Coming Out of the Closet

Lying beside Jimmy in bed, Betty couldn’t help but feel there was still something amiss in the small house where they resided. She had checked the locks twice on the doors, made sure the stove was off, and that the small space heaters they used were away from anything that might catch fire. Glancing up she could see the gentle line of light the soft muted bathroom bulbs cast out into the room, even though Jimmy told her she was silly and wasteful for leaving them on.

He always said things like that to her, that she was being silly, or wasting power, or that she was just being irrational. Jimmy always callously scolded her, telling her that there was nothing to be afraid of in the dark, no boogey man was going to jump out and get her. The truth is he just did not understand her fear, that was what it really boiled down to.

Then something caught her attention, a small part of a jacket cuff stuck out from the closet’s double doors. Black and curved slightly, it looked too much like the silhouette of sinister gloved fingers to Betty. With a slight shiver of fear, Betty lifted to her knees on the bed, stretched across the dark gap between her and the jacket, opened the closet doors slightly and shoved the coat’s cuff back into the darkness. As she shut the closet doors securely, and settled down again, Betty realized that Jimmy had been watching her with interest the entire time, building a feeling of dread that sank with lead like weight in the pit of her stomach.

“What was that all about Betty? Afraid the boogey man was trying to slip out with the lights on now?” Jimmy asked, in the ever mocking tone he always used when getting ready to let loose a string of insults at Betty. His brow lifted slightly in sick curiosity.

“No Jimmy, don’t be so mean about it. It’s just that…” Betty hesitated for a moment, her cheeks flushed with color, feeling the heat rise sharply in her face,” It’s just that I was worried about seeing that in the middle of the night, if I wake up from one of my nightmares, and mistake it for a gloved hand because of my narcolepsy…” Pausing a moment, Betty chewed her lip, thinking desperately of something to say that might cut him off right there so that they wouldn’t end up in a debate about her condition as well as her fears. Finally she whispered softly,” I’m not being irrational Jimmy. I think I was using very lucid prudence on my part because of my...”

“Whatever baby, why don’t you just admit you were afraid it was the boogey man, hmm?” Jimmy stated more than asked this as he leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek, but not giving her the time to make a rebuttal, “You need to chill girl. Anyways, are you ready for me to turn the light off yet?” All of this was said with a cruel kind of amusement hanging in his voice, bringing the familiar sting of tears to Betty’s eyes, but somehow she kept them from falling.

“Yeah, good night Jimmy, see you in the morning.” She murmured lightly, turning to her side to face away from him, while he clicked off the light filling the room with deep shadows of darkness, the only light left within the small house approached from the bathroom, with it’s door mostly closed like a calm beacon of sanity in the otherwise chilling insane asylum of fear that plagued the uncomfortable nighttime for Betty.

“Good night babe, sweet dreams, and don’t let the boogey man get you.” Jimmy said against Betty’s shoulder as he rolled to his side, her back to him, knowing good and well that she was mad, but that didn’t stop him from throwing his arm over her and squeezing for a moment before he simply let it rest there. It wasn’t long before Jimmy was harshly snoring disagreeably against the back curve of Betty’s ear.

With the sound of Jimmy’s snoring, and the unease Betty felt being in the dark, even if she did have a bit of light, it was still unnerving to her none-the-less. She couldn’t really explain her fears to anyone, even though she had tried numerous times, but it always ended the same with people telling her she was being silly or irrational and that there was nothing to be afraid of.After a while though, despite fears pungent charge of adrenaline, Betty drifted off into a deep sleep, which came upon her suddenly just as it did most nights. This was simply the way things were for her since the narcolepsy that haunted her had become considerably worse. Of course the medicine helped keep her alert throughout the daylight hours, but the doctors felt she needed no medicine at night because that would make her unable to sleep at all.

