It Sensed My Fear

I first saw it when I was just a little girl. I couldn't have been more than eight years old, lying in bed trying to sleep through my mother and her boyfriend fighting. If I could just sleep I wouldn't have to worry, I could go to sleep and wake up and the arguing would be done, and I wouldn't have to hear him. Slamming his fist on a table, throwing something against the wall, hitting her, and if I was asleep, he wouldn't come after me either.

It had been a particularly bad night already, he had skipped the fist slams, the throwing of objects, and had moved straight into hitting her. That means he'd be here before too long. Before I could fall asleep. The fear inside of me welled up, tears were beginning to appear at the corner of my eyes as I watched the door in horror. Waiting for him to come in and drag me out of bed. I lay on my back, eyes to the ceiling, trying to figure out the best way to fall asleep right away.
That's when I saw it. It was out of the corner of my eye, but what appeared as a person slowly crawled out from under my bed. It...it wasn't a person exactly, but rather the shadow of a person. There were no eyes, no mouth, just a form, a little lighter shade of black than the darkness of my room. It was enormous though as if the person the shadow belonged to had been some kind of giant.

I wanted to scream but found no sound as I stared in sheer terror at the shadow man. A whimper suddenly escaped as my mother's boyfriend began to stomp down the hallway, my mother shrieking after him to leave me be. The shadow man began to drift slowly down the length of my bed towards the door. It made no sound and made no other movement. The stomping stopped, as my mother's boyfriend turned on her again. She had sacrificed herself to save me the pain.

As the stomping went back towards the living room the figure slowly made it's way back to the head of my bed. It didn't even seem to realize I was there, or it was ignoring me. I gripped my bed sheets tightly as I stared at it, afraid it would turn at me at any time. Instead, it suddenly disappeared in a manner suggesting it had been sucked under the bed by something. The movement made me shriek and bury myself under my covers. Eyes shut tight I awaited it, anything, but nothing came for me. Still, I waited under the covers until finally I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I awoke to my mom coming into the room to wake me up. When I didn't move from my bed a look of concern crossed her face and she began to cross the room to me. I shrieked and told her about the monster under my bed. She gave pause as she processed my words and began to laugh. She said I was too old to be scared of monsters under the bed and crossed the rest of the distance. Bending down, she then checked under my bed for me, but of course, there was nothing there. I asked if she would stay in the room with me while I got ready and she agreed.

That night it was almost time for bed again and besides to do my homework with my mother, I hadn't gone into my room. When my mom told me it was time for bed I asked if she would tuck me in, at least I could get into my bed before I would be alone in my room with the thing under my bed. She agreed, checked under my bed again, and kissed me good night. She turned off the light and closed my door. The second it clicked shut I didn't hesitate to draw my covers over my head and close my eyes as tight as possible. 

Nothing ever seemed to happen that after that though. If I had my covers up I could still sense the shadow man when he crawled out, but nothing ever happened from there. It never seemed to look at me either, just staring towards the door as if waiting for something to happen. Some nights it didn't come out, at least not while I was awake, and before long it became a rarer and rarer sight. Then one day I came home from school and the cops were at my home. Apparently, my mother couldn't hide the bruises anymore and when one of our neighbors asked her about them she broke down. Suddenly my only fear became the thing under my bed. My mother and I were happy again, and no longer living in fear, and after that, I never saw the shadow man again.

Until only recently that was. I just turned twenty-one and have been attending college. I had a small job that helped pay for the classes and books, and after months of saving what was leftover, I was able to get my own one bedroom apartment near the college. I only had two more quarters left before getting my bachelor's degree, and soon I could get a job in my desired field while working towards my masters. I had picked up extra hours at my job to help pay the rent and some called my constant working and schooling masochistic, which I claimed I inherited from my mother.

That included her taste in men I suppose. Now, to be fair, my current boyfriend is not physically abusive. We argue, and he tends to be a very angry person, but he's never raised a hand to me, even at his angriest. we also don't live together, which helps, and we don't fight every time we do see each other. The last few times he had been over though, he had been more belligerent, and the experience had left me feeling uneasy.

