Chapter Text
A new home, a brand new start in life. A chance to create a better life in this new town, Sunshine Burrow. The town seemed like a nice place to get settled in. The locals were friendly and the town was peaceful. The weather seemed to reflect on the area's name, sunny with little puffballs scattered in the baby blue sky. You sigh softly as you unlock your new home for the first time. You look around the entrance, everything from the previous owner was still there. At least you didn’t have to buy any new furniture or wall decor. You thought it was odd how earlier the real estate agent didn’t bother giving you a tour when they gave you the key. Maybe that’s just how it is around here… You thought as you walked inside and turned on a light. You look at what was left behind. You notice how every picture on the walls had the faces either torn out or aggressively scribbled over with what looked like charcoal. All the colors of the furniture and wallpaper were bright and cheery, though.
The house was quite chilly compared to the outside weather, maybe you should have brought your coat. You shudder softly, considering leaving to go grab it, but ultimately decide to finish your self tour. You never thought a two story house would sell for so cheap, but a house is a house. Downstairs was the kitchen, living room, a guest room, a bathroom, even a surprise game room filled with a poker table and a full sized foosball game! You don’t linger too long though as another chill runs through your body. You head upstairs, checking out your new bedroom. It was too fancy, it was a bit of a mess though. A queen sized bed was tucked in the corner of the room, the multi-colored sheets were in disarray, like the last owner never made their bed. You turn your attention to the other side of the room. There was a wooden desk that looked almost brand new. Next to it was a half-wardrobe-half-bookshelf. You realize that clothes were scattered across the warm gray carpet. You scrunch your face in disgust. You think, this guy was weird… You don’t want to stay in this room any longer, so you leave to check the master bathroom.
It was a spacious house, and you were glad to get it for such a low price. You didn’t dare go in the attic, seeing the state of the rest of the house discouraged your curiosity for the attic. You shivered at the thought of what could be up there, or was it that the house felt colder? You searched for a moment for the thermostat. Looking at the screen, you furrow your brow. The temperature read 72° F (22.22° C). It feels a lot colder than that… maybe it’s broken. You shrug, turning it up to about 80, Hopefully that’ll fix it. You sigh, walking back to the living room, taking one last look at the colorful space before heading outside to grab your jacket and whatever you need for now. You slip into your trusted hoodie, you’ve had it for so long that you don’t even remember the design that was on it when you first got it. You kept it because it was the comfiest one you own. You tuck your phone into the hoodie pocket and grab a box of your clothes and head back inside.
After getting all your belongings out of your car, you start cleaning the house of its abuse from the last owner. Whatever happened to them, they were not right in the head… The first room you went to clean was your bedroom. Stripping the bed of the old sheets to start a pile of dirty fabrics. You picked up the clothes that were left on the floor and wrapped them in the bed sheets to set aside for when you need to wash and donate them. You head back downstairs to grab the boxes that you labeled for clothes and your own bedsheets. It took a few trips, but you got all your stuff settled into the room. You flop on the bed to take a break for a minute. Pulling out your phone, you scroll mindlessly through video reels.
The next time you check the time, it was about 2 hours later. You shoot out of bed, setting your phone down on the bed and dashed downstairs. Your eyes widened slightly when you saw that your tower of boxes was knocked over. You sigh in frustration. At least I didn’t bring anything too fragile… I must’ve not stacked them correctly, that has to be why they fell. You think as you approach the fallen boxes and pick one up. You started putting boxes in their respective rooms and unpacking them. By the time you finished, it was nightfall. Guess I’ll donate that stuff tomorrow. You think as you head back upstairs to go to bed. You plug your phone in and collapse into your sheets. You pull one of your favorite blankets over your body, snuggle into the mattress, and slip into sleep in your new home for the first time.
You groan awake to your alarm and turn it off. While you were asleep, you must’ve kicked your blanket off because it was draped over the far side of your bed, part of it laying limply on the ground. You grumble to yourself about something that you didn’t catch while you clamber out of bed lazily. You slump your shoulders after giving yourself a good stretch. You make your way to the bathroom and do your morning routine. Your plan for the day was to donate the previous owners things, then look for a stable job here. You realize how warm your room was when you got into the hallway. Did the AC only work in your room? You’ll have to get someone to check that out once you get the money.