Some time later, well into that dark hour that is legally set aside for driving broomsticks across the portentous sky and for experiencing frightfully realistic nightmares, Betty awoke from her comatose sleep with a scream caught in her throat. The dreams always seemed so real, and they were never good, ever. Looking around the darkened room wildly, Betty’s feral gaze darted towards the barely visible set of folding closet doors. That was when she saw the shadowy hand coming out trying to pry the doors open from the inside. The awful sight Betty beheld forcefully dislodged the scream in her throat and expelled it up to her lips and beyond in a high blood curdling pitch.

Even as Jimmy woke with a start, wondering what in hell was happening, Betty was scrambling over him, still screaming wildly, before she flopped to the floor on his side of the bed, trembling and pointing at the closet with one frantically swaying hand. It was in that moment that Jimmy’s sleep hazed mind registered what was going on, and he couldn’t repress the sardonic smile that crossed his lips as his gaze landed upon the small bit of winter coat sticking out between the double-doors of the closet. Jimmy saw his chance right then and there to teach Betty a lesson about being afraid of anything and everything.

Throwing back the covers, Jimmy climbed out of bed, gripping Betty’s shoulders firmly, then giving her a good shake as he said, “Be quiet now, Betty. It’s just that damn coat you were talking about earlier, and I am going to prove it to you.” Shoving her lightly back against the wall, Jimmy made his way over to the baleful cause of all that creepy chaos even as she protested through hysterical tears against him moving towards the closet doors.

Jimmy looked at the coat’s cuff for a moment, thinking over how he was going to teach her a lesson, before he glanced back at Betty and spoke. “Look, it’s just one of our winter coats like I said. Looks like one of mine as a matter of fact. Quit being so silly, you just had a bad dream and thought you saw something that you didn’t see at all.” Just for good measure, Jimmy gave a sharp tug at the cuff making the doors rattle slightly on their tracks.

Betty watched him horror-struck and with a kind of shame at the same time that she had thought there was more to the cuff of that coat than there was, considering she was the one that brought it to Jimmy’s attention earlier that night. Standing to her feet, with tears slipping down over her cheeks, Betty said, “Fine, just fix it so we can go back to bed. I’m not being silly, I know what I saw, but there is no use in arguing that point with you.” She folded her arms against her chest, her heart still hammering hard, her body still trembling from adrenaline, but feeling a kind of hot indignation that the man she loved did not believe her, or even respect her enough not to make fun of her.

Jimmy rolled his eyes, and opened one of the folding doors that led into the closet making as if to push the coat back into the darkness there. But instead of just doing that, he pretended to be pulled inside, making his body lurch halfway into the closet as he began to scream, “Oh, my God! It’s got me Betty! Help me, please help me!” He would have made a pretty good actor, he thought to himself as he continued to pretend to struggle against the mischievously imagined boogey man.

Betty shrieked in the same moment that Jimmy lurched forward, paralyzed by her fear, and then there was nothing for her but deep blackness. It took a moment for Betty to fall, but when she did, there was a resounding thump against the hard oak panel that ran along the side of the old antique bed, that thump held within it an almost inaudible cracking sound, a sickening sound if one were paying close attention. Caught by such a high emotion of fear, Betty was pulled into a narcoleptic episode of cataplexy, and in doing so she missed most of Jimmy’s little act by sliding limp fully onto the floor.Jimmy heard the thump, and just missed the whisper of something mildly approximating the sound of bone cracking, an so thought to himself Betty was just backing into the wall in her own ersonal terror. But when he looked around for her, ending his charade in a spew of guttural laughter, Jimmy knew that the lesson he had been trying to teach her, had went unlearned. He could just barely see her prone figure down on the floor, and from the twisted sprawl she seemed to be in, he didn’t figure she was simply hiding from the boogeyman.

