It loved her in silence. Every night, as the world dimmed and she climbed into bed, it waited — flattened beneath the mattress, bones folded like prayers. It knew the sound of her laughter through the floorboards, the sleepy weight of her sighs, the delicate drag of her feet as she walked barefoot across the room.

Lilly never saw it, never even knew it was there. But when the wind howled, it curled its claws to keep the bed from trembling. When she cried in her sleep, it reached toward her shadow, aching to be the thing that held her. It loved her with all the gentleness a thing made of teeth and dark could manage.

It remembered when it first chose her. She was a tiny little thing, scared of everything. It was supposed to have added to her fear, per the custom of its kind. But her tears only ever made it want to cry too.

It wanted to hear the giggles she made when she stayed up reading with a flashlight. It wanted to smell the lavender in her shampoo from her shower before bed. It wanted to keep her safe from other monsters in the dark.

So it has been her protector under her bed for years. No monsters in the closet lasted long. When parents fought, it would make a hum and rock the bed slowly so she’d fall asleep quickly. When her parents split up, it followed her to whichever bed she slept under, mom’s or dad’s house.

And now that she’s an adult and doesn’t need a monster protecting her anymore, it’s there to comfort her when storms break out. It knows how much she dislikes them. It sends warmth to the floor in the winter and makes sure the curtains are closed tight against any wandering eyes.

Now Daren is over. She talks to him on the phone all the time. It wishes she would talk to him. It doesn’t even want to be thanked for what it’s done for her. But it wants a caress back. To be held like it has held her before.

It wants her to acknowledge it. To care for it. To love it like it loves her. To love it like she loves Daren.

Daren steps into the room. They are making out. Ugh. Right in front of it. It hopes they won’t get on the bed. But where else can they go in a small bedroom with only one chair as the other option?

Daren isn’t even that tall. Daren doesn’t know how to protect her. Daren doesn’t have pointy teeth or sharp claws. Daren is stupid. He kisses like a frog. And he touches her like a thief.

Later that night, when she gets up to go to the bathroom, Daren is left alone in the bed. And the monster under the bed doesn’t feel so inclined to protect it. Maybe it needs to have a chat with him to make sure Daren had the right motives with Lilly.

When it comes out from under the bed, the shadows flee to the corners. It’s a wonder how such a large creature folds so tightly under such a small space next to slippers and dust. But it isn’t rage that stretches to the ceiling. It’s what it has always been: protectiveness.

“Daren.” It whispers into the night. “I need a moment of your time.” It tries to be a gentleman.

Daren opens his eyes and screams. It flinches but says quickly, “be good to her or else.” And throws the blanket over Daren before slithering back under the bed.

Lilly comes running back into the room to find that Daren had peed the bed. He tells her about a monster gnashing his teeth and speaking in riddles. It thinks it couldn’t have been any clearer. Daren is too stupid for Lilly.

It almost feels a victory when Daren doesn’t come back. But Lilly seems sad. So it tries to make her happy, feeling somewhat guilty for sending Daren away.

At first, it finds the socks it stole from her over the past several months and hid under the bed. It wanted to have souvenirs of her. Anyways, it returns them to the laundry. She doesn’t notice though.

So it fixes her bed for her when she gets up to get dressed. She rubs her eyes and yawns. “I’m going nuts.” She says as she has another sip of coffee.

Lastly, it decides to leave flowers on her bed. They came from the garden she has outside her bedroom window. This finally has her attention. She calls Daren and freaks out.

So Daren is back. And Lilly is happier. But not it.

“I feel like the house is weird. Maybe I should sell it.” She tells Daren.

“What do you mean?” He asks but it knows he wants to leave the house and never come back. His eyes keep darting to the bedroom in worried glances.

“Sometimes the lights turn on before I can get to the room. And they turn off by themselves once I leave the room too.” She holds his hand as she takes a deep breath.

“And I saw spiders scurry out the windows one night. Flowers were left on my pillow this morning. My bed is always made, but I don’t remember making it. I feel like I’m going crazy. That the house is crazy.”

“You’re not crazy.” Daren kisses her forehead.

It has kissed her forehead before. When she slept of course. She never knew what it’s love felt like.

When Daren leaves for work, it decides it must come out of the shadows. Lilly must know it’s existence. To have a shot at being loved too.

It emerges from the quiet and gently knocks on the doorframe of the kitchen. Lilly screams and clutches her phone to call the police. She points the phone at it as a weapon.

“Don’t come any closer!” She demands as tears fall down her cheeks.

It makes her see it leave the house in slow motion of pain and darkness. She trembles and doesn’t return for a week. When she finally does, the house seems still — like it had been waiting too.

She steps into her room and pauses. The bed was messy. The flowers on her pillow had browned and wilted. A fine layer of dust clung to the windowsill, untouched.

That night, she dreams of warmth curling around her legs like a blanket. Of something humming softly beneath her, matching her heartbeat. When she wakes, her pillow is damp with tears she didn’t remember crying.

She tells herself it was just a dream. That the house was finally settling.

But sometimes, on stormy nights, the curtains close by themselves. The bed rocks gently when she’s afraid. And the garden grows flowers she didn’t plant — lavender, always lavender.

She never speaks of it. But she never sells the house, either. She’s unsure of her confused feelings of the thing she never knew.

And from time to time, when the shadows gather just right… something waits just beyond the window, watching softly, loving still.