Dreadful Delights

Not a Lonesome Night (justwriteit)

The dinosaur stands in front of me, blocking the walkway. "Sure you don't wanna come?"

"I'm sure, little T-Rex. You better leave before the monster gets you."

The T-Rex gives me a firm head-shake. "Nuh-uh! Monsters aren't real."

"You sure about that?" I raise my arms and growl. "Rahh!"

He giggles and wobbles out the door, his tail swishing with each step.

"Not to copy the words of a five-year-old, but you're sure you won't come to the party with us?"

"I'm sure, Dad."

He hovers by the door, a tight frown marring his usually lively face. I know this look, even though I've only seen it a handful of times. "I'm going to have a quiet, peaceful night watching movies," I say, injecting as much reassurance as possible.

"Call me the instant—"

"Nothing's going to happen. You and Beth go have fun," I say, nudging him out the door.

I turn the locks behind him and set the alarm, as though it would actually make a difference.

***

The living room darkens as the third in my scary movie marathon cuts off. It's quiet outside; the kids in the neighborhood are either off to bed or prolonging their saccharine fun off the streets. As the next movie begins, I snuggle deeper into the couch.

Thump.

Nope.

I did not hear anything.

Thump-thump.

Upstairs?

No, must be the—

Crash.

I jump out of the seat, rush up the stairs to my bedroom and yank open the door.

Crouching on my now broken bed is a creature reminiscent of a pit bull on steroids with fur darker than the moonless night in the abandoned cemetery. His molten red eyes stab through the darkness.

Before I can blink, he lunges and I'm assaulted with slobbering licks.

"I've missed you too, buddy. But you're not supposed to be here."

I smile at his cacophonic whines, the vibrations shaking the walls.

"Alright, come on. We've got to get you back. We don't want a repeat of last Halloween, do we?"

Cerberus shakes his heads. I know he remembers; Hades was not the happy Lord of the Underworld when he realized his Guardian of the Gates had escaped.

He was especially displeased that the one who returned him was his stepdaughter.

I send my dad a short text to tell him where I'm going and not to worry, which of course he'll do. Not that I blame him.

I pull out the obsidian pendant from under my shirt and rub it between my fingers. It turns transparent, glowing as the waters from the Rivers course within. When it cools on my palm, a portal of suffocating darkness appears where my closet door used to be.

"Come on, Cerberus."

As soon as we step into the portal, he grows in size until he towers over me.

"Think Mom will be happy to see me?"

His tongues stick out of the sides of his mouths, and his tail hisses.

I take this to mean yes.