For some reason unknown to him, the sight of her lying there, missing his self proclaimed clever lesson, was infuriating to Jimmy. He stormed around the bed, and yanked Betty’s limp form up off the floor, shaking her lightly, “What the hell is wrong with you woman? There aint nothing to be afraid of.” But even as Jimmy said this, and Betty started to slowly come around, he noticed the small trickle of blood near her hairline. For a moment it seemed his temper might mellow, but the sight of the tiny crimson rivulet trailing down over her eyebrow only made his rage turn into a sharper anger, his voice become deep and dangerous, “You stupid girl, you are such a baby. I was playing with you, teaching you a lesson and you decided to go to sleep on me. What kind of respect is that?” Jimmy said, glaring at Betty.

Betty had not only suffered a terrible fright, but also the torments of her cataplexy left her spent and trembling, fat tears welled up in her now blood shot eyes. Her voice was soft, quivering with the taste of panicked tears, but she spoke nonetheless, “Jimmy, let me go, you’re hurting me, what you did was just cruel and mean spirited, you don’t deserve no respect for that.” She could see the muscles working in Jimmy’s jaw, and with fore knowledge of what was coming; she grimaced, pinched her eyes shut and flinched.

About the time she flinched, the impact of Jimmy’s fist caught the left side of her jaw, causing her to bite her tongue causing it to bleed. Betty felt her lip split wide as her teeth dug in deep from the second blow that fell just under her chin. Her face was already swelling. She could feel it, growing larger and malformed by the tick of every new second, and then he shoved her backward onto the bed. Jimmy stormed off toward the living room then, just as he always did when he lost his temper. Betty knew the morning would bring apologies and showers of affection she didn’t want. But that didn’t matter now, because silence had blanketed the room once more, and she was so tired, so very tired of everything. Betty meekly pulled the covers up over her small frame, curled herself into a fetal position and after a while, she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

As always the next morning brought exactly what she knew it would. Jimmy served her burnt toast and instant coffee in bed, along with a blood red rose blackend with decomposing wilt around the edges meant to be an apology, he also brought coffee and the local paper for himself. She did love the man, but she was getting terribly tired of all the crap he dished out to her. Saying nothing to him, barely offering up a false smile, Betty ate her breakfast, and then went about the day trying futiley to hide herself and hide her cuts and bruises while Jimmy pretended with practiced ignorance that nothing had happened the night before.

And so this went on as it had in the past, nearly every night for another two weeks though he only hit her on one other occasion. Betty thought he was afraid of striker her now, because she had never really accepted his apologies the first day after he had begun to torment her with the closet, but she couldn’t be sure. It didn’t change his sick sense of humor though, for nearly every night when she woke up distressed by the gloved hand coming out of the closet, Jimmy would in turn terrify her beyond all reason with his wicked humorless antics.

She still suffered from dour fits of narcolepsy setoff every time Jimmy played his vicious tricks on her emotionally stressed mind. Although in truth, Betty was actually growing accustomed to this nightly ritual as if maybe, just maybe Jimmy’s cruel intentions were not as malicious as she first thought. She noticed that she was able to stay conscious and in control of her body longer each time he pretended to be grabbed by the gloved hand, and she would simply back up against the wall for support as she watched her husband be grotesque. There were even nights when she wished the hand within the glove were real, that it would cease Jimmy’s constant laughter and mocking. It was a terrible thing to wish upon the man she loved, but then again, she couldn’t actually remember why she loved him anymore.

After enduring over two weeks of his sickly torment, Betty settled down into bed glad that it was once more Sunday night and she would have the house to herself the following day while Jimmy went to work. The weekend had been long and hard, she had been forced to dwell within the house with his sour scent and ambivolent attitude each day after another night of his disgusting little tricks, and she was sick to death of even looking at him.

After they both put their books down for the night, and Jimmy switched off the lamp on his dresser, they lay there in the silentdarkness for a few moments. But of course Jimmy wouldn’t let the peace last, and he curled up behind her, throwing his arm over an unwelcoming shoulder and whispered softly against the shell of her ear, “Night Baby, don’t let the boogey man get you.”

