The next morning was a bit better, the air was refreshing and cool, and the smell of bacon and pancakes wafted up to my room from downstairs. Of course, I just stayed in bed for a while after I woke up, just aimlessly touring the apps on my phone over and over until I was bored, which only really took about 15 minutes.
I trudged down to the kitchen where mom and her boy toy, whose name is apparently Aaron, were giggling to each other like 15-year-olds in the hallways at school. Gross. Mom jumped up a second and sighed in relief. "Oh! Deary, you scared me.. Breakfast is in the microwave to keep warm if you want it still." I thanked her and waved to Aaron with a small nod that he returned before babying my mother again.
Thankfully, the food *was* still warm when I got to it, so I pulled it out of the microwave and loaded it up on butter, with a dab of syrup for the trip back up to my room. As I ate, I decided to turn on some music from youtube and opened my laptop to do a bit more looking at the 'suspicious activities' the article from the day before had mentioned.
As it turned out, there was an anonymous killer, leaving victims massacred with their faces carved into jagged, bloody grins, and an ungodly amount of stab wounds. So far there had been about 4 found in the last 3 weeks, with little to no evidence for a suspect, and police left clueless. As much as it sucked, it was honestly a little interesting and I couldn't help but find myself wondering about it. Regardless, what was I gonna do? Nothing sounds about right.
I closed my laptop and finished the last of my pancakes before heading back downstairs to put the dishes in the sink. Aaron and mom had moved to the living room to figure out how to set up his surround sound system, and the TV. Offering to help would be so, so kind, but I wasn't feeling like being helpful right now, so I just went back to my room to browse the games I had on my Xbox. I really only ever play 2-3 of them, so anything else I have has been long forgotten.
When I got into my room, I found my laptop splayed open on my bed open to the articles I was reading not 5 minutes prior. I closed it, figuring I just forgot to before I went downstairs, and went on to scroll through games, finding old favorites and ones I had wanted to play but never got to, playing for a good few hours before doing anything else at all.
~time skip (hours later)~
Soon enough, mom called for me to come downstairs for a chat. I groaned to myself, wondering what she could possibly want as I lumbered down to the living room. Aaron was gone and mom was sitting alone on the couch, the TV and surround sound system working just fine. "Hm, what's up ma?" She looked up at me and blinked a few times before asking, "Would you like to go out for groceries, love?" Oh, this. "I mean sure, why not... I'll go get ready"
She nodded as I went back up to get my shoes and a sweater. When I returned to her, she was ready as well, heading out the door and unlocking the car. We left, slowly getting to town after a solid 10 minutes or so, and another 5 to find a grocery store. We parked, went in, and started rolling through the aisles one by one.
For some reason, I figured this was a perfect opportunity to ask her about the killer, and if she knew. She looked at me like I was insane as I explained to her what I read. Shaking her head, she called me ridiculous and dismissed everything I said. "Really? You don't have to make shit up if you don't like it here, but you seemed to love this place.." Wh.. what? There's no way... She doesn't believe me. "I know you don't trust Aaron yet but please, give him a chance."
Whatever. I'm not going to try to explain myself if she won't bother to hear me. "I'm sorry, mom.. I'll try." She seemed happy with that answer, and continued to shop, asking me if we need this or that, or anything about everything. I gave her half-assed answers, not really caring anymore, and just wanting to go home.
After about 45 minutes of shopping, she decided we were good, and finished up with the cashier so we could leave. I helped load and unload the car then put things away before retreating to my room. Not 15 minutes later I could hear Aaron pull into the driveway and the two of them discussing what I had said at the store. Not long after, they went and conspired in the living room with the same dumb giggles from this morning. Tomorrow is another day...
