Eric could do this. He could. His mom believed in him. His friends believed in him. His work mentor even believed in him. Or so he said. Maybe he was lying.
But no, Eric could do this. He was assigned his monster role a few months ago: under the bed. He had smiled and then growled, as was the custom.
But there was a small--teeny really--problem that Eric had not disclosed on his monster application form: he was scared of the dark. Under the bed was such a coveted role that Eric didn't think he'd even have a chance of getting it. Who would pick him? Other monsters surely had pointier fangs, more clashing scale and fur combinations, and so many more eyes. But under the bed he had been selected as so under the bed he would be.
Eric was glad that work didn't start right away. There was training of course. Eric was terrified that his terror would come up, but all of the trainings were in lit fake rooms. Sure, under the bed was a little dim, but there was light everywhere so Eric wasn't that scared; he was able to work through it. After all, the light was right there and his mentor, Bobbi, was also right there. It would be different though in someone's actual room. There the darkness would be pervasive and Bobbi wouldn't be there. There might not even be a night light.
But here he was, under a streetlight in a trench coat, ready to sneak into a house. That part should be easy as the trench coat was magical and hid him from anyone within a certain radius of the house and allowed him to willing pass through doors.
Eric took a deep breath and approached the glowing red door that marked his targets' home. Only he could see the glowing red light, but he took it as a welcoming sign. Eric repeated his frightening mantras and then slipped through the door.
The whole house was dark and its tendrils crept into Eric's mind. What else could be lurking in the darkness? Could it swallow him whole? Would it lunge out and claim him?
No, no, Eric had been told that no other monsters were assigned to this house. Working with other monsters was something he had to be trained on.
Eric snuck up the stairs to the bedroom and quietly slipped under the bed. He had to keep reminding himself that he was the scariest thing in the darkness. Eric rolled over and felt something spiky hit his spine. A chill ran through him and he froze in place.
"What are you doing here," hissed someone.
Eric tried to unfreeze--melt?--but a thousand thoughts ran through his head. Had he somehow gotten the house wrong? Was this another training session? Had he been assigned his own monster?
The creature turned Eric's face to face them. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
Eric realized the creature was not a monster. The creature was a demon.
That was a completely different department.
"I'm--I'm on assignment," Eric stammered.
The demon sighed, "First night, kid?"
"How--how did you know?"
"You seem a bit scared."
"You're--you're not here for me, right?" asked Eric, suddenly more scared of the demon than the dark.
"No. Demons for monsters is a very advanced career option. I'm only a few years into demon for couples."
"Oh." Eric didn't know much about the demon workforce, so he wasn't sure what to say.
"So what are you scared of, kid?" hissed the demon, "You still seem scared."
"Well...I'm scared of the dark," whispered Eric, shutting his eyes.
"I used to be too," sighed the demon. "You get used to it."
"Really?" asked Eric, his eyes flying open and to the demon's.
"Yeah, you'll be okay, kid. Just, let me take the lead."
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
Comments
Post a Comment