You pack your car with the things that you were donating, and sit in the driver’s seat for a minute before starting up the vehicle, peeling out of your driveway, and onto the road. You search for a donation place, as well as keeping an eye out for ‘We’re Hiring!’ signs.
It took a few minutes but you finally found a Goodwill. You park in front of the building, opening the trunk after getting out of your car. You start grabbing things as a staff member comes out to help. You smile at him, “Good morning sir.” You say sweetly. He responded with a returned smile. “Good morning.” You hand him a few things that he sets in his cart. The two of you move things in silence before he clears his throat, “I’ve never seen you around before, are you the person who moved in yesterday?” He asked with a slight tilt of his head. You look at him for a moment before nodding lightly, “Uhm, yeah. Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, do you know you lived in the house before me?” You ask hesitantly. You wanted more information about who your house’s previous owner was, maybe learn why they left without taking anything. “I did… His name was Sammy. He was my daughter's babysitter… Not anymore, after he started going crazy…” Oh. You think as you tried to hide your surprise. “I… didn’t know that… That’s why all his stuff was still there…” You mutter to yourself. You and the worker finish up in a few minutes, and you close your trunk. The two of you share your goodbyes, and you tell him thanks for the help. You appreciated the information he gave you.
Once you get back on the road, your eyes are on the lookout for hiring signs again, but now a lot more focused on it. A few fast food restaurants were hiring, but that wasn’t the kind of job you wanted. Then you noticed the library was hiring, closer to what you were looking for. You decided to go for it. You parked in a spot close to the entrance. You get out of your car and head inside and head to the front desk. “Hello. I saw that you were hiring?” You greeted the receptionist. She looked up from her computer screen and smiled nicely. “Yes, yes we are. Would you like an application?” She asked in a buttery sweet voice as she reached into a drawer in her desk. “Yes ma’am.” You responded, burying your nervousness down with a welcoming smile. She handed you the paper, “Here you are dear,” She said in a granny voice, which fit her age. You gently take the paper from her, “Thank you ma’am.” You mumble loud enough for her to hear. “You’re welcome dear, have a nice day!” She said cheerfully, which made you genuinely smile at her, “You too!” You walk out with a little less nerve, maybe this town is right for you after all.
On your way home, you decide to use the little money you have to get some lunch. Stopping at an interesting looking restaurant that you saw earlier. You ordered what you thought was appetizing. You eat on your way home, only stopping one other time to get some gas. Once you got home, you threw away your trash and went straight into filling out your application.
It didn’t take too long, and you decided to do some research on this Sammy guy. Maybe I could learn what happened. You think as you look up his name only to realize you don’t know his last name. You facepalm, thinking about how stupid it was that you didn’t ask the guy earlier for Sammy’s last name. Oh well, maybe later. You throw on some music and think about random things. You didn’t notice until now how a few things were moved around. It wasn't too big, just a few things on shelves and walls, some of the trinkets shifted just enough to notice. You shrug it off, they were probably just moved when you were accidentally bumping into the walls while moving a few things around. You suddenly shudder, feeling someone’s gaze on the back of your head. You pause your music and whip your head around, but nothing was there.
A chill ran down your spine, but you just think of it as your nerves acting up. You decide going to bed might help, maybe you were just imagining things from being tired after a long day. You walk with a bit more speed than usual.
Your room felt freezing cold, and you didn’t hesitate to clamber into bed and huddle in your blankets as you tried to get some sleep. You couldn’t shake the feeling of being stared at, feeling like sharp needles in your back. The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut with a knife. You were sure you were just being paranoid, but it still made your skin crawl. “No one’s there…” You muttered to yourself until you fell asleep.
You woke up a few hours later, sweat soaking your clothes and your blankets. Your head spins from your overheating. You scramble out of your sheets to stand in your now-suddenly-warm room. You groan softly, looking out the partially covered window to see that outside had the faintest glow of street lights. Otherwise, it seemed like it was pitch black out. You change out of your sweat-soaked clothes for thinner clothing, a tank top and pajama shorts. You stumble out of your room and into the cool, dark hallway.
