The Bond

Ch 72

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

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

=o^o=

Michael took a can of coffee from the supermarket shelf, then he turned to the row of sodas and grabbed a can as well. He stepped to the counter to pay for the two drinks while humming a little, he wasn't too worried about running into Mary or Alice considering he went to a different supermarket.

After paying, he stepped outside. His steps light, Michael smiled a little. They were leaving tomorrow night, there was some time to rest after securing things in the house they were currently living in.

It was getting dark, there was still a dim twilight from the western horizon, Michael walked along the path quickly—not wanting to linger. There weren't many people going through this route, he shouldn't be the least bit anxious.

A gust of wind blew against his face, leaves flew, crickets began to sound. Michael frowned deeply, glancing back occasionally. Now his steps were getting faster even though his eyes were not heading forward.

He didn't notice someone running from the opposite direction until he was shocked when their shoulders collided and he almost knocked over both cans. Michael blinked in surprise and immediately turned his head back, the person also glanced back at him but only briefly before saying his apology loudly and running away again. Michael pressed his lips together, still looking in the same direction.

Simon?

Michael laughed inside, there was no way it was another of his old friends. What was Simon doing in this town anyway? Michael decided to run home too. He ran faster considering he was lighter now, Michael was a bit annoyed to admit that.

He closed the gate and quickly entered the house, locked the door twice and finally let out a heavy breath.

"Soda?"

Michael raised his eyebrows, as soon as he lifted his head which had been looking down he found Ennard sitting on the floor with his legs bent up to his chest and back leaning against the legs of the sofa. The television was on and the bag of chips was open, luckily no crumbs except for Ennard's cheek. Michael raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly.

Was it normal for a killing machine like Ennard to look this adorable?

"Soda," Michael replied to Ennard's words while chuckling a little, he approached Ennard to put the soda can beside the animatronic and then patted Ennard's head several times while Ennard was in shorter position than him—Ennard didn't seem to care, his attention was diverted to soda. "Your face, there are crumbs."

Ennard glanced at him for a moment then returned to his focus on his soda as a cable began to run from behind him to remove the crumbs that Michael was referring to.

"Nothing happened while I'm gone, right?" Michael asked, flopping down on the couch and opening his coffee can.

"Dawson called."

Michael stopped in his tracks to drink, looking at Ennard in surprise. "What was she calling for? Did something happen?"

The red-haired man just shrugged. "I said you were away then she hung up on me."

Without thinking Michael put the coffee down on the table and immediately took the phone from his plane and dialled in Lucy's house number. The line was still being called, Michael waited impatiently for Lucy to pick up the call.

["Hello?"]

"Lu!" Michael responded immediately.

["Ah—Mike? Ennard said you were away. Why did you go? They could just see you!"]

Michael smiled guiltily. "I went to a different supermarket and took a different route too, don't worry. You need something?"

["When are you guys leaving?"]

"Tomorrow night, you know that." Michael sighed wearily for a moment.

Then a moment of silence.

["Mike."]

"Yes?"

["I think ..."] Lucy hung up on her sentence, Michael was curious about it—what was Lucy trying to say? Over the phone he could hear the curtains drawn. ["It seems someone is watching my residence."]

His eyes rounded. "What?" he asked to confirm what he had heard.

["Mary visited this morning, then we had a little chat about work, she asked why she hadn't seen you the last few days and I just said you are sick. Mary left, then when I was cleaning the window I saw Alice with a teenage boy who looked like her around my apartment, but soon they left."]

Lucy stopped talking to take a breath, Michael could hear the nervous tone in Lucy's voice as she said that.

["During the afternoon the boy came back to wander around my apartment, then left again. After that, two hours later he came back and left after fifteen minutes. Right now the kid is around the apartment, reading a book."] Lucy was silent for a while, then her awkward laugh was heard. ["Am I thinking too negatively?"]

Michael pursed his lips, apparently feeling guilty that Lucy was now involved in his problem. "Be careful," Michael said worriedly.

["You guys should leave early."]

"I guess so," Michael muttered approvingly, he looked at Ennard who was watching him. "Maybe ... early in the morning."

["The sooner the better."]