The Children's Home.(Stephen Pearmine) From down the hall, there was a scream, then it stopped suddenly. 
  The little girl named Sophie hid under the bedsheets, hoping he wouldn't visit her as well. He was the man who worked there, mainly at night, to monitor the children that had nowhere else to go. She'd been there as long as she could remember. The woman in charge had told her she was an orphan and she would stay there until they found her a proper home. It'd been two years since arriving at the children's home and three months since the man (who now terrorised the kids) had started. The problem was the man would threaten them if they ever breathed a word of what he did.
  She placed her hands together like she was praying, then whispered, "Please help us, God. Or to anyone who's listening, help us, I beg you."
  She heard footsteps coming down the hallway until they stopped outside her room. It was him. The door opened, and he stood there with a smile on his face.
...............

  The being stood in the tunnel of light, consumed by his thoughts. Through the silence, he heard a little girl begging for help. The fear in her voice compelled the being to act. 
  Within moments, he found himself in front of a big old building. His once magnificent form had now changed into a homeless boy of eleven who lived nearby. There was a rule amongst their kind that no one should see their true form. The first thing he did was knock on the huge door until someone answered.
...............

  The woman looked at the boy in his dirty clothes, then turned to the man who'd found him. "So you say he knocked on the door at this time of night?"
  The man replied, "Yes. As you can see, he's dressed in rags. I couldn't just leave him outside as it's cold. What should we do with him?"
  The woman sighed. She couldn't just send the child away. It was late, and as Gavin had said, it was bitter out there. She turned to the boy, then asked, "Where are your parents, little one? Where do you live?"
  The boy looked at her sadly. "I don't remember, miss. Everything is a blur. It was by accident I found this place. What is this place, miss?"
  The woman in her fifties smiled at him. "It's a place where we help children like yourself. I think the best thing we can do for you is to let you stay the night until we can locate your parents or a guardian. Are you okay with that? By the way, what's your name, child?"
  "I don't remember, miss."
  "Okay, that's fine. All you need is a good night's sleep and tomorrow you might feel better," she said, looking at him, concerned. "Gavin, if you wouldn't mind, could you show him to a room upstairs?"
  The man nodded to her, then signalled the boy to follow him.
................

  In the room, once the man had left, the boy made his way to the bed, then climbed on top. He needed a name. Nathan sprung to mind. The boy then closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
................

  The people working that day showed Nathan around the place. All the other children stared at him oddly. There was a fear in their eyes that was hard to ignore. Then a girl came into view. It was her, the one who'd asked for his help. Straightaway he approached her.
  "Hello, my name's Nathan. What's your name?" the boy asked. He felt her pain.  
  The girl looked scared. "My name's Sophie."
  Nathan smiled at her. She smiled back. "It's nice to meet you, Sophie."
  She laughed nervously.
  After breakfast, they went to his room and played games that the boy had found at the bottom of the wardrobe. 
  The woman from last night appeared in the doorway. "Hello, you two. Sophie, would you mind if I spoke to your new friend for five minutes?"
  "Yes, miss," the girl answered, then left the room.
  ................

  Half an hour later, Sophie saw the woman come out of Nathan's room and make her way down the stairs. Seconds later, the boy appeared, looking happy. "I'm allowed to stay for a little while. Do you fancy playing some more games?"
  "Yes, that'd be nice," she answered. It was hard to explain, but she felt safe with this boy.
.................

  After all the children had eaten their tea, some headed upstairs to their rooms, while the rest went into the large social room where there was a television and a pool table and places to sit. As usual, there was always a grown up about to keep an eye on things. Sophie and Nathan decided after a while of watching TV to go to his room. They chatted about everything and anything, and then the boy asked her why the other children were so scared. At that point, the girl became agitated and said she felt tired and was going to bed, leaving the boy to ponder on what'd just happened.
................

  Dead on 7pm, a door was heard opening, then closing, and the voice of a man coming from the bottom of the stairs as he talked to one of his colleagues. Straightaway, Nathan felt an intense chill throughout the house.
.................

  Once all the children were in bed, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Nathan had stayed awake on purpose. He crept to the entrance of the room and pulled the door open so there was a little gap to peek through. The boy observed the top of the stairs, then a man came into view. This person entered one room and Nathan as quietly as he could proceeded with caution up the hallway to the slightly ajar door, then looked in. He observed the shadow of the man bending down at the bed where a child slept. The man placed a hand over the child's mouth, causing the youngster to wake up. Tears ran from the child's eyes, scared as can be. 
  Nathan looked on in shock, realising he needed to do something. On a nearby cabinet were some small items, which he threw at him before running out of the room.
  The man looked round, shocked. "What the hell was that?" he said, bewildered.
  Once Nathan was safely back in his room, he got into bed, pretending to be asleep. Moments later, footsteps were heard in the hallway as the man quietly talked to himself while searching for the culprit who'd disturbed him. He then made his way downstairs, where he stayed for the rest of the night.
..................

