Cole Everen was sitting on the cold, cracked floor of the living room, hugging his knees. The TV was playing some old scary movie about shadow creatures sneaking through cracks in walls, but Cole wasn't really paying attention. He was more focused on his brother Mark, who was leaning back on the couch with a half-eaten bag of chips, his messy brown hair falling over his eyes like he didn't care.
Mark suddenly whispered that the shadow thing on the screen looked alive, like it was waiting for something. Cole just nodded. He didn't fully understand, but when Mark said stuff like that, it made him feel braver, like maybe he could believe in monsters and still not be scared.
Outside, the wind was howling and rattling the windows like the whole house was about to wake up. Cole pulled his knees closer and shivered. Then the TV screen flickered and went completely black. The room went dark except for the pounding sound of their hearts.
Mark jumped up and asked who was there. Cole wanted to say something, but no words came out. The air felt thick and heavy, like the darkness was closing in on them. Cole thought he saw a shadow move, something darker than the rest of the blackness.
Suddenly the front door slammed open with a loud crash. A cold wind rushed in, freezing Cole to the bone. Mark stood up, fists clenched, shouting who's there? But only silence answered, just footsteps fading into the night.
Mark hugged Cole tight, trying to protect him from the creeping darkness. His hands trembled but his eyes stayed sharp, staring out the cracked window. Then Mark whispered something like "It's… it's safe—" before a huge, slimy tentacle smashed through the window, glass exploding everywhere.
The tentacle wrapped around Mark's waist like a living chain, squeezing tight. Mark screamed, and Cole tried to pull him free, but the tentacle was too strong. Another tentacle smashed through the wall, knocking over a lamp with a deafening crash.
Cole couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was an octopus monster really snatching his brother away? Mark struggled and kicked, but the creature was relentless. Mark's screams faded into the dark as the tentacles dragged him deeper into the house, into the unknown.
Cole shook his head, panic rising. He yelled Mark's name again and again, but he was only six years old and had no idea how to fight a giant slimy monster.
Suddenly, a wet tentacle grabbed Cole's ankle and yanked him off the floor with terrifying strength. Their screams mixed as they were pulled through the broken window into the cold night.
The monster's lair was a cave carved deep into the cliffs behind their house. It was dripping with water and smelled salty and rotten. Strange glowing moss lit the walls with an eerie green light that made everything slippery and wet.
Cole hit the ground hard and scrambled up, heart pounding. Mark was tangled in tentacles, struggling but trapped. Cole picked up a jagged rock and shouted for the monster to let Mark go. The octopus monster hissed, its tentacles writhing closer.
Cole threw the rock with all his might and hit a tentacle. The monster recoiled, leaving a dark slimy trail. Mark kicked wildly, breaking one tentacle free and yelling for Cole to run.
But Cole couldn't leave his brother behind.
Tentacles lunged at him, and he ducked just in time. He grabbed another rock and kept throwing, each hit making the monster howl in pain but only getting angrier.
Cole shouted at Mark to find a way out. Mark's eyes were wild but determined. The cave was slippery and full of weird tunnels. Tentacles smashed the walls and shook loose stones as the monster chased them.
Cole slipped once and scraped his hands but kept going. Mark pulled him away from a swinging tentacle and shouted to watch out.
They ran deeper into the cave until the path opened into a huge cavern. The monster appeared behind them, bigger and scarier, with glowing eyes like burning coals.
Cole saw sharp rocks scattered on the floor and had an idea. He grabbed one and threw it at the monster's glowing eye. The monster screamed and stumbled back.
Mark charged, grabbing a broken branch. Cole threw another rock at the second eye. The monster roared and thrashed wildly. Mark swung the branch, cutting through a thick slimy tentacle.
The monster howled in pain and staggered toward the cave's edge. Suddenly the ground cracked beneath it and the monster fell into darkness below.
Cole and Mark collapsed on the wet floor, gasping for breath, covered in slime and dirt but alive. Mark smiled weakly and said they did it.