Horror logo

Creature: Pt. 1

That dark shadow you see in your doorway at night could be Creature coming to feast... on you.

By Christopher AndrewsPublished 6 years ago 8 min read
Like

Creature

Christopher Andrews

A slim, black cat slowly sauntered downstairs into the basement. The basement was filled with small critters this time of year. The cat was hoping to catch a nice midnight snack but instead found only small chewed up bits of all the critters. At first, the cat was puzzled and wondered why there were no critters roaming about, but it dismissed the thought and proceeded to eat the small bits of vermin. Behind the cat loomed a dark figure as silent as the night, not exactly human, but not an animal either. The cat ate with it shoulders haunched unknowing that he was soon to be preyed upon.

Little Benjamin Haves lay in his bed ready to be tucked in by his mommy. He squirmed beneath the covers in anticipation for the next day. The next day was his first day of Kindergarten. Little Benjamin, however, was too young to understand the worry his parents felt about him going to a school with other children. Ever since he could talk, Benjamin had told his parents about his "friends" which of course were imaginary. Benjamin talked about them as if they were real. He gave them emotions too complicated for a two-year-old to understand. He would talk about things that his "friends" had told him to say. On some occasions, he did various extreme things such as punching his mother and letting the neighbor's dog out because his friends "told him to."

Eventually, at age five, he stopped talking about them altogether. It was odd though, having him so silent throughout the day. Some days he acted like a normal five-year-old, other days he was nearly completely silent. Benjamin's parents were worried that he would either stop talking during school or bring back his imaginary friends.

Finally, the day came. It was time for Benjamin to go to school. Benjamin was up and ready for the bus half an hour before it was supposed to come. He was all excitement. Benjamin was bubbly and excited. His parents, Douglas and Jackie, figured this was a good sign. This put their minds at ease until the shiny, yellow school bus pulled up. Benjamin went quiet and stood close to his parents. Douglas said, "Alright Benny, time to go to school!" a little too cheerfully to sound realistic. Benjamin took a step towards the bus. His bottom lip began to quiver. "Go ahead honey," said Jackie. Benjamin didn't even tell his parents goodbye as he marched onto the bus with a sudden look of rage on his face, unlike anything his parents had ever seen.

Jackie and Douglas spent the most of the day pacing around the house, trying to be helpful, but not really doing anything. They were dreading a call from North River Elementary. Jackie could practically hear the secretary saying, "Your son Benjamin Haves has been refusing to talk to anyone and he has been refusing to go anywhere." or maybe, "Your son Benjamin Haves bit another boy today claiming his "friends" told him to do it. Could you please come to North River Elementary to pick him up?"

The dreaded "BRRRING BRRRING" of the phone echoed throughout the house, With tired eyes and expecting what was coming, Jackie answered the phone. Instead of the secretary, the school nurse was on the line. "Excuse me, are you the parent or guardian of Benjamin Haves?"

"Yes, this is Jackie Haves, what seems to be the matter?"

"Well, your son Benjamin was participating in a drum circle in music class with all the other kindergartener and well..."

"What!?"

"He had a seizure, he's OK now, but he will not speak. Can you come and pick him up or should we take him to the hospital?"

"We'll take him home. I'll try to get there as soon as I can."

"Ok."

Jackie hung up and hurried to tell Douglas what had happened. Jackie and Douglas rushed to North River Elementary to grab there son. Once Jackie and Douglas arrived at the North River Elementary they were lead to the nurse's office where they found Benjamin sitting on a cot upright. Not crying, not smiling, not frowning, not doing anything just... sitting.

"Honey is everything alright?" Jackie questioned.

Benjamin remained still and quiet.

"Benjamin we need to go home now."

Still nothing from Benjamin.

"I got this," Douglas said, hoisting Benjamin up and into his arms. Douglas took Benjamin to the car and buckled him up in the back seat. All three member of the Haves family remained quiet for the remainder of the trip. When the three finally arrived home, Benjamin spoke up, "I'm tired," he mumbled. Jackie took Benjamin inside and laid him down in his bed. She pulled the covers over Benjamin and he fell fast asleep.

A few hours later when Jakie and Douglas were discussing what had happened, they went upstairs to check on Benjamin. He was still fast asleep in the exact same position he had fallen asleep in.

Around midnight, Jackie checked on Benjamin once again. He was still asleep but this time twitching. Jackie thought he could have been having another seizure. She ran over to him and started shaking him awake. The moment she touched him, he eyes burst open and he let out a blood-curdling scream, startling everyone in the house. Douglas burst into the room to see what the matter was. As soon as he started, Benjamin stopped.

