A Light Beyond the Curtain
I open my eyes and instantly look to the window. The light coming through the cracks of the black curtains is bright white, so bright that it hurts my eyes. I lay there and listen intently for any noise. The light is quiet. For now. I sit up from my small bed, shivering in the damp cold. I see the food tray Mother left. It is now cold and the mice have taken their share already. I slide to the floor and pull myself to what is left of the tray slurping up anything that the mice didn’t take. Eating is difficult for me and I make a mess on my hands and face. It doesn’t matter to me but Mother will be angry. I try to hurry and pull myself to the small bucket in the corner to try to rinse my face. I only make a bigger mess. As I am trying to figure out what to do next I hear a scream from beyond the window. This fills me with terror and I half crawl-half roll under my bed trembling and whimpering. The scream is followed by grunts and roars of the monsters that fill the world. I am so scared that I release my bowels in a flood of smelly half digested food. I barely notice…I am sure the monsters will get me this time. I hear the trap door in the floor slowly open and to my relief Mother slowly climbs into my room. I rush out to greet her, pulling myself with my elbows, pushing with my twisted feet. I am crying and sobbing but unable to tell her how happy I am to see her. She kneels down, holding my head to her shoulder and gently shushing me. She tells me not to worry about the mess. She knows my terror and will clean me up. She leaves through the trap door and while she is gone I stare at the bright light that cuts through the darkness of the room. I do not know what is beyond the curtains. Mother has warned me of the monsters that fill the world. She has told me the stories of people who have opened their curtains only to be devoured by the roaring, screaming monsters. The light that comes through is at once my nemesis and my friend. Sometimes it is bright and warm filtering through the curtain in bright yellow streams. Other times it is reds and pinks slowly fading to darkness. These colors are somewhat comforting. It is the grey, almost dark, light that scares me. That is when the biggest of the monsters come forth and drum against my window. I know they are dragons. I hear their roars and see their bright blue flames that shoot across my room in blinding flashes. I know they can smell me….their drool drips through the tattered roof and onto my bed. During these dragon raids I huddle under my bed whimpering and shaking. Sometimes I fall asleep. I dream of what the yellow light looks like beyond the curtain. I think it must be full of angels that beat down the dragons. My dreams give me hope that something is fighting them and that someday I can look past the curtains. As my thoughts are roaming around my brain like a small bug in a big world Mother comes back with warm, soapy water and clean clothes. She washes me and dresses me. I am freezing but I would never complain. I crave her touch and the sound of her voice lulls me into a relaxed doze. She is telling me that the monsters were bad this morning but thankfully couldn’t get past the locks on the doors. My dozing brain marvels at the words she has just spoken…locks on doors. I try to imagine what these doors look like and where they may lead to. I know I am in a House, Mother calls it that, but I don’t know what it looks like. Mother says I am like tender meat to these monsters and they will snatch me up if I ever leave or open the curtains. So I just imagine that the doors lead back to my room, back to Mother. She finishes cleaning me and grunts as she gets up from the floor. As she stands she holds her chest for a moment and I am afraid that she will fall on me. But the moment passes and she leaves. I push and crawl my way over to a corner of the room where I have a few picture books and some blocks. A doll used to keep me company but her arms fell off so Mother took her away. I don’t mind. I like to look at the pictures. They show me a world I have never seen. One that Mother says no longer exists. I don’t know what the pictures are, just that they are colorful and bright. I have no concept of time but I look at my pictures until the bright light fades to pink and then to dark. I don’t notice that Mother did not bring my dinner. I fall asleep with my book. Shivering I wake up in the grey of a new light coming through the curtain. I am very cold and my body hurts. I slowly, painfully crawl to my bed and pull myself up, wrapping the blanket around me. I hear Mother as she brings my tray but I am in too much pain to eat right now. I sleep until the light is orange beyond the curtain. I look at my trays. There are two now. I take care of my needs in the bucket and then go to devour my food. I feel like I am starving. I don’t want to look at the pictures today. Instead I crawl back to my bed. The light has gone from beyond the curtain and I can hear the low grumbling of the smaller monsters. Sometimes they shriek loudly and I jump, curling up in a ball hoping they don’t smell me. I think these monsters are too small to reach me but I can’t be sure. Usually the low grumble is steady but when the shrieks start I can hear loud angry voices yelling at them. I am sure they are telling them to GO AWAY! I want to ask Mother about these voices but do not know how. I think about how the grumbles have changed during the many lights and darks that have passed beyond the curtains of my little room. At first they were loud and sputtered like they were sick with a cough. Then they were proud and angry, grunting at each other in their strange language. I have listened to the shrieks and think that they must be how they talk to each other. Sometimes there is one loud, long SSSHHHRRRIIIEEEKKK!!! But sometimes it is a few small ones and then a loud one. Shriek…shriekshriekshriek…..SHRIEK. They would growl back and forth until finally they would roar and suddenly screams would echo through the night until finally they faded off into the dark. I did not like these angry monsters and sometimes I can still hear them grunting and growling at the other smaller monsters. I know they must be smaller….their noise is smoother, softly menacing. I think they must be the baby monsters because their shrieks are small, almost timid. shriek. shriek. I drift off to sleep thinking of the their growls and their shrieks that fill me with terror, wondering what hideous faces they must have.
