Barking dogs woke him.
The window across from his bed was still dark. But a soft white glow came from the kitchen.
Dad getting a snack out of the fridge?
But why were the dogs barking?
It didn’t feel right. A sense of cold dread started in his stomach. He thought making the long dash across the den to his parents room, but he dared not. The way would be too dark and the path would be too long. Instead he tucked himself deeper into his pillow and pulled his Lightening McQueen blanket, the last bastion of his childhood, up to his chin.
Why had he ditched the nightlight? Dumbass.
The white glow turned pink and the change brought with it an aroma that invaded his room. It smelled of bread and cotton candy and sex all rolled into one. His fear melted away. He sat up in bed and breathed deep. The tantalizing aroma drew him out from under the covers. He could see Her in his mind’s eye waiting for him across the threshold of his doorway, on the other side of his sanctum sanctorum. She was glistening, round and dripping wet.
A pear.
Perfect.
Something crunched.
Was it teeth gnashing bone?
There was no more barking.
His foot brushed the cool floorboard. He stared into the blackness of the hallway and into the blind blank pink glow beyond. He took a step towards the door.
Electric sex set his senses on fire. Everything was silent in his room. A whisper would have knocked him down and shattered him. But he could sense Her just beyond the hard edged shadow where the dark banished the light. He could see the skin of shoulder, the line of her collar bone, the quiver of her skin on the top slope of her breast.
Goose bumps ripples across his skin when imagined her touch. But then a scream pierced his brain and broke the spell.
Was that his mother? His sister? Who had screamed like that? People in movies don’t even scream like that. He pressed his back flat against the wall opposite his door.
Another crunch. A sickening crunch this time. Much more weighty than the first. Followed by something wet hitting the floor.
The glow began to brighten. Something heavy scratched the ceramic tile. It was coming towards his room.
“God,” he said. “There is a little boy down here who believes in you.”
His prayer was interrupted by his father yelling his name. Followed by, “Oh God.” Followed by a “Get.” And nothing more.
And the glow got brighter. And something heavy scratched the ceramic tile.
The monster finally filled his doorway. She was naked. She was beautiful. But her beauty was marble hard. And cruel. She had no eyes. No eyes only blackness. And she moved with a bulk that belied her slender form.
She stopped at the edge of his room. Her pink glow seemed brighter than a thousand suns. It hurt him to look at her. But he had never seen a naked girl in real life before. She spread her legs, tossed her hair, and waved him towards her, towards the doorway
He refused to move.
“Why can’t she go into his room?” Jill asks.
“I’m reading a story here, bitch. Trying to spread some fairy dust. Fuck you.”
“I’m just saying,” Jill continued, “Your sexist succubus can enter a house and kill a dog and his parents but his room keeps her at bay by some magic barrier? That’s bullshit. And why’s she gotta be naked? Are you saying vaginas are evil and will eat you and shit? Because that shit ain’t right. And who the fuck describes a woman as a pear? Pears are dumpy. You shoulda gone with a peach.”
“Thanks Jill. Tell me how you really feel.”
“I just did. But, while we’re on the subject, you know your story is really about race. I mean the elephant in the room is the fact that you didn’t even mention anyone’s race. That pretty much makes you a giant volcano of hate.”
Later that night Billy smashed in Jill’s skull with a cast iron frying pan. He never really said why.