Addie opened her eyes. Her body was stiff, and her skin felt the cold surrounding her like an enemy. The cotton sheets seemed cold, despite the down comforter on top. Her bedroom was lit only by the moon shining in from the single window to her right. Unmoving shadows embraced every corner and curve of the fixtures and furniture. There was no sound at all. She laid there in the stillness and glanced around her room.

    Nothing out of place, everything is as it should be.

    Her muscles began to relax as she recognized she was safe. The sheets began to feel warm and comforting luring her back to sleep. She started to close her eyes just as the clouds began to move over the moon.

     The room began to grow dark as her eyes closed. Then just as they were almost shut and everything was blurry. There was movement to the left of the bed near the wall.

    Addie couldn’t tell what it was, how big it had been, or even how fast it had been moving. For the first second she wasn’t sure she saw anything at all. She was almost dreaming, it might not be anything real. The moon was blotted out by a passing cloud, perhaps it was a trick of the eye just as it was closing.

    Then she heard the noise. She knew right away what the noise was, or more precisely where it was. Something on her dresser had moved, but it was just one thing. As if someone pushed it an inch in any direction.

    Addie’s eyes were now wide open.

    It was as if she still had them closed. She could not see anything at all. Her heart began to beat so hard she shook from the force of it. Her lamp was on the night stand to her right. All she had to do was reach out her arm and turn on the light.

    Her body laid there frozen in fear.

    What if it whatever it was ripped off her arm as she was reaching? What if it didn’t know she was awake and it would leave if it thought she was sleeping? What if the cloud moves and moon comes back out?

    As if on her command the clouds moved on and the moonlight began to pour back into the room.

    Addie’s heart began to pound with less force as she noticed the shadows all in their places. Nothing was out of place, that she could see. The dresser was washed in shadows and it was impossible to tell if anything had moved.

    There was nothing else.

    Addie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She started to clear her mind of the nonsense she almost given in to. Her heart began to beat at a normal pace. Addie breathed slow.

    She began to force her eyes to close. Just as her lids were closing there was bright blur at the foot of the bed.

    It lunged at her.

    She opened her eyes wide quickly, but all she ever saw was a white blur lunging at her like a wild hungry dog. The only sound she heard was it landing on all fours on the bed, and her final scream for help into the night.