The last light has faded away and the full moon is shining bright over the city. I am about ready to start preparing to go to bed. I fold the newspaper and throw it casually on the dining table.
I go into the garage to check that the door is properly locked. I check the camera as well. It is important that the camera lens is clean, and that the camera is pointing at the garage door at the right angle so that it also captures the door leading into the house. Everything is good in the garage, as always. Next is the patio and back door. The patio needs to be lit by the small lamps on the house wall, the door needs to be locked and bolted, and the camera needs to see the whole backyard and the backdoor. All seems good here too. I do my round to check all the downstairs windows. They are all closed and hasped. I go to the front porch to check the lights here as well. The porch is well lit, and the camera is on, and pointing in the right direction, capturing the entire front yard. I lock the front door and secure the sliding locks. I also arm the security system so I will be alerted if anyone tries to enter the house. I take my final round downstairs, to doublecheck that I haven’t forgotten anything.
It is now time to go upstairs. I leave the lights on in the kitchen, dining room and hallways downstairs. The security cameras easily produce a full high-definition image, but they need proper lighting. I take my round on the first floor as well, checking that the windows are all securely locked. When I am confident that the house is secured, I go to the bedroom and pull the door almost closed. I like to keep the bedroom door ajar, just a tiny crack, so I can hear any noise from the house. Most nights the only thing I hear is the creaking of the old house settling, though.
I make the bed and turn on the security monitors. I like checking that all cameras are broadcasting a clear image before going to bed. I only have two monitors for the time being, so they cycle through the camera feeds on a loop. It takes about two minutes to see the whole house. I leave the monitors on, while putting on my pyjamas and finding my book.
When I glance over at the monitors, one of them is showing the feed from the kitchen, and for a second, I could have sworn there was someone there. Before I get a proper look at the image, it changes to the next camera. I practically leap to the table and grab the remote to turn the monitor back to the previous camera feed. When the image from the kitchen comes back on the monitor, I study it intensely. But there is nothing there. I look for shadows or something out of place. An open cabinet, a window ajar, anything to suggest something is not right. But I see nothing. I must have imagined it. I sigh deeply and shake my head. Just as I am about to turn around and go to bed, the light on the other monitor flickers. It is the feed from the garage. I freeze in place and stare at the monitor, but again there is nothing to see. Everything is exactly as it is supposed to be. I back away slowly and sit on the edge of the bed staring at the monitors as they flip through the feeds. There is nothing out of the ordinary on any of the cameras. Yet I still keep staring at the monitors for a long time, just to be sure. After almost thirty minutes another light flickers. This time it is in the kitchen. Shortly after that, the light in the hallway flickers as well. I am now sure something is off. I reach under the bed and pull out my aluminium bat, and a small black box. I put them both on the bed and open the box. The taser is neatly packed in foam, and the battery is ready and charged. I take it out and put it next to the bat. Just in case.
I turn my attention back to the monitors. If anyone is in the house, they must show up on one of the cameras eventually. I wait patiently for several minutes before the light in the hallway, by the stairs flickers again. This time it seems to be more persistent. Like the light can’t properly recover. I change the monitors to be fixed on the camera pointing down from the top of the stairs, and the one in the hallway, covering the bottom of the stairs. The lights in the hall flicker, still, and before long the flickering spreads to the staircase lights. Then a shadow brushes over the hallway camera. I can’t tell what it was, but it didn’t look like a person. I hear a creak from the bottom steps of the stairs and instinctively look towards the bedroom door where the sound came from. When I look back at the monitors the staircase light has turned off altogether, and only blink once every few seconds. There is definitely something on the stairs now. At first it looks like a big shadow, but as I see it a few times in the tiny flashes of light I can start to make out a shape. It seems to have short, thin legs, but a significantly wider upper body. Its head seems to be more animal than man, but not quite an animal I have ever seen before. It has large horns like a wildebeest or a highland cow. The entire body is covered in what looks like dark brown fur. Although it is only about a meter high, the mysterious creature is freaking me out. It hasn’t set off the alarms, and it doesn’t seem to be wild or rampant. It moves almost like a person would and it is making its way up the stairs. Slowly but surely, it is coming for me.
I am trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever horror this creature has in store for me, but how do you prepare for a monster crawling up your stairs, really?
Just a few more steps and it will be at my bedroom door. Then it slips. On the very last step on the stairs, it misses the step by an inch and abruptly tumble down the stairs. I see the monster on the monitor, rolling down the long, unforgiving staircase. At the same time, I can hear every bump and thump through my bedroom door. I stare in awe. My eyes are opened wider than they have ever been before, and my jaw has dropped halfway to the floor. The noises stop as the monster comes to a rest on the hallway floor in front of the stairs. The camera isn’t too good at this distance, and the hallway camera downstairs can’t get a good angle on the creature. The lights are mostly back on, but still with some flickering, making it impossible to see the monster properly. The house is completely quiet for several long seconds. Then I hear a faint whimpering from downstairs. Based on what I hear and what I see on the monitor, I think the monster is crying. I can’t believe what just happened. I get up from the bed and slowly go the bedroom door and push it open. I carefully move to the top of the staircase where I stop and look down at the creature lying on the floor.
I stand there staring down the stairs for several long seconds before gently calling out to the creature. “Are you OK?”.