Betty shoved Jimmy’s arm off of her, and with venom in her voice that had never been there before, she turned on him and said, “You sick bastard, just shut up for once.” Then she simply rolled over and waited for the blows to begin. And waited. But they never came; Jimmy was far too shocked by Betty’s outburst to do anything about it, which suited her just fine.

In the stillness Betty watched the tranquil light filter from the bathroom into the bedroom to mingle among the shadows as she wished for someone elses life, and in exchange for the absense of granted wishes she eventually drifted off into sleep. Before she had lost all conscious thought, Betty heard a small voice, her own voice in the back of her mind whisper, “Things are going to be good tonight. I think I’ll actually get a good night’s rest.” It was a novel thought, but it of course didn’t happen.

Not long after midnight, that darkest moment found in virtualy every sinister tale, Betty woke once more from a fit of nightmarish images, her gasping lungs pushing out the screams that fell from her lips. She tried not to panic when she looked up at the closet doors, with its gloved hand creeping out, but she lost the battle, and clamored over Jimmy once more, falling into the floor on his side of the bed.

If Betty’s screams did not wake Jimmy, then her bouncing over him most certainly did as she slammed onto the floor like a terrified child when she lost her fight for balance at the edge of the bed. Her actions only pissed him off and throwing the covers back, Jimmy climbed out of bed with small jerky movements and stormed over to the closet. With his hand on one of the closet doorknobs, he turned, glowering at Betty and said, “There is nothing in here you big baby, and this time I am going to show you once and for all. Even if it takes all night to convince you there’s nothing there, and that you are crazy as hell.”

All Betty could do was shake her head back and forth, as she scooted on her bottom in reverse to press her backside hard against the bedroom wall. There was something in there, and no amount of useless attempts to convince her otherwise was going to change her mind. No matter how hard Jimmy tried, or how hard he beat her, she just knew there was something waiting in the closet, lurking in the dark, and hungry. She could sense it, even though it was apparent that Jimmy could not. Betty wasn’t quite sure why the thing in the closet hadn’t made a midnight snack out of her husband in all these days, but she knew Jimmy couldn’t cry wolf forever. One day he would see it, but then it would be too late, wouldn’t it?

Jimmy turned from her then, and yanking the closet doors open, he stepped inside. “See there is nothing in here.” He said as he turned around in the gloom of the closet with the clothes straining away from him on either side trying to avoid him as he glared out at Betty across the room. “It was just a stupid coat sleeve again, like it has been every….” Jimmy didn’t finish his sentence, and at first Betty wasn’t sure exactly why. But then she heard a strange unfamiliar strangling sound, and squinting her eyes to penetrate the deep blackness of the closet she suddenly understood. Her wish had actually become reality as horrifying as any curse come true, and as disgusting as it was for her to even think those kinds of things happening to another soul, even one that was as mean as the man’s that she loved. All she could do was sit as she trembled and gasped for breath, struggling to keep herself conscious while trying to melt into the wall behind her and watch.

Betty watched the black-gloved hand as it wound its way further around Jimmy’s neck. It seemed to be trying to pop his head off like a unwelcome pimple while her man struggled and kicked trying to free himself. But all of the thrashing and kicking in the world wasn’t going to save him now, and Betty felt this deep within her bones even if she didn’t want to know it. Plumes of cold breath and fetid low gasps caressed Jimmy’s cheek, the stench making his stomach roil and protest, threatening to give up all that he had eaten for his gluttonous last supper. There was a rasping sound in those breaths, and Jimmy wasn’t sure he wanted to know exactly what they came from, but he struggled all the same trying to free himself, and escape his ethereal opponent.

