If you were to ask Charlotte and Lucas Brown what happened the night of June 18th, 1998, they would only say this with silent tears in their eyes, “he will come, from midnight to one… ”

This story begins on a quiet street, around ten o’clock at night; if you were on this street you would find a window on a blue house. In the window were Charlotte and Lucas Brown, both the age of nine, with brown freckles across their noses and curly auburn hair that went into ringlets. Lucas’s hair had often been cut short, but his hair grew out a lot. Charlotte's hair was long and often had to be pinned up. The two children had wide, hazel eyes and exotic looking skin.

They were both were sitting on the edge of their beds, talking about things nine-year-olds talk about when their mother walked in carrying a book. She had dark black hair and green bright eyes. She smiled when she saw the children and sat down on Charlotte's bed. Lucas moved to Charlotte's bed so that their mother was between them.

“I found it!” their mother exclaimed excitedly.

“Really?” asked Charlotte.

“Yes, and it is scary this time, unlike the other stories. I read the first page in the car.” The Brown family had always loved scary things, whether it was watching a horror movie or reading a horror book; they were obsessed. So, often their mother would come home with a book or a movie and claim it was scary. Sometimes it was, but more often than not, it wasn’t.

“Read it!” implored Lucas, barely containing his excitement.

“Okay… Oh, there is a warning attached to the book,” their mother had found a sticky note on the first page. “Warning: Don’t read this book out loud. It will come, from midnight to one for one night, you better survive, so turn off the lights to illuminate the beast. Heed my warning.”

“Awesome!” said Lucas and Charlotte in unison. Their mother began to read.

The book was about three children who got into trouble a lot. Then they ended up disturbing a resting place of a king who supposedly had been protected by a monster. The monster, seeking retribution, killed two of the children, and the other one escaped. The child hid from midnight to one; since she didn't get caught, the monster disappeared.

Charlotte, Lucas, and their mother had lost track of time when they had finished the book. It was already eleven-fifty five.

“Time for bed,” their mother told them. She put the book down on the nightstand. Lucas moved back to his bed and Charlotte was already closing her eyes. Their mother shut off the lights and closed the door.

“Lucas…” whispered Charlotte through the darkness after a couple minutes of silence.

“Yes?” he asked, rather vexed.

“What if the warning is true?” asked Charlotte. “What if the monster is coming at midnight?”

“It’s not true,” muttered Lucas. “Now go to sleep.”

Charlotte closed her eyes and tried to relax, but she couldn’t. Her mind kept thinking about the monster eating her while she slept. She could almost hear the low growl of the monster. The shadows began to look like figures, watching her… waiting to pounce. Charlotte leaped out of bed and turned on the lights.

“What the…” Lucas woke up.

“Just until twelve o’one.”

Charlotte looked down at her watch. It was eleven-fifty-nine. She breathed in and out, trying to calm herself. She watched her watch slowly moved towards midnight. Thirty more seconds… twenty… ten… five… midnight.

Suddenly, a deep chill ran through the room. The lights seemed darker than before. Lucas sat up in his bed. There was a creaking on the other side of the room. Charlotte turned around. Charlotte and Lucas gasped. The window that was previously closed was now open. Lucas went to Charlotte's side, picking up a baseball bat.

“I can’t see anything,” said Lucas.

“It can’t be true… the warning can’t be…” cried Charlotte. “We could be imagining things.”

Charlotte began to feel a dark chill upon her. She spun around but didn’t see anything. She remembered what the warning had said about turning off the lights. Charlotte reached up and flicked the switch down. Darkness fell, slowly making the once lit room into a dark abyss. Charlotte heard a low growl above her. She slowly turned around. She looked up to find a figure above her. The face was distorted like it wasn’t all there. The body was thin and grey, and the skin seemed like it was made of rubber. It was tall, taller than six feet. It was bald with teeth almost like an animal. It was growing low, looking straight at Charlotte with cold, red eyes.

Charlotte was so scared she couldn’t scream…  She couldn’t run… She just stood there frozen, unable to do anything. The monster stared at her for a second as if she wasn’t his prey. He then snarled, showing his rows of sharp teeth. Lucas shook Charlotte and took her hand.

“Run!” he screamed. Lucas opened the door and dragged Charlotte out of the room. Charlotte regained her senses and ran with Lucas. The monster followed closely behind them; he crawled over the walls and the ceiling, barely ever touching the floor.

“He’s catching up!” screamed Charlotte. The two ran down the stairs, having a moment of peace since the monster couldn’t see them. They quickly scrambled into the closet under the stairs. The closet was small, without much room. The Brown family had hidden many boxes in there, rendering very little other space. Charlotte and Lucas didn’t talk. They breathed very quietly, but both of their faces were deadly white. Their eyes were shut, hoping and praying that the monster didn’t find them.

Charlotte and Lucas heard the low growl of the monster approaching. It was approaching slowly as if it could smell them. The monster came closer to them… slowly… and slowly. Tears fell from Charlotte’s and Lucas’s eyes. Charlotte held her brother’s hand for what might have been the last time. They both began to accept their fate when the monster was just on the other side of their door. Then, the monster stopped growling. It then ran away up the stairs.

“Why did it leave?” asked Charlotte quietly. Lucas’s eyes grew wide.

“Mom…”

“We have to go after her!” Just then, Lucas and Charlotte heard the worst sound to their little ears. An ear-piercing scream that echoed throughout the house. The scream of their mother. Then, there was silence and only silence. Charlotte held in her cries with her hands. Lucas didn’t know what to do, only to sit down in the corner of the closet and console his sister.

The two didn’t make any sounds. The monster didn’t come back for another forty-five minutes. Even then, he didn’t go near the closet, as if he had already caught his prey.

But he was still there… He stayed as if he was waiting for something.

Then, Lucas’s watch read one o’clock. The low growling had ceased. The children had been granted impunity for reading the book out loud, but the same could not be said for their mother. The house was quiet again, but the two children stayed in the corner crying until twelve hours later when the police arrived.

The police found Charlotte and Lucas white as stone, silent tears streaming down their red, blood-shot eyes. They had to pry Charlotte and Lucas from each other. When they questioned Charlotte and Lucas all they mumbled was, “From midnight to one, he will come…”