The Monster in the Closet

Natasha never let me go over to her house. Nor would she stay over at my house.

Every time I asked her why, she would respond with the same two reasons.

“My family doesn’t want me bringing people over.”

“My family doesn’t want me staying over.”

She always avoided my eyes whenever she told me. That’s how I knew she was lying. Fortunately, it didn’t bother me.

It wasn’t my business when it came to family matters.

So, imagine my surprise when Natasha asked me if I wanted to come over out of the blue, when we were waiting in the line to pick up fast food.

“My family says its fine for you to come over. They have been wanting to meet you, it’s just…my family is kind of weird when it comes to my friends.”

Natasha wrinkled her nose.

“They were also worried you were going to make moves on me.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Why can’t anyone accept that guys can’t be friends with girls?”

Natasha rolled her eyes.

“I told them that too, but they were still acting weird about it. Like, come on. I’m not interested in a guy who likes to read comic books and play videogames.”

“Uh, you like doing that stuff too.”

Natasha mimicked a face of what I think a werewolf would look like, baring her teeth at me and waving her hands like a dog. This stupid spectacle caused an erupt laugh to rip out of me.

“So, does Saturday sound good for you? Around 5ish? You could have dinner and spend time with us and leave before 9.”

“Why do I need to leave before 9? It’s Saturday. I could stay over longer.”

Natasha’s smile faded.

“It’s best if you leave before 9.”

“Why?”

“Family stuff.”

We then quickly changed the subject, talking about random stuff. However, I couldn’t shake the way Natasha looked at me.

It was…odd.

I quickly forgot about that moment, because I got busy with typical high school stuff. Then Saturday eventually arrived.

I hugged both of my parents' goodbye before leaving. They told me to be careful, warning me that there was a possibility of a sudden storm happening tonight.

I highly doubted that, since it was rare for the reporters to always be right about the chance of rain.

I took off down the road, using the GPS to locate Natasha’s address. It took about an hour to get there. I was surprised how far she lived. Natasha lived outside of town, in the middle of nowhere with a dirt road.

If it did rain, my tires were fucked. Perhaps I could convince them to let me stay the night if that were to happen.

When I arrived, I expected to be greeted awkwardly by her family, but they embraced me with open arms. Her mother was an exact replica of her, a brunette with caramel skin.

Her father had a shade of blonde hair and was quite handsome for his age. He gave me a firm handshake, welcoming me to their home.

“Nice to meet you, Jim! We heard so much about you! I’m Adam, and this lovely gal is my wife, Jeanette! Question, do you have a girlfriend?”

Natasha groaned in the background. I resisted the urge to laugh as I politely said:

“No. I’m not really interested in finding anyone yet. I’m in high school, I gotta grow up first, you know?”

A booming laugh left his lips.

“You hear that, Nat? Guess you were right about this one!”

Natasha leaned over to grasp my hand and pull me away from her dad.

“Can we just have dinner? I don’t want you freaking out my friend.”

“Of course, of course! Come on, let’s go have some burgers! Adam is a good cook! You are going to love them, Jim!,” Jeanette chimed in.

They led me to the table, chatting the whole time. Natasha followed, embarrassed. I mouthed a silent when her parents weren’t looking: “Your parents rock.”

She mouthed back: “Fuck you.”

I hid my smile.

Dinner was lovely. I had a good time talking with Natasha’s parents. I could now see where Natasha got her positive attitude from. We were upstairs, in her bedroom hanging out.

I was laying on the floor, and she was lying on her bed, kicking her feet up in the air.

“Hey, sorry my parents came off so…weird. They are friendly, it’s just…they can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. Have you met my parents?”

“Good point.”

Natasha took a look at the clock on her dresser.

“You gotta get going soon, Jim. It’s going to be 8 soon.”

“I thought you said I could leave before 9? I could leave around I don’t know, 8:30?”

Before she could respond, a clap of thunder echoed outside. Natasha jumped.

“Oh shit. No way. Jim, you have to leave. Now.”

“Why — ’’

There was another clap of thunder, and then rain started pouring outside. Natasha slammed her fist down on her bed.

“You have got to be kidding me. Shit. Shit. Shit.”

I reached over to comfort her.

“Hey, calm down! It’s okay, why are you upset? I could just leave in the morning. I’ll call my parents, they won’t mind — ’’

Natasha whirled her gaze on me.

“Get the fuck out of here, Jim! You need to leave. Now!”

I was too surprised to speak. Natasha noticed my demeanor, and quickly took on a quieter tone.

“It’s more dangerous if you stay,” she whispered.

“What? Why?”

She was silent for a bit, before she spoke.

