Chapter 4

The confusing episode at the mall added to Max's growing stress at monster hunting. Even though he hadn't had any more dangerously close encounters, it took more thought and preparation every night to capture the beasts. They were smarter than Max originally believed and not all the monsters would not behave consistently to light. So when Max renewed his nocturnal hunting habits, he approached them with the more focused purpose of not just capturing  to kill but also to study. Max was beginning to see that this whole monster hunting thing was going to mean a bigger commitment. He experienced firsthand what happens when you don't take the game seriously so he knew that to stay one step ahead of the competition he was going to have to do some homework. Unfortunately he didn't know where to find a handbook for hunting monsters, and after watching a few late night monster movies on TV when his mom was asleep, he was pretty sure Hollywood didn't know much about real monsters either. Whatever he was going to learn he was going to have teach himself through observation and experimentation.

Over the summer, he had been collecting terrariums and fish tanks of various sizes and shapes to be used as cells to temporarily house captured monsters until he could dispose of them. He would buy them at thrift stores, rummage and yard sales, or the occasional auction where, on the weekends, his mother would take him on "business trips" to find discarded treasures she could resell on line. Max was often given a few bucks to spend for helping carry some of the larger items and then later sorting them for storage in the garage until they could be sold. Evangeline didn't believe in giving children money for nothing as she always reminded Max that hard work yields rewards. He didn't like that at all until he started finding things that would help him catch monsters, an old flashlight here, a light up sword there,  but the real find was the butane torch and welding mask. Up to that point he had been using a grill lighter to melt the monsters down, which took forever. 

So with his growing trove of monster catching materials, Max set up a lab in the back corner of the basement full of glass and plastic cages flooded with light from various sources. He had cages lit up with everything from plug-in night-lights to desk lamps. His mother, curious about his newfound hobby was told that he was conducting science experiments. She accepted that grudgingly because as much as she liked him to have a hobby she wished it would involve making friends with other children and preferably out of doors. 

Once Max felt his little lab was ready he began to add specimens to his containers. It didn't take him long to collect what he thought was a representative sample of the type of monsters he had encountered so far. Two robots, one army action figure, a classic car, two dinosaurs(one brontosaurus and one T-Rex), and a clown. The clowns were always the nastiest. Not the biggest but most definitely the hardest to catch and the most likely to escape. This one had tried several times to inch it's way into a shadow before it was imprisoned in an illuminated glass box that previously housed fish. 

Max spent the last few days of summer vacation testing and experimenting on his captives. He was on the verge of a particularly monumental breakthrough with a magnifying glass and a prism when his mother interrupted him from the top of the basement stairs. 

"Max."

He ignored her while he moved the magnified spectrum across the T-rex's head. Evangeline came down into the basement.

"Max! Stop that right now. I need to talk to you." 

Max knew would have one more "Max" from his mom before she really got mad so he continued to study the effect of the light on the plastic toy shell in front of him. As the violet of the spectrum was passing over the dinosaur's eye it suddenly blinked. 

"Max!"

He spun around almost dropping his magnifying glass. 

"What?!"

His mother approached him sternly, "Max you haven't done your chores in two days and ... is that one of the crystals from the dinning room chandelier?"

Max knew he was busted but tried to quickly palm it anyway. He held out the magnifying glass for his mothers inspection and with a definite air of intellectual superiority answered,"No it's a magnifying glass." 

In retrospect, Max realized that was the wrong thing to say as he was ousted out of the basement and given more chores because according to his mother he obviously didn't have enough to do. But when his mother said the basement was now off limits for the rest of the day, that sent Max into a tirade which then elevated a heated situation to out of control. A few minutes later found Max confined to his room for the rest of the afternoon with no internet or basement for the whole week. Max lay on his bed contemplating if he should let a monster loose in mother's room to teach her a lesson.

Chapter 3

The next week Max took off from monster hunting. His back was still sore and he needed to figure out a way to trap them that was fool proof. On top of all that, his monthly visit to Dr. Rashid, his therapist, was more annoying than usual due to his supposed bad dream that caused him to cut his back on the bed. Max had been seeing the good doctor for over a year to deal with some of his "repressed anger" over his father's death and they were at the point in his sessions where "I don't want to talk about it" wasn't going to cut it. So Max came up with a dream about how he was being chased by a dark presence. Real enough to be convincing but vague enough not to require too many details. He went away from that session having to keep a dream journal. Max was fuming about having another psycho assignment but later while out buying his new journal, Max was able to get a set of rope lights to string under his bed.

