The sound of his mom's coughing wakes a seven-year-old Rylan up from his bed.
The sound is sharp as if whatever is making her sick is slowly clawing up her throat. She sounds like she's in pain...and he's not just going to stand there and listen to her suffer.
He quietly slips out of bed and peeks out into the living room, hiding just behind the doorframe...His mom is sitting limply on the couch, away from the light of the TV. She's shivering so much he can see it, even in the darkness of the room.
"...Mama? Are you okay?" The young boy asks, keeping his voice low, trying not to startle her. But she doesn't respond.
Rylan stumbles closer as he trips over the too-long legs of his pajama pants. She places a small hand on her shoulder and tries to shake her. Her skin is cold, sticky, and unnaturally stiff. "Mama...get up..."
"Rylan..." she croaks out in between her coughs.His mom suddenly turns her head to meet his face, but there's something very, very wrong.
Her face is covered in eyes. Bright purple irises lock onto him. Around her mouth and nose, dripping down her nose... it's not blood. It was dark, viscous, and it smelled of decay and...what Rylan can only describe as...fear.
"M-Mama? What happened?" Rylan asks, trying to get closer.
"Rylan, y-you...you can't be here right now, okay? Go back to bed..." she says, weak, yet frantic. "I don't know what will happen if you don't. Just go to sleep, okay? I'll be okay..."The black liquid pours from her mouth and onto the floor in front of him. All the eyes seem to latch onto his face. He doesn't know which one to look at... her eyes...or its eyes.
"Rylan, don't look at them, okay? Look at me! Don't pay them any attention!"
"M-Mama... what's happening?"
"I can't t-tell you right now! Just... just go!" she says sharply.
Rylan slowly steps back, before making a mad dash for his room, clambering into his bed and shoving himself into the safety of the covers.
The coughs are getting worse. It sounds like she's coughing up her lungs at this point. And her mumbling words turn into loud yelling, psychotic and terrified.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvozsmNJst
"Leave me and my baby alone!"
"You can't keep controlling me!"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Rylan's eyes screw shut as he tries to shut out those desperate screams. He's scared and confused, but his mom won't tell him anything.
He gets back up, standing right behind the doorframe as a barrier between him and what's on the other side.
...His mother is sitting in the middle of the floor, in the fetal position. She's trembling as if her flesh and bones were about to melt into nothing. For a minute, it's just that. Until she seems to... notice him.
"Rylan...?" her voice is warm...sweet again. At first, he looks a bit happy. Maybe she's feeling a bit better? He starts to walk a little bit closer, with an encouraging look on his face. "Mama? Are you feeling better?"
She reaches her arms out for him. "So much better, Rylan. Come here. I'm sorry for scaring you. Give Mama a hug..."
Rylan walks over again, getting just within arm's length of his mother. That's when he sees it.
It stands over his mother, also holding out its arms...almost as if she was a puppet. The creature was impossibly tall, and nightmarishly black. Its singular eye sat in the middle of its face, wide and glowing with that bright purple hue.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfkYNiqAAJ
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It's the Boogeyman, he thinks, and it has my Mama...124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFc7pPtq07
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Without a second thought, Rylan pulls away, before bolting back to his bedroom.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7HtXzE0Lj
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His feet trip and stumble as he darts to the hallway, trying to get back to his room, but the creature's long, lanky, fingers grab onto the scruff of his shirt before he can leave fully. The creature maneuvers him around to look at it, it's eye blaring down at him like a purple summer sun.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOgals7vkH
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"Mama! Help!" he says, trying to struggle his way out of its bony fingers.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUxuQMGXyV
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"Don't look at it, Rylan! Close your eyes!" his mother cries out, trying to get through to him through his fear.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNVcOn8p7z
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But the eye, so blazingly bright, is strangely...beautiful, and Rylan can't stop staring at it.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhJa2KkOWU
The purple is so...comforting. It reminds him of his Mama, his Nana, and it tells him everything is okay. He doesn't even feel the strange sensation of the curse's influence, piercing his face underneath his skin, peeling back and moving rapidly.|124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGV1HlL6O6Z
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On his cheek, bright and staring straight forward is an eye. Small, but undeniably there. Once the monster sees that it's made its mark on the boy...it lets him go, dropping him unceremoniously next to his mother. Rylan curls into himself immediately, trying to keep this "Boogeyman" from hurting him any further.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2FuX0zES1
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He feels a warm embrace. The kiss on his forehead. His Mama telling him that the monster is gone, and that she's sorry, that he shouldn't have seen that. But he doesn't respond, he can't.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUas7WzUPT
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He can only tremble as the curse seems to root itself into his body...124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvw723H7yd
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He can feel it, but it doesn't seem to do anything...like it's getting comfortable.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzV6FklxRrg
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...Too comfortable.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRw2oSF56Au
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