impact. Slivers of wood shot into the room as the door swelled and cracked.
Both girls were screaming now, and somewhere down the hall, Danny heard Linda shouting as well, demanding to know what was going on.
The thing snarled again, but stopped throwing itself against the door. They could all hear it now, slithering among the toys, and it sounded far too large for the girls’ little closet to contain. It scratched at the walls and snuffed under the door.
“Make it go away, Daddy,” Kaylee said. She’d backed up to the bed and was on her tiptoes, ready to jump back into it herself.
“Make it go away,” Carly echoed, her voice muffled by the blanket over her head.
Right, he thought. And just how am I supposed to do that. “I think it’s okay now, guys, he said, wincing at a fresh jolt of pain in his side. I don’t think it can get out with the door shut-“
Right on cue, the doorknob started to rattle and twist as the thing inside studied it. It turned, first one way, then the other.
“Oh, hell, no,” Danny muttered, and pushed himself away from the vanity. His side screamed agony and heat spread across his chest as he moved, but he planted himself against the door, blocking it closed with his body just as it opened with a quiet snick.
The Closet Monster thrust itself against the door again, forcing it open despite Danny’s weight on the other side. Danny felt his feet start to slide on the carpet and he pushed back with all he had. The door closed again with a thump. Danny could hear it moving around among the toys and figured it was going to get a running start this time.
He knew he was no match for it when it decided to come through in earnest, so Danny pushed himself away from the door, grabbed the edge of the vanity, and pulled with everything he had.
It tipped up, and Danny pulled at it again, ignoring the fire in his side. The vanity came over on its side with a crash, spilling the girls’ dress-up makeup over the floor. It blocked the closet just as the thing inside it hit the door again.
Kaylee jumped when the vanity fell over and threw herself back into the bed, pulling the covers up over her head as well.
Danny took a long step backwards, away from the closet. His eyes were locked on the door, so he didn’t see the lamp before he stepped on it. It shot out from under his foot, throwing him off-balnce. Danny pinwheeled his arms, fighting to stay upright, but went down in heap of dirty clothes beside the bed.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Linda demanded. She had just entered the room, her nightgown cinched tight around her waist. Her expression would have curdled milk.
“It’s the Closet Monster, Mommy!” Kaylee shouted. “It’s really in here! Make it go away!”
“Get the flyswatter after it, Mommy!” Carly chimed in. Give it a whippin’ for scarin’ us!”
“What did I tell you about telling them crap like this?” she shouted. Her eyes bored through Danny. “Now their room really does look like a war zone, they’re not asleep, I’m not satisfied, and this is all your fault!”
“Baby, it’s no joke,” Danny started to say, but he was interrupted by a soft rustling sound from under the bed beside him. He turned to look just as an arm, mottled purple and sickly green, shot out and wrapped a thin hand around his wrist. Danny saw a shriveled face leering at him with one sullen orange eye. Its mouth drooped open in a vacant smile, the lips framing broken yellow teeth.
“You’ve been a very bad boy, Danny,” it said as it pulled him closer. Its voice sounded like gravel poured over sheet metal.
Linda screamed, and the girls added their voices to hers. For his part, all Danny could do was whimper as the Thing Under the Bed drew him into its lair. He wondered crazily if he would even fit under there, but knew, somehow, that he would. It chuckled again, its rotten teeth clicking together, and gave one more hard pull.
The last thing Danny heard, apart from the screams of his family, was a hungry smacking sound as something cold and wet attached itself to his arm in the shadows under the bed.
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