And then there was Ginny. Max found that his overt dismissal of the girl only fueled her determination to reform Max and his barbaric ways. A few days after their standoff in the driveway Ginny's mother showed up at the door with Ginny introducing herself as Kate and asking about local activities for kids. Much to Max's horror, the two became fast friends. He watched as the two women sat in the living room talking about their pasts probing for common ground on which to base their new friendship. Ginny sat across from him savoring the torment she could see in face. Max tried to intervene but the mothers sent he and Ginny off to find their own common ground. 

Max went straight for his mom's small office where the second computer was kept. Ginny followed expecting to maybe get a tour of the house but found herself being ignored once again. Max sat immediately at the desk and logged onto the internet and began surfing. Ginny now understanding that she was being snubbed again, began to explore the office on her her own. It was an untidy office. There were papers shoved into various colored folders all over the desk and shelves. A small filing cabinet was left half open revealing it's disheveled contents. Packing materials were stacked in the corner be hind the desk, a corner of bubble wrap poked out from between some folded boxes inciting Ginny to play with it. Pop! Max ignored it, focusing on a recipe for making glow sticks out or household chemicals. Pop, pop, pop! Max's eyes darted over toward Ginny who was staring at him, daring him to insist that she stop. Pop! 

"That's my mom's packing stuff. Stop it."

"What does your mom do?"

Max realized she had tricked him into conversation and so decided to make it as short as possible.

"She sells stuff online."

"Stuff, like what?" 

"Old junk."

"Where does she get it?"

"Garage sales, thrift stores, she goes and buys stuff while I'm at school. Some stuff she sells on consignment."

"What do you mean?"

"People give her things to sell and she'll auction them online for percentage of the profit."

"She makes good money doing that?"

Max was a little surprised by the question."Enough." He replied suddenly realizing he didn't know how much his mom made auctioning her nick-nacks. Ginny sighed heavily and stood behind Max and announced, "I'm bored. Let's do something."

Max replied as he continued to read the computer screen, "I am doing something."

" No, I mean something together." She took a turn about the room."Like a game or something."

" I don't really play games."

"Well then..."

Max interrupted." Look I don't really play with other kids. I find it distracting."

"You don't have any friends?"

"None that I play with."

"So what do you do when you have friends come over?"

"My friends don't come over." Max looked up at Ginny and smiled slyly,"And that's why were friends."

Ginny shook her head in disgust." You are gonna be one of those kids that comes to school with a gun and shoots people aren't you."

That made Max angry. " Yes! Yes I am. I do fit the profile. Father killed in an accident," he started ticking off the reasons on his fingers," Mother could be called overbearing, antisocial, pyromaniac, and" he raised his voice to punch the last point home," I have a bad temper. Maybe you should leave me alone because I'm dangerous."

Ginny stood quietly for moment looking down at the floor.

Max barely heard her soft apology over the throbbing in his ears."I'm sorry." She said. " I didn't know your father was dead."

He looked at her and saw her sincerity. The pounding in his head slowed. The rage in his body subsided. It made him ashamed somehow that she could admit that maybe she didn't know everything. She wasn't as sure of herself as she made her self out to be. Suddenly her humility shone a light on his anger that made it seem extreme and unjust.

The words came out before Max knew what he was saying, " I'm sorry too for getting mad."

She shifted uncomfortably,"It's O.K."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Max suddenly wanted to say something to Ginny that would make her feel better but nothing came to mind. He had no experience with this. Now that he had gotten what he wished for, Max suddenly realized what he had rejected. A chance at friendship. Ginny was scared of him now and that was something he didn't know how to fix. He wanted her to respect his privacy but he also thought how nice it would be to have someone to share his plans with. If only people would just be friends on his term then he could have some real friends not just the faceless online chaters that he probed for information about the world of monsters.

Ginny shifted and then went to the door."I'm gonna see what my mom is doing."

As she left she looked back at Max. He couldn't discern what the look meant but he didn't like the way it made him feel dark and hollow.

The result of that afternoon was a very cold shopping trip for school supplies the next week. In preparation for the new school year which started in two weeks, Kate and Evangeline took Max and Ginny out together to buy new outfits, notebooks, backpacks, and pencils. Max was determined to be nice to Ginny and convince her that he was not going to be the kid who shot people at school and Ginny was determined to be politely aloof. She dismissed his compliments, deflected his questions, and only gave general opinions when pressed. It drove Max mad. He couldn't understand. He was just trying to be nice. Isn't this what she wanted? He decided to make one last effort at peace before giving in to the belief that he was better off without friends by buying her an ice cream with his own money. As stood there behind her with two cones of creamy goodness slowly melting,  he began to question what he was doing why did he just spend $6 to seek the approval of someone he wanted nothing to with. Why should he feel guilty for seeking solitude? This girl could never understand him anyway so why should he try to justify the way he wanted to be to her. 

