Monsters and Mundanes 11

11.13 - Concerned mother

Archimedes walks out of the kitchen with a glass of water and Harvey's mother Jessica meets him in the hallway.

"Hey, Archimedes" she says and Archimedes looks up at her.

"Jessica! Hi" he says and she looks at him weirdly.

"What are you doing here? With a glass of water" she asks.

"Just hanging out. Where are you going?" he asks when he notices she's o her way out.

"I'm going for a late night run in the forest. It's so nice and quiet at this hour"

"You can't do that!" he yells out before she can barely finish the sentence.

"Why not?" She asks.

"Because it's dangerous" he says and she laughs a little.

"I've got pepper spray, don't worry" she says and he can't help but laugh a little and it accidentally comes off as a mocking laugh.

"I don't think that's enough" he says and she looks confused.

"Why not? It has stopped many men before. It can stop a bear" she says.

"Yeah, wellll. Not in this forest" she says and shrugs his shoulders.

"What's so special about this forest?" she asks and he tries to think of the next lie but then he realizes that she deserves to know. And she's gonna find out sooner or later with Richie gone again. Since Harvey will never build up the guts to tell her, why not"

"These woods are full of monsters." he says simply and she starts laughing.

"Monsters? I know some men can be really nasty out there but, really, Arkie?" she asks and turns to him fully.

"Did you hear that, Thomas? The forest is full of monsters." she says when Thomas walks out of the kitchen.

"It's true. And they're very active at night." Archimedes tries to warn her.

"Monsters? Like ones with claws and fangs?" she asks mockingly and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, some of them have claws and fangs. Some of them have hoofs and some have fins." Archimedes explains.

"Ocean man?" Thomas asks jokingly.

"Well, no. Sirens actually. They're all girls." Archimedes says and looks at him.

"Girl monsters?" Thomas asks and leans against the wall.

"Not all monsters are girls." Archimedes says.

"You hear that, baby? They've got claws and fangs." Jessica says faking a scared look on her face. Behind them Anaïs opens the door to Harvey's room carefully. She stands in the doorway and listens to the conversation. Thomas looks up at her.

"And glowing eyes?" Thomas asks with a smile.

"Yes! Exactly. Eyes that glow blue. or depending on what kind of monster it is but they could be blue." Archimedes says thinking maybe they finally start to get the picture.

"Glowing blue eyes, fangs and claws? What do these monsters look like?" Jessica asks. Thomas' face suddenly drops and he lowers his coffee cup as he takes a step back. Jessica sees his reaction and she looks at Anaïs, who he was looking at. Behind Anaïs is a pair of blue glowing eyes. She feels Harvey's presence behind her and she opens the door a little bit more letting the light fall on him. Jessica gasps and covers her mouth as she almost falls back into the door when she sees her son in the doorway: glowing blue eyes, bloody, bruised and dirty face and body and claws on his fingers. Archimedes turns around and looks at Harvey.