Mean Spirited

by Nick Roberts

He was pulling the door shut when he saw the smiling face underneath Mikey’s bed. His heart froze as the black eyes and pale skin receded into the dark.

There was nothing underneath but a stuffed panda. His pale fur and charcoal eyes stared back at him.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the face under the bed again. Before he could have a full-on bowel movement, he realized he was just looking at the panda again.

The object in his hand wasn’t a squishy stuffed animal. It felt like he was gripping the top of a person’s head.

Just like the dog beside him, Mikey’s head was tilted all the way back to the point that he was all neck and chin from Matt’s perspective. Both of them were as still as statues, and they both looked like they were smiling.

Mikey pointed across the open yard. Just as Matt followed his son’s arm and finger to the spot where he was pointing, three slender shadows by the tree line backed into the woods.

“I think he saw the deer,” Matt said. “What deer?” “The ones you just pointed at.” “Those weren’t deer.” “Well, then what was it?” “Shadow people.”

The yellow light illuminated the hallway to show Mikey crawling across the ceiling and back to his bedroom.

Lightning struck and illuminated the hallway for a split second. Matt couldn’t believe the horror that stood before him. Conehead was standing on his hind legs staring straight at Matt, grinning ear to ear. Matt fell backward, and the hallway once again went dark.

Matt could see that it was Conehead dragging the boy away from the house.