The last time was by far the worst, as I asked for my spare key back, claiming I had lost mine and needed to talk to my landlord about getting a new spare. He became angrier than I have ever seen, accusing me of cheating on him, telling me I only wanted my spare key because I wanted to give my new boyfriend it instead. I couldn't get him to calm down, no matter how much I directed the conversation elsewhere. It always came back to that, as if he wanted to be mad, no matter what I said to try and calm him. I finally kicked him out, but only when he raised his hand as if he was going to slap me. I think it was the sudden fear in my eyes that gave him pause, and as he left I told him.

It was over. Bring my things and spare key over tomorrow and after that, I don't ever want to see him again.

He tried to protest but I slammed the door in his face and locked it. Tears streamed down my face as I walked back to my bedroom as I could hear him slamming his fist into the door yelling for me to it. He was getting angrier and angrier, and then there was silence. By this time I was wrapped up under my covers thinking about things I hadn't thought about in awhile. About my mom's abusive boyfriend, and reliving those memories, I knew what I had just done was the right thing.

Then something slammed against my apartment door causing me to shriek. Then again, and again, as if something was being thrown. I didn't see my bedroom door anymore, but the one I had when I was a little girl instead, each bang against my apartment door pulling me further into my childhood memories. The banging against my apartment door finally stopped after awhile though, and slowly I came to. I guess he had finally got tired or realized someone was going to call the cops and left. I stared at my bedroom door for quite awhile when I caught movement out for the corner of my eye.

I screamed, throwing myself backward and off the bed, as I saw the giant figure beside me. The shadow man stood beside my bed as it had done when I was just a little girl. It was still as massive as ever, still just the silhouette of a giant man, no eyes, no face, just a form. It didn't turn to me, it didn't even look at me, it just suddenly swooped under the bed and faded away to nothing. I stared at the bottom of my bed for several moments before jumping up and running out of my room as fast as I could into the light of my living room.

I slept in that next morning, keeping my living room lights on, and the tv had been on all night. I awoke not sure what to do. I opened my apartment door and found dents in the front of it, with several large rocks strewn about the walkway. Hopefully, he would come back, apologize, give me my things, and leave. Then that would be that. I cleaned up the rocks, changed my clothes feeling very uncomfortable in my own room, and went about my day.

I didn't see my ex that day, or that night, but with the events of the previous night, I decided to sleep on the couch again. The next two days there was no word from my now ex, and I had taken to sleeping in my room again, albeit nervously. There were no more appearances by the shadow man either. The fourth day without seeing him and I decided I should at least text him. I asked him to bring me my things and my key tomorrow but got no response. I called my landlord and told them what was happening and we decided the best course of action was to change my locks.

That night I slept in my bed comfortably, tomorrow I wouldn't have to worry about him coming to my apartment with my spare and doing something stupid. The things I left at his place were easily replaceable, so when the locks got changed I could text him and tell him to have a nice life. I went to bed early, with the sun still shining just over the horizon, and had a nice dream about my future in the field I was going to pursue.

Until a little after 2 AM when I heard the tumbler of my front door clunk loudly as someone unlocked the door. If that hadn't woken me up the slamming of the door followed by the shouting of my ex-boyfriend would have. His speech was slurred, but he was angry, and from the sounds of things breaking in my living room he wasn't here to make up. Two things happened next. I suddenly felt like the little girl I used to be, though I could probably hold him off and get away I was still terrified about the punishment I almost was positive he had come to deliver. I was going to be dragged out of bed and beaten.

The second thing was the hand coming out from under my bed, which led to the giant figure slowly crawling out and standing up. I didn't know what was more terrifying right now, but as the crashes and bangings became louder, and closer I didn't care. I just wanted him to go away. The shadow man did not drift slowly as it repeated its motions from my childhood. The hulking shadow stepped with a purpose to the end of my bed, only feet from my door and waited.

My door swung open, and there my ex stood, a bottle of alcohol in hand and a crazed look on his face. He grinned at me in a sinister way that made my hair stand on end. Without a word, he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. He was about to speak when he suddenly noticed the large figure looming next to the bed. Before he could say anything, before he could scream, the large shadow leaped forward enveloping him like a blanket. The two fell backward into the darkest corner of my room and were suddenly....just... gone.