Monsters All the Way Down

There was only one rule: don’t open the door. That’s where the monsters lived. Down here was safe, secure within the earth.

Only Papa was allowed to leave. Only he was strong enough to face the monsters and return.

The monsters had eaten Mama. He was crying as he picked me up from my bed that night. He covered my eyes as we ran. The monsters screamed in the distance, angry and searching, the glow of their flashing red eyes bouncing off of Papa’s jacket.

Since then, we’d lived here. Papa called it our “safe house,” but it wasn’t really a house. There was only one room and a bathroom with a weird toilet.

One day, Papa rushed back, breathing heavy and sweating. “Quick, hide, the monsters are coming!”

I flew into the bathroom and hid behind the cabinet, just like we’d practiced. Suddenly, I heard pounding at the door, an echoing boom over and over. Finally, I heard metal screech open.

The room filled with hissing fog that burned my eyes. I screamed in pain, calling for my Papa.

That’s how the monsters found me, with their empty eyes and long snouts. It took three of them to hold me as they dragged me up the stairs kicking and screaming.

“Charlie!” I heard a familiar voice scream. I turned to see my Nana crying. The monsters put me down, and I ran to Nana’s arms. Papa said she was dead! I wailed as I clutched her dress.

Suddenly, I realized the monsters were people in masks. They put handcuffs on my Papa as I heard them say, “You’re under arrest for the murder of Ella Fisher.” I couldn’t hear anything after that, as Nana held me close against her body.

I guess Papa was the monster all along.