BRIGHT (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 6

Louis~

A day later I arrived in LA, hot on the rail of Number 5- or maybe he was hot on my trail, hard to tell. As I said earlier, his name was Ergent Ed, and according to The List, he lived somewhere called Malibu. The depraved entity was believed to be in the film industry, which made sense if you think about some of the movies they make these days.

I created my mom and dad, again and again this time included my sister Lottie, to help me rent a house in Glendale, which is a suburb of LA.

The nicest thing about the rent-a-house was its gleaming gourmet kitchen. After a long-overdue shower and a quick stop at the supermarket, I spent the next twi hours craking eggs, chopping onions, grinding meat, selecting herbs and spices.

Cooking isn't a hobby and a passion of mine. Harry teaches me how then it calms me, unwind, and, hey, I'm eighteen. I eat like a truck driver but dont compare me to Niall because he has a very large appetite.

I kept my parents and even Lottie around for dinner and some nice chitchat. I decided it was Italian night, spaghetti, sausage, and meatballs to be precise, but done the real way. I like to go the whole time. Top-quality, freshly ground beef, veal, pork, and pancetta, a type of Italian bacon. Roma tomatoes and extra virging olive oil for the sauce. Fresh pasta. Fresh basil and oregano and Romano and mozzarella cheeses to top it all off.

I'd learned the wonders of authentic Italian on a trip to Silicy six months earlier. I wasn't there on a vacation, unfortunately, but to take out Number 23, a homicidal, gunrunning alien known as Bang Bang Doom, who lived in a heavily guarded villa outside Palermo. Beautiful digs, great views.

After dinner, I was thinking about making a fire. Then I was going to catch up on reading this novel I'd picked up in Portland, Sword of Summer. A honey of a story!

From the looks of ecstasy on my family's faces around the granite kitchen island, I knew I'd nailed the meal. Even Lottie shut her motormouth for a few seconds and shoveled in dinner.

"Thanks for helping me out, guys," I said, lowering my fork and raising my Pellegrino in a toast. "Here's to the best family in the world."

Even though you're not real.

After dessert my mom back in the kitchen as my dad and sister went to see what was on TV. Lottie stopped the remote on an old Nemo rerun, her favorite show.

"I saw The List of Alien Outlaws," my mom said, sliding me her half-eaten slice of cake. "You're going after Ergent Ed for sure? Number 5. Is that true, Louis?"

I couldn't help but detect the concern in her voice, and in her eyes as well. Kind of sweet, but hey, I'm not three years old anymore. And I'm battle tested.

"That's right," I said, trying to act nonchalant. "It's no biggie."

"You are aware that this is the first time you've gone after a monster in the top ten."

"I hadn't thought of it in exactly that way." I said. "You're suggesting that things are going to get more dangerous for me?"

"That's putting it very mildly," she said. "You make the slightest mistake, the tinniest misstep, Number 5 isn't going to give you a chance to make a second one. Look what happened to your father and me. You could die this time. Do you understand what that means?"

I nodded slowly, remembering the worst night of my life, when I was three. The screams of my mom and dad, the gunfire blasting through our house. The fear as I crouched, cornered in the darkness as The Prayer came down the stairs.

"Thanks for the wake-up call, Mom. I'll be careful. And clever and resourceful, and devious if that's what it takes. Number 5 is up to something... world shaking. I have to do this."

Then my mother did something that I think mom must have been invented for. She hugged me hard and kissed me on the forehead. She knew exactly what I needed somehow. Then she pinched my cheek, which she always does. I've never understood it, byt I let her get away with it every time.

"Okay, guys!" I said with a yawn. "Thanks for all your help. And counsel. I've got a big day ahead. Murderous aliens to catch, you know."

"Louis," my father said. "You're not ready for Number 5. I wouldn't have been ready for Number 5. Even your mother and I working together would be no match for this fiend."

"Wait a second. No way!" Lottie said as my mom put her arm around her shoulder. "We can't leave now! There's still five minutes until the movie ends. I want to see what will going to happen. Mom!"

But then they were gone, and I clicked off the TV set. I stood for a moment, taking in all the peace and quiet. And loneliness, I thought, looking at the empty plates on the counter.

And fear...
And paranoia.

After I finished cleaning up, I decided to crash right on the couch.

I closed my eyes— and almost instantly I saw The Prayer. "Ergent Ed will destroy you," he said. "Go back to Portland. Join the circus. Get a boyfriend if you can. Get an identity, Lewis X. Have a life. For a little while. Until I come for you."

Great. Now my biggest enemies were parenting me. I hate it when he called me Lewis, an ugly name, no offense tho' even though he know it is Louis.

Guess that's what can happen when you're all alone in the world.

~

Hola! It is me, comment if you want and vote.

Too short update and when i was writing this one, my mum calls me to go home. Shitty so byee for now.

-with Luv and smut Kaydeeeen