"Arthur! Arthur, wake up!" The young boy awoke as his mother shook him quickly. He sat up, blinking with large, sleepy eyes. Before his vision could even begin to clear, his mother pulled him up off his bed and out of the warm cocoon of his blankets.

"Mama?!" He cried out, not understanding what was going on. His mother ran with him, holding him to her breast as her feet carried the both of them through their house. Arthur pulled his face away from his mother and, looking up, saw his father standing at the door. A long, soot-blackened fire-poker was clutched tightly in his hand. "Mama?! What's happening?!" He was scared, he clutched onto his mother's night-clothes. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard at the door his father stood in front of. Arthur let out a terrified shriek at the sound, and clutched his mother tighter. His father swore aloud, he had the childish urge to cover his ears to attempt to block the obscenity.

"Igraine! We have to get out of here! Now!" His mother nodded and ran again, her blond locks whipping behind her like the wind itself.

"Papa!" He could see his father running behind them, brandishing the poker like a sword. His mother ran through a door first, then his father. Just as the door was slammed behind them, a loud crashing of splintering wood exploded from their front room, causing Arthur to cry out. His parents ran as fast as they could, towards the back of the house, where the garden exit was. Just as his mother opened the door, though, the glass back door shattered in front of them. He couldn't see anything there, but his mother's terrified shriek was enough to cause him to cry out fearfully as well. Uther grabbed his wife by the arm and pulled her back. Arthur's face was pushed down by the sudden motion, and he screamed again.

As he looked at the hem of his mother's skirt, it tore. It didn't rip or catch on anything, it simply tore. Three long gashes simply appeared in the fabric, as if some invisible beast had attempted to claw her leg and just barely missed, catching the fabric instead. They were both pulled into the door through which they had just come, and his parents were running again.

"Mama! Papa!" He cried out their names over and over, trying to comprehend what was happening. They ran through their home. Passing the potted plants. The crucifixes that hung on the walls. The portraits of his grandmothers Titania and Morgana and grandfathers Gabriel and Auguste (whom he was partially named after). Even a few of the drawings his mother had proudly taped to the plaster alongside them. Finally exhausting the pattern of alternating between his parents' names, he started to cry from the fear.

"Shush, Arthur. Shush, it's okay. Calm down." His mother stroked his head nervously as she leaned against a wall, he could feel her breath as her chest rose and fell rapidly against him. "Shush now, you'll be alright." She looked to her husband for reassurance. "Uther?" His father's face was hard, his hand was white he was gripping the poker so hard. A thud came from the door, the sound of something throwing itself against it. His mother looked panicked, her head whipped around to look at all corners of the room. She suddenly carried him to a place near the wall, where a large, oaken wardrobe stood. Arthur's father unlocked it quickly with the key hanging from the lock, and his mother placed him into it.

"Mama? Papa?" His mother was smiling at him, but in a was that was scary. Her eyes were shiny with tears and her face was sad and terrified despite the smile.

"Arthur, Papa and Mama love you very much, always remember that. My little angel." She kissed him on the forehead quickly before pulling back and looking at him from outside the wardrobe. "Sweetheart, whatever you hear, you can't make a sound. Stay in here, mama or papa will get you later. We love you." Then, she closed the wardrobe doors, and he could hear the key clicking in the lock. There was darkness all around, the numerous coats and jackets pressed into him in the enclosed, wooden space.

Arthur sat there, knees against his chest, and listened. There was more pounding, then something suddenly crashed and broke. He could hear his mother screaming, his father told her to stay behind him. He must have hit whatever it was with the metal poker, but soon that stopped. He panicked as he heard his mother scream his father's name, and then, his mother suddenly went silent. When this happened, he didn't think. He began pounding the inside of the wardrobe doors with his tiny fists.

"Mama! Mama! Papa! Papa!" He yelled out their names, desperately hammering the doors. There was silence, but then the doors splintered. He screamed and shielded his face as splinters flew inwards. He couldn't see whatever was tearing into the door, but he screamed nonetheless. Then, pain exploded in his face. Blood splattered from a large gash that was carved by the invisible beast into the side of his face. His vision went blurry for a second, but then suddenly came into sharp focus.

He could see everything. The long, jagged claws. The teeth with rancid-smelling drool dripping from between them. The burning, sulfur-yellow eyes that glared at him in the darkness. He could taste his own blood dripping into his mouth, and he screamed and cried and pushed himself further back into the wardrobe. The beast's face disappeared from the hole, but he kept on screaming.

A flash of painful white from behind his eyes blinded him, he felt his chest contract and his heart nearly stopped from the fear. He was so disconnected, so terrified, that he couldn't think straight. Suddenly, the wardrobe lurched, then went flying. He could only half-hear the wood splintering as he hit where the wall must have been, and everything went from white to black.

–

Symbolism and References

Lacrimosa – Latin for 'crying' or 'weeping'.

Uther – Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur.

Igraine – Igraine Pendragon, mother of King Arthur.

Titania – Meaning 'Fairy Queen'.

Gabriel – The archangel and messenger of God who informed Mary that she was to give birth to Jesus.

Morgana – Morgana le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister and a powerful sorceress.