Jackie turned to Douglas with wide eyes. Neither of them had any idea as to what they needed to do. Did he have a nightmare? Did he have a seizure? Was he just acting out?

Douglas spoke up, "Benny, what's the matter?"

"It's Creature."

"What creature?"

"Creature, he told me to."

Douglas and Jackie exchanged looks of confusion.

Jackie mouthed to Douglas, "Call the doctor?" Douglas nodded.

Douglas sat on the foot of Benjamin's bed while Jackie ran to the phone. Around three minutes later, Jackie came back upstairs with the phone in hand. "Doctor says it was just a night terror, nothing to worry about, it's just a phase." Douglas breathed a sigh of relief.

Later that night, Jackie and Douglas decided that someone should stay in Benjamin's room for the night just to make sure he's OK. Jackie agreed to stay in his room that night as long as Douglas slept in his room the next night.

Around bedtime that night, Jackie set up camp in Benjamin's room. He still wasn't speaking very much but at least he wasn't completely mute. He had agreed to eat some dinner but by now he must be starving. At about one in the morning when Jackie was on the verge of sleep, Benjamin whispered, "Mommy, I'm scared."

"Of what?" Jackie replied sleepily.

"It's Creature, he's out there,"

"What if I close the door? Would that be better?"

"No, I can still hear him if he opens the door."

"Well then, just remember, Daddy won't let any monsters come into your room, now go to sleep and in the morning we'll have pancakes! How does that sound?"

"I'm not hungry."

"OK, goodnight,"

"Bye, not goodnight."

"Benny? What do you mean bye?"

"Creature doesn't want you here."

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP WITH THIS CREATURE SHIT!?"

Benjamin began to cry.

"Oh, I'm sorry Benny, Mommy just lost her temper there."

"It's OK mommy."

Later that morning around four in the morning, Jackie awoke to a loud scratching sound and soft crying. She stood up to see what Benjamin was crying about. He was vigorously scratching at his arms as small droplets of dark blood dripped onto his bed sheet. From what she could tell, there was a medium sized splotch of blood on his bedsheet.

"Benny! What are you doing!?"

"Mommy, mommy!" Benjamin sobbed, "Creature made me do it! Please don't hurt me!"

Jackie flipped on the light and saw wet crimson covering Benjamin and his bed. Jackie had no idea what to make of the situation. She grabbed Benjamin by the arms to force him to stop scratching. She took him to the bathroom to clean his arms up. Whilst on the way to the bathroom, she woke up Douglas who sleepily came out of a room to see what was going on. Douglas ran to the bathroom where he saw a red mess.

"CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Jackie yelled.

Within a few minutes, an ambulance arrived at the Haves household. Douglas and Jackie carried the insane Benjamin to the ambulance where they told the first responders what had happened. They took Benjamin to the E.R where they put gauze on his arms and he was diagnosed with a type of sleep disorder where he hallucinates and has trouble sleeping along with night terrors and sleep paralysis, however, Jackie and Douglas suspected something else was up. The doctors at the E.R. gave him some sleeping medicine that is supposed to put him to sleep. Once again, Jackie and Douglas called Benjamin in sick. They weren't planning on bringing him back to school until he returned to his normal self. That night, it was Douglas' turn to watch Benjamin. He gave Benjamin his medicine and prayed that Benjamin would sleep through the night. Again, Benjamin rambled on about Creature until he fell asleep.

Surprisingly, Benjamin slept all through the night and acted completely normal the next day. Jackie and Douglas sent Benjamin to school that day and he made it through the day with no problems. However, when Benjamin got home, he refused to eat entirely. He had obviously lost some weight and Jackie was getting very worried. All the doctors said that it was a side effect of his sleep disorder and soon enough Benjamin would have his appetite back and the doctors were the professionals so she trusted them. This night, Jackie and Douglas decided that Benjamin wouldn't need anyone to sleep with him in his room that night so they put him to bed and then they went to bed. Around two in the morning, Douglas got out of bed to get a glass of water when he noticed something unusual in the hallway leading to Benjamin's room. A tall, dark figure that was not quite human, but not quite animal. Douglas froze in terror. The thing was slowly walking towards Benjamin's room. Douglas watched in horror as the thing sauntered towards Benjamin's room and slipped through the crack. Douglas was too terrified to do anything. Suddenly, Benjamin's ear piercing scream rang out as blood spurted onto the white paint of his door.

Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.