Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or their characters.
Johto PokéDex Entry: Hypno
When it is very hungry, it puts humans it meets to sleep, then it feasts on their dreams.
2:56am
You inhale deeply.
The nice, warm smell of your bed floods in. It's been a good week. A hard one, but a good one. Work was crazy every day. There were dozens upon dozens of muggings, house fires, robberies, and assaults around this time of year. Ah, Christmas for a police officer. What a pleasant season. People couldn't seem to keep control of themselves around the holidays. But finally, after an intense six days of nonstop crime-fighting, you get to relax; to sleep for more than a few hours.
There's a stir and a slight sigh. You roll over and see your wife, Gwen, lying next to you. It's been a tough few months for her. Her mother had passed away a couple weeks ago, but she had stayed strong and managed to keep the kids in line through it all. You brush her hair from her face and smile. She's peaceful; content. She wriggles in closer to you, "Mmmmmmmmm, hi." You feel her smile on your chest. You had gotten in late and hadn't had a chance to talk to her before bed.
"Hey, honey," you say as you play with her hair, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Officer Works-a-Lot," she teases you, "I still can't believe they called you in on Christmas Eve."
"There were a few domestic disturbances around town. They needed our help to check them all out," you explain as you pull her close, "Just some kids trying to freak out their parents on Christmas. Weird stuff. Nothing too serious."
"Well I'm just glad to have you home safe in time for Christmas in-," she looks at the clock, it's now 3:17 in the morning, "about five hours."
"Last year they got up at six didn't they? Or was it five?" you laugh. Your three kids could never stay in bed too long on Christmas. Your oldest, Tyler, was always getting up before dawn and waking up his two siblings, Will and Jess, to open presents at obscene hours of the morning. Gwen snickers, "I think it was six, but the four of us played a pretty mean game of Wii bowling tonight so I think they're pooped." You snort, "How mean can Wii bowling even get?"
"Hey! We all happened to score within ten points of each other! It was a close game!" your wife exclaims, defensively.
"What'd you score? Seventy?" You wink at her playfully. She whispers something inaudibly. "What was that?" you pry.
"UGH, I said I scored sixty-two, okay?" She pushes you lightly. You shove her back and start tickling her. "Stop! STOP! We're gonna wake up the kids you doofus!" You settle down and pull her back close to you, "Okay, okay. Let's get some sleep." You both relax and you feel her breathing slow to a comfortable rate. She's asleep again. You take a deep breath, close your eyes, and drift off…
4:27am
*tap*
*tap tap tap tap*
You sigh heavily. "Gwen?" She doesn't move. She's out. You rub your eyes and look at your clock. It's about 4:30am. You hear something again. It sounds like feet on the hardwood floor. Small feet.
*tap tap tap tap tap*
You sit up and whisper harshly, "Tyler? Jess?" Nothing. The sound stops. Must've just been the house settling, you think to yourself. You lay back down and snuggle yourself into the blankets once more.
*tap tap*
*tap tap tap tap tap tap*
You sit up instantly. You'll never be able to sleep with that darn tapping. You start to stand up when you see your son Will walk past your room through the crack in the doorway.
"Will?" you whisper softly. Man these kids are really pushing it this year, 4:30? That's way too early for presents. You get up and open your door. Will keeps walking as if he doesn't even notice you. "Will!" you whisper more loudly. He keeps walking. What is wrong with him? Is he ignoring me? you think. You start to walk into the hall when you feel a small hand on your wrist. You jump slightly and pull away quickly. It's just Jess. She's looking up at you with fear in her eyes.
"He's here to take us, Dad," she whispers hurriedly, "He's gonna take Will and Tyler."
"Who, Jess? Who is here?" You kneel in front of her and look into her fearful eyes. She hugs you and points back into the boys' shared bedroom. You stand up and slowly walk toward the door and lightly push it open. Tyler is laying in his bed, sound asleep, "It's nothing, dear," you reassure your daughter, but she squeals and hides her face in your leg. You look back and see Tyler start to sit up slowly in his bed, but what's more disturbing is the wrinkly, yellowed hand protruding out of the darkness of the corner. It's holding a string with some kind of coin or washer tied to the end swinging it back and forth. Back. And forth. You can't help but stare as a grotesque ape-like figure slowly steps out of the darkness holding a finger to its lips. It smiles as it swings its pendulum and walks toward Tyler.
You're frozen. You can't move, despite your best efforts. The veins in your neck pop out as you try to pull your body into your sons' room. Nothing works. You try to yell for Gwen, but you can't stop staring at the pendulum. Your jaw is clenched closed. The yellow beast starts to walk out the bedroom door and Tyler follows as the pendulum sways in front of his face. Your eyes follow the creature's hand. It turns around at the last minute and holds up a hand, signaling you to stay where you are. You strain as hard as you can, but you still can't move. The monster turns back around and continues to lead Tyler out the room toward the kitchen where you can barely see Will waiting out of the corner of your eye. Jess is whimpering at your thigh, clinging to you in terror. She can't move either. You try to pull your head around to get a full view of the kitchen, but you can't. Out of your periphery you see Will open up the drawer in the kitchen where utensils are stored. He pulls out a butter knife. The creature is encircling the two boys, all the while waving its string rhythmically back and forth. Tyler kneels in front of Will expressionless. Your muscles start to cramp from the intensity of your struggle to move. You attempt to open your mouth and scream for Gwen, but you still. can't. move.
Will places the tip of the butter knife on Tyler's forehead. The yellow creature waves its other hand in a circular motion and Will begins to dig the knife into Tyler's skull. Tyler doesn't move. He doesn't react in the slightest. He's silent. You can barely see what's going on, but when you see streams of red flowing down Will's arm and dripping *pat pat pat* onto the linoleum beneath your son's feet, you know what's going on. The urge to move. To speak. To do SOMETHING is more painful than anything you've ever experienced in your years as a police officer. Tears begin to flow down your cheeks.
You hear a dull thud, like a piece of fruit hitting the floor and see something that looks like half a coconut fall to the floor from in front of Will. Tyler's lifeless body slumps to the ground in front of Will as a sea of thick, crimson spills from the top of his head. A sickly, yellow hand reaches down and picks up a grey lump that must be Tyler's brain. The pendulum never stops. The creature takes a sniff at the handful of flesh and smiles. It stuffs the grey matter into its mouth. Blood and bits of brain slop everywhere. As the macabre meal is finished, the creature smiles once more, waves its hand in front of Will's face, and slips back into the darkness, the pendulum ever swinging until it's no longer visible.
Nobody moves. Will. Jess. You. All perfectly still. As you cry the most painful tears of your life, you begin to wonder if Gwen will discover you and the kids before your family arrives to celebrate Christmas. Your eyes dart to the side to try and see the alarm clock in the boys' room. It looks like it says 5:45am. Gwen will wake up at 8am.