The Book of Monsters.

Haunted.

Imagine...

Moving into a haunted house.

You had grown up just down the street from it, so of course you knew the stories. The infamous "a couple had a monster baby that they kept locked in the basement until it broke out and killed the whole family" story.

Everybody knew it. Hearing and then telling the story for the first time was almost a right of passage and it became a contest to see who could make it more gruesome. The kids in your town grew up having nightmares of the monster until they reached the "monsters aren't real" age. They then, of course, would scare all the little ones with it just like their big kids did to them. But even as adults...everyone was a little bit scared of the monster.

Except for you.

Even as a little girl, the stories had never frightened you. If anything, they had been more exciting rather then scary. So when your older sister attempted to scare you one dark night, it had annoyingly backfired. She'd concocted the most terrifying tale, creating the goriest bedtime of all time. Any other child would have had nightmares for months...you just had questions.

"What's it look like?"

"What?"

"What's it look like," you repeated. "Is it big or little? Does it have wings? Does it have super powers? Does it-"

"Oh my God! You are the absolute worst!"

Your stormed away in disgust and annoyance, leaving you to tug on your teddy bear and whisper to yourself,

"Wish the monster would eat you..."

She slammed to door in reply and you lay in the darkness, staring out your window towards the old house. It was creepy, falling apart and always dark and damp...it looked like the perfect place for a monster. But what kind of monster? You were left wondering what the monster was like, considering the many types of beast it could be. But in the end, you would keep wondering this for years.

It wasn't until many years later that you actually entered the house...

~

It was a sunny day, warm and bright with flowers blooming and birds singing. The perfect day, you thought, to relax with a good book and have a little peace and quiet. And for a moment, you did just that, until your peace and quiet was suddenly shattered by a loud wailing.

"Y/N! Y/N!"

Looking up from your book, you saw your little cousin Ollie running towards you, tears streaming down his chubby face and a Batman action figure clutched in his little hand. He run into your arms, burying his face into you as he sobbed.

It took an awful lot of consoling but you were finally able to get him to tell you what had happened, rubbing his back as the little boy sobbed.

"That stupid jerk Jason said that boys can't play with dolls and he took Barbie away and now Batman is sad and you HAVE to go get her!"

"Okay, okay." You replied, "Where is she?"

He froze for a moment, fear bubbling in his eyes, before turning to the direction of the old house and pointing towards it.

"The monster has her."

Okay, so obviously stupid jerk Jason told Ollie the old story. Sighing, you knelt down to look at him, smiling and comforting the child.

"Look, I'm sure the monster isn't as bad as he sounds. Maybe he's nice! And don't you worry, I'll go get Barbie. Tell Batman to keep calm."

Into the old house you went, easily slipping in through the broken backdoor. Knowing it was probably how Jason got inside, you told yourself to think like a jerk kid. Where would he toss a Barbie doll...the basement. Kid probably tossed it down there, knowing it would be the scariest place in the house to a kid like Ollie.