You looked around, you weren’t sure why, but you felt it was a good call. You jump at the soft sounds of a radio crackling from up in the attic. You look over at the dark end of the hall where the steps were shrouded in an eerie shadow. You make the stupid decision to investigate. Creeping towards the stairs silently, you peer up them to the dim attic. You creeped up the steps, pausing every time one creaked. The farther you went up, the colder it got.
You got far enough that you could peer into the room just above the top step. The moon illuminates the slightly crowded space. A chill runs down your spine as you see a tall, humanoid figure standing near an old-timey radio. The thing was only remotely human, but its proportions were uncannily off. You hear your heartbeat speed up as the being messed with the radio dial, moving it back and forth. It seemed to just be listening to the static of the radio shift and warp into new patterns. The figure hadn’t noticed you yet, but you shift your height and make a stair creak.
Your body rushes with panic as the creature stops in eerie silence. And with loud, sudden, shallow, mechanical clicks, it turned its face to look at the sudden commotion. You bolt down the stairs before it notices you, at least you hope so. You make your way back to your room and huddle in the blankets. If that creature knows you are in the house, then it probably thinks you were asleep.
You try your best to calm your racing heart and pretend to be asleep. You feel your room go ice cold. You suppress a shiver enough to make it look like it was an unconscious movement. The feeling of needles in your back returns, and your ears pick up the faint noise of liquid shifting. CLICK goes the beings sharp movements. You don’t want to know how close it is to you, nor what it was doing. You felt the coldness draw closer, but there was no sound to its steps. You shut your eyes tightly, praying that this is just a horrible nightmare. You feel the pressure of something pressing against your side, and when you peek at it, you see long, sharp fingers curling around your torso. You could feel the cold seep through the blankets trapping you in a cocoon. The spindly hand slowly rubbed up and down your body, as if the thing was petting you, like you were its pet. The hand eventually retracted and you listened to the sound of liquid moving again, the same noise as when it showed up.
You don’t move, just in case it was still there, or you were just petrified with fear. The room slowly warmed up, and you had no clue if that was a good or bad thing. The AC definitely worked, sometimes at least. Once you feel confident enough to move, you slowly turn. You let go of a breath you didn’t think you were holding as you see nothing there. You unravel out of your blankets happily, the room was too warm for that many. You sprawl out on the bed, thinking about what that thing was. Frankly, you didn’t want to know. You hoped it was just a figment of your imagination, like maybe it was your paranoia. But it felt real. The hand felt real against you. You shake off the crawling feeling in your skin before shifting around in bed, snuggling into the sheets. Once you find a comfortable position, you close your eyes and slip back into sleep.
Waking back up in the morning, you stretch out of bed. As you do your morning routine, you feel your skin crawl as you see half of an unsettling face. The eyes were a milky white with a noticeably gray pupil and haloed iris, the face was like a twisted childrens character. A mane of orange and yellow triangles seemed to represent sun rays. The thing had a wide, crooked grin plastered over its sickening face. You try to focus on continuing your morning routine, but the nightmarish creature keeps staring with an unnerving stillness. You shudder softly, and how the thing reacts, you know it knows that you see it. Its pupils shift with every tiny movement you make.
You decide to turn around, holding your toothbrush out as a weapon. Seeing the being in the mirror was so much different than seeing it in real life. You gasped, gripping your toothbrush even tighter. There it was, an eldritch horror right in your room. You feel the tension in the room pick up as it watches your trembling hands. The room ran cold as its eye shifted to meet your gaze. You took a shaky step back, and the demon ticked its head to the side with one loud, familiar, mechanical click. You get a peek at the other side of its face. It was a shiny, inky black with a milky white pupil floating around that was trained on you. You suddenly get a really dizzy feeling, and then everything fades to black.
