Remus knew something was hiding under his bed. He could feel it, and he was terrified, too scared to look down and check, so as he laid in bed, as his father gave him a kiss goodnight and walked away, Remus called out in a small voice, "Dad? There's something under my bed."
Lyall Lupin turned around with a mildly exasperated look on his face. "Remus, there is nothing under your bed. Enough with your childish fantasies. You are almost five."
Remus trembled slightly under the covers. "But Dad, there's a monster under my bed."
"Enough, Remus. You are too old for this. I'm not checking for 'monsters' under the bed of a five-year-old." And with that, Lyall turned around and left his son in the dark.
Remus curled up, and tried to ignore the feeling that something was there, something was watching and waiting . . .
He had to know. Was there something under his bed? His Dad had told him everything was alright, and Remus wanted to believe him, but the feeling wouldn't go away.
He mustered up all of his four-almost-five-year-old courage, pushed aside the covers, and let his feet drop to the ground.
He could hear his heart in his throat as he grabbed a flashlight from inside his desk drawer, and he could swear he had swallowed an entire beehive with the churning in his stomach, as he bent down, shining the flashlight under the bed . . .
There was a snarl, something hairy and warm lept onto him, Remus struggled to get away, it had pinned him down with its claws, Remus cried out as they dug into him. He could hear footsteps on the stairs, someone was coming up.
He struggled, kicking out and managed to catch it in the leg, the creature let out a horrid shriek, and then all Remus could feel was pain . . . He could feel something wet, warm trickling down his body, there was so much of it. Someone was screaming. Was it him? He couldn't tell, it all hurt so much . . .
The door burst open. Through the haze, Remus could make out his father's figure, wand held at the ready.
The pain intestified and Remus couldn't see or hear anything, everything was a mess of colors and sound and pain . . .
Remus couldn't comprehend anything from then, everything was in flashes. The creatures were gone . . . Someone was next to him . . . He was being taken somewhere . . .
After that, he simply couldn't hold on to conciousness anymore, and he passed out.