Ginny turned suddenly around startling Max into almost dropping his tasty gift. As he gathered himself. Anger and frustration boiled up in Max's emotional caldron. 

"Geeze! What'd you do that for! I almost dropped this! Geeze!"

Ginny calmly looked at the dripping cones wrapped in napkins that Max held out in front of him. Ginny smiled. Not only had he bought her a treat, it was wrapped so she wouldn't get her hands sticky. She paused a few moments to give Max the chance to offer the cone to her but it came apparent that he was still uncertain if he wanted to be a part the whole friendship thing. In Ginny's young experience with boys, the one thing they hated the most was to be ignored. To her being a boy was all about showing off. If one ignored them a little, they would do bigger things to show that they merited attention. Eventually though if ignored enough they would lose interest and go away. However a little compliment or a gesture of acknowledgment right at the point they began to believe there was no attention to be had here, that made them try even harder. She had watched women coax men into lavishing the world onto them. The trick was to not give in too soon or wait too long but to, at that perfect moment, give a sweet smile, a flattering compliment, or in this case to accept a gift.

"Is that for me?"

Max looked puzzled for moment. "Yes." The word came out a little more curtly than he had intended but Ginny didn't seem to notice. She thanked him and smiled as he handed one of the cones over to her in complete confusion about what just happened. All he knew was that it made him feel good when she smiled.

Chapter 2

Max woke early the next morning, his thoughts bursting out of the starting gate at the first moment of consciousness. He sat up quickly and winced at the tightness in his back. The blinds in his mothers room were aglow as they tried to block out the early morning light. Max smiled at them, imagining the brilliant future ahead of his new friend in the fish tank. Next to him, Evangeline shifted in her sleep. Max knew what had to be done must be done before she awoke, and so he left the bed as quietly as he he could. 

Max stood in his pajamas on their driveway in front of the street. A toy robot in one gloved hand, a butane torch in the other, and a welding mask on his head. He set the robot and a patch of asphalt that was already scorched. He studied it for a moment and noticed the monster's toy shell was starting to sweat. The monsters didn't like direct sunlight. He found himself wondering if the perspiration was caused because it knew of it's impending doom and was therefore nervous or if this was simply that reaction its shell had to sunlight. Max sat himself cross-legged in front of the robot deciding that either way he was enjoying the process very much and wondered what would happen if he left the monster out in the sun all day. is attention was momentarily diverted as a man cam out of the house across the street and went to a large shipping container that had been unloaded in the street the previous day. Max knew that the house had recently been sold because he had heard his mother talking about it to one of the neighbors, Mr. Portage, who was very old and always wore a large yellow gardening hat and smelled like onions. Mr. and Mrs. Portage were "retired" which Max assumed meant that they were too old to work because they both just played in their garden and rode their scooters to the the grocery store or the hair salon. This new neighbor however was young. Well not young, Max thought, but youngerish.

The man came out of the container carrying a large box. He struggled with it's weight as he set it down to close and lock the container back up. He noticed Max wearing his pajama pants, heavy leather gloves, and a welding helmet sitting across the road in the driveway behind a large blue and red robot. He smiled and waved at Max wondering what kind of summer mischief this little boy was up to. Max neither smiled or waved back but focused his attention back on the robot hoping the man would go away and not interrupt his dealing out of retribution on this agent of evil. The man picked up his box and went inside. 

Max was back to enjoying his dominion over this creature until the man came out again to get another box from the container and than another and then another. The constant interruptions where beginning to annoy Max. He just wanted a little piece and quiet in which to torture an evil being from what he assumed was another dimension. The last straw was when a woman followed the man out and started calling to him to bring in the box with the pans, not the pots but the Teflon coated frying pans. She looked over to Max and with a smiling wave called across the street a neighborly greeting to him which he ignored and went back to keeping watch over his monster. Max began to feel that this was a torture for both he and the monster and so resolved to finish the deed when the man went back into the house with his box of Teflon coated pans. 

Max didn't relish the idea of acting quickly. He wanted this to be slow but didn't see any way around this. He had been caught doing this once before by a passing jogger who threatened to call the police and the fire department if Max set flame to the green dinosaur in the driveway. Then he got a long lecture about how burning plastics give off dangerous carcinogens into the atmosphere. The jogger never said anything about how playing with fire was dangerous. So Max waited patiently as the man across the street found his frying pans and took them into the house. 

