The Curfew

Twenty-Two

I went up to my room after breakfast with Alex. Mark knocks and comes in. He sits on my bed.

"I'm going to PAX. Wanna come with?" he asked.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll go next year."

"Okay, well, make sure you keep an eye on Chica. Make sure she's fed, give her water, take her to the park or take her for a walk, maybe give her a bath if she needs it." he said.

"I will. Go and have fun." I said.

"Are you going to redecorate your room?"

"Yeah, I'll probably ask Alex if he wants to help."

"Okay, well, don't do anything I wouldn't do." he got up and closed my bedroom door behind him. Alex came up to my window and lightly tapped on the glass. I looked at him and got up to open the window.

"Hey." he said, kissing me.

"Hi." I smiled.

I checked the time. It was 8:28 pm.

"I came to see you before it was time." he smiled.

"How sweet." I chuckled. He smiled again.

"We don't have much time. I want you to stay inside, close and lock the windows, and lock the doors. I want you to be safe tonight. No going outside after I leave, okay?" he asked.

"I won't, don't worry. I'll probably do some reading or something."

"Good, I love you." he kissed me.

"I love you too." I kissed him back.

"I guess I better get going." Alex hugged me, I hugged him back. I nodded and he exited through my window. I closed my window and locked it. I went downstairs to lock all the closed windows and lock the doors. Chica followed me back upstairs and laid on my bed. I sat back down on my desk chair. A few minutes later, I heard howling and I knew that was Alex. I moved the curtain a bit to peek outside. I saw a large figure jumping onto the roof, he growled and roared. Chica started barking.

"Chica!" I said, and she whimpered under the bed. I got up and went to the living room to double check the locks on every entrance and window. I grabbed my phone and shook it to turn the flashlight on. I checked every room in the house. I sighed and went to the basement for protection. I found a small case and when I opened it, there was a pistol. 9mm pistol. I thought about it and decided not to use the gun. I looked for something else and I found a metal baseball bat. I can't believe that Mark kept one of my baseball bats from baseball. I grabbed the bat and took it upstairs. I heard glass shattering so I quickly ran upstairs to check it out and Alex broke my bedroom window. My phone went off. Mark was calling me.

'Hello?'

'Hey, Mark. How're things?'

'Good, I just boarded the plane and they haven't taken off yet. What about you and Chica?'

"We're good. Chica's asleep.'

'Cute.' Alex growled. 'The hell was that?'

'I'm watching a movie. A werewolf movie.'

'Okay. Hey, I gotta let you go. The plane's taking off. I'll call you when I get there.'

'Okay bye.'

I hung up and threw my phone on the bed. Chica whined and Alex howled extremely loud. Then, Chica ran out of my room to hide somewhere else. I looked at Alex with my bat in hand, ready to swing. He looked at me with his Emerald eyes. He swung his arm at me and I ducked underneath. He started walking towards me and I started walking backwards. I missed a step on the stairs and I fell.

"Fuck!" I said. Alex jumped in front of me and growled. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was beating out of my chest. "Kill me or do whatever you want. Just leave Chica alone, Alex." I said. He grabbed me by my ankle so I was hanging upside down. I looked at him. "You want me so here I am." I said. Then, I heard another howl and he dropped me, I landed on my back. Alex left through my broken window and left us alone. Chica came out of her hiding spot and came up to me to check if I was okay. I sat up and hugged Chica. "I'm okay, girl. We're safe."

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I got up the next morning and I suddenly remembered everything from last night. My window being completely shattered, Alex almost killing us. I put my house slippers on and headed downstairs. Chica followed shortly after. I grabbed a cup from the cabinet and decided to make some coffee. I filled Chica's food and water dishes. Chica looked at me so I put her on a leash and took her outside to do her business. I yawned, looked at a car that drove by and went back inside. I turned the TV on and switched the channel to the news.

'Shocking news this morning: a deceased body was found earlier this morning by two joggers at Memorial Park. The body was identified as Tabitha Esparza. Coroners said that her body was so mutilated that they had a difficult time identifying her corpse.'

"Oh god." I said.

I remember Alex and the look in his eyes. They were hungry for flesh and blood. I was thinking that Kaleb or maybe even Alex were behind her murder. Chica nudged me and I looked at her. She wanted to comfort me.

"I'm glad we're safe, Chica." I patted her head. I heard a knock on the door and Chica started growling. "Chica." I opened the door and saw Alex.

"Hey baby," he said. I sighed. "What?"

"You almost killed Chica and I last night."

"Really? How?"

"You shattered my bedroom window."

"Oh shit, I'm sorry babe."

"It's okay, at least you didn't kill us. That's all that matters." he nodded.

We went up to my room and he saw the window.

"We'll have to get this window replaced before Mark comes back." he said.

"I was thinking of redecorating my whole room. Maybe you can help."

"Sure, I will." he smiled.

"So we'll need paint, new curtains, new everything, except for a door."

"Okay, let's head to a renovation store." he said.

"What about Chica? I can't just leave her here by herself."

"You can stay, I'll grab everything for you if you can make a list."

"Okay." I quickly made a list and he headed out the door.

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An hour or so later, Alex came back with everything that was on the list. He got to work and put in my new window. After he finished the window, we started painting the walls. The walls are a light purple, the floor is grey-ish tile. After the walls were dry, I put up decorations and moved every piece of furniture I have. My room was finally done. I suddenly got a call from Mark.

"Hello?"

'Hey, B. How're things going?'

"Good. You?"

'Good.'

"How's grandma Fischbach?"

'She's good. I'm in my hotel room right now about to head to bed. I'll spend some time with her.'

"Well, when you see her, tell her I say hi and tell her I miss her."

'Will do, B. Talk to you later. Bye.'

"Bye." he hung up.

Chica was whining outside my room. I opened the door and Alex ran out. We both followed him.

"Kaleb's outside." he said.

"Go hide, I'll deal with him." he nodded and ran outside. I opened the door.

"Bree." he smiled.

"Kaleb."