“You cannot leave this house after 9. I’m going to lock myself in my closet. You are going to go downstairs to stay with my mom and dad for the night. Remember, you cannot leave. No matter what you hear.”

“Natasha…what the fuck are you talking about? You’re freaking me out.”

There were tears in her eyes.

“Jim, I’m sorry.”

There was a knock at the door. Adam opened it slowly, avoiding my eyes.

Then in the blink of an eye, he grabbed hold of my arm, and carted me out of the room. I felt something cold press against my neck. Somehow, I knew without looking that it was a butcher knife.

I was too shocked to protest or fight back.

Adam led me downstairs, keeping his firm grip on my arm. Jeanette was waiting for me.

She was shaking.

“Get the rope,” Adam said.

Jeanette complied. She vanished for a bit, before coming back with a rope. Adam led me to one of the kitchen chairs, as the couple tied me up. Adam then passed the knife over to Jeanette, and scurried back upstairs.

I was too scared to speak, but I had to say something. I tried my best to not sound angry when I spoke, but my voice gave away my fear.

“Let-Let me go! Please! Please let me go!”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”

“Why? Why won’t you let me go?”

“Nat wouldn’t want you to recklessly drive out there and get yourself caught in a terrible accident. You need to stay here.”

“Then why tie me up?!”

A sting landed on my cheek. I didn’t know what happened at first. Until I saw Jeanette’s palm raised in the air. She had slapped me.

“You leave this house; we will all die.”

I didn’t know what to say after that. To be honest, I was afraid that if I continued, this insane family would attempt to harm me. Even though I was terrified, I had to keep my mouth shut.

Adam came back down about an eternity later, heading toward Jeanette. He completely ignored me as he hugged his wife.

“Is it done?,” she asked.

“Yes. Now all we have to do is wait until morning.”

“What about Jim’s parents?”

“I had Natasha call them, asking if it was alright if Jim stayed for the night. She lied and said that he was in the restroom. They said it was fine and didn’t want him to drive out in the storm. They didn’t suspect a thing.”

Then after their exchange, they both sat down at the kitchen table, holding hands. They continued to ignore me. The silence was unbearable and uncomfortable, minus the storm that was ongoing.

Then I heard the growls coming from upstairs.

It was so loud; it overpowered the pouring rain.

There were several thumps upstairs. As if whatever it was…was trying to escape.

My heart started pounding in my chest. Sweat trickled down my face, but it could have been my own tears. At some point, Adam touched a finger to his lips.

He didn’t have to even warn me. I was too scared to even move a muscle.

I never got a wink of sleep that night. I stayed up all night, until the storm was over, until the never — ending growls stopped when daylight was peeking through the blinds of the kitchen windows.

Adam and Jeanette untied me.

There were droplets of piss on the floor. I didn’t realize I had accidentally peed my pants. I was too scared and exhausted to care.

I slowly was about to leave the chair, but Adam stopped me. He grabbed my shoulder, applying pressure.

“You ever speak about what happened here, I will kill you. Don’t bother calling the police. They will never believe you anyway.”

With that said, the couple walked away and started to head upstairs.

That was when I instinct kicked in.

I ran out of the house. No one tried to stop me. I ran all the way to my car, got in, and left. I never came back to the property, and I never spoke to Natasha again.

7 months later, I came home to find my mom and dad speaking with a police officer. I had to stay after school to speak with my school counselor.

She was worried about me, wondering if Natasha suddenly dropping out of school was affecting me. I could never tell anyone the truth, because I would sound crazy; and I was honestly afraid that Adam would go forward with his threat.

My parents and the officer all looked at me. They each looked terrified.

The officer walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I flinched, remembering the firm grip that Adam had when he touched my shoulder.

“Son. I’m afraid I have some terrible news. Your friend, Natasha. Her…her parents were found dead this morning.”

I burst out crying. My mom and dad rushed over, comforting me.

They had been killed by some sort of wild animal.

Adam had both arms ripped off.

Jeanette’s face was missing.

Both of them had multiple bite marks all over their bodies.

This information had played in my head over and over.

I’m still not even sure what happened that night. Why Natasha had to be locked up in her closet. Why she suddenly became some kind of monster.

I struggle to believe that was even the case. Maybe her parents were just insane, and Natasha was secretly held captive by them.

Whatever it was, I would never know.

She was gone.

Missing.

Cops haven’t found her.

I went to bed, wanting to escape my dark thoughts. Picturing the bodies of Adam and Jeanette have been lingering in my mind, sometimes both of their dead bodies staring at me and taunting me with their warnings.

You leave this house, you will die.

You leave this house, you will die.

Just when I was beginning to fall asleep, their words fading into darkness; I heard a rustle come from my closet.

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn