𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓾𝓮
— 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚜 —

𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓻'𝓼 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 to tell her stories before bed about witches and warlocks, and the many creatures that come out on Halloween every year. After the retellings began to stay in the young girl's head, she started to believe the things they said— because maybe there was a monster under her bed at night; one that didn't care for scratching on her bedposts or yanking the blankets from her exposed legs. Maybe it was just there because it had, or wanted, to be. And instead of actually searching for it, Briar Hasson lived with the idea that there was an old and ancient google-eyed monster that slept beneath her every night, just to keep an eye on her.

This stage of beliefs lasted up until the age of thirteen, in which she decided that there was no cuddly creature under her bed. There were no witches or warlocks or any other magical being in the world that hid from the human race. Her parents were gone, and with them went their crazy stories and the old monster she had lived with all of her life. Hypothetically, she figured, her parents kept the fairytales alive; especially the thing under her bed that she didn't dare tell her friends at school about. Eventually, her view would've changed about everything, anyway. Her teenage years— as everyone used to warn her about— would make or break her future, as that's when someone would make some of the biggest decisions and stress like the world was on fire. Thankfully, after the day her parents passed, her brother Marshall came home from northern Maine, and took thirteen-year-old Briar into his custody.

With little to no money to his name, Marshall Hasson was given the pays of his parents' wills, and searched for a new home with what they had. Luckily, there was a low-budget-fixer-upper for sale just outside of their hometown, of which he decided was too good of an offer to turn down. And so the nineteen-year-old moved in with his little sister and took up a new job, hoping for a fresh start for the two of them.

But, little did he know, this would be a fresher start than he could ever understand. There was life inside the house; someone who could make Briar Hasson whole again, and assure her that there was not only goodness in the world, but there was surely always a monster under her bed— because, like her parents and her newfound friend, that little creature would always be right with her every step of the way.

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