But once his gaze landed upon the thing that was succeeding at making each breath a challenge, Jimmy wished he would never have known what actually held him. Jimmy tried to form a scream equal to his terror, but only a pitiful choking whimper crossed his lips, as he was unable to look away from the appalling sight before him. Dead yellow eyes stared back at him, rolling and undulating in their deep sockets. He was afraid they might fall out at any moment, fall out into his gaping mouth. Those eyes were terrible enough, but what housed them was by far much worse. What should have been the skin of a homicidal maniac or psychopath serial killer looked unbelievably like scaly, wrinkled elephant’s hide to the horrified Jimmy. Adding to that the things face seemed to be melting without falling away. It would melt down, sickening strings of waxy-leathered scales stretching and dangling precariously before making an upward trek back towards its origin, still seeming to be melting only in an upward motion this time. Again and again the face did this while those yellow eyes rolled on. And then the thing opened its maw, making the scene all the more terrible for it. Razor sharp teeth, more fangs than teeth really, glittered in the dim, futile light the bathroom provided reflecting tight spiky rows of glossy white enamaled bone. Jimmy tried to scream but was ineffectual in his effort. Betty’s voice, on the other hand, high pitched in the throws of her own terror succeeded where his failed. He could hear her screaming something incoherent for a moment, and then there was only blackness as the thing holding him captive in the closet lowered its horrible, stinking mouth over his face, making Jimmy a midnight snack with inhuman finality.

Betty continued to scream, but even over her own voice she could hear the sounds of dinner for one being served in her closet among her dresses, skirts, capris , Goucho pants and practical shoes. A sickening resonance of popping wet and grinding noises accented the putrid smell of graveyard breath and death’s release, or more correctly Jimmy’s release to death that filled the gloom saturated room. It was over within minutes or maybe moments but it felt like hours to the woman cowering against the wall, looking on at the horrors she had vainly attempted to warn her lover about.

When the creature in the closet was finished eating it stepped out into the dim light spreading from the bathroom. It stood on her side of the bed and watched Betty closely with those rolling yellow eyes. Betty’s breath caught, and she found she could no longer scream even if she wanted to. The creature or apparition stood unnaturally on two hind legs with backward jointed knee sockets and straggly tufts of hair growth scattered sparsely about the lower half of the ophidian body. It seemed to say something, but all that came out was a rasping belch of sounds and then it hobbled casually down the hallway as if it had always lived there with them, and easily knew the way to the front door.

Betty sat there listening to the drag, scrape, thump of the things departure, the sound of locks being thrown back, and a door opening. Holding her breath, she waited for the thing to come back for her, but it did not. The boogey man even closed the door behind itself as if to say, “I do have manners ma’am, and I know how to use them. Thank you most kindly for the snack.” And then there was nothing. Just a complete and heavy silence that filled up the entire house, filled up Betty’s heart.

After a long while, Betty worked up the nerve to stand and peek over the side of the bed into the closet, but there was nothing left to see. Betty was sure that she had heard the squelching sounds of blood gushing from Jimmy earlier, but there was no evidence to be found. She even turned on the light to make sure, but the closet was just as it had been that morning when she had retrieved her dress for church.Looking down into the monster-free, currently undisturbed closet, Betty said to herself, “Serves you right Jimmy, and you thought I was crazy. Goes to show what you know don’t it?” The smile that had been playing at the corner of Betty’s lips was full now, her eyes dancing with the jubilant autonomy that freedoms new realization always brings with it and she flicked off the light. Going to the back door, Betty bolted it once more without even looking out into the night to see if the boogey man was there, lurking in the darkness, waiting for her. She was pretty sure it had gotten what it wanted, and would leave her to peace now.

Going back to the bedroom, Betty slowly looked around one more time, with that crazy sweet smile on her face, before she climbed into bed, pulling the covers up around her neck, murmuring softly at nothing, and no one anymore, “Good night Jimmy, where ever you are.” It was no time at all before Betty drifted off into sleep. A peaceful, calm sleep of innocence, somehow knowing never more would dark nightmares torment her.