From the back of the elastic waist band in his pajama pants, Max pulled out a flint striker. He set it to the butane torch clicking it until the burner whooshed to life with a pale blue flame. Max adjusted the flame's intensity until it became an incinerating spear head. Max flipped his head forward dropping the welding mask down over his face. His attention turned toward the robot, barely visible through the masks dark shield. The torched moved ever so slowly to the robot's head.

"What are you doing?"

Max looked up abruptly to see where the question had come from but all he could see through the darkened visor was vague shapes so he went back to the monster. 

"Um, I said, what are you doing?"

Max looked around again and replied to the shape that most looked like it could be a person,

"Nothing." And looked back to his torch.

The little girl clearly not intimidated by Max's brush off, came and sat down next to him.

"Yuh know if you don't want your toys. You could give them other little boys and girls who are less fortunate. Last Christmas my mom and I went through all my play things and we took them to the Salvation Army to give away to poor kids."

Max glared at her clearly not wanting her there. But she just kept on, not taking any notice. 

"I actually got to meet a poor kid. He was hispanic and his name was Miguel which mean Michael in Spanish."

Max scowled more angrily but failed to take into account that the welding mask which was obscuring his face's full fury. The little girl next to him babbled on about how Taco Bell was not real Mexican food because she knew what real Mexican food was because she went to Mexico.

She was obviously not getting a subtle hint so Max Tried a more direct approach.

"Go away! I'm busy."

The nattering voice stopped for a moment and Max thought that maybe she was getting up to go.

"Busy with what?" 

Max slumped his head in disappointment. He remembered that telling the truth about his monster hunting activities usually led to long conversations with his mother or therapist and he had grown tired of those so he lied.

"It's a science project about adding pollutants in the air. Now go away."

Again, a moment of silence during which the hope that she was leaving bloomed in him only to be plucked by her next question.

"Can I watch?"

Max wanted to relish this moment in private but didn't see any way that he could get her to leave without making a scene and his back was bothering him too much to throw a fit.

"Fine, but don't talk... or move... or look at me."

He focused back on the flame and the robot.

"I can't look at you."

"What?" Max turned back to scowl at her.

She pointed to the mask."I can't see you because you have a mask on."

Max thought about that for a moment."Well its just one less thing you have to do." 

The flame came into contact with the robot shell that immediately began to discolor, then bubble. A small opening began to fold back to reveal a charred pulsing mass underneath. With no warning at all, the toy burst into flame, disintegrating before their very eyes until it was little more than a pile of ash in the driveway.

"That was so cool!" The little girl exuberantly grabbed onto Max's shoulder who shrugged her off and extinguished the torch. He flipped the welding mask back up to make sure she understood the severity of her invasion into his personal space.

"Don't touch me."

"Sorry... Yuh know? Your kinda rude."

" I'm not rude. I just like to be alone."

She giggled and Max started to get angry. "What, you think it's funny that I like solitude?"

"No silly. Here I am telling you that you're rude and I'm being just as impolite."

Finally, Max thought, she was starting to get the hint that he wanted her to go. But instead of leaving she put out her hand.

"I'm Ginny. I just moved in across the street. Pleased to meet you."

It wouldn't be the last time he would be completely confused by a girl. She could see on his face that he wasn't quite sure what to do next. So before he knew what she was doing, Ginny grabbed his gloved hand, put it in hers and shook it.

" You're not good with manners are you."

She stepped back with hands on her hips and sized Max up.

"I think we can fix that."

Max was very uncomfortable with this. His frequent attempts at intimidation were clearly not working with this assertive person who was intent on inserting herself into and now taking over his life. He already had one mother telling him to bush his teeth and go to bed. He didn't need another telling him to say "please" and "thank you." Max was pretty sure that this girl could stand toe to toe with him in a shouting match so he opted for a silent retreat. Max stood up and started walking back to his house. Much to his chagrin she followed.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" She did not sound happy at being ignored and Max smiled a little at this minor victory as he went inside the house and closed the door in her face.

Ginny was angry. Who was this little boy who thought he was so above everybody else that he didn't have to be polite enough to share his name. Well she would show him. He might be able to ignore a kid but he had to respect his parents. That's how she would get to him. He obviously had no social skills and so she assumed that he also had no experience manipulating adults. So she would tenaciously use her charm, wit, preconscious nature, feminine guile, and vast experience from her travels around the world to capture this untamed boy and in the end she would break him like a mustang colt. Ginny walked past the mailbox at the end of the driveway and stopped to read the name spelled out with stick on letters. HUNTER. 

