I learned that the girl had been the daughter of the small town police chief. The father organized a county wide search for the girl and the Monster was right there in the middle of fray, posing as a concerned classmate. I only found out about this when his parents decided to watch the evening news. They were so proud of their precious boy, he was such an upstanding young man with a bright future. Ignorance is bliss. They never found the girl nor any suspects. I wish I could say she was the last victim I saw him take into the basement but it wasn’t. I lost count until the night he killed his parents.

Over the years his parents had grown frail and old, they became more of a burden to the boy who had become a man. One night as he gathered his mother’s nightly medications and glass of water I watched as he mixed a small packet of powder into the water until it dissolved. Come morning the EMT’s were carrying away the body. I hope she passed in her sleep and didn’t suffer. HIs father had a heart attack a few days later. Everyone said his heart simply couldn’t handle the loss of his wife. Even though I didn’t have proof, I know he was behind it.

If walls could talk, we could show you the monsters like this one that lurks among you the same way a wolf hides among the sheep but I’m just a wall and we can’t talk.