Ted pretty much hated his job. It wasn’t a bad place to work per se, but having a boss from hell tended to mar everything that was remotely positive. There were times when he wondered how he had ended up in corporate America. The pay was good, but morale was always low, and he ended up continuously working for assholes that had no idea what they were doing.
Ted’s most recent boss, a Yale MBA with a nice resume, was one of those people. He had been recently hired based upon his merits on paper, but once he actually had to manage a staff and put his social skills to work, he was blatantly unable to do so. In essence, the man had no social skills and communicated in a subtly condescending, disrespectful manner. Ted was thankful that the guy hadn’t been around when his wife had decided to bail, but still hoped that the jerk would be a short-timer.
The work itself—product management—had never been difficult. Ted was sharp, and years of experience had taught him exactly how to manage a product from conception to commercialization. He knew how to work with engineers to design the product, how to obtain feedback from key opinion leaders on the efficacy and need for the product, and finally, how to commercialize the item for the public.
So it wasn’t unusual for Ted to get through his workday relatively quickly. That is, unless his boss was able to find him and task him with some inordinately mundane project that had no real significance. It was this possibility that reminded Ted to lay low and try to stay out of the asshole’s path.
On this particular day, Ted needed to leave early so it was even more crucial to remain on the “DL,” as his colleagues liked to say – otherwise known as the “Down Low.” Darcy’s bed was finally being delivered to the house and he needed to break out early so that he could let the deliverymen inside.
Darcy was extremely excited. All morning during breakfast she’d been jabbering on and on about her “cool, new black bed” that had “superpowers” and could turn her into a magical princess. It made him happy to see her so excited, because he knew that somewhere in her little soul, she cried for her mother every day.
Their family psychologist had recommended that he not coddle his daughter, but rather treat her gently and try to instill reasonable happiness into her life. Time would eventually heal her wounds, he knew that. But he wasn’t clear as to how deeply embedded the scars would be. Darcy rarely asked about her mother anymore and just seemed to push forward into her life. It was an odd way for a child to react to such things, but he figured that whatever coping mechanism was at play was better than utter despair.
Swiveling his chair away from the desk, Ted took a deep breath and prayed that his boss was somewhere far away or deeply engrossed in a never-ending meeting so he could make a quick getaway.
The hallway outside his office was empty, so he quickly locked his door and rushed to the exit, got into his car, and drove away.
When Ted arrived home, the furniture truck was already sitting in his driveway. The deliveryman was leaning up against the side, chewing on a toothpick and looking bored. He watched as Ted pulled up and flicked the toothpick into the nearby grass.
“Hey, so sorry I’m late,” Ted said, quickly getting out of his car.
“No problem. Just got lots of deliveries today and figured they told you when I’d be here.”
“Yes, sorry about that.”
The deliveryman looked like he wanted to complain some more, but instead gave a huge sigh and went to the back of the truck to unload the bed. As he pulled it out, Ted assisted by holding the front door open and making sure he was able to maneuver through the hallways into Darcy’s room. Once inside the room, the deliveryman lifted Darcy’s other bed out into the hallway and then carried it into the truck.
Ted signed the papers and it was done. The new bed was ready for his little girl.
When Darcy was dropped off by a friend at the house a few moments later, she immediately ran to her bedroom.
“Daddy, it’s awesome!” she cried gleefully. He’d already put the mattress on it along with her favorite sheets and bedspread.
“I’m glad you like it, honey. Maybe now you’ll start going to sleep a little earlier.”
“Dad! No way. That’s not fair.”
“Well, maybe I’ll have to sleep in it, then,” he teased, picking her up and swinging her around as she giggled. “Ok, time to do some homework. I’ve got to put something together for dinner.”
Darcy smiled and grabbed her book bag.
“Can I do my homework on my new bed?”
“Yes, of course.” As Ted left her, he couldn’t help thinking how sometimes the smallest things made the biggest difference.
Never having been schooled on fine cuisine, Ted liked to keep meals simple. He was an expert at whipping up a steaming pile of spicy spaghetti in a matter of minutes. Coupled with some butter garlic rolls, broiled green beans, and a side salad, spaghetti could be a very satisfying meal.
At least he thought so. Why make things so complicated? Darcy didn’t like fancy food anyway, and he was all about keeping things as normal as possible, given the circumstances.