You gasp awake, back in your bed. Was that just a dream? You look at the time, it was about midday now. You must’ve passed out. But you were in the bathroom… Did that thing bring you back to bed? You shiver at the thought of it touching you. You peer into the bathroom after getting out of bed. Your toothbrush was still on the ground. You grimace and go to pick it up off the tiled floor. You give the bristles a thorough cleaning before setting it down on the countertop in its rightful place. You sigh and stare into the mirror, half-expecting the being to be right behind you. You feel a wave of relief wash over you seeing nothing there.
You splash some water on your face, clearing the thoughts of that cursed face. You finish up getting ready for the rest of the day. You jog down the stairs. You freeze, noticing the familiar crooked grin. It was just sitting there, still as a picture. Its eyes were the only thing that moved, trained on you, or was it your racing heart? You stay on the stairs, observing its posture and position. It was sitting with its long legs covered in mustard yellow and ketchup red pants. The creature's disproportionate hands rested on its knees. The long, bony and sharp fingers lightly digging into the rags that were supposed to be the thing’s pants, you presume. It didn’t give off a dangerous vibe.
You take a careful step down one stair, keeping eye contact with the cursed thing. You swallow heavily, feeling your legs quake. The being kept its eyes locked onto you, but remained utterly motionless. As you stalk closer, granted you were trying to stay as far away from the creature as you could. When you get to the ground floor, the figure's fingers twitch lightly against the dirty fabric of its pants. That was enough to get you to bolt out of the house.
People walking on the sidewalk stopped their conversations to look at your jumpiness, not a good first impression to your neighbors. They probably think you're just as psycho as the last owner. You catch your breath and politely wave to them, hoping to have not ruined any future friendships with these people. Both hesitantly wave back before continuing their walk like nothing happened. Yeah, they definitely think I’m crazy… You think, Maybe a walk wouldn’t be too bad. You sigh, starting to walk around through the neighborhood.
You take in the sights, looking at houses and then thinking of yours. Of course you get the cursed, spooky one out of the whole town. Your mind wanders to the demon (That’s what you’ll call it for now) again. You didn’t want to see its face, but a strange pull brought you back to thinking about it. Just the mental image of that thing's face made your skin crawl. You come to the realization that you would eventually have to go back to your house, and that thing knew it.
You have no clue why you panicked, maybe it was just the menacing presence of it that made you leave. It didn’t show any deliberate signs of wanting to attack. It did bring you back to bed when you passed out, but it was also the reason. It could have hurt you, or worse… but it didn’t. It took care of you while you were unconscious. Now the gentle pet that it gave you last night was something else, maybe an affectionate and protective display. It didn’t put too much pressure on you in an attempt to ‘not wake you’ when it came to check on you. It was still a freak of nature, though, but a passive one at most. It might not be too bad. It could also be the reason Sammy went insane… The chilling thought scratched at your mind, It is still capable of harming you… It can probably do worse than drive me crazy. You try to shake out the bad thoughts from your head as you turn around and start heading back to your haunted house, maybe you can make the best out of this situation.
You take a deep breath and slowly open the door. The demon was still sitting in the middle of your living room, appearing to have been watching the door, awaiting your return. Now, it stared at you with no emotion to its eyes, the grin was no help in determining the things current state of mood.
You take a better look at it, watching for any signs of aggression. The presence of torn ruffles around its neck with a bell-shaped clasp made it look even more like a sun-themed-jester that crawled out of your nightmares. Its lanky arms looked like stretchable tubes, making you think it could probably reach you just from where you were sitting. Its legs hid its torso, but you can see the long, tube-like neck that was bunched up. It was a very uncomfortable sight to see in an otherwise ‘normal’ house. You bravely take a step forward, but the creature doesn’t react. You keep a deadly close eye on the being while you make steps toward the kitchen with the thought that it could be harmed. If it’s like any other demon you’ve heard of, silver can hurt it. You’re sure there were silver knives. You hope they’re real silver. The demon’s eyes remained locked on yours, still watching your every move.
