There was this challange again: Get America to bed. Although England loved to scare America because he got scared easily, he sometimes regretted doing it as it would make him exhausted by the attempts of putting his younger brother to bed. England would not call himself awful for telling him scary stories, America always asked him to tell him spooky stories. If England did not tell him stories, America would find scary stuff on his own. America would watch scary movies or series from the telly or he would read ghost stories. England never understood why America always sought horror when it always resulted to him becoming terrified and afraid to sleep.
"America, time for bed" England said with a sigh by he doorway to the living room.
America, playing with his toy soldiers on the floor, went stiff and turned his head to face England. He shook his head violently.
"No, I do not want to!" America said and clutched to a toy soldier he held in his hand.
England walked up in front of America.
"Please America, I do not want to argue... Just go brush your teeth and put of the pajamas and I will show you everything is safe in your room"
America went towards the bathroom, one slow step at the time. It felt as he was going towards his trial for an execution. But an enraged and tired England was much scarier.
"
America, now clad in his pajamas, stood by the door to his bedroom. England stood in the middle of his bedroom. England beckoned America to come in.
"I shall show you everything is safe, there is nothing to be scared of" England said as he got down on his knees.
America followed suit and together they looked underneath America`s bed. Nothing, there was nothing to be seen.
"Are there any monsters or ghosts hiding there? You better come here if you are hiding!" England called to the empty space under the bed.
Like before, nothing. There was no response, it was clear nothing was underneath the bed. America stood up from the floor and England positioned himself up in a sitting position so he would be on America`s level.
"Is that better?" England asked.
America nodded and England put his hands on America`s shoulders and looked at him with gentle features.
"You know I am always near you, I am here if something will happen. You know that right?" England said.
"Yes" America simply said.
England held America as he was getting up. He put America to bed, covered him up with the duvet and gave him a good night kiss.
"Good night, America. Sweet dreams" With that England shut off the light and closed the door as he went out of the room.
"
So there he was, laying wide awake in his bed with his eyes glued to the closed door. Even though Englands words and actions made him feel at ease, America could not shake the feeling of sensing someone elses presense in his room. Normally a child would hide under the blanket or duvet when they were scared, but America would not. What if a robber came in and held on to the duvet to suffocate America to death? No, when America was scared he kept all his senses on guard.
After and hour or two, America finally felt he was about to fall asleep any moment. Nothing did happened, that meant everything was safe. He closed his eyes and was about to doze off.
"What was that?!" America exclaimed within himself.
He had his eyes closed for a few minutes, but they flew wide open again. He heard sounds, sharp and loud sounds. With his body frozen at its place, his mind was all in his fantasy and everyones reality. Like REM in awake state, his eyes went around eyerywhere. Nothing to see by the door it seemed like it was nothing unusual with the bed he was lying on and his closet... His closet!
He heard knocking and scraping from inside the closet. The closet door slowly creaked open and a dark figure with limbs slim as an octupus` tentacles appeared and went up sneaking towards America. As this figure came closer, America got to see his face. The face could be described as the ghosts he read in the horror stories. Or there was something more to that face, something more than just the face of a ghost. America did not have to examine his face to perfectly remember, one glance and it was plastered to his mind. With the figure`s body made of octupus tentacles, it had a face with a cheshire smile and wide open eyes dark as its body. While his body was black as ink, his face shone white like the moon during midnight. America thought he looked like a combination of a ghost, a clown and a madman who just escaped from the asylum.
Although America really did not wanted to do it, he turned his head he previously turned to face the wall to look at this figure. It sat down on the edge of his bed, patted America`s head and ran though his hair with its excessively long fingers.
"I will see you soon" It said.
He got up and went back to the closet just as sneaky as when he got out of it. America laid in his bed in compete shock. Tears were streaming down his eyes. He did not, could not, sob or make any sound, he did not dare doing so. After a while getting himself together, he sneaked towards the door and went out of his room. As quietly and quickly his feet could take him, he rushed towards the living room. There he found England sitting on a chair embroidering.
"England! England!" America exclaimed panicky out of breath.
England sighed.
"What is it?"
"There was something coming out of my closet! He came to me and said we would see each other soon!"
"See each other soon? Where, to what?" England asked.
"I don`t know, that is what he said!" America put up a fit of fear.
England put down what he was embroidering and got up from his chair. He took America`s hand and was going back to the child`s bedroom although said child was resisting.
