by ren
Disclaimer: If anything, I belong to them.
Author's Notes: First foray into this fandom, so be nice, okay?
Story Notes: This was written in answer to the scary story challenge on the serge list. Not really scary, though.
There is a thing living in my closet. It's a very small thing and it doesn't have a mouth, in fact I'm not even sure it has a face, but it screams when you touch it and once I thought I heard it crying.
It's not the first thing to take up residence there, of course. My father made it his office for quite some time, and he was dead. Perhaps this thing is dead as well, but my father never bit me, and this thing's teeth are terribly sharp.
At first I thought it could be my imagination - I am, after all, capable of some truly disturbing dreams. However, when even Diefenbaker refused to enter my office I swallowed my pride and called Ray.
I told him everything, and he didn't even laugh at me. He just got in his car and drove straight over, and when he peered cautiously into my closet I could not detect even a hint of condescension.
I could not see his face as he looked, but he remained in the one position for such a long time that I began to feel concerned.
I said his name very quietly, not wanting to startle either him or the thing in the closet. When he finally straightened and looked at me, his eyes were filled with tears.
"Oh, Frase," he said, very gently, and I was startled to hear what sounded like pity, mixed in with the sadness. "Don't you recognise it?"
I must confess I had no idea what he was talking about. "What is there to recognise, Ray? It is apparently mute, but it has vicious teeth and I have heard it crying. It screams when I touch it, and I don't know what it looks like because it's too scared to come out into the light."
The tears in his eyes spilled over, and I saw his love for me in that second. "Look down," he whispered, and I did so.
What I saw there gave me quite a shock, and I found myself wondering how long I had been wandering around without noticing the gaping hole in my chest, right above...
"My heart," I said, and Ray nodded, and I understood. The thing in the closet was mine.
I probably should have wept at that point - would have, if I'd had my heart to do it with. Instead I spoke, said the only thing that made sense, the one thing I knew was right.
Looking directly at Ray, I inclined my head toward the closet. "It won't hurt you," I told him. "It trusts you."
The look he gave me then was of such hope and happiness that had my heart been in my chest it would have twisted there. "What do you want me to do?" he asked me.
There was only one possible answer, and my smile was a perfect mirror of his. "Take it."