I am awakened by the most terrifying dragons I have ever heard! They are screaming so loud that I am sure my ears are bleeding and they are spewing red and blue flames at the House. I don’t think the doors and locks will hold them back! There is pounding and shouting and more screaming from the dragons….I fall off my bed with my blanket and scramble over to the far corner. They are going to get Mother for sure….and then they will come for me. I try to scream but I am unable to…all that comes out is whimpers. I don’t notice that I have messed myself again.I am trying to cover my ears…to block out the sound but it’s not working! I am shaking so hard that my muscles hurt and cramp. I am rocking myself, holding my blanket over my head. Finally…finally the flames stop and all is quiet. I am still so very scared. I wish Mother would come to see me. When she doesn’t come I know they must have gotten her. I crawl to my bed and cry myself to sleep.
I don’t know how long it has been since I saw Mother. I am weak and my mouth is dry and sore. Many lights and darks have filled the curtains but still Mother does not come. The monsters must have gotten Mother and now I will die in my little room. I crawled to the door, banging my twisted arms on it and trying to yell hoping that Mother would hear me. But she still didn’t come. I am so tired that I can’t pull myself up on the bed. I am just laying here with my blanket. I look at my picture book and wait for death.
News article: Thursday, August 30, 2018
The discoveries in this house on Sycamore are still shocking this small town. You may recall that five days ago paramedics were called for an unresponsive, elderly woman on the porch of this three story Colonial. That woman, Mave Willow, was the owner of the house and was pronounced dead at the scene. When police made entry into the home they were shocked to discover the remains of at least 16 men all in varying stages of decomposition. Since then, crime scene technicians and the medical examiner have been collecting evidence and removing the deceased. Today, however, this house had one more tragic nightmare in store. Officer Devon Williams from LSPD said this is a house of horrors. “We got a call from one of the crime techs that there was banging coming from the attic. We searched all day yesterday and part of today for a door or a set of stairs leading up there. We thought we might find a live victim but what we found is beyond description.”
Officer Williams went on to tell us that upon making entry they were greeted by a horrific smell and a snarling, screaming deformed woman. “She was terrified…I don’t think she has ever seen another human before.” He went on to note that her deformities made it impossible for her to walk, talk or even crawl so she can’t be the serial killer that took the lives of all these men.
“We will have to run tests but we are fairly certain this woman is the child of Ms. Willow. We have no idea how old she is or how long she has been in the attic. For now she will be kept at the University Psychiatry Center for care and observation.”
Interviews with neighbors paint a picture of a grim life. “I never saw anyone other than Ms. Willow ever leave that house and I never saw anyone in the attic window. I don’t think I have ever seen light coming from it” one neighbor told us sadly. Mr. Kent, the longest resident of this street, says he remember a story from his childhood that told a sordid tale of incest and greed. “They say Ms. Willow was pregnant by her Daddy. That was his plan to keep the money in family hands. But when the baby was born grossly disfigured he knew it wouldn’t work. He forced her to put the baby in that attic and never let it out. Thing is….if that story is true then the woman they found in that attic is over 50 years old.”