"There we go. All done."
It was late in the evening, and Rita had just finished changing Lily into a fresh diaper - the first step in getting her baby ready for bed. She followed up by blowing a big, wet raspberry on her tummy, prompting an excited giggle from the infant. Though most babies resented being put to bed, Lily had an odd fondness for her bedtime. It was comforting to have Mommy (and sometimes Daddy) button her up in her snug little onesie and tuck her into her crib, where she could shut her eyes, leave all her troubles behind (not that an infant had that many troubles begin with) and drift off into peaceful slumber.
"Okay, Lily, time for bed. Let's get you into your jammies."
But just as she was pulling open the drawer to find a onesie for Lily to sleep in, she heard a call from downstairs.
"Honey?" called Lynn Sr. "Can you get down here? It's... it's urgent."
Rita breathed out a whisper of, "Oh, no," and her eyes darted to the side, her forehead wrinkling with worry.
"You just wait right here, okay, Lily?" she asked, turning back towards the baby and forcing a smile. "Mommy will be right back."
With that, Rita turned about and walked out of the room, wringing her hands.
Babies can be remarkably perceptive when it comes to discerning your emotions, even when you're trying to hide them. Lily, naturally, was no exception. She could practically feel Rita's distress and unease radiating off of her body, and she shuddered to think what could possibly be the source of it. If there was something out there that could scare even Mommy and Daddy, what possible chance did she stand?
Whatever the case was, she had to know. Maybe she could help. At the very least, once she found out what the problem was, she could go back upstairs and tell Lori. Lori was big and strong. She'd be able to do something.
Showing remarkable dexterity for her age, Lily climbed down from the changing table and carefully lowered herself to the floor. She then proceeded to toddle across the room and out the door - which Rita, in her haste, had forgotten to close behind her. Once she got into the hallway, she heard some faint murmuring coming from the living room. Something was definitely going on.
Before approaching the stairwell, Lily took a momentary glance up and down the hallway, to see if any of her siblings were out and about. Alas, there was not a soul in sight; assumedly, they were all either fast asleep or engaged in some other activity that kept them confined to their rooms. With slight apprehension, Lily waddled to the stairs, knowing that she would have to go this alone.
In the past month or so, Lily had taught herself how to climb down the stairs. First, she'd sit on the edge of the step, with her stubby little legs dangling off. Then, she'd give herself a push forward, bracing her legs right afterward so she'd land on her feet. Then, she'd repeat the process for every subsequent step. It was a tedious process, but it worked.
As Lily descended the stairs, the sound coming from the living room grew clearer and clearer. Once she got a quarter of the way down, she was able to pick up a third sound, in addition to Mommy and Daddy's voices. An ugly sound. An ungodly, sickening, gurgling sound, like the sound that Lori made when she got sick in the car. Lily felt a pang of fear in her pudgy little tummy, but forced herself to soldier on.
About halfway down the stairs, Lily decided to take a glance through the bars on the handrail. She saw her parents standing side-by-side in the center of the living room, trembling, with their hands clasped in front of them. That gurgling sound was coming from directly in front of them, and getting louder by the second.
As she neared the foot of the stairs, Lily decided to take another peek. At this point, she could finally see what was generating the gurgling sound - and immediately wished she hadn't.
In the center of the room sat a huge, amorphous, blob- like beast, made of mud, purple sludge and debris, with a mouth that took up half its body, two pinholes for nostrils, and two pupil-less red eyes right on the top of its head. It was tall enough to graze the ceiling, and wide enough to take up the entire space between the sofa and the TV, and every errant movement would topple a piece of furniture or knock a picture frame to the floor. Two lumpy, gunky appendages stretched out several feet from its body.
And that gurgling sound was its voice.
"HUN-GRY!" roared the monster. "MOR-GAJ STARVING! FEED MOR-GAJ MONEY!"
Lily gasped, freezing in place. She had heard that name before. Several times, as a matter of fact. It often came up in conversations between Mommy and Daddy, and they always seemed to get nervous and upset whenever they mentioned him. They'd talk about how they have to pay Mor-Gaj every month, or else Mor-Gaj would get angry and take the house away. Lily feared that this Mor-Gaj was a real threat, but she never imagined that she'd be seeing him with her own eyes.
"J-just calm down, Mor-Gaj," stammered Lynn Sr. "We have plenty of money for you."