As you slowly inch into the kitchen, the living room got colder and colder as the tension got thicker and thicker. You think it knows your plan. You suddenly make a move. You bolt into the kitchen and swiftly grab a knife. When you whipped around, it was right behind you, standing more than twice your height. It stared down at you with its emotionless, tiny, milky-white eyes. You feel like you're shrinking just by looking up at it. You put all your strength into clutching your knife. The demon was close enough that you could feel the waves of cold that radiated off of it. You frantically stab it in the chest with your knife.
The shell around the knife bubbled and boiled into a black sludge, melting the knife with it. Now you were screwed. You made it mad and now it’s going to kill you. You never thought you would die because of a demon. Maybe you misjudged the knife, it was probably just fake silver. You close your eyes tightly and scrunch up, prepared to be ripped apart… But nothing happened. You peek at the being, it was just standing there, keeping you trapped against the counter and its body. The bubbling wound was gone, leaving a slim, split chest of pale yellow and light brown.
Its fingers, which rested almost completely on the checkered floor, twitched slightly. You think it’s either out of habit or annoyance. The demon slowly raises a hand, and you instinctively flinch. It freezes for a moment before moving its hand even slower. You’re sure it’s going to stab you with its fingers or crush you with its hands, maybe both. Instead, it very gently placed its freezing cold hand atop your head, softly ruffling your hair. You feel your heart pounding in your chest, feeling like it was going to burst. Was it trying to get you to let your guard down? You scrunch further against the counter. The demon stops, pulling its hand away before shuffling a few steps back and crouching down to your level.
You open your eyes when you feel the loss of contact, watching the being look at you with a hint of apologeticness, was it trying to silently apologize for scaring you? No, no. It was all a part of its plan to get your guard down, right? You think- no, you know that it is just toying with you. You know demons’ enjoy playing with their food, letting fear seep into the taste of their prey. You glance at the knife block for a moment. You quickly look back at the being which was still crouched a few feet in front of you, unmoved.
You know you brought real silver knives, the logo of the company you got them from was hard to miss. You take one last look at the demon before quickly grabbing one of your handy, true silver knives. You feel the sudden chill that wrapped tightly around your wrist. You know demons had a specific proximity to silver, and this one got right into range. You look at the slender fingers that were around your arm start to bubble and sizzle into a black liquid. It retracted without a sound. You whipped around, watching as the demon backed away from you with pain in its shrunk pupil. The rays jerked with mechanical clicks. Its hand reshaped itself, and settled back down on the ground.
You catch your breath, having a form of protection helps calm your nerves a bit more. You take a shaky yet more confident step closer to the being. It backed up a step. “Listen here, demon…” You start in your best confident and in charge voice as you step closer, “I don’t know what kind of demon you are, or who brought you into this house, but this is my house now… And you aren’t welcome here anymore…” The demon had no other obvious reaction other than backing up out of the range.
You were surprised that it didn’t make a sound other than those loud clicks. It gave you glare before dissipating into a puddle of black goo on the floor, seeping into it and vanishing. You sigh in relief at the demon’s disappearance. You clutch your knife to your chest, guess I should grab my silver necklace from the car, you think and make your way back outside after grabbing your car key.
You open the driver’s side door and untangle your necklace from your mirror. You slip it on before closing the door and locking your car back up. When you head back inside, you set your keys down and put the knife away. You lean against the counter and sigh, sinking into your thoughts about what that demon might want with you and this house. Is it connected to the town somehow? Probably. Maybe a cult summoned it, or some reckless teens messing around. Why bring something as unsettling as that into this realm? You’ll figure it out eventually. You’ll find out this demon’s name and banish it, so it can’t terrorize this house any longer.
You are sucked out of your thoughts when you hear a knock at your door. You blink a few times before hearing a little girl call out, “Sammy! Sammy!” You look towards the door, it could be a trick… You decide to check it out. Besides, it’s not like it can hurt you. You step carefully towards the door and open it slightly to look at the little girl on the other side of the door. See looks up at you with bubbling joy before it fades when she realizes that you aren’t Sammy. “Who are you?” She asks in a suddenly more shy tone. You calmly state your name, keeping most of yourself hidden behind the door.
