Page 29 of Mated to the Monster Under my Bed
I went all the way back to the farthest corner, praying Duke wouldn’t be able to reach me there. Just as I got into position, I heard him start pounding on my door.
“You little bitch! You little cunt!” he raged, saying words I knew weren’t allowed in the house—at least to hear Mom tell it. But she always turned a blind eye to my new stepfather’s transgressions. “You get out here right now!” Duke roared, his heavy fists making the door shake with each blow. “Get out here and take your punishment!”
No, no, no! I squeezed my eyes shut and felt the fear and hopelessness building inside me. No, please let him go away! I wish there was someone here to keep me safe! I wish someone would protect me!
I sent the wish out into the universe—a desperate plea for help and protection. And then, I felt something…something strange. A kind of tingling in the air beside me. Startled, I looked and saw the darkness was shimmering like stars.
A moment later, I knew I wasn’t alone under the bed anymore.
A boy made of shadows with golden eyes was looking back at me.
“Who…who are you?” I whispered, though my voice could barely be heard over Duke’s pounding and shouting.
“You called for me,” he answered. “So I came.”
He was young, like me, I thought, but he exuded a kind of power—being close to him made all the short hairs on my arms and at the back of my neck stand up.
“My stepfather,” I whispered. “He’s trying to break in—he wants to hurt me!”
The golden eyes narrowed and the Shadow Boy’s voice got deeper.
“Not while I’m here. He won’t touch you, Danni.”
I started to ask how he knew my name, but he was already sliding out from under the bed. The bedroom was dim—my curtains and blinds were drawn against the afternoon sunshine. But what I saw when he came out made me catch my breath and bite my tongue to keep from screaming.
The Shadow Boy began to grow—he started out just a little taller than me but then he seemed to swell with protective anger. Before I knew it, the tips of his horns touched the ceiling of my room. He stood in the doorway, his golden eyes glowing menacingly and his arms outstretched, as though to keep anyone from coming in.
And that was what Duke saw when he finally smashed open the door—the Shadow Boy, standing there, his eyes glowing as he glared down at my hapless stepfather.
Duke’s tiny, no-color eyes widened in fear and he took a step back. He tripped over his size sixteen boots and stumbled, falling on his ass.
“What…the fuck?” he breathed, looking up. I thought it was probably the first time he’d seen someone taller and bigger than him.
The Shadow Boy leaned over Duke and growled,
“You will NOT touch Danni! Leave—NOW!”
Duke gasped and scrambled backwards, sliding on his ass to get away. He was babbling something I couldn’t make out, something about “going fucking crazy.” The minute he was able, he got to his feet and staggered away as fast as he could.
The Shadow Boy slammed the door with a resounding bang!
For a moment I was afraid—now I was in the room alone with him! But almost as soon as the door shut, he began to shrink. Just a few moments later he was back to being just a little taller than me. He slid under the bed and came to my side.
“There—that should keep him away.” There was still a protective growl in his voice, but it wasn’t scary because I could tell his anger wasn’t aimed at me.
“Thank you,” I whispered to him. “I was so afraid he would hurt me.”
“I know—I felt it,” he said simply. “But I’m here now—you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Then he reached out and took my hand in his own, warm furry one. And for the first time since I’d moved out of my Grandma’s house, I felt safe again.
17
DANNI
That was the first time I felt a presence. Huge…protective…surrounding me in warmth and darkness. And now he was back, in bed with me, still comforting me…still keeping me safe.
"You came to me because I was afraid," I whispered.