Lynn Sr., shivering, pulled his wallet out of his pocket, held it upside down and emptied it into Mor-Gaj's mouth. Mor-Gaj greedily gobbled up all the bills and coins that came raining down, and then licked its chops with its giant, festering, pus-filled tongue, leaving a trail of slime on its upper lip.
"MOR-GAJ STILL HUNGRY!" boomed Mor-Gaj. "YOU PAY MOR-GAJ, TOO!" he added, pointing one of its arms in Rita's direction. Rita recoiled away from the beast and clutched her purse against her chest.
"M-Mor-Gaj, please!" cried Rita. "I... I don't have very much at all! Have merc-"
Lynn Sr. clasped his hand over her shuddering shoulder. "Rita, j-just do what he says," he choked out.
Rita let out a tiny whimper, dug into her purse and pulled out her wallet, holding it aloft. Before she could pull out any money, Mor-Gaj stuck out his tongue, wrapped it tight around the wallet, pulled it into his enormous mouth and swallowed it whole.
"YOU SAY YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH, SO MOR-GAJ JUST TAKE ALL OF IT."
"B-b-but that's not fair!" cried Rita, trying to hold back tears. "My credit card and driver's license were in that!"
"NOT MOR-GAJ'S PROBLEM."
With a contemptuous snort, the huge, loathsome creature started slithering towards the door, seemingly content with the payment it received. However, just when it was starting to reach its arm down towards the doorknob, it paused.
"WAIT. WHAT THAT?"
Mor-Gaj twisted his head back and forth, sniffing at the air.
"MOR-GAJ SMELL SOMETHING."
Lily gulped, frozen in place. It occurred to her that while she had figured out a relatively simple way to get down the stairs, getting up the stairs was another story. All she could do was curl herself into a ball and pray that whatever Mor-Gaj was smelling wasn't her.
"SMELL LIKE... SMELL LIKE..."
With remarkable agility, Mor-Gaj swung his entire body around to face the stairwell, causing Lily to let out a yelp of shock.
"SMELL LIKE BABY!"
Rita and Lynn Sr. gasped and turned towards the stairway, mortified to see their youngest child cowering before the monster.
"Lily! What are you doing here?!" cried Rita. "Mommy told you to stay upstairs and wait for her!"
Mor-Gaj's nostrils flared and his glowing red eyes locked onto the infant as he moved in on her position. The monster's overpowering stench seared Lily's eyes and nostrils, causing dribbles of mucus to start leaking out of both. If that wasn't enough, Rita's words caused a pang of guilt to start swelling in Lily's heart, as it occurred to her that she wouldn't be in this position if only she had listened to her mommy.
"YOU HAVE NEW BABY AND NOT TELL MOR-GAJ?!" roared Mor-Gaj.
"We're sorry!" cried Lynn Sr. "We didn't think you would care if there was another baby in the house!"
"WELL, YOU THOUGHT WRONG."
A ravenous grin started to spread across his face as he continued to edge closer. "NOW MOR-GAJ FEELING HUNGRY AGAIN!"
Immediately, the two parents lost what was left of their composure. Both of them burst into tears, dropped to their knees and clasped their hands together, groveling at the monster's feet.
"NOT THE BABY!" wailed Rita. "Take the house if you must, but please spare my child!"
"MOR-GAJ ALREADY MADE UP HIS MIND!"
In a panic, Lily tried to scramble back up the stairs, only to lose her grip on one of the steps and fall backwards onto her padded butt. When she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw both of her parents grappling with the creature, trying to hold him back. Mor-Gaj just let out a raspy belly laugh and flung the two of them to the side like rag dolls.
"Mama! Dada!" cried Lily, her heart sinking at the sight of her two protectors cast aside so easily. For fifteen months, they tended to Lily's every need and kept her happy and safe. The baby took it for granted that they'd always be able to protect her, and now she was being proven horribly, horribly wrong.
Lily started crying as loud as she could, putting every ounce of her energy into her infantile shrieks, in the vain hope that somebody would hear her and step in. Mor-Gaj just laughed and creaked open his gigantic maw, unraveling his discolored, festering tongue and scorching Lily with his putrid breath. Lily's crying was suddenly cut short when his tongue stretched over the stairwell and coiled itself around Lily's head, muffling her. Lily could do little but flail about and pound her tiny fists against the slimy, muscular organ as it dragged her forward.
The monster's tongue enveloping her body was the last thing Lily felt before she woke up.