Chapter 1

"Five more minutes, Max. Its almost time for bed."

Max made no acknowledgment that he heard his mother. She tried again putting a little more motherly authority behind her edict. " Max, I want you off the computer in five minutes. You need to start getting ready for bed."

This time she got the slightest of nods while Max perused a website on optical physics.

"Max!"

Suddenly very annoyed, Max spun around. " I heard you the first time Mom. Geeze."

She sighed and remembered to keep her voice even and calm. " Max we talked about this. When you hear me you must communicate to me with your eyes and your mouth. I can't see you when you're staring at the computer screen and I can't hear you when you mumble."

Max lowered his head and glared at his mother through the top of his eyes. His hands were clenched. She could see an eruption coming on.

As Max sat there shivering with frustration. He couldn't understand why she didn't just leave him alone. He wasn't tired so why should he have to go to bed. He needed to do some more research before he went to bed anyway. She was an adult. She was supposed to be smarter than him but she wasn't. She couldn't possibly comprehend what he was trying to do, and therefore Max didn't feel the need to explain it to her. Max looked directly at his mother and spoke deliberately loud so she would not in any way misunderstand, "I'm busy right now!"

She looked directly back and calmly said,"You can be busy for the next...." She looked down at her watch," Three and a half minutes. Than you have to brush your teeth and put on your PJs."

" I'm not done yet."

" Book mark that page and come back to it in the morning."

She could see the wheels in his head turning as he weighed the consequences of throwing a fit now in the hopes of instant gratification versus giving up the computer now for the possibility of internet all day tomorrow. Max had come a long way in past few years. There was a time when an incident like this would have sparked an hour long rage of kicking and screaming. She had spent many hours holding Max clamped in her arms as he thrashed about screaming hateful insults at her. She didn't feel up for that tonight.

"Fine, five more minutes." Max concluded the negotiations by spinning back around toward the computer in his chair.

His five minutes was used up in their little stand off but Evangeline Hunter had anticipated that. She usually gave herself at least an hour long bedtime buffer. Lately, though, Max had been more willing to accept the concept of a specific time set aside for sleeping, rather than his usual "sleep only when your tired... or dead" phisophy. She hoped that the behavioral therapy was working and that they wouldn't have to rely so heavily on the medication that not only calmed his rage and frustration but also curbed his laughter and smiles.
Two years ago Max was diagnosed with a mild form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. He was highly intuitive in math and science but concepts like telling time and perceiving distance were as foreign to him as euclidean geometry was to Evangeline. He also had extreme difficulty in multitasking. Max would focus completely on a single task until its completion, becoming easily frustrated and angry if he was interrupted or the task was impossible to complete by himself in one sitting. Max had a very hard time at school as well because he didn't see possession or ownership like most people did. Objects were meant serve a purpose and the purpose of those objects went beyond our desire to have them. If Max thought you couldn't ride a bicycle as well as he could, he would take it from you, by force if necessary, and ride it properly thus fulfilling the bicycles potential. It wasn't anything personal it was just the way Max believed the universe worked. Try explaining that to a crying seven year old with a bloody nose, wailing that Max had hit him and stole his bicycle.
The fact that when Max was two his father had passed away in a sudden car accident made caring for Max all the more difficult. She had bring this young man of exceptional ability and handicap through life, teaching him all that she thought was best but knowing that there was always something missing. A perspective that she would never be able to glean wisdom from, that of man of a father. She would sometimes lie awake and imagine what her husband might have said to Max if he had the opportunity in his last moments. Most of what she came up with didn't sound like him and she would wonder if she ever really knew him all. He always did think of the future though, that she knew and thanked him for every day. The life insurance and assets were more than enough to provide for the both of them while setting some aside for Max's future. But Evangeline would have given up all the financial security in the world to have her husband back, even though at the time of his death they were having difficulties. Having Max had put an unexpected strain on the marriage. Everything had always come so easy for her husband, she supposed that he thought that having a child would be like falling off a log. However, when when the moment came to step up and be the father he had always hoped he would be, he found himself lacking and pushed himself away from the object that brought out his inadequacy: Max. She wondered if he would have ever been able to become that man he hoped he'd be or if his death was a heartache and suffering suffered now in place place of a different heartache in the future.

The rest of the evening went on more or less according to plan and by nine, thirty Max was in bed and under the covers. Evangeline sat on the bed next to him.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

Max leaned forward and breathed heavily into her face. His mother coughed and tried to fan the warm breath away from her face.