"
Once again in his bedroom, America clung to England for dear life. England went towards the closet and reached out for one of the door handles. America`s grip on England got harder and he closed his eyes.
"Don`t open the closet! Don`t open the closet!" America muttered.
With no fear from England part, he opened the door up wide and got in the closet.
"Look America, there is no one inside" England said with half of his body inside the closet.
America opened his eyes up slowly. He was frightened to see England being almost completely inside his closet, in fear of him suddenly being dragged in by the creature. But nothing happened to England, America could hear knocking inside the closet. It was nothing like the sounds he heard when he tried to sleep, this sound was similar to a knocking friends made when they came for a visit. Kind and warm friends, fun to play with...
"You go inside and see, America" England said, still in the closet.
Slowly and surely America went inside his closet, being sure he stuck as close as he could to England. It was much scarier and "dangerous" for America to go inside his closet. He was so small compared to England, he had to go inside completely in order to see properly. With the exit not far away and England close, America dared to go all the way in. England raised a knuckled hand to the back of the closed and gently knocked. It was the same sound America heard when he was outside the closet. England and America got out of the closet.
"Where did he come from?" America mumbled to himself.
England picked America up and put him to bed.
"It was all just a dream, everything is fine" England said as he tucked America in.
After kiss to his forehead, England went out of his room.
"
America refused to believe it was all just a dream, or rather, he KNEW it was no dream. He could still feel this creature`s disgustingly long fingers that patted his head. America wasn`t sure, but he would say the creature slightly scraped his scalp. Rather if it was sharp nails or calloused skin, America could not tell.
Earlier after going to bed he stared at the bedroom door, now he stared at the closet door. He was prepared for this creature to come out of it any moment. But then what? What would America do about it? Fight him? Scream at him? For the time being as the night grew darker, America became more paranoid. The slightliest creak outside his room and wind gust to his window made him jump. No, he could not take this anymore. This creature could have his room tonight. If it would not leave, both from the closet and America`s mind, then America had to leave. When nights got too scary for him, he knew one place he could go to: England`s room.
On his way to England`s room, he watched his sides and back frequently even though he felt much safer when he got out of his room. This creature in the closet seemed only to walk to America`s bed and then return to the closet, America thought he would not go any further than that but he could not help but feel this creature follow him and breathe into his neck. America now ran, he had to reach his destination before he would go insane. This creature did not even have to be physically behind him or at all be near him, the creature lingering in his vivid mind was more than enough for his tiny heart to bear.
America was practically out of breath when he finally reached England`s room. America was tempted to lock the door but as soon as he heard England`s slow and steady breathing he felt at ease. America tip toed towards the bed, jumped up, hid underneath the covers and crawled his way to the sleeping Englishman. Normally America would hate it when England was asleep while he was still awake but it did not matter to America now. Just being near England now, awake or asleep, was a great comfort to him. America laid down on the crook of England`s neck and then put England`s arm around him. England`s slow and steady breathing stopped and America heard him groan.
"You just could`nt stay in your bed, could you?" England said.
America did not answer him, now that England was awake he felt completely at ease and fell asleep right away. England sighed.
"This fantasy of his..."England muttered and fell back to sleep.
"
Early in the morning both England and America jolted awake. A large thud was heard and the ground shook! Was it a crash? A crash inside the house?! England immediately got up and ran towards the source which awoke both him and America without bothering putting on slippers and dressing gown. America remained in bed still not completely awake despite being woken up with a such a start.
"Oh my bloody goodness!"
America heard England shout. With that he became curious and got up. As he went to see where England went the first thing he noticed was the hallway feel so airy and smell like wood. As he went further he saw his bedroom door being wide open with England and some men being inside his room. America went in to his room and stood by England`s side. One of the men looked down on him.
"Is this the childs bedroom? He was darn lucky to not be in his room tonight!" the man looking at America said.
In front of him America saw his bed and walls surrounding it destroyed. They were crushed by a huge tree! Apparently these men were carpenters who accidentally hit England`s home with this large tree they sawed down.
"Looks like you will sleep with me for a while, America" England said as he in shock stared at the great damage.
As the carpenters spoke to England and reasurred him they would make sure they would take care of the damage, America looked at the closet. It was still perfectly fine, the tree did not crush it. America somehow felt disappointed.
"If only the closet could have been crushed instead..."