All through dinner, Darcy continued to talk about her bed. She was extremely interested in where it came from, which he couldn’t really answer. So instead he decided to come up with answers that were a bit fanciful. Not lying per se, but he figured a little mystery was good for the soul.
“Daddy, where did my bed come from?”
“Well, honey, they said it came from Germany. It’s a special bed.”
“Does it have princess powers?”
“Hmm. Yes, I think it does. But the powers only come alive when you’re asleep.”
Darcy didn’t like this answer. Scrunching up her face, she looked at him seriously. “So how do you use them if you’re asleep?”
“You don’t use them, Darcy. They just protect you and help you sleep like a princess.”
Ted knew his answer was lame, but he was trying his best, and eventually Darcy changed the subject and started talking about what she wanted to do over the weekend.
After dinner, they followed their usual routine. Ted rinsed off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher while Darcy watched some cartoons on TV. Then he got her bathed, put her in pajamas, and read her a book before bed.
After all the excitement of the day, Darcy was tired, and her eyes were drooping even before he got to the middle of her favorite story, “The Princess and the Pea.” Quietly closing the book, Ted leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, put the book in the bookshelf, and gently shut the door.
Once his daughter went to bed, Ted found that the silence was hard to take. He hadn’t begun dating again even though his wife had been gone for nearly a year.
All of his friends told him that it was time to move on. Things weren’t going to get better. But Ted still held out hope that maybe his ex-wife would come back to him. And even though he had physical and emotional needs that weren’t being fulfilled (other than what he could do for himself), he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for punishment. Or maybe I’m scared.
Flopping onto the couch, he rested his head against the cushions and watched a program about fly-fishing. After a half hour, he turned off the television and went to bed.
The dream started out so subtly that he wasn’t quite sure that it was a dream. Opening his eyes, Ted could see his bedroom in the darkness. All appeared normal. The nightstand, dresser, television, reading chair—everything was in the right place. But when he sat up in the darkness, the air felt strange and heavy. Even the simple motion of getting out of bed took more effort than normal.
Ted was finally able to get to the door of his room and turned the knob, pushing it open. It creaked and swung out, leaving him in utter darkness except for a blue sliver of light glowing from underneath his daughter’s bedroom door.
Moving toward the light robotically, he could feel his heart rate begin to increase but couldn’t move forward any quicker. He knew something was wrong. The blue light blazed from underneath the door, but once he was able to push it open, he was met by darkness.
Despite the fact that he was in the midst of a nightmare, it still took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the room. Once the bedroom came into view, Ted could see the dark bed resting against the corner, its arches glinting in the moonlight. Darcy was lying in the bed asleep.
But he had a sinking sensation that something wasn’t quite as it seemed.
He took a few steps closer to the bed and suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the room. Behind him, the door slammed shut. Ted swung his head around just in time to see the lock clicking into place.
When he turned back toward the bed, Darcy was sitting up. She was now in the center of the bed, with her head down and legs crossed Indian-style. Her brown hair hung over her face, hiding her countenance beneath long locks.
“Darcy?”
It was hard to speak, but Ted was able to force her name from his lips.
The child looked up slowly and grinned. Only she didn’t have the innocent mirth of a young girl. Her smile was large and…evil. As she eyed him, her body began to rise until it was floating several feet over the bed.
Ted was horrified and unable to move. He wanted to run, knew he needed to get away from whatever was happening, but there was nowhere to go—nowhere to hide.
The thing that resembled his daughter let out a loud laugh and threw her hands out. She leapt toward him and focused her attention on his throat, her fingers touching his neck just as he opened his eyes.
Sitting straight up in his bed, Ted tried to suppress a scream. Sweat trickled along his forehead, dripping down his neck and disappearing among the chest hair that was poking out in all directions. The nightmare was fresh in his mind and he could almost feel the cold fingers reaching around his neck.
He decided to get out of bed and visited the bathroom first, taking a midnight piss. He then looked at his haggard reflection in the mirror, decided to wash his face, and then toweled off, heading to Darcy’s room next.
With hesitation, he slowly opened the door, not quite sure what he would find. But to his relief, his daughter was sleeping soundly, the covers tossed around her in small heaps. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, finding it cool to the touch.
As he left the room, he could hear her gentle snoring and felt a little better. But his nerves were still jumbled by the nightmare and it was a long while before he was able to fall asleep.
As Ted was attempting to fall back asleep, an evil darkness waited and watched.