"Mmmm. Minty fresh." Max smiled and chuckled at her over exaggerated response. She smiled back and adjusted the top of his blanket. 

"Aren't you too warm under this thick blanket?"

"No not really."

"O.K.." She stopped fidgeting with it and leaned down to kiss Max on the forehead."I love you baby."

Max turned his head, annoyed at his mothers attempt at physical attention. "Mom don't. I don't like kisses."

She leaned back and tried not to show the hurt her son's rejection had caused. She went back to adjusting the blanket. "O.K. Good night baby."

"Good night." Max replied. 

Evangeline got up and walked toward the door. She turned off the lights as she exited the room and looked back one last time at Max as she closed the door.

Max lay there for a while listening to his mother's footsteps move down the hall and then down the steps towards the living room. As soon as he was sure her attentions where elsewhere, flipped back his covers and tuned on the two large flashlights he had been hiding there. Max got out of bed and turned the lights on to better asses his readiness. Two flashlights with new batteries, check. String attached to the bedside lamp switch, check. A light up sword(in case of emergencies), check. The fish tank light was off and books stacked around the base of the bed. Max played out every possible scenario in his head making sure he was prepared for any contingency. Satisfied that everything was in place, Max turned his flashlights on again careful to never be in darkness without a light and flipped the overhead light switch off. As he positioned himself back in bed he turned his flashlights on and off five times each reassuring himself each time that their light would be there when he called for it. 

Max was excited, which was bad because he couldn't stop fidgeting. He knew one would never come unless it thought he was asleep. Max was just about to abandon the whole project and turn on his night light to read when he heard something at the end of his bed. Max froze, all his senses heightened by the promise of a hunt. The next few moments felt like hours to Max as he held himself as ridged as possible so as not shiver with excitement. He heard it again. Something was feeling at the books that surrounded his bed. Max's fingers caressed his flashlights under the covers feeling exactly where the button was. Max peered down towards the foot of the bed just in time to see one the stacks at his feet slowly move away from the bed. A moment later the second stack slid back. Max held his breath, waiting for the thing to come out.

It was so quiet and smooth Max almost missed it. A thin sleek hand followed by another reached up and grabbed the footboard. Max could see that the hands were almost human except that the skin was unnaturally pale and each finger tapered into a black talon that clicked softly as it came to rest on the footboard. Max closed his eyes. The monster had to believe that he was asleep or it would retreat. Max tried to relax his body in order to sell the illusion completely. Max opened one eye slightly to mark where the monster would be making his move. The dark figure was pulling itself up at the end of the bed. Timing was everything. If Max moved too soon it could retreat back under the bed but if he moved too late... he didn't follow that thought to it's conclusion. The monster had begin to make it's way around the end of the bed. It was go time.

Max lifted his arm from under the covers and simultaneously clicked on the flashlight in his hand. The monster was momentarily illuminated revealing a grey slimy creature, with an almost bat-like head and solid black eyes. Max had just just enough time to take this in before the monster made a break for the end of the bed. Max was ready though with his other light and used its beam to cut of his escape rout. The monster tried another tactic leaping at Max. Again Max was ready, using the beams in tandem to herd the monster away from him. The monster danced around the room trying to avoid the beams. Max could see smoke coming off of it's skin where the lights had come into contact with it. The monster was in pain but still it made no sound. This was more difficult than Max had expected. The others Max had encountered weren't this active and were usually subdued very quickly. Max realized he would have to turn on the bedside lamp to capture this one. Max glanced over to find the string that was connected to the switch. He couldn't see it. His night vision was ruined by the flashlights glare. He focused back on the monster which was trying to find an opening to escape or attack. Max looked back again for the lamp string and in doing so he lowered one of his lights for just a moment but a moment was all it needed. The monster jumped at one the walls ricocheting itself toward Max. Flinging himself off the bed, Max avoided the monster's talons by inches.

He wasn't sure if he had dropped them out of fright or lost them in the fall but Max's flashlights were gone. He could still see the beam of one illuminating the far side of the bed. He contemplated jumping over there until it moved. The flashlight was being picked up. Max heard the button click and room was dark. A hissing laugh came from the other side of the bed. Max saw it rise up in the shadows. It's bent form poising itself for a final attack. As Max franticly looked around for the other flashlight his hand came across the hilt of the sword. Simultaneously, the monster leapt at Max as he switched on the sword swung it at the oncoming beast. As the glowing blade made contact with the monster's flesh a burst of steam erupted and the sound searing flesh mingled with the toy sword's "swooshing" sound effect. The monster was flung aside and Max leapt up, anticipating another attack. But none came. The monster had disappeared. 

