A scream pierced the night. Bewildered, Quinn sprang from the bed. Moll jumped up and headed straight for Lily’s bedroom.

“I’m coming baby,” Moll yelled.

Another blood curdling scream. Moll with Quinn at her back opened their daughter’s bedroom. Together they ran in.

Four year old Lily was laying face down on the pink fluffy unicorn rug by her princess bed, crying.

“Jesus, baby girl, you gave daddy a heart attack.”

Moll walked closer to pick up her daughter assuming the girl had simply tumbled out of bed. Claws extended, a pair of lavender paws flashed out from under Lily’s bed grabbed one of the little girl’s ankles. The child gasped in pain. Lily was yanked out of sight beneath the bed. Screams and animal howls filled the bedroom.

“911, what city and county are you calling from?”

“Crenshaw in Dauphin County. We are at 354 Bridle Road,” Quinn said.

“What is the nature of your emergency?”

“We’re trapped in our master bedroom. We need help. A Tamagotchi pet won’t let us out,” Quinn said.

A series of yowls punctuated his sentence. Quinn pressed his left ear to the door and had his cell on the right ear.

“You know the name of your assailant, sir. Who is attacking you?”

“Not who is attacking, a what is attacking. My daughter’s toy, you know a Tamagotchi Live Wild pet. A Raspberry Tiger Cub named Helabella KatzenJams. It’s just pretend. It has gone I don’t know berserk or feral.”

“Sir calling 911 for pranks is a crime. You could be—“

“Dude this is not a joke. This stuffed toy attacked my baby in her bed. Scratched my wife. We got my girl out and I kicked that fucking thing into the wall. I just made it angrier. God. It jumped on my back. We wrestled the beast off. It chased us into our room. Send the police!”

Panic crescendoed into his voice. Moll shivered on their bed clutching Lily in her arms. She tried to make sense of what was happening. It was just a toy. The Wild Pet walked and purred and hunted little fluff balls. Moll looked into her daughter’s bloodied face. Eyes wide, the little girl was silent as a doll. It was too quiet.

“Quinn it stopped growling,” Moll said quietly.

“Okay sir do you need medical attention?” the 911 operator asked.

“Please we’ve done first aid but think Lily is going into shock. There’s so much blood. We are on the second floor and can’t get out of the windows,” Quinn said into the phone.

“Quinn it has stopped making noise,” Moll said louder this time. “Get away from the bedroom door now!”

Crack! Something smashed into their bedroom hard. The door was hit again and again. The door’s hollow core began to splinter. The family ran into the en suite bathroom and locked the bathroom door.

“Sir, sir.”