The Bond

Ch 86

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

Today he would try to talk to Ennard again, to see if Ennard would still ignore him or just reply briefly. He climbed the stairs quickly to the second floor, then immediately headed up to the attic they had visited together a few weeks ago to look at the stars. Today he hadn't seen Ennard at all, so it was very likely that Ennard was in that place.

He hoped so.

All he could find was silence upon arriving at the attic, no sign of anyone having been here anytime soon. Michael knit his eyebrows together in disappointment and pursed his lips together, where should he look now?

Michael glanced down at his palms with a pondering gaze, his skin starting to rot again and creeping slowly. Putting aside his desire to talk to the animatronic again, he needed Ennard for something else like this. He missed him. They did live together and sometimes passed each other in the corridors of the house, but he missed their small talk and bickering.

"Afton?"

He turned quickly at the sound of his name, widening his eyes as his sight caught sight of Ennard halfway up the attic stairs, indicating that Ennard was already climbing the stairs when he found himself standing here like a broken-hearted man.

"Enn!" A wide smile graced the eldest Afton's face quickly, stepping towards the animatronic in his human form.

But Ennard just passed him by without even staring at him.

"What are you doing here?" Ennard asked nonchalantly, he walked around the attic looking down at the pile of old boxes. "Shouldn't you continue your endoskeleton?"

Michael had almost forgotten about that thing.

"I was looking for you," he replied, full of honesty and genuine.

Ennard paused to glance at him, then Ennard's two-colored eyes went up from the crown of his head to his feet, ended up distracted at both of his hands. Ennard raised both eyebrows, he returned his eyes to the other box shortly after. "Later at night, I've got a few things to fix today."

He believed Ennard's intent was to delay his decay. Michael hadn't had time to reply to Ennard's words when Ennard quickly came down from the attic, he fell silent again and puffed out both cheeks in annoyance.

There was still another way to get Ennard's attention—possibly soda would do the trick.

Michael smiled again and came downstairs too, he was going to buy some sodas now, while it wasn't too late. Michael passed through the living room, he glanced briefly at Lucy who was leisurely reading a magazine there, then through the living room to head for the front door without another word. He just felt a little irritated ... the two of them seemed to be getting closer recently. He knew so well Lucy's sexuality, but he couldn't help feeling this itch that was scratching him from inside—he wanted to get rid of it, but he was afraid of what might happen.

What happened at the convenience store during the earthquake, he was confused—his body seemed to move on its own. It was as if a siren sounded loudly, signaling a threat. However, putting aside his confusion, he felt ... relieved.

Ah, damn it, just thinking about it again gave him a headache.

Michael took the sodas from the minimarket refrigerator near their current residence. This store was still new, because when he was a teenager and worked at the rental place, this place hadn't yet been built.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, it seemed that risky things always happened at the convenience store.

Putting aside the uncomfortable feeling, Michael moved to the food shelf, intending to buy some snacks for Lucy (don't ask where he got the money). Michael took the potato chips and put it in the basket, he would have grabbed a bar of chocolate if only his eyes hadn't caught a familiar figure entering the store.

Michael groaned in exasperation, why did Mark have to be here? It was confirmed again, convenience stores were cursed places for him. He quickly moved to another section so as not to be found out by the man, then his steps suddenly stopped.

Ennard's strange behavior started after Ennard checked his house. Did something happen there?

Did Mark take a part in this?

He immediately headed to the counter to pay, still careful not to let Mark see him. He pulled his hat down to cover his face—luckily he was wearing a mask. To be sure, this incident seems like sheer coincidence.

By the way after that Ennard just told him to put the soda on the dinner table and ignored him again for the rest of the day.