Nobody believed him. Not even his older brother Archie, who had never doubted him before. When Jonathon told his mother there was a man made of shadows in his closet, she told him it was just his imagination. When he told his father, he told him that he was ten years old and needed to stop believing in the boogeyman. After being told of the shadow man, Archie walked up to Jonathon's room and opened up the closet, showing him that nothing was there. Jonathon still insisted that their was a shadow man in the closet, Archie just rolled his eyes and left.

Jonathon went to bed that night crying. He knew what he had seen, what he had heard. Why would nobody believe him? As his crying began to subside, and he started drifting off to sleep, he heard a voice. It was whispering his name in a breathy, snakelike fashion, begging him to come and open the closet door, offering him all manner of rewards if he did. Candy. Toys. A bike. A Wii. Jonathon got up from his bed and tiptoed his way to the closet. He opened the door a crack and peered in, the voice whispering words of encouragement. He widened the crack until it was large enough for the small boy to walk in. He watched in terror as smoke like claws reached for him, then opened his mouth and let forth the loudest scream his tiny lungs could muster while running back to his bed.

Both of Jonathon's parents burst into his room, followed shortly by Archie. Fists clenched, father quickly scanned the room for an intruder, eyes passing the closed window, open toy box, and empty closet, finally reaching his son. Jonathon's mother and brother left the room after he told them what happened. His father stayed, trying to convince him that nothing was there, but being woken up in the middle of the night did little to help his patience. Before leaving to go back to sleep, he warned his child that if he had to come back in here again, he'd give the boy something to scream about.

Jonathon cried into his pillow after his father closed the door. Why didn't anyone believe him? He had never made up monsters before, why would he start now? A feeling of rejection and loneliness crept over the child, nobody cared about him.

"Jonathon......." It was the shadow man again. Jonathon bit his tongue to stop from screaming. "I believe you Jonathon....." He looked at the open closet and saw Him again, still reaching for him.  "They don't love you Jonathon.....but I do....I  love you...." The little boy stared at the cloudy shape in his closet, the actions of his family still stung, but they still loved him, didn't they? "They hate you.....they want to hurt you...." More tears welled up in Jonathon's eyes as he remembered the looks his family had given him, remembered the threats his father had made."Come to me.....let me protect you...." The dark hands motioned for the boy to come closer. Jonathon wiped the tears from his eyes. He didn't know why he had been afraid of this man before, he didn't seem that scary. "Come to me Jonathon.....Come......" Jonathon shakily stepped out of bed, careful not to make too much noise, he didn't want his father to hear. "Let me..protect you...." Jonathon took two steps towards the closet. "Come to me....I can make you feel better....." He found himself at the opening to the closet, nearly within reach of the shadows within "Yessss.......come....let me make your pain ssslip away..." Little Jonathon took a breath and threw himself into the comforting arms that awaited him.

The next morning, Jonathon's mother walked into his room to wake him up for school but couldn't find him in his bed. She glanced around the room, her eyes falling upon the closed closet door. She walked up to it and opened it, screaming as her son's lifeless body fell to the floor.