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“Could you send in the closet man?” I asked my secretary, she sighed and heard her yell for him. I could hear the distinct thumps on the ground before hearing the familiar tone “he’s on his way” from my secretary. There was a knock on the door, I adjusted my desk and walked up to the door to open it up. There, standing in casual clothing was an 8 foot tall man, his face had a large split down the middle exposing rows of sharp teeth. His eyes were glossy white and legs were nothing but long stumps which struggled to keep his body balanced. He bared his teeth somewhat, smiling as I gestured to the couch where he slowly sat down. “How are we doing today vic?” I asked, he covered his face with his fingers “relatively bad so to say.” He hissed, he reached his hand down to pet my cat who was cuddling against his leg. I smiled as I sat down and asked my first question, “so what brings you here?”

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“Every night I go to a different house, hiding in the closets of unsuspecting kids, cowering beneath their blankets in an attempt to introduce them to the meaning of fear. But as of lately I’ve been finding my job has already been completed. So I tried teenagers, they were even worse, they had boxes and socks filled with their-” He cut himself off, I tried to motion for him to continue but he looked up at me with genuine concern in his glossy eyes. “Trust me, you don’t want to know what I’ve seen when it comes to them, it's barbaric, it's sickening even for me. I mean I don’t have a stomach but it makes me want to throw up.” He gagged at the thought, I took down notes, “so it must be pretty bad out there lately huh?” I asked after a moment of silence. He looked up at me, “I told you about the oath all of us monsters took when we hide under the beds or closets of kids right?” he asked, “yeah, that you would never hurt any child no matter how much you wanted to” I answered, he nodded.

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“Lately during my nightly calls there was something else with me, I can’t begin to describe it. It was this feeling of pure evil, darkness, that void feeling you have when you feel you’re in danger. I hid in this child's closet and I could only describe it as just this dark cloud which passed over the house. It was the closest I’ve ever been to being afraid for myself” He shuddered, “was there a possibility it was the boogeyman? I mean next time he comes in I’ll ask if he knows about this and see if we can-""it’s not him, it's not the boogeyman, it's not any monster or demon I’ve ever met. It wanted me dead, I knew it did. I have alot of angels out to get me but this wasn’t an angel either.” he had a look of pure terror on his face. He began to tear up as I looked outside of my window to see a strange man lurking in the shadows. “What the hell?” I asked out loud, so I called my secretary. “Hey Kelly, is there anybody scheduled after the closet man?” I asked, knowing the answer.”No, but there was someone in here earlier asking about someone by the name of victor.” I dropped the phone, Victor was the closet man’s real name. The name before he was given the job of being a monster under the bed.

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“Vic, we need to get you somewhere safe, I don’t think you’re safe here.” I said, he stood up on his stumps and awkwardly walked to the door. “Where do we go?” He asked, I shrugged and we both walked out of the office, he dissipated into smoke and moved along the shadows as I walked out of the office with him tailing close behind me. The man was standing next to a pole about one hundred feet from my car. I began to panic as I rushed into the car, Victor took form in the car again, taking up the entire back seat. I looked in the mirror and sighed with relief, when I turned to the passengers side I screamed in terror as did Victor. The man was standing next to the car asking to roll down the window, I was frozen in fear. And I tend to fucking monsters, this made no sense, everything I had seen. Werewolves, skeletons, ghosts, the literal boogeyman, and yet I trembled in fear at this man. He had a steel gray mustache, his hair was unkempt, looking like it was covered in cornstarch and he was dressed like a businessman. He gave a warm smile as he reached out for me to shake his hand. “My name is Timeo, I just wanted to touch base with you.” He smiled, Victor gave a nod before I opened the door for this strange man.

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“Do you know who I am?” He asked, I shook my head no. “Typical, nobody knows me anymore, they rely on your monsters, ghost stories by the campfire to tell the stories of beings beyond your comprehension.” he sighed, I gripped the steering wheel with all the strength in my body trying to comfort myself. “You see tess, you can see them even though you aren’t a child, every child forgets but you never did, that is why you see them. That is why you see me, but my time is coming.” I stopped gripping the steering wheel, victor spoke up. “What do you want from us?” He asked, Timeo looked back and smiled.”It's not about what I want from you, it's what I’m going to do to all of you.” He said happily, I felt a pit in my stomach, this man was giving off the energy of pure evil in physical form. “Lucifer” I said quietly, he laughed hysterically, almost like a mad man. “Trust me, he wishes he was me, he wishes he had the guts to do what I’m capable of doing.”“which is?”, he cleared his throat. “Killing the monsters of course, introducing a new way of making them fear, sending a message that monsters are monsters. They kill, they torture and they enjoy it.” I tried to grab Timeo but immediately he turned around and stabbed Victor in the face with an ornamental dagger.

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“No!” I screamed, he smiled as he opened the door, “my time has come, it's time for humanity to be put back on the food chain for all of us.” he said before walking away and dissipating into a black cloud of smoke. I removed the blade and threw it out of the window.I tried to wrap the wound but the blood seeping out was too much. He gasped in pain as he tried to help cover the wound. “Please, Tessa, don't let him win. Think of the kids, he’ll kill thousands, maybe millions.” he sputtered out before going limp in the back of my car. I cried softly as the sun began to set.

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The next morning I walked into my office to find a thick envelope sitting on my desk, I opened them up and began to cry again. In the envelope were photos of slaughtered monsters. Dracula impaled on a wooden fencepost, a werewolf sliced open with a dagger sitting in his head. The boogeyman hanging from his own guts, demons ripped in half. Inside was a note written in monster blood. “The night is my domain now, there are no saviors, no monsters to hide under your bed, just fear. I am the darkness, I am the meaning of fear. And now the entire human race will experience how it feels to be back on the food chain. Good night Tessa” the note was signed by Timeo, I knew already I couldn't stop it. And now it's out there.

Fear.