An orb floated through the sky over the town of Stanley, Idaho. The unnoticed orb slowly descended on the outskirt of town. The orb opened up revealing two yellow spacemen. The spacemen's six spidery legs clanked against the exit ramp as they left their ship with tools in hand. They went around behind the ship, pulled visors down over their red eyes and began to mend the dents in the ship with their tools. As the aliens tended to their ship a creature shrouded in darkness emerged from the ship and fled toward town. The otherworldly men finished the repairs, ascended the ramp, and took off none the wiser.

The beast entered the sleeping town of Stanley; it used trees, bushes, and darkness for cover. It pointed its snout up toward the sky and sniffed. It detected something with a scent close to that which it was fed; a child. The creature followed the scent to a small home. One of the windows was open so as to let a breeze cool the house. The monster pried the window up further and crawled in through it.

Paul Davis -aged ten- slept soundly in his bed. The young lad awoke to the sound of his bedroom door being opened. He made out a figure, but wasn't able to see any details other than its bright yellow eyes. Paul pulled the covers over his head, it always made him feel safe when he thought of monsters. The foreign creature picked up the boy who was wrapped in the blanket and hauled him to the closet. Aaron and Melinda Davis awoke to their son's screams. Aaron opened the drawer next to his bed and retrieved his handgun. Melinda followed Aaron as he made his way to Paul's bedroom.

"Paul," Aaron called out.

There was no response. Aaron nudged the partially open bedroom door the rest of the way open and flipped the light switch; no son, no blanket. Aaron heard a bang, he thought it had came from inside the closet. He reached forward, opened the closet door, and was smacked in the face. Aaron fired three shots from his handgun before he realized that it had been a shirt sleeve. The closet was normal with the exception of the newly added bullet holes. Aaron and Melinda searched the rest of the house and were unable to locate Paul, so they called the police.

The authorities found no signs of a struggle and speculated that Paul Davis had ran away from home as the boy had done so once before. They were baffled by the parent's testimony in which they had stated they heard Paul screaming. The day passed without incident, night was a different story.

Kyle Crowley turned out his bedroom light, shut the door, and climbed into bed. Kyle had just celebrated his twelfth birthday, because of this he felt that he would sleep well. He was mistaken. His eyes shot open when he heard his closet door slide open. Yellow eyes peered at him from inside the closet.

"Dad," Kyle yelled frantically.

The closet door slid shut just as Vick, Kyle's father, burst through the bedroom door. Vick looked around and saw no threat.

"What's wrong, son?"

"There's a monster in my closet."

Vick let out a sigh. Kyle is getting too old to believe in such nonsense, he thought. Vick walked over to the closet and opened the door revealing it to be empty.

"See, nothing."

"I swear there was a monster in there."

"Kyle, I'm going to prove to you that there is no such thing as monsters."

Vick stepped into the closet and slid the door shut despite his son's pleas. Kyle sat quietly on his bed with tears running down his face. He expected screams, but instead there was silence. The closet door slid back open after a few moments had passed and Vick stepped out.

"Not a thing to worry about," Vick stated.

"Dad?"

"What is it?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Vick wanted to say yes, but he feared that if he did his son would want to sleep in his room every night.

"No, Kyle. You are twelve and it is time for you to let go and move past certain things. Goodnight, Kyle. I love you."

Kyle didn't respond to his dad; he had just been given a death sentence. Vick turned out the light and shut the door. As Vick was walking back to his bedroom he heard his son scream out for him again. Vick turned around and started for his son's room, but stopped himself. If I leave him on his own he should end up going to sleep and get over his belief in monsters, he contemplated.

Monday morning rolled around and Vick went to wake his son for school. He opened the bedroom door and saw that his son's bed was empty. He checked the bathroom, the kitchen, the whole house. No Kyle. Vick called the police. The police found no signs of a struggle, but came to the conclusion that Kyle and Paul had been kidnapped. The mayor of Stanley issued a statement asking for the children to be returned and warned that parents should keep a close eye on their children. The small-town residents of Stanley, all fifty-two of them, were struck with a wave of anxiety and none could tolerate the thought that their family would be next.