Max cautiously surveyed the room with his glowing sword held out before him. But the monster was gone. Max sat in chair by the desk breathing a sigh of relief. As much fun as it had been catching the monsters over the past month, this one was a little too close. He sat in the darkness the sword across his lap, making plans for better booby trapping his room when suddenly several small white flakes floated downward in front of his eyes. Max was puzzled and followed the trail of falling flakes up their trail. The monster clinging to the ceiling knew that it was discovered and fell upon Max. The sword was little protection this time. It broke the moment the monster landed. Luckily for Max it was an awkward landing and he was able to use it's momentum to fling the monster across the room towards the door. Max could feel that his shirt was ripped and a warm tingling sensation spread across his back. He couldn't think about that now the monster was already up and poising itself for another charge. Max looked around quickly for a light of any kind. A foam dart gun lay on the desk. Max grabbed it up and aimed. The monster leaped. A barrage of darts flew at the monster some bouncing harmlessly off it's slimy skin, some missing altogether, but one hitting it's mark. The yellow dart careened into the light switch on the other side of the monster. The room was immediately illuminated and the monster writhed in mid air, steaming and curling itself into a ball. It curled itself so tightly that it actually shrunk and as it did so a waxy, plastic coating formed around it until it landed in Max's lap as a harmless blue and red robot toy. 

Max was shaking. He dropped the dart gun and reached for the toy robot. He was furious. He hurled it against the wall. He took the remnants of his broken sword and began bashing at the toy coated monster while screaming.

"You thought you had me! You thought you had me! You thought you had me!

Evangeline burst into the room in her night robe.

"Max! What are you doing? What's the matter?"

Max kept on beating the robot with the shattered remains of the sword. Evangeline rushed over to Max and took him in her arms trying hold him while he screamed and flailed at the toy on the floor. She felt a wetness on his back and when she looked at her hand it was covered in blood.

Later that night, at the hospital when Max had calmed down, he told his mother that he had a bad dream and woke up scared. He rushed out of bed and fell back on the corner of the footboard. But after stitching him up the doctor told his mother privately that they looked like claw marks of a large cat. 

When they got home much later that night. Evangeline put Max in her bed. He sleepily tried to get up."I have to clean my room."

"No baby. We'll do that tomorrow."

He sat up in bed insisting," No I just need to do one thing."

"Tomorrow. O.K."Evangeline tried to gently push him back down.

"No. I have to do it right now." He wrestled himself from his mothers grip and ran toward his room. He was relieved to see they hadn't turned off the lights when they left. The robot lay in the middle of the floor, the shattered pieces of plastic sword around it. As Max bent down to pick it up he could feel the stitches in his back stretch. He let out a small groan. Max held the thing in his hand. There were no marks on it. No evidence of the bashing it had taken. Max expected that though. He knew there was only one way to destroy the monster for good. Max walked over to the fish tank on his dresser and turned on the light. He then dropped the monster in. Max stood there staring for a moment. His mother came in behind him.

"Max, we can clean this up tomorrow. Lets go to bed."

Max kept staring at the submerged robot. "Yah I'm tired. I'll take care of this tomorrow."

