“There’s something in the house. Don’t go up there.” Hilda’s mother whispered while crouched down. “We have to stay in the basement or they’ll get us.”

Hilda couldn’t imagine what was up there, staring up the stairs from the basement but it seemed that her mother could. She held her shoulders tight, her long nails dug into her exposed skin. “But this is our house, mommy. Why can’t we make them go away?“

Her mother couldn’t answer and only peered up at the stairs. “They’re intruders. We have to hide.” The floor creaked above. Dust trickled down over their heads and Hilda shuddered.

Her mother took her by the arm and threw her behind a shelf. Hilda saw her mother make a gesture with her finger over her mouth and ran to hide somewhere else. Hilda lost track of her and held her stomach to calm the knots.

The stairs groaned with a heavy burden. Something was coming. It walked into the dim light. It was tall, whatever it was, taller than either of them and had bony, pale arms. She couldn’t bare to look at the monster anymore and ducked down. A paint can was nearby. The monster approached closer. She had to get it away from her. She tossed the paint can away from the shelf and the monster made a shrieking noise.

Hilda bolted away from the shelf, keeping low, and ran up the stairs. The house had been changed since she last saw it, being sequestered in the basement for so long. In the kitchen was a bunch of strange new mechanical objects, likely for eating and torturing anyone unlucky enough to be caught by them. Jagged and sharp instruments were proudly hung from the ceiling. It was nighttime and the objects glimmered in the moonlight from the windows.

There was a large door with a sheen to it that she tried to hide in but there wasn’t enough room for her. It was cold inside. Contained within were creatures that had been partially eaten. Bones protruded. Mold and other goop were stored in clear jars. She wanted to retch.

Hurried footsteps came from the basement. She ran again. This time finding her way through the hallway. A light glowed from one of the side rooms and she saw a horrid creature standing on a stool, sticking a long tool into its oozing mouth. The creature was skinny like the other one with long, glossy hair. Its tiny fingers were as bony as the dead animal in the cold pantry. Wretched, horrid monsters…The thing turned and made a shrieking, hollow screech. It made her ears burn.

She ducked into a side room and found a bed to hide under. “We have to hide.” Was her mother’s instruction, and so she did. The sheets that went over the side, cold and loose like the sheets that concealed the monsters from the outside world. She wondered where they came from, huddled in the empty dark crevice. The dark world outside only contained more of these pale and gaunt creatures. There was so much about the world that her mother, so kind and protective, never told her about. They must’ve gotten in through the doors to the outside. If she could scare them away then maybe the house would be theirs again. Her and her mother, who birthed her from the darkness of her mind, like all good and normal people.

The floor creaked. Skeletal feet scampered across it. Springs compressed over her head as the little monster jumped onto the bed. The thing was going crazy, searching for her most likely. Bed sheets flapped wildly. It screeched and squealed. Hilda held her ears. Her pointed teeth cut into her already cracked lips. The thing was screaming out for help. The larger monster would be coming soon. She couldn’t let it find her…

A pounding, a thumping of heavy bare feet produced two more feet. Yellow toenails and blue veins met her wide gaze. Just seeing the monster’s feet made terrified her. She didn’t want to see the things face. “There’z a munster under my bed!” Wept the terrible little creature.

Monster! But they were the monsters. Her mother couldn’t have been lying…Could she? They were foreign still, strange in the straight muscled stances. The big one made a square with it’s feet, standing perfectly still upfront of the bed, speaking with the same demeanor that her mother had when scorning her. It moved to the side of the bed…and bent down on one knee…She had to run again, but there was nowhere to go. The thing’s hair hung low past the sheets. It breathed a loud and sad sigh. Impatience. The sheet lifted…

And a horrid pale face with nearly absent facial features peered back. There was a straight-lined mouth unlike her own gaping wide mouth. The light of the room was harsh to her skin as she spun away from the bed and stood on her hind legs. The floor clacked with her talons as she paced, Hilda growling in protest. A mirror over a clothing cabinet showed the horrid pale figures, the child monster wrapped in what must been death wrappings and the larger one now standing. But she was also standing, looking back and saw herself, a beautifully grayed skinned child of healthy weight, her thick and full arms jiggled as she pointed her three fingered claws. She howled. The others screeched, seemingly demanding her soul.

On her cracked talons she scampered from the room and scurried as fast she could to the basement where she felt most at home. Her oval eyes oozed tears as she found her mother and clung to her. “They’re so scary, mommy. Why won’t they go away?”

Her mother comforted her with soft chortling, wrapping her plump arms around Hilda. She was safe in that moment but couldn’t get the hideous sights out of her head. Her mother’s scaly tongue licked her forehead. Their cracked skin met as Hilda pressed harder. She hated the monsters, despised them for making her afraid.

Finally Hilda’s mother spoke with words that made the terrible feelings go away. “Don’t worry, little munchkin. I’ll take care of them. You leave it up to dear old momma. The nasty humans will never bother you again.” She licked her long talons and followed with: “I’ll make sure of it.”