✔️ MONSTER ➩ Ben Hargreeves

ａｃｑｕａｉｎｔａｎｃｅ

Since Five's incident at the dinner table one week ago, he's had far more lessons than usual. I worried about him but I was also grateful. In the hours he was with Dad, I was able to draw closer to Number Four.

I had never really talked to him before. Only when we were on missions and forced to cooperate with one another. That's how it was with most of the children. But with Dad attending to Five, I could talk to my brother.

It was an easy task to walk to Four's room. I only hoped that Pogo wouldn't catch me but I finally convinced myself to go. I didn't bother to count the steps but then realized I should have to calm my nerves. But they seemed to settle themselves as I focused on the faint sound of a song playing on One's record player.

When I reached the door I stopped. It was quiet inside. Dark, too. Was he even there?

Knock knock.

"Who is it?" The familiar voice called out from inside.

"Um i- it's Six," I stuttered over my words like I had never said a spoken word in my life. "Can I come in?"

"You know we're not allowed in other people's rooms..." Of course I knew that. I thought bitterly to myself as I turned to leave. The door creaked behind my back and I looked to where I had just been standing.

The door was now open, the light on, and Four's head peered out. His smirk was the most inviting thing I had seen all day.

He laughed, "I never said no."

I practically ran back to him. This was actually happening. I was breaking the rules and it felt like the most wonderful thing in the world.

He gracefully bowed, acting as the high prince welcoming me to his ball. His room wasn't at all how I had imagined it to be. I would always picture white walls randomly splattered with black paint, sticky notes with scribbled writing stuck in every corner, a crystal ball on his nightstand. My expectations were not met.

There weren't very many places for two people to sit and converse. The only logical seating area was his bed.

Four had always been very open with everyone - mostly on with his opinions about life - and I admired him for it. But as we sit here now, what is there to say? I wanted to ask him about so many things - about how his powers worked, and if it was painful to use them, and about what he thought of Five, and if Dad was as mean to him as he was me, and if he thought I was fun to talk to, and if he would talk to me if I died.

"I saw one of Seven's nannies today." Four said excitedly, interrupting my train of thought. "She told me how Seven doesn't like to eat her oatmeal."

"I've never seen any of her nannies before," I had almost forgotten Dad's advertisements for nannies during these past months.

"Oh, you wouldn't have seen them. I mean, I saw her." He wiggled his eyebrows like he knew something I didn't, which was possible. I stared in confusion. He rolled his eyes, annoyed by my ignorance. "My powers!"

But his powers are being able to see dead people. A nanny wouldn't be... "Your po- you mean... she's dead?"

He nodded, excitedly. "Crazy, huh?"

"Not as crazy as having a monster inside of you..." I mumbled to myself.

He heard me. "Dude, that's sick! I wish I could have a monster inside of me. Instead, they're everywhere else. Especially in the dark." He paused for a moment, lost in his thoughts, maybe remembering everything that happens in the hours he's experimenting with Dad. "That's what I was doing, by the way, when you knocked. Dad says I have to overcome my fear. Like he knows about the things I see."

I built up the courage to make conversation. "I like your powers. But if I could choose my power, I would choose Five's."

"Definitely. Could you imagine the pranks you could do?" He grabbed his stomach in laughter, almost falling over. "That's why I would choose it... If only he wasn't such a halfwit, arguing with Dad all the time."

I considered his opinion but didn't get the chance to answer. Four turned to another corner of the room. Nothing was there but I think he saw something.

"Oh, hello," he said innocently. "Another nanny?"

I stared intently. Four looked directly to one area. Was I seeing his powers?

"I'm so sorry. I can't help my sister's actions, you know." He paused, apparently waiting for a response. "A robot? That's weird. Dad hasn't told us anything about- oh you're going now? Oh okay, yeah. Maybe later. Yes, goodbye."

Four looked back at me, his eyes practically glowing in excitement, "Did you see her? Did you hear that? No. You can't see or hear her. They're my powers, not yours... She said we're going to have a robot nanny."