Part I ΦΩΣ

Prologue

It had come every night this week. Victor noted this as he checked his flashlights. The yellow beams were noticeably dimmer than they had been. He would have to remember to get new batteries somehow. He didn't have much money in his penny bank so he would have to come up with a reason his dad would have to buy some. He could just steal some out of his dad's toolbox but that would be the last resort. He'd rather fight this thing in the dark than get caught stealing from his dad. Victor was also tired, very tired. His night vigils were taking their toll. He set that thought aside as he rubbed his eyes trying to focus on the job at hand. He needed to be alert and ready.
" I wanna help." Albert sat up in his bed. He was excited. Victor was scared. He had never let Albert see it.
" No. You gotta stay under your covers."
Victor checked the flashlights one last time and tossed one of them over to his little brother. Albert looked disappointed as he took up the light and played with it, turning it on and off, shining it on random objects about their bedroom.
" Stop that! You'll waist the batteries." Victor was getting annoyed. Albert didn't understand that Victor was trying to protect him. Usually Victor was trying to avoid his eight year old brother. Albert was good at two things, getting himself out of trouble and getting others into it. Also it was hard making friends in a new place with your younger brother tagging along with you everywhere. After all, an eleven year olds life is so much more sophisticated.
It was sometimes hard for Victor to sleep in their new apartment. They had a house in Pennsylvania. St. Louis was nice but the sounds of the city kept him awake at night. Their first night in the apartment he was sure he had heard a woman scream. His mother said he had imagined it and that if he wasn't up so late reading maybe he wouldn't be hearing things. She didn't like him reading late but some nights when sleep escaped him it was better than just staring up at the ceiling and listening.
Last Thursday, Victor couldn't sleep. He was reading a Hardy Boys novel by flashlight under the covers so as not to wake Albert. It was very late. Victor's eyes were blurring which he took as a sign to quit reading and go to sleep. He must have been especially tired because he forgot to turn the flashlight off before he flipped back the covers. The room was suddenly illuminated. At first Victor panicked when he thought that he might wake Albert but that fear was quickly set aside for another when the flashlight beam came across a large dark shape over Albert's bed that suddenly disappeared. As it did Victor was sure it hissed at him.
"Get under your covers now Albert. I mean it."
"But I want to..."
"No!" Victor picked up a book off his night stand and threw it hard at Albert. "Get under your stupid covers!"
Albert made face at his brother."I'm telling mom tomorrow."
"Tell her what."
"That you threw a book at me."
"Yah? Then I'll tell her that you were really the one who broke the window at Gene's."
Albert guiltily shifted under his covers.
"Now get under the covers, turn your flashlight on and go to sleep."
Albert indignantly lay down and flipped the covers over his head. Victor focused his attention back on the task at hand, keeping watch for the monster. It seemed to appear from the toy box at the far end of the room. Several of the past few nights he had noticed eyes looking out at him from under the lid. Victor trained his flashlight beam on the box and waited.
"It's too hot under there and I can't sleep with the light on." Victor jumped out his skin as Alfred threw back his covers.
"Get back under those covers!" Victor threw at Alfred the one thing handy at the time which happened to be his flashlight. It bounced off the bed and landed on the floor sputtering to darkness. Victor jumped out of bed and ran ran to his flashlight.
"Look what you made me do you retard!" Victor pounded, slapped and shook his flashlight until it flicked to life once again. Victor got back in bed and glared at Albert. Albert retreated back under his covers. "Sorry." He said as his head slid beneath the safety of his space man blanket. Victor sat on his bed shaking. He realized what foolish thing he had just done. The monster could be any where. It could have been waiting for an opportunity just like that. He promised himself that he would be more careful for both of them.
It seemed like time was crawling. The cowboy clock by his bed said it was only 11:22 PM. It was going to be a long night. He made a passing sweep of the room with the flashlight settling on the toy box for a moment. Victor looked back at the clock. 11:23. He must stay vigilant. He must stay alert. Victor closed his eyes for a moment. No! He shook himself awake and made another search around the room with his light. He looked over at Albert. He couldn't tell if he was asleep or not but Albert had been quiet for a while so Victor assumed former. A part of him wished he wasn't for suddenly he felt very alone. Maybe Albert could help him keep watch, help keep him awake. Victor was very tired and he knew he couldn't keep this up for much longer. They had to find a way to get rid of it. Not just hold it at bay but to be done with the thing for good. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would take the toy box apart and find where it was hiding and kill it. But tonight he must stay vigilant. He must stay alert. Victor closed his eyes for a moment. His flashlight flickered softly and the room was cloaked in darkness...

Boy Kidnapped from His Bedroom, Traumatized Younger Brother Witnesses

On Wednesday night, October 12, 1964, Victor Leznowski, age 11, was taken from his third story apartment bedroom at approximately 11:30 PM. His younger brother Albert Leznowski, age 8, lay awake in the bed next to him. Police officials were called onto the scene after Lisa and Warren Leznowski heard a disturbance in their sons' bedroom and found their eldest son gone. Detective Mike Sheridan, of the the St. Louis Police Department, says this is a most unusual case. " When you have a home invasion like this, (one) can usually find evidence of entry and exit through windows or locked doors." Explains Detective Sheridan, " But in the boys bedroom there was definite evidence of a violent struggle but none of an entry or exit." The younger boy, Albert, when interrogated would only say that a monster had taken Victor. It was most certainly a monster indeed that perpetrated this most heinous act. Mr. Leznowski, a plumber by trade, and Mrs. Leznowski had just moved to to St. Louis 3 months ago to be near family. They both ask that if anyone has any information about their abducted son that they contact the St. Louis Police department immediately. Victor Leznowski is 4' 2" tall with dark brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing blue Roy Rogers pajamas. "Please," a tearful mother pleads," Please, just give us our boy back." As of today, no ransom has been demanded.