The Boy

Could you please turn the light off good sir, asked the boy, timidly.

Why, asked the guard, he was not so fond of the new boy.

They don't like to visit when the light is on, they say it shows them for who they are, and they don't like that.

Who's them, asked the guard?

They never tell me, but one looks like the knight, he even has an armor and a shiny black sword, the other one doesn't look so good, he has a big scar on his right cheek, and he doesn't like fire at all.

What are you talking about boy, the guard asked, it wasn't unusual for him to hear such things, but this boy made him uneasy, when he looked at him, he felt that more than one pair of eyes were gazing back at him.

Once mommy left the lights on, my sister was afraid of the dark and mom dad were going out so she had to sleep in my room, that night when they came they asked me who she is, she was really pretty you know, and she used to laugh a lot. But when they looked at her, she was laughing no more, she didn't cry too, now she doesn't speak at all. We all tried, but she just looks at us, never speaks.

The guard was visibly spooked now, he has of course heard the rumors when they brought him in, the boy was to be kept alone, nothing unusual in that, but for a boy of 7 he was unusually quiet. He didn't speak even a word all day,  he just stood there looking at the ceiling.

What did they do to your sister, he asked finally.

They didn't do anything, they just told her a story, actually I told her a story, and yet it was him who was really saying things, my sister didn't like it, she was scared, I thought she'll tell mommy on me, but she never did.

The guard was pale with fear now, finally he said, get some sleep, the doctor will see you in the morning, and we don't turn off the lights here. So just sleep quitely.

The boy didn't like that, but he couldn't do it, he prayed that no harm comes to the guard in the night and went to sleep.

In his dream, he was back in the dungeon, the air smelled foul, like every thing was rotten, and it was, at the far end of dungeon, he was waiting for him, he started walking slowly.

You don't look so good boy, asked the shadow. he didn't like to see him in the light, he wasn't handsome anymore, though he still looked like a man, hideous, but still a man.

The guard didn't turn of the lights, I asked him and he didn't.

The shadow didn't say anything, he just looked at him. The boy trembled, he didn't like being looked that way.

Can I ask you something, the boy said, when he didn't reply he said again, are you a monster??

Am I a monster?? In a fashion dear boy, but do you know what monsters are.

They are scary, they have red eyes and talons as fingers, they roam in the dark and attack when a person is all alone. And everyone is afraid of them.

Are you afraid of me, little boy, the sound came from within his head. And he was too scared to speak.

I am, but not as much as my parents , but they are afraid of me, they think I did something to Abby, they don't believe it was you.

That makes you a monster too.

But how can I be a monster, I'm too afraid.

But monsters are afraid too, that's what makes them a monster. Every thing anyone does to hurt you is because they are scared of you, one way or another.

The boy tried to contemplate but it was too much for him. Where are the others, he asked.

Gone hunting, lots of prey to get.

Why didn't you go with them.

Oh I am hunting, he said, now take me to this guard, he said, grabbing the arms of the boy.

The guard was dozing off when he heard rhe sounds coming from the room, startled he woke up and went to check. There he saw the boy lying flat on his back, his body writhing in pain. He immediately called the nurse and went in.
Are you all right boy, he asked??

Why do you fear the darkness?? the boy spoke in a voice that wasn't his own, he opened his eyes and in the relative dark of his cell they burned red, like coal in a hearth, only there was no heat in that fire.

The guard made a run for the door only to find it bolted from inside, he tried to open it, but his fumbling fingers couldn't do it.

Why do you fear the darkness?? The voice called again, this time there were many voices, crippled with fear, he just stood there looking down on the boy who was half his height and who didn't look like a boy at all.

Please..... He muttered.

We are the children of darkness, born in it, fed by it. I am here since your sun and moon wasn't even made. Traveling, hunting, there was no light then, everything was our domain.  Alas that's not the case today Not everyone can see us now, but every now and then comes a vessel, who sees us for what we are, they are not afraid of us, just curious, they are the eyes through which we see the world.

But why me asked the guard.

You fear the darkness, don't you, you are ever so afraid of it. So you never look in the abyss, I'm here to help you see. But you need real eyes for that, not these ones.

So tell me, do you wanna hear a story????

When the nurse came, she screamed so loud that the whole hospital shook. Nobody understood how the guard was half inside the grill when the gate was still locked. Nobody understood why he had empty eyeballs, nobody but the boy, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed when they woke him. And when the whole commotion ended a few hours after, he said softly to the new guard- will you please switch off the lights, good sir.