A blood-curdling scream cut through the night…

“Help me! PLEASE… SOMEBODY HELP ME!!”

The bedroom door flew open.

“What is it, Emily?! What’s wrong?” her mother asked anxiously from the doorway.

“It was… it was right there at my bed. Clawing at the covers… it was horrible! It’s going to take me! It said it would take me!!” Emily’s words came forced between sobs.

As her mother’s eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, she could see the little girl’s horror-struck face staring back at her. Tears glinted off her cheeks as she clutched at her blanket with a white knuckled grip.

“Sweetheart, there’s nothing there. It was just a bad dream.” Her mother reassured her as she cast a glance around the room. She cautiously walked over and took a seat on the edge of Emily’s bed.

It had been a few months since Emily had witnessed the horror in the alley, and the nightmares were happening more frequently than ever. No child should have to endure what poor Emily saw that night. Her mother could still smell the blood Emily was covered in when she found her.

Despite numerous consultations with specialists, the nightmares persisted. Sometimes, there would be a day or two between the night terrors. The reprieves only guaranteed more intense screams when the nightmares returned. 

“Mom, it was there! I wasn’t sleeping; I was awake, and it was going to take me!” Emily sobbed through a renewed stream of tears.

“Well, it is gone now, I must have frightened it away.” Her mother soothed, wrapping her arms around Emily and pulling her close to rocking her back and forth.

“Is she alright?” Her dad asked through a yawn as he entered the room.

He shuffled across the creaking wooden floor to the opposite side of Emily’s bed. As he took a seat, he smiled softly and reached out a hand to wipe a tear from Emily’s cheek with his thumb.

“More nightmares, sweetheart?”

“NO! They aren’t nightmares! Why won’t you believe me? It was standing right there…” her voice trailed off as she pointed at a spot a foot or so away. “When you opened the door, it went back into the dark.”

Her parents exchanged glances, painted part with concern for their daughter’s state of mind, part with exhaustion from lack of sleep.

“Alright, honey.” Her dad spoke looking back down into Emily’s bright blue eyes. “Why don’t you come and sleep in your mom and I’s room tonight. It’s a monster-free zone. You don’t want to be sleepy for your birthday tomorrow, do you?” He reached up and ruffled Emily’s hair playfully.

Emily, all too eager not to be left alone, shook her head enthusiastically at the offer. She grabbed her pillow as her mother scooped her up and the three of them made their way out of the room.

As her father closed the door behind him, a chill ran up his spine. He paused for a moment as a decades-old fear clawed at the fringes of his mind. He cast a glance back into the room; cut in half now by a thin beam of light. He studied where the light met the darkness, then pulled the door shut.

…the darkness stared back.

---

Emily’s nineth birthday party the following day was a bright contrast to the chilling episode of the previous night. Decorated in a festive flurry of colorful balloons, streamers, and her favorite cartoon characters, the living room was transformed into a space for joy and celebration. The aroma of cake and birthday candles hung in the air.

Emily sat on the sofa in a plain pastel pink dress, a shiny birthday tiara nestled atop her auburn curls. She beamed, tiredly, at the gathering of loved ones all bustling around catching up. The sight of her family, the taste of birthday cake, and the anticipation of unwrapping gifts pushed the lingering unease of her fears, briefly, into the recesses of her mind.

A relative approached Emily’s mother whose eyes were on Emily in the other room. “How is she doing since… the incident?”

Her mother let out a soft sigh, looking away from Emily.

“She’s still having nightmares. I don’t think we’ve gotten a full night’s sleep since the alley. She has become terrified of the dark”

“Did the police ever figure out what happened?”

Emily’s mother reached up and blotted away tears with a napkin.

“They haven’t, and I think knowing that makes it so much worse for her. They believe it was an animal of some kind. Emily is convinced that a shadow in the alley attacked the couple. The therapist said that’s her mind trying to reason through and make sense of what she saw.”

“Just, awful…” the relative muttered through a fresh mouthful of cake.

“I wish I hadn’t lost sight of her that night…”

“You can’t keep tormenting yourself.” He interrupted.

“It only took a few seconds to completely shatter her innocence. Poor Emily told the police she had been running around for hours, lost in the dark, crying out for me while creatures chased after her.”

“Mistakes happen, and she looks just fine.” He interrupted again before changing the subject.

In the other room, among a small pile of colorfully wrapped gifts, a package unlike the rest caught Emily’s eye. It was wrapped in drab parchment paper, tied closed with a red ribbon secured in place with a funny-looking wax seal. It had no name or card attached to it.

With anticipation twinkling in her eyes, she looked around casually making sure nobody would notice her opening a gift early. She eagerly broke the wax and opened the wrapping paper. A smile lit up her face as she pulled out a teddy bear. Its light brown fur was as soft as a cloud. Its eyes glinted in the sunlight shining through the window. The bear was quickly snuggled close. Its friendly face brought her a sense of warmth and comfort. Emily and the bear were inseparable the rest of the day. She wondered why none of the guests ever pointed it out or asked her if she liked their gift.

As the birthday party winded down and the sun dipped below the horizon, guests filtered out of the house.

“Did you enjoy your birthday, sweetheart?” Emily’s father asked, leaning down to plant a tender kiss on the top of her head.

“It was so much fun. Look, I got a teddy!” Emily declared, proudly holding the bear up with both hands for her father to inspect. He smiled as he gently patted the plush toy’s head. “He looks very friendly, honey. Have you thought of a name?”

Emily looked up at her father, her brow furrowed, her head tilted to one side, clearly deep in thought.

Chuckling, he suggested, “Why don’t you sleep on it? I’m sure a perfect name will come to you.”

Emily was reluctant to complete her bedtime routine, brushing her teeth and putting on pajamas. The horrors from past nights began playing in her head.

