[ WP ] the monster in the closet finally lures the child into the darkness , only to realize something is very very wrong

The Maw, greatest of the Ten Devourers, smiled with many mouths. It was always more fun this way- eating up kids playing in forests who would eventually be deemed lost in the woods was easy food, convenient, but the challenge of luring a child into the darkness, gaining their trust for but a second too long just made every bite taste so much sweeter. 
 
 And here it had done it again. Young Elise would be the latest in a long string of victims lured in by the smallness of their own mind. A puppy, candy, for mommy to come back, they were all such easy promises. The Maw heard a faint whispering on the other side of the closet door as she mulled it over with her teddy bear, Mr. Scratch. There was a soft thud as feet hit the ground and footsteps approached the door. Each of its thousand teeth was covered with drool as it readied itself to spring. The door opened, and it saw her... 
 Sitting in her bed on the other side of her room. The Maw looked around, wondering who could have opened the door. 
 `` Hey,'' a small, squeaky voice said. Despite the silliness of the voice, it carried as much authority as any of the Devourers had ever heard. The Maw looked down, and there he was. Mr. Scratch stood on two small, fuzzy legs. He had a small bit of stuffing coming out of one arm, and pointed angrily at The Maw with the other. 
 `` You'd better leave my Elise alone, y'hear!'' 
 
 The Maw laughed. It laughed with an inhuman tongue, and the sounds its many mouths created would haunt Elise's dreams for years to come. It laughed so hard that for a brief second it had to close its eyes to clear them of noxious tears. When it opened them, the laughing ended quickly. The room behind Mr. Scratch had disappeared, leaving a crimson haze that seemed to stretch for miles. All that remained was Elise's bed, with the girl shivering in fear. In a voice totally opposite that which it had used, Mr. Scratch uttered a question in the language of creatures even more ancient than The Ten Devourers, creatures that were not old, but that had simply existed for a long time. He asked The Maw but three words. 
 `` Did I stutter?''