The third night reared its unwelcome face. Isaac and Joan Belvish had their daughter sleep with her bedroom door open. Although fearful, young Suzy Belvish fell asleep at 10 PM. Isaac was made alert by Suzy's screams. He dropped his sandwich, stoop up from his seat at the kitchen table, grabbed a steak knife, and bolted for Suzy's room. Isaac caught a glimpse of the beast's yellow eyes as it closed the closet door. Isaac grabbed the flashlight next to his daughter's bed with the intention of throwing open the closet door and using it to blind the kidnapper.

Isaac put his hand on the handle and gathered his resolve. He threw the door open and saw that the closet was empty. In his grief he slumped down onto the closet floor and pounded his fists against it. A part of the closet floor crumbled revealing a passageway underneath the house.

"Joan! Call 9-1-1," he shouted before going into the hole.

Armed with only his flashlight and knife, Isaac descended into the darkness below. He proceeded slowly, occasionally aiming his flashlight above him. He walked quite a ways before he saw something that shed light on everything. Up above him, he saw a green sticky substance that was holding something together above him. He struck it open with his fist and saw clothes; it was a closet. The thing was tearing holes and digging passages under closets and reconstructing the flooring.

Isaac pressed on and came across small human bones; child bones.

"No," he gasped in a hushed whisper.

Isaac began to sprint down the passageway. He turned a sharp corner and smacked right into the back of the beast which knocked him on his butt. During the struggle, the beast lost its grip, and an object shattered onto the floor. The creature was angered by this, posturing to face Isaac. Isaac was able to make out an elongated head with a snout and yellow eyes. Its body was stocky, its claws were sharp, its tail long and spiked and both feet contained three toes. The closest comparison that Isaac's mind could make was that of the Werewolves of folklore.

As the beast was turning toward him, Isaac was able to see what the beast had dropped; a half-eaten Suzy. Isaac gripped the knife, prepared to fight to the end. His flashlight rolled out of his hand as he was in the process of standing back up. The beam of the flashlight struck the beast's foot causing it to disappear. The beast let out a mighty growl as its stumped leg hit the ground. Although solid, the beast appeared to be somehow constructed of shadow.

Isaac dove for the flashlight as the beast swung at him. He barely escaped being clawed by shining the flashlight on the beast's hand which disappeared into nothingness before making contact. Isaac continued to assail the beast with the flashlight. The beast retaliated and spat out a green substance which stuck to Isaac's shirt. Isaac quickly realized that the creature's mucus was what held the closet floors together. He renewed his assault with the light beams and continued to strike the Shadowbeast.

A SWAT team composed of five members showed up at the Belvish residence, each was well-armed. Although a SWAT team might have been a bit drastic, the Police Department wasn't willing to risk the kidnapper escaping. Joan Belvish told them about how her daughter and husband had disappeared.

The SWAT team did a sweep of the house and found nothing out of the ordinary until they came across the hole in Suzy's closet. The SWAT team entered the hole one by one and activated the tactical lights on their vests. As they walked they discovered entrances to closets, child bones, and green goo. The lead paused and motioned for the rest of the team to stop moving. Off in the distance a pained wailing could be heard. The SWAT team resumed with a firm grip on their guns and rounded a corner. Their lights caught a figure, Isaac Belvish.

Isaac Belvish turned around with an empty look in his eyes and a steak knife in hand. He was ordered to drop his weapon and get up against the wall, he did not comply. The SWAT team lead knocked the knife from Isaac's hand and pinned him to the wall. As Isaac was being handcuffed a member of the SWAT team noticed a half-eaten Suzy. Isaac Belvish was suspected of the kidnapping and murder of all the dead children, but was found innocent due to a lack of evidence. The case was marked cold as the Police had no more leads.

Isaac was committed to a mental institution for a short while and later had to move after being released. He chose to go through therapy after being traumatized by the events that he saw. Isaac was largely thought insane because of the encounter he claimed to have had with the Shadowbeast.

Author's note: Stanley, Idaho is a real location and had a population of 63 people during its last census.