They backed out silently and tramped upstairs to the bedroom. And there was the next shock: someone or something had beaten deep indentations into the top of the wall facing Shade’s bed. And Shade’s usually neat bed was tilted at an angle, with the front legs snapped in two. And her comforter had been ripped in half, so that the inner stuffing extruded.

Yes, something . . . odd . . . had clearly happened.

Monster, Chapter 6