The grey day turned into a grey evening and then slinked into darkness. Harvey slept fitfully, snoring occasionally, but no dreams came to him and no noises awakened him. Not even the sound of the lock being picked on his bedroom window or the rusty squeak of the hinges as it opened. Not even the presence of  the creature that half stepped, half floated into the room with the October cold hanging on it like a coat. Its wings were thin and barely visible, a fleeting blue sheen that disappeared as they folded into their sheaths.

It took a moment to look over the room, sensing that the person in the bed was sleeping deeply. It stealthily approached the sleeping figure, surprised to see a grown man instead of a child. The creature hesitated and then shrugged.

Why not? it thought to itself. A tooth’s a tooth.

The thing crept silently to the bedside. Dark fingers with pearl-like claws lifted the pillow gently and reached under to retrieve the tooth. Harvey didn’t even wake up when the creature gasped a horrible wet wheezing sound as what it pulled from under the pillow was not a tooth, but something wrapped in gauze. The gauze was stuck to the thing by dried blood but the creature managed to unwrap the unlikely gift. The tooth fairy grinned a horrible sharp-toothed slobbery grin and its eyes narrowed in thought. After a moment it slid the package into a fleshy slit in his side, a built-in pocket of sorts. In that same smooth movement it pulled out a shimmery bag. As if it were performing a parlor trick it dipped its hand into the bag and with a flourish sent a cloud of silver and gold dust into the air. It glittered in the moonlight as it settled over Harvey and a pleasant chime whispered into the room as coins settled on the mattress.  The creature smiled wickedly and slid the little bag back out of sight. A warm breeze blew briefly through the room as wings slid out from the creature’s back with a raspy sound. The tooth fairy laughed softly to himself as he let himself out the way he’d come, flitting silently into the cold night.

Next Chapter: 4.