p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="def4b3e83bc4c273d2d5a9fa13e85807" "Night mom," You yelled down the hallway, your voice carrying to the living area, where your mother sat watching TV./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="25a70837af9b40fbe4cc8827e4f068bc" She disregarded you, just as she had done every day and night since you had turned fourteen. Sighing heavily, you turned and walked down the hallway to your room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a237c0a81df7fdea648adf5388e9b70f" Your father was laying in his room, eyes staring intently at the TV that was on the wall. He had a beer bottle in his hand, poised to drink./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2b09671e920c9ed5b5750bf332a41901" "Goodnight dad." You called to him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dd89f4da95c4bab7f14e2fb627e490ad" em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Maybe he isn't drunk yet... /emYou thought hopefully, willing it to be true./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="72133bc861c373fa6cb98538a7a524ba" He sat up quickly and any hope you had of him not being drunk vanished instantly. He yelled at you angrily./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8822596eeadc94f8ddb616080e9e77cd" em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Oh no. Not again.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="717ea7e61c49c36fa47d2db305f4f953"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emBefore you could blink, the bottle was flying toward you. Thankfully, he was so drunk his aim was off, so you could easily sidestep it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1a1b787a68252a0662f2b0615b5a4923" "Get out! Go away!" He screamed at you as you ran down the hallway, tears streaming down your face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b568956109503359e7aa5f7311bc066c" You tried every day to talk to your parents for the past three years, but it always ended disastrously. Besides the occasional show for the public (parent-teacher conferences, shopping, any other public outings), one never spoke to you, and the other was constantly yelling angry things at you. It hurt. It hurt more than you ever knew a person could hurt./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e6e6da1c6d8b3e86134424289bb9388" Reaching your room, you shut the door and turned on your phone, plugging in your headphones to tune out the world, just as it had done to you./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2f334237ff7d9480dbdc3bba3753277a" Fumbling with the phone, you toggled the volume button, making it as loud as you could./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c431330916ac3de70d72971813f3c4c5" The screen's view and everything around you blurred from your tears. You quickly scrolled through your long playlist to find a song to sleep to before They came./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="17e4822357c3f0be9dce1f3a3d70756f" Finding the song you wanted, your finger came down on the screen, ready to tap it before They woke up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0ba1fe7c734303f2177a1e057296665f" Just before your finger pressed the play button, you heard it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="58db700aa28c275205acb6b548d4870f" The scratching./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="83e3bbee6c7bad8aa74addb04b785145" It came from just underneath your ned. It came from the closet, under the dresser, behind the bookcase, and right underneath the desk across the room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6f357ab51ed782fa108aa3f5eac2a3c9" They were awake./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ae52dd63a6273d91b17ce8c4235843d4" You sank into your blankets, trying to block Them out./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a26278362d7a88a737b2eaaf8e11eb9" Them. The things all around you at night. You were terrified of Them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="65008015fa787ac0b338d26e879d4313" 'They', of course, were the monsters under the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="686bf489e34cd4c5a31bad2c7f3aaaaa" It was odd, and you understood that. A seventeen-year-old afraid of monsters under her bed? It seemed crazy. Laughable, even./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e1f8f6d9fcca7e8e6b45043318877c3a" This, though. This was true fear. Every night it consumed you. Music was an escape, but even that couldn't always protect you. They would always find a way. A way to make every resting moment a nightmare./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="698fbc730ccb9445cec5d376783df498" Fear and adrenaline combined, you could hear that the scratches were now loud enough to be heard through your music, even though it was all the way up, hurting your ears as the bass dropped./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="085f5381d556598bc56b2616a9adffa2" Sighing, you turned down the volume a bit. It wouldn't matter how loud the music was, They would find a way to get through. They always did. Ignoring the scratching, you turned over and fell asleep./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="25a70837af9b40fbe4cc8827e4f068bc" She disregarded you, just as she had done every day and night since you had turned fourteen. Sighing heavily, you turned and walked down the hallway to your room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a237c0a81df7fdea648adf5388e9b70f" Your father was laying in his room, eyes staring intently at the TV that was on the wall. He had a beer bottle in his hand, poised to drink./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2b09671e920c9ed5b5750bf332a41901" "Goodnight dad." You called to him./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="dd89f4da95c4bab7f14e2fb627e490ad" em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Maybe he isn't drunk yet... /emYou thought hopefully, willing it to be true./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="72133bc861c373fa6cb98538a7a524ba" He sat up quickly and any hope you had of him not being drunk vanished instantly. He yelled at you angrily./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8822596eeadc94f8ddb616080e9e77cd" em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Oh no. Not again.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="717ea7e61c49c36fa47d2db305f4f953"em style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emBefore you could blink, the bottle was flying toward you. Thankfully, he was so drunk his aim was off, so you could easily sidestep it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1a1b787a68252a0662f2b0615b5a4923" "Get out! Go away!" He screamed at you as you ran down the hallway, tears streaming down your face./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="b568956109503359e7aa5f7311bc066c" You tried every day to talk to your parents for the past three years, but it always ended disastrously. Besides the occasional show for the public (parent-teacher conferences, shopping, any other public outings), one never spoke to you, and the other was constantly yelling angry things at you. It hurt. It hurt more than you ever knew a person could hurt./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e6e6da1c6d8b3e86134424289bb9388" Reaching your room, you shut the door and turned on your phone, plugging in your headphones to tune out the world, just as it had done to you./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="2f334237ff7d9480dbdc3bba3753277a" Fumbling with the phone, you toggled the volume button, making it as loud as you could./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c431330916ac3de70d72971813f3c4c5" The screen's view and everything around you blurred from your tears. You quickly scrolled through your long playlist to find a song to sleep to before They came./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="17e4822357c3f0be9dce1f3a3d70756f" Finding the song you wanted, your finger came down on the screen, ready to tap it before They woke up./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0ba1fe7c734303f2177a1e057296665f" Just before your finger pressed the play button, you heard it./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="58db700aa28c275205acb6b548d4870f" The scratching./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="83e3bbee6c7bad8aa74addb04b785145" It came from just underneath your ned. It came from the closet, under the dresser, behind the bookcase, and right underneath the desk across the room./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6f357ab51ed782fa108aa3f5eac2a3c9" They were awake./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ae52dd63a6273d91b17ce8c4235843d4" You sank into your blankets, trying to block Them out./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a26278362d7a88a737b2eaaf8e11eb9" Them. The things all around you at night. You were terrified of Them./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="65008015fa787ac0b338d26e879d4313" 'They', of course, were the monsters under the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="686bf489e34cd4c5a31bad2c7f3aaaaa" It was odd, and you understood that. A seventeen-year-old afraid of monsters under her bed? It seemed crazy. Laughable, even./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e1f8f6d9fcca7e8e6b45043318877c3a" This, though. This was true fear. Every night it consumed you. Music was an escape, but even that couldn't always protect you. They would always find a way. A way to make every resting moment a nightmare./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="698fbc730ccb9445cec5d376783df498" Fear and adrenaline combined, you could hear that the scratches were now loud enough to be heard through your music, even though it was all the way up, hurting your ears as the bass dropped./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="085f5381d556598bc56b2616a9adffa2" Sighing, you turned down the volume a bit. It wouldn't matter how loud the music was, They would find a way to get through. They always did. Ignoring the scratching, you turned over and fell asleep./p