[ TT ] A child is kidnapped . Outraged , the monsters that live under their bed and in their closet vow to find them .

“ Hey boss, we ’ re here, ” the slender man whispered in the cell phone. He glanced over his shoulder at a boy wearing blue “ Winnie the Po ” pajamas. “ Yeah, he ’ s fine. Pissed himself though. ” 
 
 The boy sat with his head low, sniffling loudly. His cheeks were rubbed raw from the rough carpet during the car ride in the trunk. He didn ’ t know where he was nor did he recognize the slender man. He just wanted to go home. The thought made him start crying again. 
 
 “ Shut up, kid, ” the slender man snapped. The boy clamped his hands over his mouth but the tears kept rolling down. The man spoke back into the receiver. “ Yeah, okay boss. I ’ ll get the pictures taken and send them to ya. ” He hung up the phone. “ Alright kid, sit tight. We ’ re just uh, gon na take a few pictures, alright? Ain ’ t got ta be a big deal. ” 
 
 He opened the closet and pulled the string to turn on the light. 
 
 *Click* 
 *Click* *Click* *Click* 
 “ Huh. That ’ s weird. ” 
 *Click* 
 
 “ Light bulb must be burned out, ” he muttered to himself. He plunged his hand into the darkness to pull out the tripod. 
 
 “ Ow! Shit! ” He jerked his hand back and saw scratches on his arm. “ What the hell? ” He peered into the darkness to see what may have scratched him. The dark closet seemed… darker than normal. “ Fuck that shit, ” he murmured and closed the closet door. “ Picture ’ s a picture, ain ’ t got ta be fancy. ” 
 
 He pulled out his old Nokia flip phone and opened the camera. The small pixels lit up the screen. “ Hey kid, look up. ” The boy didn ’ t move, his head hung low. “ Hey, kid! I said look up! ” He waiting for the boy to respond, but only heard the child's shallow breathing. “ Come on, I ai n't got all night.'' 
 
 The silence was broken by the sound of a creaking closet door. He turned to see the closet door wide open. A shiver ran down his spine. 
 “ I wouldn ’ t go over there if I were you, ” the boy whispered. 
 “ What? ” 
 “ That ’ s where the monsters live. ” 
 The man laughed. “ Monsters, eh? ” 
 “ If you pretend you ’ re asleep, they ’ ll leave you alone. ” 
 “ Well I ain ’ t afraid of no monsters, ” the man marched over to slam the door shut. “ There, that ’ ll keep them out, huh? ” The man turned his back to the closet to face the boy. “ Now do as I say and look up kid. ” 
 
 *Not your child. * 
 
 The voice was low and raspy, and felt like a warm breath on the back of his neck. The man jerked his head around to see the closet was open again. 
 “ What the fuck? ” 
 Voices poured out of the closet in loud whispers. 
 
 *Not your child! * 
 *It ’ s our child* 
 *You took it from us! * 
 
 The man threw open the closet door but could only see darkness. The voices stopped. “ Who is in there? ” He yelled and pulled out a gun. “ Come out or you ’ re dead! ” 
 Silence. 
 Beads of sweat poured off his head. Was he going crazy? Was this kid playing games on him? He stood frozen, his gun trained on the dark closet. He slowly cocked his gun. *click* 
 
 *Shhh! You ’ ll wake her. * 
 *You ’ ll wake her up! * 
 *She is a light sleeper. * 
 *Do you want to play? * 
 *You must be quiet! * 
 *You don ’ t want to wake her, do you? * 
 *Shhhhhhhhhhh! * 
 *Come play with us. * 
 *Come and play with us quietly. * 
 
 A ball rolled out of the darkness. The man backed up and stared at the ball. He tapped it with his foot. Is this really happening? 
 “ I ’ m not afraid of you bastards! ” 
 
 *We said to be quiet, didn ’ t we? * 
 *He isn ’ t afraid. * 
 *Someone didn ’ t teach him well as a child. * 
 *Was it Zeus? * 
 *He almost woke her up! * 
 *Zeus is a terrible teacher. * 
 *We should teach him to be afraid. * 
 *Yes, we are much better teachers. * 
 
 Suddenly, the lone light in the room went out and everything was plunged into darkness. 
 “ FUCK! ” 
 
 *Come and play with us! * 
 BLAM! BLAM! 
 *That is very loud. * 
 *He woke her up! * 
 *He is going to learn to fear very fast. * 
 *He ’ s not very good at playing. * 
 *It's not your child. * 
 
 The furniture in the room shook as a deep rumble filled the space. 
 
 *She is here. * 
 
 The man ’ s blood-curdling scream filled the room. The sound of dishes breaking and chairs clacking on the concrete floor almost matched the intensity of this man's screams. 
 
 And suddenly, it was over. 
 The light came on. The man was gone. There was only the boy left alone in a chair. His head was bowed and his eyes shut tight. 
 *What about the boy? * 
 *It is our child. * 
 *It is awake. * 
 *But it looks asleep. * 
 *It is pretending. * 
 *It should be asleep. * 
 *Call Sandman. 
 *Put it to sleep. * 
 *Yes, Sandman! To sleep! * 
 *Shhh… be quiet. It is sleeping. * 
 
 The boy woke up screaming in his bed the next morning. His mom rushed into his room. She consoled her crying son who had just woken up from a nightmare. He had a terrible dream about monsters and kidnappers. She hugged him and rocked him back and forth, whispering it was all okay… everything was alright… it was just a bad dream… 
 
 But as she sat on his bed, her eyes wandered to the window and she wondered briefly if she had remembered to lock it the night before. 

