• “You were really going to eat me, weren’t you?” I ask Michael, a little concerned at the memory of our encounter just before he was fully clothed and still in giant-leopard form.
    “No, no I was not. Relax.” He says with not as much confidence as I’m sure he would have liked.
    “I don’t believe you. That look in your eyes was insane. It looked like…no, it felt like the way you looked at me when we first met. That crazy, hungry stare of an animal.” Oh I don’t think I should have said all that. I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut. That animal part looks like it hurt him. Crap.
    “You really see through the bullshit, don’t you?” Michael asks more to himself than to me. He shakes his head then rubs his temples, walking over to my place on the porch rather slowly.
    “Look,” he says as he opens his eyes, “you’re right. When you see, or feel that look, you should try to leave. Don’t run, I’ll probably just chase you. Just casually walk away. Talk about nonsense. You’ll be fine. But I’m not always like that. Sometimes, like right now, I’m perfectly fine. I’m not going to do anything crazy right now. You believe me, right?” he takes a sharp step towards me, “right?” He questions again, a little flustered at my lack of immediate response.
    “Of course I believe you! Why wouldn’t I?” You’re only acting insane again. At least I didn’t say that out loud.

    He looks at me, and I mean really looks at me, like he’s searching through my soul for something. I imagine him poking and prodding through my thoughts and emotions with a stare that intense, it makes me shudder. I feel naked and have to turn away from him.

    Before I get more than two steps towards the door, I feel his hand wrap around my arm. I jump out of surprise and face him willingly, not wanting to provoke him or anything in case he’s back to being crazy.

    “I’m sorry. I know this must be freaking you out. But I just feel this need for your approval. You know? Have you ever felt that? An undeniable need that has no explanation or logical reasoning?” He rambles then gives me a goofy smile.

    Well, I can’t deny that I know the feeling. It was exploding in my body when Nica woke me up and I ran to my school. The same feeling is in the back of my mind, gnawing away at my brain’s logical idea to stay away from Michael. So if the same feeling that led me to rescue my high school is encouraging towards Michael, why should I not trust it?

    “Yeah,” I smile, “I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

    Michael seems pleased with this answer but we remain standing there. His hand is still on my arm and I’m still lost in his starry-swirled eyes.

    An army of voices erupt from within the house. The sudden noise shakes us from our trance.

    “I guess Damien and those other guys are back.” I mumble, trying to fill the silence that is now awkward. They may be home but I don’t want to leave Michael’s side.

    He motions to a bench under the front window to my left and I nod in agreement.
    “You’re the only guy I’ve ever met who can’t catch.” I joke as we take a seat on the wooden bench, referring to when I threw his clothes at him earlier.
    Michael takes a nervous glance towards the ground and clears his throat awkwardly. He rubs the oak arm rest of the bench with a weird twitching of his thumb.
    “Oh it’s not that big of a deal! I was just joking around.” I stumble to find the words to make him feel not so awkward.
    “Um. Well it’s not that. I just can’t see that well with sunlight. I’m uh, well, you see…I’m sort of blind,” he stutters. Wait, what?! That makes no sense. He’s seen me perfectly well the past few days. He must be going back to that crazy state he was in when I first met him. Oh crap.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that. What did you just say?” I question again, just to make sure I didn’t mishear him.
    He smiles, “I’m pretty much blind in the daylight. It’s a long painful story that I’d rather not discuss at the moment.”
    “Oh.” Says me, the wonderful word magician. Is “oh” really all I can think of?
    “Well…I’m bipolar and my pinkie toe on my right foot is smaller than the one on my left foot. If that makes you feel any better.” I did NOT just say that. Wow, I’m a genius. They should build monuments to my brilliance.

    He just laughs and stares at me (I think) for a minute. “Let’s go in,” he suggests.
    “I really don’t wanna go in there. Lots of people in even decently sized places makes me uneasy.” I say, hoping to persuade him in staying out her for just a little bit longer.

