"Pet"

Chapter 7

Mateo opened his eyes, this time not too eagerly, since he had actually remembered Basil wasn't here this time. Alice woke up a little later too. Ever since that day, she had been mostly relaxed, knowing that everyone wasn't under a threat.

He got up and made his bed, folding the pieces of fabric up in the matchbox.

He grew bored, just sitting there, doing nothing apart from waiting until the one giant that cared for everyone returned, but he knew that wouldn't be too soon. He jumped when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. Standing up, he turned around and saw Alice. Smiling, Mateo crouched down. "Yes?" 

"Can you come with me to explore the outside?"

...This girl has to always ask the most out of the blue questions, doesn't she?

He sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry Alice, but Basil told everyone that we weren't allowed to go outside; it's dangerous. Especially when he's not here to look after us." He explained.

Alice frowned. "But.. But Basil's not here. That means we can do it, right?"

"No." he said firmly. He didn't understand why she wanted to go against a kind giant's rules. Maybe this was just part of her random personality.

"Awh, come on.. please?" she asked, giving him a puppy dog look.

It took everything in him to not be convinced to say yes, and he shook his head once again. 

"No, Alice. We're not going outside, and it's final." He states, turning away. 

"You're no fun.." Alice grumbled, turning away as well. It was only then that he heard the sound of running that he spun back to her quickly. 

There it was. The scene unfolded right in front of his eyes: Alice was running up the window, and fast. He looked on in annoyance and just a tiny bit of fear. "Come back here right now!" He shouted, but to no avail. The girl was out the window.

"Oh come on." 

He raced after her, jumping onto the windowsill and clambering out. The grassy land filled with tall crops and plants filled his view as he looked around. He sighed and jumped down into the sea of bushes, glancing left and right. This was gonna take a while...

Back at the farmhouse, everyone had seemed to taken notice of the two random disappearances of the tiny people. Everyone was calling out around the house, searching anxiously. They didn't have any knowledge of what happened whatsoever. A leader of the group walked up to a large, box-like device that Basil had taught them how to use. Using all of their strength, they pushed a pentagon shape at the bottom, and then a landline icon. A word appeared on the screen. 'Basil'. They pressed on it, and it rang the giant.

In Australia, Basil picked up the phone. "Hello?" He asked. "Basil!" Came a squeaky noise from the other end. He couldn't help but smile at the voice. "Ah, hi."

"There's two people missing! A little girl and a man. Please help us..." The leader requested with hope in their voice.

At this, Basil's eyes widened. Disappeared?! What was that supposed to mean?

He hung up and quickly packed up his bags, cancelling all of his hotel accommodations. He booked a flight back almost instantly.

Mateo wasn't having much luck with finding Alice, no matter how loud he called or where he searched. Actually, he was on the verge of giving up looking for her, and was just about to turn around when a flash of pink caught his eye. He quickly rushed over, and was so relieved to see Alice that he hugged her tight.
"Oh, Alice! Thank God you're safe, I was actually starting to get worried..." He chuckled softly, but his warm hug wasn't given back. Tilting his head, he stepped away and examined her cautiously. Alice had a pure look of terror on her face, looking up at something.

"Is... Something wrong, Alice?" He asked hesitantly. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to know or not.
Then, he looked up, and something was indeed very wrong.

Staring back at him, was the giant, cruel monster that tormented all the little people for pure entertainment. The monster that threatened to eat the disobeying slaves below it. The monster that was known as Leo.

Mateo grabbed Alice's hand quickly. "Come on, come on!" He shouted, but the poor girl was frozen in fear, and his attempts to pull her away from the danger were practically useless.

His heart dropped as he saw a smirk grow across Leo's face. That same very smirk that signalled danger was coming. They were not in the slightest bit safe at all.

His eyes widened in horror when he saw a large hand zooming down to grab the two of them. He tried to run away, but it only resulted in a more painful, tighter grasp.

"Well, well, well..." Leo began, lifting the two struggling tiny people in his hand up into the air.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Missed me?" He laughed, bringing Alice closer to his face.

Mateo felt a surge of anger and dread as he watched the scene play out before his eyes as he was held up next to the girl. He couldn't take this, his heart was pounding heavily against his chest as he looked into the menacing eyes of the giant.

"P-please don't hurt us!" Mateo cried out weakly.

Alice, who was next to Mateo, looked up and frantically repeated his words.

"Hmm..." Leo began in a taunting manner. "I won't hurt you."

Mateo and Alice let out an audible sigh of relief, their muscles relaxing, until they instantly tensed again. This wasn't like Leo? Did he have a change of heart?

All their hopes only resulted in despair when they heard the words.
"Only if you show me where the others are."

They had no choice, and they knew it. With much hesitance and reluctance, the two of them began to lead the way, a pit of uneasiness rising up in them. What was Leo going to do once he found all his past slaves?

The question ran through their minds as they continued to walk, the pounding footsteps of the giant, booming behind them.