The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

Thanksgiving - Part 3

Mia sat at the long table at her brother's new house, which was coincidentally Michael's childhood home, just remodeled. John and his partner, who went by the nickname Little John, did an immaculate job with the redesign of the house, bringing it back to life, so to speak.

"How've you been, Mia?" Little John asked her as he approached the table with the freshly carved turkey.

"The usual - been working, riding the horses, nothing new." She giggled.

"You found you a feller yet?" Her grandmother asked bluntly, the small-framed old woman constantly reminding her of Sophia from The Golden Girls.

Mia giggled, "No, grandma." She felt guilty for lying to her grandmother, but she knew that she would rather say no than to tell her "Yes, actually. He's an escaped mental patient twenty years older than me and he prefers to kill people in his path but spared me for some reason."

"You'll find him soon enough, I'm sure. You just gotta put yourself out there."

"I have, I just haven't met the right one yet I suppose." She really hated to keep the secret between her and Michael in, but she knew it wasn't near the right time. Eventually, she would pull Little John aside as he was the most reasonable to talk to compared to Big John, her brother, who also had a short fuse when it came to reactions.

Missing her parents, the small family enjoyed their time together, eating dinner and reminiscing on old memories. Mia's parents were unfortunately brutally murdered by an intruder in 2012, a case still unsolved as the intruder was never captured. She suspected it was a hate crime as her Big John had come out as gay and she remembered some of the hateful comments people would tell him and her parents. Big John and Little John didn't let the comments get in their way, though, and neither did Mia and John's parents. They accepted him for who he wanted to be as the only disappointment to them was for John to keep his feelings to himself and not entrust his parents enough to talk to them.

Mia, her grandmother, Dorothy, and Little John sat at the dining room table as Big John returned into the room, a platter of desserts in his hands. "Hey, Mia, a guy called your phone a few minutes ago."

"Who?"

Big John shrugged, "All the caller ID said was 'Michael.'"

"Finally! Now we can break out that bottle of champagne we've been saving!" Dorothy said, her sarcastic tone creating uncontrollable laughs from her grandchildren.

"Grandma!"

"What, Mia? We may not get another chance!"

"So, who is this Michael guy, huh? Might as well spill the tea, dear!" Little John smirked, sipping on his champagne as Mia went to retrieve her phone, shocked that Michael had called her, although she wouldn't hear anything but silence. She also saw a message from him, a simple, two-worded sentence: come home

'I'm planning to leave around 8. I'm bringing you home some food.'

She was astonished that he actually used the tools she gave him to communicate with her. She giggled at the thought of Michael actually texting her, using his index finger to poke on the letters.

'ok' Was his reply after a few minutes as Mia had returned to the dinner table for dessert, the clock reading seven-thirty. "So, you still haven't spilled the tea, Mia." Little John repeated, a smirk on his face.

"Tea about what?"

"This Michael guy."

She scoffed playfully, "He isn't what you think. I met him at work and he was probably calling me to see if I was bringing any leftovers to work with me."

"Yeah, I'd say that too if I was keeping a secret." Big John poked, sipping on his beer.

"Shut up," Mia scoffed. "I'm not a little girl anymore. You don't have to intervene on every guy I talk to."

"So he is someone you're talking to. Go ahead, keep digging the hole!" He continued.

She forced herself to hide her smile, "No, he's not."

"So if I were to go to your house right now, nobody will be there?"

"Nope. He lives on the other side of town." She lied.

"How you know where he lives? Been there before?"

"Oh, my God. John! Stop!" She laughed. "Can I just eat my cheesecake in peace and take some leftovers home?"

"I know damn well you're not gonna eat leftovers."

"I will too. I'll take some for lunch tomorrow at work."

"And the rest of it goes to your squeeze, huh?"

"....No." She playfully rolled her eyes.

Losing track of time, she realized that it was almost eight-thirty when she got done making a plate to-go, not seeing Michael's new message until she got into her truck. 'Get lost?'

'I'm on my way now - lost track of time. I'll see you soon.'

She knew he was anxiously waiting on her return, his possessive behavior showing through as he had developed a severe attachment to her, although she had hoped he wouldn't become controlling towards her because she knew that in the end, she couldn't overpower him.

Pulling into her driveway after a short drive, she sat in her truck for a few minutes as Karen Nelson had called, her dear coworker who had asked to switch shifts with Mia as she was taking care of her mother. "Sure, no problem. So seven a.m. on Monday, right?"

"Yes. Thank you so much. Mom has a doctor's appointment and I don't want her driving."

"I understand. I got you."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later! I have a recipe I need to send you, by the way. Mom made it and it's so delicious!"

"I look forward to it! I might make it for Christmas dinner!"

Feeling like she jumped out of her skin, Michael opened the door to her truck as he had been watching her from the window, wondering why she had taken so long to come into the house after arriving home. He wasn't upset, however, he looked to be as his natural, relaxed expression looked to be holding anger. Instead, he reached his hand out to grab her purse and to-go plate she had made for him, the tin foil covering it hot to the touch. "Thank you, Michael." She smiled, turning her truck off before exiting the vehicle, watching him nod his head towards the house as he let her walk in front of him, always fearing that an intruder was behind, even though he had to remind himself that he was an intruder... Just not to her.