Another day, another upset. Elise stepped through the front door of her home, a dark red mark hidden beneath the sleeve of her shirt. She quickly hurried up the stairs, tears settled in her eyes as she flung herself onto her bed.
This was the third time that week she had come home crying, though her mother hadn't noticed. As the young woman lay on her bed, she rolled onto her side. Through her blurred vision, she noticed something that had always haunted her.
A pair of glowing, red eyes staring at her from her closet. They didn't seem fierce, but they did frighten her. Slowly, she drew her legs to her chest, holding them close as she buried her face against her knees.
Seventeen years. Seventeen years those eyes had been there, watching her. She'd noticed them when she was just a baby, staring from that closet. She had tried to tell her mother, and pleaded with her father to move her into her brother's room, but neither would hear of it.
Then something made her blood run cold. something she hadn't experienced before. A pressure at the foot of her bed, like someone leaning on a hand on it. Slowly, the teen lifted her head from where it had been hidden.
She could hardly believe her eyes. At the foot of her bed was the figure of a man. In the fading rays of sun peeking through her window, she could barely make out his silver hair. Though his piercing red eyes were unmistakable.
When she opened her mouth to cry out for her brother, or her father, or for anyone at all, the creature brought a finger to his lips and let out a calm 'shh' to her. She swallowed back the cry that desparately wanted to leave her throat, quickly scrambling to sit up and back away.
She pressed herself against the headboard as the creature climbed from the closet and onto her bed. The figure stopped at the foot, not advancing any further as he sat cross-legged and looked to her. A soft glint beneath the gleaming eyes hinted that he was... smiling at her?
"Elise, don't be afraid." his voice came softly, that glint growing. He was smiling wider now, wasn't he? "I'm not here to hurt you. I promise, alright?" he offered a hand, pale white in the dying rays of sun. "I'm not going to hurt you." he repeated again.
She, however, was frozen. What was this? What did he want? Tears began to well up in her eyes once again, and she grabbed her pillow. She held the thing to her chest, burying her face in it. "H-How do you know my name?" was all she could manage, her voice weighted down with sadness.
The creature at the foot of her bed grinned softly once more, his hand lowering. "I know a lot about you, Elise. Being a monster in your closet, well... you learn a lot about the person you're there for." his voice replied. The gleaming red slowly disappeared. He... he'd closed his eyes?
Elise couldn't believe what she was hearing, honestly. Monsters in the closet? that had to be a silly children's story, didn't it? She must have passed out after school, and this was all a dream, right? A terrifying... terrifying dream.
"You're not dreaming, frau." his voice cut into her thoughts, "you're not. And believe me, monsters are quite real. Just... not always what you think they're like." He sounded calm as he offered a hand to her once again.
Slowly, she pulled her face from her pillow, looking towards him. The sun had disappeared now, and the room was slowly being lit by moonlight. "That... What do you mean by that...?" she asked softly, biting her lip.
She let out a gentle yelp as he came closer, carefully taking her arm and pulling up her sleeve. He shook his head, looking to the darkened mark on her skin. "You see this? A real monster gave you this, Elise." he told her softly.
She trembled softly, looking up to him. His eyes had once again opened, still gleaming brightly as they looked down to the bruised skin. "N-No, my... my classmate did that. I..."
He shook his head and looked back up to her. "No human with a heart would ever do this to another, Elise. Trust m-" the creature was cut off by a knock at the door, and he quickly fled back into the closet, disappearing into the darkness.
"Elise, do you want your dinner in your room again, sweetie? Or are you going to come and join the rest of us?" it was the teen's mother at the door, to which Elise let out a soft sigh.
"Could I eat in here again, mama?" she called out. She got a sigh and a 'yes' in response before getting up to go and get her plate. She sat at her desk once she had fetched her dinner, and it was several minutes before those red orbs appeared from the closet once more.
As Elise ate, she tried to pay no mind to the silver-haired creature as he crept from the closet once more. He sat himself down on the floor beside him, a small smile on his lips as he looked up at her. The lighting in her room was dim, but he still found her beautiful.
"S-So... Mister Monster... do you... have a name? O-Or a reason you... you've been watching me since I was a baby...?" she asked softly, not taking her eyes off of her dinner. She poked at it weakly with her fork, her cheek resting in her palm as she absentmindedly raised a stalk of broccoli to her lips.
The white-haired creature grinned widely, his teeth glinting in the dim light as his eyes shimmered. "They call me Gilbert! But you can call me Gil, or whatever you want to, Elise." he chirped softly, a lilt to his voice, "as to why I was in your closet?"
He paused to think, that smile still on his lips. "Well... I felt drawn to this house when you were born. You see... us monsters... we have a sort of soul-tie to the one we're meant to, well, haunt, I guess? There has to be a better word."
She nodded as she listened, her eyes seemingly glazed over as she poked at another stalk of broccoli. "So... you were tied to my soul when I was born...?" she asked at length, letting out a small sigh, "you... you're gonna have to take it when I... die, aren't you?"
He frowned at that, hopping to his feet and scooting closer to her. "No, no. That... well, we're supposed to, yes. But... Frau, I'm actually here to... to keep you from dying." his voice was soft now, and his grin had slowly faded to a sympathetic smile.
She looked to him, her brows furrowed gently as her lips pursed. "Why me? Why not my brother? Or my parents? O-Or someone who actually deserves it?" she asked, shaking her head to the monster as she sighed.
He petted her hair softly, his touch gentle and easing as he did so. "It's simple, really, Elise." he told her softly, "you've managed to capture this monster's heart." He sat down on the edge of her bed, his whiplike tail slowly wrapping around to rest in his lap.
Her brows furrowed further now, and she looked quite confused and conflicted. "I... did what? What are you talking about...?" she asked him, tears starting to form in her eyes as she tried to look away. But something about his eyes kept her vision on him.
"Elise..." he started before sighing, "I guess you could say I've fallen in love with you." He tilted his head softly, rubbing the back of it as he broke his gaze from her and she managed to turn away. "I just want you to be happy. I can't really explain it. But your happiness is important to me."
She swallowed hard at hearing that, her eyes squerezing shut tightly as a couple tears slipped down her cheeks. "Gilbert... are you... are you being truthful?" she managed, her voice nearly silent as she tried to hold back her emotions.
He nodded softly, sitting back on the bed. He leaned back on his hands, his ankles crossed as his tail once again wrapped around him. "I sure am, Elise. Us monsters, we can't lie. It's impossible for us to tell lies." he replied softly, tilting his head as he looked to her.
She shot him a small glare, getting up from her chair. "Yeah, right." she muttered softly as she trotted from the room. when the light from the hallway entered through the opened door, Gilbert once again fled to the closet.
When Elise returned, she lay herself back down in bed, pulling her blanket up to her chin. Those red eyes appeared once more and he slowly crept onto the floor beside the bed. "Elise, you're gonna get through this." he told her softly, "they won't keep you down, frau."
She sighed, rolling onto her other side to face away from him. She waved him off, her eyes closing as she curled up. "Just let me sleep." she muttered, yawning as a few tears slipped down from her eyes. Within a few minutes, she had slipped from consciousness.
When he noticed she was asleep, Gilbert got to his feet. He sighed, brushing her hair gently from her face before returning to that closet. "I'll help you somehow, Elise. I promise it." he whispered as he faded into the darkness, his eyes being the last bit of his presence to fade into darkness.