-Dan-
Mum is finally letting me go over to Chris' with my best friend, Phil, who's currently at my house. PJ is supposed to be there, too!
Even though Chris and Peej are older than us, with both of them being twelve, we still get along.
Phil's nine — "I'll be ten in three months and fifteen days!" — and so am I, but I'm a bit older than him.
He's the youngest.
"Phiiiil," I whine, hurling a pillow off my bed at him.
He rolls his eyes, throwing the pillow back with just as much force. "What?" he squeaks, his voice slightly higher than mine.
"I'm bored."
"Same," he agrees, glancing at the digital clock on my nightstand. "Only two hours until we get to go over to Chris' house!" he climbs onto the bed, beside me. He smiles at me, flopping down on his stomach, his black mess of hair spreading out.
"I wonder what we're going to do there," I wonder aloud, looking at the ceiling.
"Shh! I can't hear what they're saying!" Chris whisper-shouts, holding the large bowl of popcorn in his lap and refusing to share it.
"I just want popcorn," PJ comments, his voice both louder and deeper than all of ours, reaching into the bowl but Chris swats his hand away.
"Shh!" Chris hisses again, glaring at PJ, "If you don't shut up, my mum will kill us!"
I look over to Phil, who's staring wide-eyed at the TV.
Chris has an impressive amount of scary films — and, of course, he has to play one of the scariest he has.
"I don't care, just give me the fucking popcorn!" PJ snatches the bowl away from Chris with a satisfied grin, digging his hand deep into it and popping a few pieces into his mouth.
I hear Phil gasp, looking to PJ as if he's never heard anyone swear before.
PJ notices, and he just smirks.
We finished the movie, Phil still looking traumatized.
All of us are sat in a tight circle, in Chris' bedroom, on the floor.
Outside, the steady sound of rain pounding against the window echoes through the room, the sky an inky, jet black. They made sure that all the lights were off in the house — it is the middle of the night, anyways, and Chris' parents are surely asleep by now.
Chris leans over to PJ, whispering something in his ear before laughing, and PJ nods, looking at us.
Chris clears his throat, before speaking.
"I'm gonna tell you guys a story," he begins, leaning closer to us, his voice hushed, "But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
We nod, glancing at eachother for a moment before returning our attention to him.
"In my basement, there's a…" he trails off, looking at PJ, "…a monster."
"Really?" Phil whispers.
Chris nods slowly, "Yeah," he pauses, "The water monster." he finishes, his tone ending in a way that made it sound more like a question. "He usually searches for food outside, but when it rains, he… he stays here. In the basement."
I hold my breath, keeping my eyes on Phil. His own are wide, obviously scared.
"What does he eat?" I ask quietly.
"Sometimes small animals. Like cats."
Phil looks over at me, his expression making him look like he's about to cry.
"But if he's really hungry," PJ adds, darting his eyes from me to Phil, "He eats little kids, who are under ten."
"Dan," Phil whimpers, grabbing onto my arm.
"Wait, wait," Chris whispers, silencing us, "Do you hear that?"
I listen, the only sound I can hear is the rain.
PJ grins, trying to hide it. "Yeah," he mutters, "I think he's hungry, Chris."
Somehow, they convinced Phil and I to go into the basement.
They told us if we offered the water monster something sweet, then he wouldn't eat us.
We chose to give him a stick of gum, because gum's really sweet, right?
It's grape flavoured.
Phil grabs onto my arm, again, the gum in his free hand.
We begin our journey down the stairs, into the dark, cold basement below, when Chris and Peej slam the door and lock it from the outside.
Phil panics, shuffling up the stairs again, and I follow.
"Let us out!" he cries, banging at the door.
"Don't scare the water monster! He'll eat you really slowly if you scare him!" PJ shouts back. I can hear Chris laughing and Shh-ing him at the same time.
Phil tries to open the door again, but gives up after a few minutes.
We finally got the courage to continue down the stairs, the concrete floor cold against our feet.
"Mr. Water Monster?" Phil speaks softly, just as we made our way to the middle of the room.
I hold onto his hand, stepping closer to him, but making sure that we was a little bit ahead of me.
I mean, if the water monster sees him first, wouldn't he eat him first?
That was kind of mean.
I let Phil lead us both deeper into the room, both of us looking around.
I think I hear a door opening, but I ignore it — the only sounds I'm concentrating on are my breathing, and Phil's breathing.
I suddenly feel breath on my neck, and I squeeze Phil's hand.
"Rawr!" Chris and PJ shout in unison, making both of their voices deep and gravelly.
Phil and I scream, toppling backwards while the two towering above us laugh.
Phil releases my hand, using it and the other one to cover his face.
He's crying.
They're still laughing.
I put my hand on Phil's shoulder, when a loud boom of thunder suddenly cracks, making us all panic and run up the stairs.
"I-I wan-t Lion," Phil says as tears still running down his cheeks.
Chris and PJ fell asleep, both of them in really uncomfortable-looking positions on his bed.
We're on a blanket laid on the floor, and we're both sitting up, unable to sleep.
I sigh.
Phil looks at me, "C-Can you be Lion for t-tonight?"
"But I'm not as soft."
"Your hair is k-kind of soft. It smells like coconut."
I smile slightly, laying down on my side.
Phil experimentally wedges himself under my arms, pressed against my chest.
I let my eyes close.
"You're a lot warmer than Lion," he mumbles, before quickly falling asleep.