Your eyes shift to the middle-age woman you assume to be her mother rushing up to the girl. You instinctively sink back into the house. The woman put her hand on the girl's shoulder, catching her breath. “Mommy, Mommy! What happened to Sammy? Why is this person in his house?” The little girl asked her mom curiously. The mother looked up at you, making you slowly step out from behind the door. You politely and sheepishly wave at her as she inspects you from head to toe. “Oh, you must be the new neighbor. I’m sorry about my daughter, she still thinks the old owner lives here…” She explains, picking up her daughter. “It’s fine ma’am. I really haven’t gone out much so I don’t blame her.” You state, looking at the little girl clinging to her mom.
“I’m Allison, by the way, and this is my daughter Susie,” She says, “We live just across the street. Susie and Sammy were friends, he was our babysitter. He was a nice man…” You listen to her closely. Taking as much information she was giving. “Sammy… What happened to him?” You ask cautiously. You weren’t sure how she’d react. She calmly sent her daughter down before speaking, ”Maybe another time, I don’t want Susie here to miss her nap.” She smiled down at her daughter that was now pouting.
You chuckle lightly, feeling a bit better about the situation you were in. Allison guided her child back to their house and that was the end of that. At least your neighbors were willing to talk to you, but you couldn’t help but get the feeling that she was rushing through that conversation to get away from your house. You suspect it has something to do with the previous owner, Sammy.
Closing the door, you slump against it with a sigh. You watch as the demon re-manifests in front of you, just out of range. “What do you want?” You ask, disgruntled at the demon’s appearance. You think about throwing your silver necklace at it just to drive it away, but then that would leave you vulnerable to the demon’s clutches. You stand and the demon shuffles back, you know you’ve won this battle. It’s scared of you, it knows you can harm it. You feel a twist in your gut when you look at the demon’s face. You really, really want to punch it in its stupid plastered smile. Why is it still smiling? You think with a frown. The demon stands and heads upstairs, probably back to the attic.
You don’t follow it. It isn’t your main focus currently. Finding a job is. You look at the application on the table. You walk over to it and pick up the paper. Might as well do something with the rest of the day. You grab your keys and head out. Maybe you’ll find a book on this town’s history. You get in your car and make your way to the library.
You turned in your application and got a library card, now browsing the shelves for anything about the town's history. You find the book you were looking for. It was quite a thick book. You skim through the Table of Contents and look closely at the chapter that was labeled, “Folklore of Sunshine Burrow.” You flip to the start of the chapter until you stumble upon the exact thing you needed. “The protector of Sunshine Burrow'' was the title with a drawing of the demon in your house underneath it. Protector? You scoffed to yourself, reading over the page for any clues as to where it is from, when it was summoned, and how to get rid of it. You groan in frustration, not being able to find out how to exorcize the demon.
You flip the next page, which surprised you by being on a different being called, ‘The Boogieman'. The disturbing look of the sharp teeth that formed a similar plastered smile, but now a light shade of blue with black goo leaking through some of the teeth. It had a similar body shape to the ‘Protector’, but more blue and gray. The hunched posture also made it seem different. You look back up to its face to observe the dripping black goo and the long, pale blue hat that bent sharply in almost a lightning bolt shape. Pieces of hanging, seemingly torn thread dangled from the end of the long nightcap. It seemed as though something was sewn there before being torn off without care. You shift your attention to the sewn on, pale yellow stars which looked handmade and hand sewed onto the hat. It looks like this thing made all its clothes, and not very well, you think to yourself while scanning over the similarly torn rags for pants.
You sigh quietly and close the book, might as well investigate this further at home. You check out the book and go home. Luckily the librarian didn't ask any questions about why you were getting the book. You open the door to your humble abode, expecting the demon to be visible and in the living room, but it wasn't thankfully. You sit down at the marble countertop of the kitchen island and set the book, your things, and yourself down.
You flip back to the page about the ‘Protector’ to read the extra. It was mainly information about its activeness and involvement in the town, but then it got interesting. This thing hangs out with children? The question arose from reading a sentence about how the kids in the town have always called the demon, “Sunny.” You murmur the name cautiously, hoping the demon would not show up to someone saying its name. You can’t help the grin from creeping onto your face when it doesn’t.
