When Nightmares Become Real-Enh

James had always cherished bedtime with his six-year-old daughter, Ellie. Their nightly routine—reading a story, a silly joke, and a kiss on the forehead—was sacred. But tonight, something about the air felt wrong. Heavy. Unsettling.

Ellie was already tucked in, her small face peeking out from under the blankets, illuminated by the gentle glow of her star-shaped nightlight. Her usually soft, innocent smile seemed unnaturally wide tonight, her lips stretched to an almost painful angle. Her large blue eyes stared back at him, unblinking.

"Hi, Daddy," she whispered, her voice a touch higher than usual.

James frowned. "Hey, sweetheart. You feeling okay?"

Ellie’s grin widened, teeth glinting like shards of glass. "Daddy… can you check for monsters under my bed?"

James chuckled nervously. She always asked this, a game they played to banish her bedtime fears. But tonight, the words seemed to carry weight, a strange seriousness that made his chest tighten.

"Alright, but only because I’m the bravest monster hunter in the world," he said, trying to mask his unease. He crouched, gripping the edge of the blanket. The cold floor sent a shiver up his spine as he peeked underneath the bed.

The darkness beneath seemed endless, a void swallowing the faint light from the room. Then, he saw her. Ellie. The real Ellie.

Her tear-streaked face was pale, her body trembling, and her small hands clutched her stuffed rabbit like a lifeline. She stared at him, wide-eyed and desperate.

“Daddy,” she whimpered, her voice barely audible. “That’s not me on the bed.”

James froze, his blood turning to ice. A slow creak made his head snap back up to the figure lying on the mattress. The grin was gone. The thing wearing Ellie’s face was now sitting up, its head tilted at an unnatural angle.

"Why are you looking down there, Daddy?" it said, its voice low and guttural, a cruel mockery of Ellie’s sweet tone. "I’m right here."

The room grew colder, the shadows deeper. James’s instincts screamed at him to run, but his legs felt rooted to the spot. The figure on the bed began to crawl toward him, its movements jerky, spider-like, as its grin stretched impossibly wide again, revealing far too many teeth.

Behind him, the real Ellie sobbed, whispering, "Don’t let it take me, Daddy… please..."

He had no choice. James lunged for his daughter under the bed, grabbing her trembling form and pulling her out into his arms. The creature on the bed let out a bone-chilling scream, a sound that wasn’t human. As he clutched Ellie tightly, James ran, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

In the hallway, he glanced back. The star-shaped nightlight flickered, and for a brief moment, through the crack of the door, he saw the thing’s face pressed against the wood, grinning, waiting.

He didn’t stop running.