Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 16

Trigger Warning! ⚠️Mentions of de@d people

I felt my heart stop. The people who had been dismembered on the living room floor the night before were standing in their doorway with concerned looks on their faces. "Are you kids alright?" The woman with black hair and beautiful brown skin asked. I nodded, "We're fine." "Then why are you sleeping on our front porch?" she asked. What do I say? If I tell them they were dead, they'll think we're crazy! Wait, if they're dead and we're seeing them are we dead too? Leo's voice cut me out of my spiraling thoughts. "A bear attacked our tent," he told the lady, "We were asleep and it completely wrecked our campsite. We were told about a town nearby, so we headed in this direction hoping to find it. We arrived last night and knocked at that door," Leo pointed over at the first house we tried, "But no one answered, we were gonna go down the line, but Luke thought he saw I light on in your house but when we knocked no one answered. It was late so we just decided to crash on the porch for the night." The lady's eyes widened, "Oh the Thompsons, the people who live in the first house you tried went on vacation that's why no one answered. I'm so sorry we didn't hear you! I can't believe you had to sleep out here all night! Come inside!" "It's okay," I smiled, "As Leo said it was very late, we would have felt bad for waking you." We quickly woke the others up and the woman ushered us inside. "What's your name?" I asked. "My name is Millie," she told me, "My friend Oliver is making breakfast if you want some." "Oh, it's okay," Jack said, "We would hate to intrude." "No, no, I insist," Millie replied, "It's the least I can do after you slept on our front porch all night." "Are you sure?" Anna asked hesitantly, "We don't want to disrupt your breakfast." "I'm positive," Millie replied."

"While you guys figure out whether we're staying or not, I have more pressing issues," Ella said, turning to Millie, "Do you have a bathroom I could use? I have lady things going on right now." Millie sucked in a breath, "Oof, of course, yes, go down that hall to the right there's a bathroom. There are extra feminine products in the cabinet under the sink feel free to use them." "Thank you!" Ella exclaimed as she dashed to the bathroom. Well looks like one good thing came out of coming into the not-dead people's house. "Come sit," Millie demanded as she dragged us into the dining room. "Oliver," she called, "We have guests." "We do?" Oliver asked from inside the kitchen. "Yep," She replied, "Our guests sleeping on the front porch!" "Okay!" Oliver said, "Are the others up?" "Yes, the kids are getting ready," Millie informed him. "Kids?" Jack asked. Millie nodded, "Oliver got custody of the kids when he and his wife divorced." Almost like they had been summoned four kids entered the room. They ranged from eight to sixteen and they were all dressed like they were going somewhere. "Who are these people?" The oldest asked. "They're our guests for the morning," Oliver said, "Their tent got attacked by a bear." "So these were the weird people who were sleeping on our porch?" One of the other kids asked. Millie rolled her eyes, "They aren't weird, stop being rude." "I think they're homeless," the child stated. Leo snorted, "I mean Ella could pass as homeless but I'm not sure about the rest of us." "Out of everyone you would be the homeless person," Ella retorted standing in the doorway glaring at Leo. "Oh please," Leo scoffed, "Your whole outfit screams I'm homeless." "How can I look homeless!?" Ella demanded, "I'm in pajamas!" "Exactly," Leo said, "People who own houses don't walk around in pajamas." "YOU'RE IN PAJAMAS!" Ella shouted. "We're all in pajamas!" I said, "And all of us look homeless, we were out in the wood for three days! Now sit down!"

They both went quiet and shuffled over to the table. Good, I don't need that this early in the morning. Especially not after last night. Millie pulled up some extra chairs and we took our seats, and Oliver came out with a pan of eggs. My mouth began to water at the sight of them. After three days of eating small portions of a granola bar the eggs looked and smelled like the most delicious thing ever. They did not disappoint. The eggs were filled with mushrooms and kale with cheese sprinkled on top. It was phenomenal. "These are delicious," I told him. Oliver smiled, "Thank you, it's my mom's recipe." "Do you think I could get it from you?" I asked. "Sure," he said, "I can make a copy for you." "Thank you," I said. "No problem," he chuckled, "I always have people asking for it. Guess they're a pretty big hit." "I can see why," I replied, "They're amazing." We continued the rest of the meal in silence, I think all of us were appreciating the fact we were getting real food. Now and then the kids would start talking but it never lasted long. I took the last bite of my food and glanced around the room, everyone was either finished or almost done. I stood up and began to grab the empty plates off the table. "You don't need to worry about that," Oliver said refusing to give me his plate. "It's the least I can do," I told him, "You took five random people into your house and gave us food. At least let us wash the dishes." Oliver glanced over at Millie who just shrugged, "I mean if I don't have to do the dishes I'm not complaining." I grinned, "Well looks like we're doing the dishes. Who wants to help me?" I looked at my friends waiting for a response. "NOSE GOES!" Anna shouted placing her hand on her nose, Ella, and Jack followed suit. Leo just gave them a strange look and stood up from the table. "I'll help," he said, moving away from them. "Great," I replied, "At least someone wants to be helpful." Anna stuck her tongue out at me and I did it right back.