A little girl lay awake in her bed, it was way past midnight and she should have been asleep long ago. But she was too scared. She was afraid that the monster would come back and hurt her again like he had done so many times before. He always comes to her when she has done something wrong and it makes him angry. Like if she didn’t clean up properly or left a toy lying around and forgot to put it back in its rightful place. At one time, Susanna learned how to keep the monster at bay. She realized that if she tried her best to do everything she her parents asked her to and not make any unnecessary noise and make sure her bedroom didn’t show a speck of dust, he would not come to harm her. But there is only so much a seven-year-old child can do to prevent any mistakes she might make and over time the monster not only got angry with her if she did do something he thought was wrong but even if she didn’t. When she tried her best to be good to his standards, he got suspicious of her intentions. Thinking that she thought if she did everything right she would get away with one bad thing. He could never let her think that. He had grown more strict in his requirements as the months dragged on and it was becoming harder and harder for Susanna to keep up with the rules.

She heard the familiar pounding footsteps in the hall and scrambled out of bed to cower in the darkest corner of her room, wondering what she had done to upset the monster this time. She was sure she hadn’t left anything lying around and she had done all the chores she had been asked to do in the evening but still she heard the footsteps of the monster coming nearer and nearer. The monster was at her bedroom door now and Susanna tried to push herself further into the corner so that he wouldn’t find her.

The monster kicked her bedroom door open with such a force that it bounced off the wall and came back to hit him in the face. Of course he blamed the little girl, the same as she got the blame for everything else and it made him even angrier.

“Think that’s funny do you, Susanna? I don’t find it amusing in the slightest and you’re gonna pay for your little mistake, missy.”

The next time he opened the door with his hands, and peered around the room for his target. He could see that she was not in her bed and had therefore done something else he had forbidden her to do and his anger rose another notch on the scale. His cold gray eyes scanned the room for any signs of Susanna’s presence.

She stood with her back flat against the wall; her chest rising and falling faster with each second that had passed. She watched the monster walk into her room, his gray eyes blazing with anger and his nostrils flaring. She still couldn’t think of why he was so angry with her, after all she hadn’t done anything he told her not to. A girl of such a young age shouldn’t have to worry about her every move and thought but this unfortunate child did. With each step, he got closer to her ’hiding place’ and with each step the little girl’s body shook more violently. A cold sweat formed on her brow and as she brought her arm up to her forehead to wipe it away, he spotted the movement. He stared at her for a matter of minutes; his unblinking eyes focused on his unlucky prey.

He did not notice the figure that appeared behind him until it was too late. The cold metal reflected the moonlight shining through the window as it was raised above the monster’s head. The last words the evil being ever heard were,

“You ain’t gonna harm my baby no more.”

The little girl found safety in the woman’s voice,

“Mamma!” She cried in relief, “I told you.”

Before any more could be said the woman brought the knife down through the air and plunged it into the monster’s back. The bulk fell onto its knees, his breathing grew shorter until his lungs finally ceased to function and he slumped forward to lie facedown on the floor. Susanna let out a sob and ran toward her mother. Neither could manage to speak through the tears. Susanna wanted to know what the monster’s face really looked like, she never saw him clearly since it was always dark when he came. All she knew was that his eyes were cold and gray and his black hair - flecked with silver - was long and straggly. She leaned in to take a closer look at the face of her tormentor. This was no monster - it was her father.