"A MONSTER! THERE'S A MONSTER OUTSIDE!"
Michael turned around and looked in the direction I feverishly pointed, but of course it was gone by then.
"Mia..." he started, obviously trying to calm me down and tell me there was nothing to worry about, but I kept screaming bloody murder and pulled at his arm. He didn't take me seriously until we both heard a loud crash outside.
"SEE?! NOW DO YOU BELIEVE ME?" I yelled.
"I do! Calm down. There's probably a logic explanation. There hasn't been any alarms or calls from the security, so there's nothing to worry about."
He started walking towards the front door, but I tried to hold him back.
"You can't go out there! Please, Michael. It might be dangerous."
"But I need to find out what it is."
"No! It's gonna attack you and eat the both of us!"
He grabbed the handle and swung the door open, and I swear I almost peed myself in sheer terror.
"Michael, please. Don't leave me here!"
"Then come," he chuckled, and I wanted to slap him for not taking this seriously. "I think I know what's going on. And if I'm right, we should bring a bag of carrots."
"Carrots? Are you for real now? You really think what I saw was a giant bunny begging for..."
I didn't get any further, because Michael whistled to get whatever it was' attention.
"Louie! What are you doing here, silly boy? Did you manage to open the gate again?"
All my muscles were tense as violin strings as I tiptoed after Michael in slow motion.
"Do you know it?" I whispered, ready to grab whatever and defend myself.
"It? Mia, it's Louie! How could you not recognize him? You met him in the zoo, remember?"
Louie... Louie... Who the fuck was Louie? I wringed my panicked brain for answers, but came up just as clueless. Until the creature stepped out of the shadows.
"Argh, for fuck's sake!" I exclaimed in relief. I was still afraid to walk closer, but at least I knew that the only threat I could expect was a solid squirt of spit in my face. Yes. It was Michael's llama. Of course it was.
"This is the second time he's ruined that damn table," Michael grumbled and looked at the shards on the ground. Then he pulled the animal away to make sure he didn't step on the glass and hurt himself. But he didn't stop there. He led the damn llama all the way into his kitchen!
"You want a little night snack again?" he cooed as they walked, and I was left standing on the porch like a giant question mark.
"Y-you're bringing your llama into your house?" I asked nobody, because Michael was already in deep conversation with Louie about whether to choose apples or carrots. He ended up getting both.
"Just to make it clear..." I started, and finally followed them into the house. "...I'm not cleaning up after him if he poops on the floor."
Michael giggled, both at me and the way Louie chewed.
"God... He's smacking more than you and I combined," I huffed, and watched Michael ruffle his friend's fur and scratch his neck.
"And now we're gonna pretend there's nothing left, and bring him back to his pen. Are you coming, Mia?"
The thought of going out into the darkness wasn't very appealing, so I shook my head.
"No, thank you. I'm staying here."
Michael shrugged and grabbed Louie by his halter. Then they walked side by side like it was the most natural thing to do for a world famous popstar. Then again, maybe it was? At least for Michael, because he was definitely one of a kind. And the special bond these two were sharing was one of a kind, too.
I sighed and sat down on the couch in the living room, contemplating if I should join them anyway. I was afraid of the darkness, but I was even more afraid of being alone. So eventually I decided to run after them, and headed for the door. But when I opened it, I almost crashed into the person I least wanted to see.
Veronica.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to reach you when you're alone?"
I stumbled backwards and screamed for Michael. Except not a sound came out, and I choked on my words.
"Aren't you gonna invite me in?" she snickered.
"Oh, well. I'm gonna invite myself, then. I am Michael's girlfriend after all."
I tried to get rid of the desert in my mouth, but no matter how many times I swallowed, my tongue was still stuck.
"Oh, Mia. You didn't know that?"
She walked into the kitchen like she owned the place, and grabbed herself something to drink. The memory of her holding mom's butcher's knife was suddenly clear in my mind. I didn't know what type of cutlery or equipment Michael had, but I was sure Veronica knew each and every one of them better than Michael did himself. Benefits of being his former chef.
"You're just his sidekick. Someone he's fooling around with when I can't be here."
"That's not true," I managed to say, but it sounded like a tiny wheeze.
"Really? Then how come I'm pregnant, then?"
Pregnant?
"Ahh, you didn't know that either?"
She put her glass down on the kitchen counter and stepped closer to me, and by reflex I backed away to keep our distance.
"I guess there are a lot of things he hasn't told you."
She stroked her palms over her stomach, and when her shirt was straightened out, it was easier to see that there indeed was a tiny baby bump. Unless she ate a mountain of food right before she came here...
"My jeans barely fit anymore," she said with the most despicable self-satisfaction known to mankind.
"See? I can't even close the button. Barely pull up the zipper."