“Your new teddy is going to look after you tonight, sweetheart.”  Her mom said tucking her new bear under the covers next to her. “We will keep the door open so it’s not dark and we are right down the hall if you need us. Okay?”

Emily nervously shook her head in agreement.

As her parents left, Emily pulled the top cover up over her head, an act she’d done every night for the past few months. She would remain there until the heat beneath the blanket became unbearable, then would cautiously peek out for relief. But tonight, under the blanket bathed in light from the hallway, Emily clung to her new teddy gradually fadeding into sleep.

---

Emily woke to a thud shaking her bed. She opened her eyes and realized that she was still under her cover. She lay as still as possible and closed her eyes tight. “It’s not real… it’s just a dream” she thought to herself. The hallway light was still flooding into most of her room.

Thud…

Thud… THUD...

The plodding reverberated through the bedframe as whatever was making it drew closer. The hardwood floor panels groaned under the weight of something far bigger than a person.

She heard the door of her room begin to creak as it slowly began to close. The light from the hallway dimmed, then vanished with a click as the door latched closed.

“No.” she said under her breath. “It’s… not… real…”

A dark voice which was both a deep whisper and a hiss wafted through the room.

“I… sssee you… child….”

Emily began to shake as fear flooded into her mind. The monster had returned, and only a thin blanket barrier stood between them.

Another thud echoed through the air as the creature drew closer. “You… cannot hide from darkness.”

A deep inhale came from the direction of the groaning floorboards, was held breifly, and released before the voice spoke again…

“Your terror, is intoxsssicating… my children will feed on it for eonsss.”

The ominous words echoed through Emily’s horror-struck mind reminding her of the sound of freshly liberated blood spraying across the alleyway. She saw images of teeth and claws chasing her through the darkness.

The blanket she was using to hide was snatched away. Emily lay there, now in full view of the creature looming past the foot of her bed. She would have screamed had the sight not caused the sound to catch in her throat.

The beast existed on the boundary between the seen and unseen, its form dancing on the edge of perception, never truly tangible but undeniably present. It was a distorted mimicry of a brutish humanoid figure. Its limbs hung at its sides, unnaturally twisted and elongated ending in three curved talons.

It was a shifting amalgamation of shadow that distorted and reformed as it moved. Whisps of shadow floated about it, making it difficult to know where the creature ended and the darkness around it began.

It nearly brushed the ceiling as it crept closer. Its presence blotted out the faintest glimmers of moonlight cast through the window; deepening the encroaching darkness and causing the room to press in around her.

Its face bore no conventional features save for a mouth of jagged teeth. There were voids where eyes should have been that looked like bottomless pits. They emanated despair on top of the bone-chilling fear screaming in Emily’s mind. As the creature gazed down it projected an undeniable malevolence.

“The horror you feel is but a taste of what awaitsss…”

It stretched one of its distorted limbs out towards her, and she could feel the maelstrom of terror in her mind being pulled towards the creature, as if it were drinking in her fear. Static filled the air as Emily watched the misshapen limb pass through an unseen barrier into the physical world. The shadows it was comprised of solidified as its claws reached towards her.

---

Then, a light flashed in the darkness from the corner of Emily’s vision, streaking towards the creature’s ghastly hand. It exploded in a shower of sparks, forcing the monster back across the barrier.

“Get back, beast! You shan’t have her while I yet live and breathe!”

The creature recoiled from the attack and let out a deep guttural snarl. It looked past Emily and searched for the fool that dared attack it.

Emily, forcing her gaze away from the monster, turned to see…

…her teddy bear.

It was standing in a threatening posture, as well as a teddy bear can. The friendliness in its eyes replaced with a look of determination as it stared at the beast.

“My name is Theordore, and I will not let this evil take you, Emily.” He spoke, not taking his gaze off of the horror.

He extended his paw. “I need you to give me your hand and think about the day you had today. Can you do that? Think of how happy you were.”

Emily stared, speechless, and gave the slightest shake of her head in affirmation towards the request. Thoughts of cake, and family, and love flowed back into her mind blunting the terror raging inside of her.

Emily cautiously reached out a trembling hand towards Theodore just as the sound of static filled the air.

Behind them, the beast lunged forward digging its claws into Emily’s leg, and drug her away.

“I cannot be defeated, guardian…I will take the child, then I will break… your …sssoul. We will feast on your screamsss in the darknesss…” The contempt from the creature’s voice shook Emily to her core as she glanced back to see the monster’s talons shredding their way through her leg as she was pulled toward it.

Theodore reacted swiftly, drawing his paws to his chest. A soft glow started to form in front of him and quickly built into a radiant orb that shot through the darkness. The ball of light punched through the barrier, striking the creature in its face. With a pained guttural roar, it released its grip on its prey and staggered backward. Whisps of shadow flowed from the impact point.

Emily crawled her way towards Theodore in a blind panic. The fear of being trapped in the dark quickly overtook any concern for the pain radiating from her leg.

Theodore ran towards her and took her hands.

“Quickly, now, remember that time when you were younger, the swing at the park. You used to love when your dad pushed you up high.”

Emily could barely calm her mind enough to think of anything other than the screeching monstrosity behind her.

How did her bear know things about her? How is he speaking??

There were other sounds now. From the shadows all around the room the chittering of many smaller creatures scratching their way towards her.

“Emily” Theodore said calmly to her. “You can do it” a smile beamed from his face. Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight.

Beyond the fear, a familiar sensation came over her. Like falling… giving her butterflies in her stomach. She had been scared at first, but somehow, she had known then she was going to be alright. The swing was fun! She called out for her dad to push her higher and higher. Then, with a courageous leap, she let go of the chains and jumped. Landing on her feet, she turned around filled with pride. “Did you see me?!” her words echoed in her mind.