We all remember losing our teeth when we were young. Promises of money, coming from the mystical tooth faerie. They paid you a visit while you slept, and gave you a small reward. But have you ever SEEN this being? Thank the gods you haven't.
It was August... I was living alone with my two sons, Luke and James, aged 4 and 7 respectively. James was very excited as he had a loose tooth. He knew what that meant. Money from the Tooth Faerie. He spent all day wiggling it, trying to free its grasp. Until one day... POP!
Luke ALSO knew what that meant. His brother would get cash that night, and he would not. He was very jealous, and came up with a plan. Gathering some small white pebbles from the yard, he placed two under his pillow to await his reward. That night, both of my baby boys went to sleep content.
James was awoken that night by what he could only describe as a horrible crunching sound. It was coming from his brother's room. The pure shock of what he saw when he opened that door may have just been his imagination. But he claims he saw the being itself. Demonic claws, a long slender body, like that of a man who had not eaten for days. Wings that looked like a giant bat.
It turned around to him and put a finger up to its mouth to shush him. Its smile, James said, consisted of all of Luke's bloody teeth. The creature then proceeded to slowly slide the window open before crawling over Luke and out into the night.
James rushed downstairs to get me that night. The fact that he had gotten up at 11 PM told me he was scared. Despite asking several times what was wrong, the only response I could obtain was sobbing, and a tug on my clothes as he tried leading the way.
As I followed him upstairs I shivered. There was a breeze coming down the stairs. I could have sworn the windows were all shut and locked.
He pulled me toward his brothers room, but stopped several feet away from the door. His sobbing turned to wailing, and he pointed and covered his eyes. I had never seen James behave this way.
I put my hand on the door knob, and pushed the door open. I called out for Luke, worried that maybe he had fallen out of bed, or bit his tongue, or something. When there was no reply I turned the light on.
What I saw in that room was something out of a nightmare. Bloody scratch marks on the edge of the wall, an open window, drapes blowing in the breeze. But the worst part of it was seeing the body of my sweet baby boy...
His jawbone had been ripped off of its hinges, his eyes wide with fear. His chest looked pushed in, as if something very heavy had been placed on it, creating an imprint. There were no teeth in his mouth, and there was so much blood pouring from his gums that it was dribbling down his face and onto the bed.
I remember screaming. But not much of the rest of the night. James told me that I cried and fell down while that he called the police. When I asked what else happened he said I just cried myself to sleep.
The police deemed it a break in. While unsure of the motive, they said it was most likely planned. The target was probably not meant to be the child, but rather myself, and when they woke Luke up, he was killed, and the suspect fled.
My poor James was placed in an institution to recover from his night terrors. He eventually reached the conclusion that this was a robbery gone wrong, and no longer had nightmares of the incident. This is not to say he was not still traumatized. He was released back into my care, with monthly check-ins being required to assure his mental stability.
We left Luke's room untouched since the cleanup of the crime scene. I couldn't even go upstairs on my own, because the pain of losing him hurt too much.
The day I picked up James from the institution was the day I informed him that we would be moving. I had been looking for a new home the two months he was recovering.
James was overjoyed to hear this. We began boxing our belongings up immediately. I knew I had to clean out that dreaded room, however. As I looked at the bed Luke used to lay in, I cried. I cleaned out any remaining toys and furniture, and prepared them to be donated.
I moved on to James room, which had not been used since that night. Once again, I emptied the room, and saved bedding for last. As I pulled the pillows off the bed. something caught my eye. Something that sent a chill down my spine and fear into my heart.
A five dollar bill was under James's pillow, with the words DON'T LIE scrawled in blood on the front.
You must really want that money