Nightmares & Fairy Tales - Issue 5

Issue 5

A young girl named Gwen and her family are moving into a new house. Gwen, however, is afraid to go inside as she thinks the house is haunted. Her parents refuse to listen and leave her outside in the rain as they pack. She is greeted by her neighbor Beatrice, who is kind and listens to her fears. Beatrice offers Gwen Annabelle for protection, on the conditions that Gwen takes care of the doll and calls Beatrice "Aunt Bea". After Beatrice leaves, Gwen's mother becomes angry with her daughter and hits her saying only that Gwen "embarrassed" her. It soon becomes obvious that Gwen is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by her parents. They threaten her to go to her room to change her clothes. When she enters her room however, she sees in the dark that there are monsters, something which her parents refuse to believe. When the lights are turned on, the monsters hide in the closet. Gwen once more panics, but they disappear when her father investigates. He is angry with Gwen and orders her to unpack her things in her room that night. She falls asleep and the monsters once more emerge. Annabelle silently asks them to protect Gwen from "these monsters". When Gwen awakens the next morning, she is surprised to see her entire room unpacked. She assumes Annabelle did it, but it is revealed that it was really the work of the monsters in the closet. When Gwen goes to breakfast, she is told that there is no time before school to feed her or pack a lunch. She is sent out to the bus stop, despite not knowing where the stop is. Aunt Bea finds Gwen and upon hearing of her plight feeds her, packs her a lunch, and drives her to school, pointing out the bus stop on the way. After school, Gwen tries to tell her mother about her day but is yelled at. She sadly tells Annabelle everything and adds that Annabelle and Aunt Bea are her only friends. Annabelle looks at the closet and comments "not your only friends". Before dinner, Annabelle's father tells her to bring the empty moving boxes downstairs. Gwen is afraid to however, as the boxes are stacked in the closet with the monsters. Annabelle warns Gwen not to scream or she'll get in trouble. Gwen directly responds and it is revealed that she can hear the doll. Despite this, Gwen is forced to explain to her father once more about the monsters, prompting him to angrily lock her in the closet overnight to teach her a lesson. Next door, Aunt Bea watches Gwen's predicament in a cauldron and prays for Annabelle to protect the girl and "kill these monsters". The next day, Gwen is taken from the closet by a strange man. Aunt Bea takes her and it is explained that her parents killed by a mysterious intruder. Aunt Bea takes Gwen to be her guardian and the monsters remain in the closet.

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