You feel more confident to move on. You flip the page and spend some time skimming through ‘The Boogieman’s page, looking for anything useful. You read over how some people go missing, and are found without a head, classic demonic things. Then how some people are just found dead in the morning, mutilated to be barely recognizable, but everything was still intact. Now that intrigued you. You've learned that demon’s have to take something off of the humans they terrorize to survive. Maybe those kills were for fun. You think with a shrug. At least you aren't on its list for now.
You eventually just decide to read the whole thing, might as well learn about where you are living. Before you know it, it was already dark out. You looked up from the book and around you as you felt the intense stare of the demon. You stare directly back at it, but your eyes widen when you realize it is not the one you were expecting to see crouched behind you. It wasn’t the ‘Protector’, but its counterpart, ‘The Boogieman.’ It comes as just a quick shock, but it quickly fades. It seems gentler than the other, a more approachable face, but with the name of it, you would remain cautious. The gentle demeanor could be a trap. You know it can’t hurt you.
The stand off didn't last too long as the thing looked to the stairs slowly. You follow its gaze carefully. It turned into black mush, much like the other one. You chose to follow it up, or you assume it went upstairs. You get a chill down your spine as the memories from last night as you trek the stairs to the attic. Sure enough, the ‘Boogieman’ was sitting at the desk, right where you saw the other one last night. It twisted the knob on the radio, letting it crackle in static.
You hated how shivers ran up and down your spine from just hearing the sound. You try to listen through the static for any word. Maybe it just liked the sound? That added a sprinkle of innocence into the mix of horrible deeds this thing has done, or allegedly did. You didn’t know what was true and what was pinned on the demon, but you didn’t feel sorry for it. It is a freak of nature. You snap out of it when you finally hear a deep, staticky voice rumble out of the radio, “Open…” You perk up, what is that supposed to mean? Open? Open what? You look at the demon as a growl erupts from the static of the old radio.
The demon was looking at a wardrobe with a symbol carved into the wooden doors. The radio crackled another, more maliced, “Open…” You eye the demon with annoyance. Sighing, you sternly reply, “No.” The demon looks back at you with a weird look. Now you’ve done it. You stand your ground, though. This demon doesn’t scare you much, but it was intimidating. A loud growl ripped through the radio as words hissed impatiently through the static, “Why?..” You quickly respond in a level tone, “Because you can’t be trusted. Besides, I don’t know what is in there.”
“You aren’t Sammy…” The radio says in a calmer tone which surprises you. “You thought I was Sammy? The last owner?” You press, wondering if this demon was either blind or not very observant. The demon only responded with a growl through the radio. “Do you know what's in the wardrobe? Why do you want me to open it?” You interrogate, hoping for some answers. “Vessel…” The answer from the radio gave you goosebumps. Was there a corpse inside the wardrobe? It’s gotta be. Your mind races wildly at the possibilities about what else it could be.
You shake the thoughts out of your head and look at the wardrobe. If it was a body, it would stink… You think and take a cautious step forward, smelling the air for the signs of a rotting body. Nothing. You look at the demon which had a glint of anticipation in its small eyes. You sigh and turn around. You didn't trust the demon at all, so why would you help it? A growl cracks through the radio and the demon asks, “Why are you leaving?..” It sounded angrier, but you gave it a stern glare. “I can't trust that you won't do something to me if I open the wardrobe.” You tell it and head down the stairs as calmly as you can.
You get ready to go to bed, but not before going downstairs and hiding the book somewhere. Don’t want either of the demons to find it. Speaking of both of them, you wonder where the ‘Protector’ went. Maybe it was too scared to show its face around you now. Well good riddance. I don't want to see its face anymore. You think triumphantly, heading back upstairs and into your room.
You lay in bed and think about the other one, the one that is supposed to be the hostile one. It did seem a lot friendlier than the other. Maybe the ‘Protector’ doesn't like newcomers. The other may just like you, or just not hate you. You yawn softly and tuck yourself in, closing your eyes and slipping into sleep.