  The next day, a little boy told the rest of the children about the horrible man who'd come into his room late last night, only to be scared off by someone chucking stuff at his head. All the children laughed, knowing the horrible man deserved it.
..................

  Sophie had heard the story of what had happened yesterday and went straight to Nathan's room to tell him the truth of why all the children were scared. She wiped her eyes with a tissue after she'd told him. Nathan placed a hand on her shoulder. For once, the girl didn't flinch. He then said, "While I'm around, nothing's going to happen to any of you. I promise you this."
  Sophie looked into his eyes and smiled. "I'm not sure why, but I trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone else. Thank you for being here."
  "And here I'll stay until that man is gone for good," he replied, "But I feel like we should all be doing more to get rid of him."
  An idea came to her. She then said, " I know exactly what to do to end this, but you need to trust me."
  "Okay," was all Nathan answered.
...................

  That night, the vile man was back. After the day shift workers had left, he headed upstairs, still a tad perplexed about what had happened last night. Usually, the children were so obedient. Somewhere up there was a bad egg who was ready to spoil his fun. When he finds out who it is, they'll pay. At the top of the stairs, he turned right and proceeded quietly to the last room where little Janice slept. He slowly opened the door and crept in. The ceiling light was still on, which was very odd, and then he saw the girl sat upright in her bed, staring at him while smirking.
  "What's going on?" he asked, not expecting this at all.
  She began to whistle.
  "Stop that, child. Why are you doing that?"
  Suddenly there was whistling behind him and when he turned round all the children stood there, then they all chanted the words, "Vile man. Vile man. Vile man."
  The man didn't know what to do. "Stop this, stop this, I say. You're all horrible children. Leave me alone."
  He pushed past the crowd of children and ran down the hallway to the stairs, crying like a baby. He needed to get out of there. The man didn't notice someone had left a toy truck on the top step. He stood on it and it caused him to fall down the stairs. At the bottom, he just laid there. Blood ran from a wound on his head. One of his co-workers who'd been in the kitchen found him 5 minutes later, still unconscious. She headed upstairs and noticed the toy at the top, realising he'd tripped on it and it had been an accident. Thankfully, all the children were in their beds asleep, unaware of what had happened. 
.................

  The next day, the children were all gathered in the social room when the woman in charge walked in with a serious look on her face. "I'm afraid I've got some bad news about one of the staff who works here. Last night when you were all asleep, he had a terrible accident involving the stairs which has resulted in him breaking both legs. Don't worry, children. He'll be okay in time. But this morning I visited him in hospital and because of what happened, he's reluctant to come back to work for the foreseeable future. I hope you understand, children. He was a part of the family and will be clearly missed by all." 
  Without warning, all the children cheered. This reaction confused the woman in charge and two of the staff.
  "Is there something you aren't telling us children?" she asked.
  A short time later, the truth came out of what he'd been getting up to, to the horror of everyone who worked there.
  The being then realised it was time to leave.
.................

  The boy of eleven woke up and found himself in a warm bed. How did he get there? The last thing he remembered was living on the streets until an angelic being had promised him a better life if he did the angel one favour. In the situation he was in, he had nothing to lose.
  Not believing what was happening, he got out of bed and ran out of the room and into the hallway. What was this wondrous place? A hand was felt on his shoulder. He turned round, and a girl stood there. "Do you fancy playing some games in your room, Nathan?" she said, giving him a smile.
  He didn't know her, but she seemed nice. "Yeah, sure. That sounds great."
................

  10 years later.
  Christmas was only a few days away, and they'd already put all the decorations up. Sophie and her husband Nathan had taken over the children's home where they'd been residents themselves years ago. At present, they had twenty children living there and the couple loved them all equally. Unlike years ago, the place had changed dramatically, everyone who worked there was checked thoroughly beforehand. 
  An excited boy of eight ran to the woman who ran the place, then said, "Miss, miss, I love living here. Everyone's so friendly. Thank you for giving me a home." A tear left his eye and Sophie wiped it with a tissue.
  She kissed him on the top of his head. "And we love you being here as well. All you lovely children have made mine and my husband's life complete."
  The boy looked at her with a smile. "Will you be my mummy?"
  Sophie laughed with sheer joy. "I would love to be your mummy, because you're very special to me."
  They then cuddled.

The End.

---