    Without warning, Damien throws open the front door and marches toward me with fierce determination.
    “Desiree! What are you doing out here? With him of all people?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Damien huffs until he’s red.
    I open my mouth to defend myself but Damien comes in with another burst of angry words, “And YOU! I expect better from you, Michael. Have you learned nothing from the past few years?! I’m always right there, covering your a** when you do something stupid. And now you dare take the chance---”
    “STOP IT!” I scream above Damien’s angry ramblings.
    Once he is quiet, I begin my defense.
    “Damien. You just need to calm down. We were just sitting on a bench. We exchanged a few words and then you came marching through here like the Gestapo. He didn’t do whatever you think he did,” I finish with a sigh of relief. There are very few times in my life in which I stand up against my brother, so this better have been a good choice.
    “Desiree,” Damien says sternly, “shut up. You have no idea what I am talking about. You have no idea who he is. You could not possibly grasp the concept of this situation.” He says sharply.
    “Oh c’mon. What on earth has he done? It’s not like he raped and murdered a bunch of little girls or something…” I trail off because neither of them laugh or deny it. I keep my eyes on Michael, and his face only gets more and more desolate, as if some dark gloom has swallowed him whole.
    I jump up in shock and disgust.
    “You’ve got to be shitting me!” I exclaim.
    “Well…it’s because,” Michael begins, but there’s no way I’m going to let him finish.
    “No, no, no!” I cut him off, “There’s no ‘because.’ There’s no explanation for any crime even remotely near that. I knew there was something darkly creepy about you, but this? I’m not dealing with this. Good bye.” I say in a surprisingly calm voice.

    I open the front door and slam it shut, not even waiting for Damien to follow. Once I’m safely inside the house that for some reason I already consider my home, I waltz up to what I call my room. The thought of even thinking about what just happens gives me a headache so I’d rather not think about it until I take a power nap. I grab the handle of the door to my room and automatically feel an odd presence in my room. Once the door is open, I am standing face to face with a slimy, oozing monster thing that looks like it belongs in the movie Ghost. At first, I guess it’s not really that scary. But then it grabs my arm and I scream bloody-freaking-murder. The tar monster releases me but leaves a burning pain on my forearm that makes me scream even more.

    “WHAT IS THAT?!” I yell as I throw myself back out of the room.
    I hastily slam the door and inch away from it without turning my back. The black ooze crawls out at a painful pace from beneath the door.
    “GO AWAY!” I scream at the foot of the door. Great, where’s that stupid *****, giant leopard when you need it? Screw this. I’m not standing here waiting for that thing, I’m getting the hell out of here.

    My feet take fast retreating steps towards the stairs. I start to turn so I can take on the stairs with my feet in the right direction but my timing is off and I trip. Down I go, step by step. Bump, crack, smack. If this were a face-planting contest, I would get a perfect ten.

    I look up to see a tall, red-headed boy dressed in rags. He opens his mouth for a smile to reveal huge, dagger-like teeth that outsize his head, making only his forehead visible behind the teeth.

    “You’re not going to eat me, right?” I whimper while slowly pushing myself off the ground.
    Instead of responding with words, he screeches and another awful sound echoes from behind him.
    What the hell is going on?
    A blue tentacle thing reaches out to me from behind the red-headed boy and hisses at me. This cannot be happening. This is not happening.
    Then he lunges at me and I scream. Yup, he’s definitely going to eat me.
    I jump backwards onto the stairs to run away and leap up the stairs, taking them two at a time. My feet take me into a random room but I don’t care who I’m disturbing, I just need to be away from these crazy monsters. I shut and bold the door as soon as my other foot reaches the inside of the room. I turn around to see Michael’s face distorted and in pain.

    “What are you screaming about? It’s getting annoying,” Michael says from the corner of the room, standing next to the green nightlight that I had pulled out of the socket earlier.
    “Yeah! Scary *****! Can you go get the tar monster out of my room? If I see another creepy thing, I’m going to lose my mind.” I mumble hysterically.
    “If you’re going to insult me like that then I’m not doing anything for you,” He scoffs.
    “When did you get an attitude? And fine. I’m sorry, you’re not scary,” I sneer and stick out my tongue.
    “Oh I’m fine with being scary. That’s actually a compliment. But I’m not a *****, you prude little b***h. You’re too stubborn to listen to me, so go on, think I’m a creeper. It won’t affect me one bit, ” Michael says quite seriously with repressed rage.
    “I’m not a prude! Although I am a b***h sometimes… And you ARE a *****, we established this earlier. You didn’t even defend yourself! So I probably shouldn’t be in a locked room with you…” I protest and quickly realize coming in here was a mistake.
    “No, you really shouldn’t.”
    The lights go off.