Monsters

An Unexpected Visitor

They passed around the Directory; Amy gave a brief overview of what the book contained, and its history. It wasn't very late but everyone felt very fatigued, all of them had crossed into a different time zone. Amy showed them to their rooms, which were all identical in shape and size. The only sound heard that night was thunderous snoring from Daniel's room. Amy had an uneasy feeling. She couldn't help but wonder why they had just accepted this all so quickly. All of them had just settled right in without a word. It wasn't that she was suspicious of them, it was their willingness to go along with her horribly unclear planning. Had things really gotten that bad? Did she have less time than she'd thought? These thoughts plagued Amy as she fell into a fitful slumber.

The next morning Amy awoke at 5:30, thinking she would definitely be the first one up. Both Drake and Mara were standing in the kitchen talking. Amy heard them before she saw them, so she ducked behind the corner and eavesdropped.

"I'm sorry about my questioning last night, I didn't mean to offend you." Mara sounded guilty for once in her life.

Drake replied rushedly, "Oh no, I wasn't offended. I am quite proud of my heritage, it's just that I haven't seen my Mom and Dad, the adopted ones, in so long."

"Sorry for bringing them up, I don't know what came over me. I suppose I was just curious, but it was the wrong time." Mara sounded sincere.

"You didn't do anything wrong, honestly. 'Curiosity is a favorable trait that few possess.' That's what my mom used to say." Drake remarked.

Mara giggled lightly. Amy felt suddenly taken aback, Mara was acting very out of character lately. The sudden urge to burst in the room and shout "Good Morning!" came over Amy. Is this jealousy? No. No way, I just have a lot to go over and we have no time for small talk.

Amy strolled casually into the room and faked a yawn.

"Oh, Amy, I didn't know you were awake yet." Even in the dimly-lit kitchen, Mara's cheeks looked a little red.

"Yep, just rolled out of bed. Did you two sleep well?" Amy secretly hoped not.

"Oh yeah, it was great! I haven't slept that well in years." Drake exclaimed. Good for you, Amy thought. She was surprised with herself. Why would I even think that? What's gotten into me? It's probably just stress, yeah probably just stress.

"Who wants to help make pancakes?" Amy smiled.

***

Marcus finally drifted into the kitchen around the time Amy, Mara, and Drake had whipped up a sizeable stack of pancakes. They set the table and agreed to wait for Daniel. Some awkward small talk ended as soon as it started, and they all sat staring at the clock uncomfortably.

After a half hour had passed, Marcus burst up from his chair, "This is pointless. If we don't wake him up he will stay in bed all day." Marcus disappeared down the hall, yelling Daniel's name. After a bit of curious commotion, Marcus calmly returned to his seat and scooped pancakes onto his plate. All eyes looked his direction, waiting for an explanation.

"So... is he still asleep?" Amy inquired.

"Who?" Marcus didn't even look up from eating his syrup soaked meal.

"DANIEL." Amy said dryly.

Marcus glanced up from his food for just a moment before resuming his meal, "Oh yeah, he wasn't in there."

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?" Amy sprang up from her seat, overturning her chair in the process.

"You didn't ask." Marcus replied impassively. Amy ran into the bedroom where Daniel had disappeared the night before. A cheap wall paper circled the room in a childish grassland scene. Elephants, hippopotamuses, and lions all drank from watering holes; giraffes stretched their necks into the trees; zebras galloped through tall yellow grass. She had hoped the addition of scenery would have made him feel more at home. Now, he was gone. Amy checked everywhere, but did not see a sign of life, excluding some suspicious mold on the ceiling. A little bit of vomit felt like it was making its way up her esophagus as panic seized her reasoning. She had lost a highly dangerous, and maybe not the brightest, kid in one of the most heavily populated areas in the city. A concerned voice, Drake's, floated from the other room, "Did you find him?"

"No." she replied through gritted teeth.

***

They locked the door and searched every square inch of the underground building. No Daniel to be found. Amy tried her best to avoid hyperventilating. Daniel was barely 14 years old, but it wasn't really his safety that she was worried about. He had lived in the savanna his whole life, he could take down zebras  and antelope like it was no big deal. Her father took her to visit his family one time, she had to wear an excessive amount of sunscreen and still got scorched. Daniel was probably eight at the time. He said: "Want to see something cool?". A group of some kind of hogs was a short distance from them. She did not think it was cool, in fact she couldn't even look at meat, much less eat it, for the next two years. Now that same kid, only six years older and a lot bigger, was prowling around city people, who are nowhere close to the speed of a warthog. 

As Amy was deep in thought imagining the possible current death toll, a high-pitched whining was vibrating from the entrance. Drake made it up the stairs first and cautiously slid open the rehinged door. There crouched Daniel Winters, covered in blood, holding a large yellow creature in his teeth.

"I caught some breakfast!" he shouted with pride.

"DANIEL! That is a dog! Where were you?" Amy fuming. Drake tried unsuccessfully to pry the animal from his grasp before he could answer.

"You don't have to cook it Drake, we can eat it raw." Daniel sounded sincere. Drake looked horrified. 

"You can't eat a dog! This probably somebody's pet!" Drake yelled.

"HEY! BE QUIET! Daniel, put the dog down." Amy took a deep breath. Daniel slowly lowered the dog  and it flew down the stairs as soon as its paws touched the concrete. Daniel ashamedly shut the door. He cautiously picked his way down the stairs to where Amy was waiting with her hands on her hips.

"Where have you been? I was worried sick, you can't just run off into the city like that!" Amy was fuming. 

"I just wanted to catch us something for breakfast." He tried his best to look innocent, which was kind of hard given that his face and arms were soaked in blood.

"Are you blind or just stupid? You can't just go running around the city like that, you imbecile. Some aspiring blogger will snap a photo of you and then it will be all over the internet. I know your brain is the size of a peanut, but if you can possibly recall, we're trying not to be caught." The Snape-like voice poured from the wall were Marcus leaned with his arms crossed. 

"I know that, I just want-" Daniel was cut off by Amy..

"Whatever, it's over. Daniel, don't leave the basement. What are  we going to do with this dog?" The dog's slimy nose nuzzled against Amy's hand. She recoiled in slight disgust. 

"We could-"

"NO." They all yelled at once, even Mara who hadn't said a word the whole time.

"Fine."

"We could keep it," Drake suggested." It dosen't seem to have a collar and it doesn't look diseased."

Amy felt more than a little sceptical, "I don't know..."

"Come on Amy, it'll be fun. I used to have a dog a lot like this when I was a kid." Drake scratched behind the dirty mutt's ears. 

"I guess it will be fine, but you're taking care of it." Even Amy had to admit, the little rascal was pretty cute. 

"What should we name it?" Mara asked.

"We can decide later. Besides, we have some more important things to discuss." Amy looked pointedly at Daniel.

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A/N

Sorry I took ten thousand years to update, I have been really busy lately with school and all that other stuff. I am going to have a little contest: Who can pick the best dog name for the dog that Daniel brought in this chapter? Put your answer in the comments, and the winner will get a special mention at the beginning of next chapter and (if you have any) I will read one of your wattpad stories. Thanks to you all for hanging in there during this long and slow process we call writing. I hope you like this chapter and thanks for motivating me to write. You all are the absolute best.