A thud hit the wall. Sarah regretfully opened her eyes. Again, only this time it was followed by a mischievous giggle. "Stop it," she said tiredly, and she sunk further into her bath. Another giggle; another thump. "Toby," she said, pushing herself out of the warm water. "Toby, sto-." CRASH! Sarah quickly stood up and threw a towel around her shivering body. "What are you doing?" she asked accusingly as she hurriedly walked down the hallway and out into her parents' bedroom. A four-year-old little boy stared up at her, smiling, with food smeared on his face. A smudge of something dark brown was on the wall. "Oh, I hope that's not what it looks like," she moaned, leaning her face closer to smell it. Her face near the wall, she caught a glimpse of white behind her little brother. She pushed him aside and let out a short, strained noise. "Toby, you bad boy! Bad!" she screamed, grabbing his hand and yanking him away from the broken pieces of her stepmother's Oriental vase. "I can't believe-," she began as she started to walk Toby to his room, but then she slowly turned back to look at the dirt-smeared wall. "Toby, go to your room." He paused and stared up at her questioningly. "Go, now!" she exclaimed, pushing him slightly. He tottered out the door as she stood looking, open-mouthed, at the wall. 'Things aren't always what they seem,' she mouthed, her towel dropping. A breath of cold air stirred her, and the writing on the wall began to blow away. She turned around quickly to see the window open. Soon, it was shut and locked, and the dark blue shutters were pulled. She ran back into the bathroom and threw on her nightgown, then quickly made her way to Toby's room. When she reached the doorway, something in the blackness slithered away from her, and she ran in to his bed, hugging him when she found was there. "Sarah, baby! Gotta light?" He held one hand up to his mouth and blew threw his fingers. "Stop saying that," she commanded, shaking her head. She should've never smoked in front of her brother; how could she have been so stupid? At least he didn't know what it meant, not yet. She reached over to his bedside lamp and clicked the switch. When she started to pull away, something furry brushed her hand. She shrieked and stood up. It fell off of the table. Like a scared housewife on seeing a rat, she began picking her feet up and calling for help. Toby laughed awkwardly like little kids do, his hands spread across his mouth and his body rocking back and forth. She realized that it was only Lancelot, and she rubbed her face wearily. The door slammed downstairs. "Sarah? We're home," her stepmother called up. "Hey! I'm going to bed now, OK? Toby's in his room. He needs a bath," she answered, walking out into the hall. When she got into her room, she sighed. It was so little girl-ish. She'd redone it a few years ago, why didn't she make it cool? But that was before. Sarah flicked off the overhead light and crawled under her creamy pink sheets. The giant green numerals on her alarm clock flashed 12:06. Poor Toby, she thought, I should've put him to bed. But all this was forgotten as she slipped into a light, tumultuous sleep.