Her mother was worried when she came home with scratches all over and a tear streaked face. She had demanded to know what happened. Rene opened her mouth to reply but hesitated.

Mother had said not to go to far, if she found that Rene had gone such a long way Rene would be in trouble.

So instead she had lied, saying that she had climbed a tree and fallen.

Mother had asked if anything hurt and Rene shook her head. Mother had treated her cuts then, bandaging them up and sent her to bed.

Underneath the covers Rene shook, large eyes staring at the ceiling. She was afraid the monster would come after her. She was afraid it would eat her. That's what monsters did, they ate bad children.

Rene fell asleep finally, but did not dream peacefully. Her mind was full of snakes, morphing and changing into those things she saw, then changing back again. Hissing and biting at her. Going to eat her. All the while the man looked on with such a sad expression.

Rene woke up confused more than ever, her nightmare fading.

In the daylight comfort of her room any fear she had slowly ebbed away. Instead she puzzled over something.

Why was the monster sad? Was he lonely? Didn't he have any other monster friends? Did monsters get lonely? It was all very confusing to her.

She headed downstairs to where her mother was making breakfast. Her mother was the smartest person she knew, other than her teachers. Maybe she would know.

Needless to say, her mother was very surprised by the question. She thought it was a joke until she saw her daughters serious expression.

"Uh…well, I'm not sure. I guess so. Living alone like that all the time and having people always afraid of them, yes, I guess it would be lonely being a monster. Why do you ask?"

"The troll under the bridge, maybe he was mean cause he was sad" The little girl offered as a way of explanation, nodding towards her book on the table. The mother smiled at this idea, and put the book back in the bookshelf.

"Maybe, but remember, that troll wanted to eat the Billy goats"

But what if he had something else to eat instead? Rene thought to herself . Something better than little boy's and girls?

Rene shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Back outside, looking down at the place that not a day before she had run screaming from in blind terror, she was starting to have second thoughts. In her hand was a small lunchbox that she clung to tightly.

Swallowing the lump that had appeared in her throat, Rene went doggedly forward.

Reaching the front of the building again, she listened for any noise. There was nothing. She began to shake slightly as she tried to find the hole that she used to gain entry before. It was bordered up. Someone had fixed a plank in place to prevent anyone from getting in again.

This didn't deter her any. Like yesterday she began to search for a new entrance.

There were plenty of broken windows to climb in, but unfortunately they were all high up, way out of reach for her. Still Rene persisted, and was rewarded. Some time ago a dead tree had floated down the river and gotten caught by the pier that extended over the water, holding it fast. If she could somehow get it to lean against one of the walls, she could climb its branches up to a window.

Lucky for her it was long dead and very light weight, but still her small arms found it difficult to drag it any wear. Straining, she tried to pull it up but her hand slipped, causing her to fall back suddenly. She fell against the wall, into a drainpipe and winced. She looked up at it and saw that it went right to the top of the roof. Backing up a few steps she could make out an empty frame that once housed glass.

Taking a deep breath, she clambered up the rusted metal.

Somehow she managed to get up and into the frame, which she sat on and waited to get her breath back. Inside was just as she remembered it, gloomy, musty and quiet. The monster was gone though. She looked around in confusion.

Where was he? Did she scare him off yesterday?

Shifting her weight, she tried to look in further. The wood beneath her hand crumbled. She let out a yelp as suddenly, the world was spinning.

She was falling, Rene realised this briefly . She closed her eyes, arms shielding her face as she braced for the impact.

It never came.

There was a familiar noise and something caught her leg, halting her fall. The sudden jerk as she stopped midair caused her arms to unravel from around her face, her lunchbox clattering to the ground as it slipped from her fingers.

The monster was here, it had hidden in a corner out of her sight. Right now one of its snake like arms had her leg, stopping her from falling. A second came out of the shadows as the first lowered her. It grasped her arm as the first let go, sending her right way up, before it dropped her.

Rene landed next to her lunchbox and picked it up, hugging it to her chest.

The arms withdrew back into the shadows.

"What are you doing here?!"

The monster spoke. It sounded angry.

Rene had to explain herself fast, quick quick, before it ate her!

"sorry mister I didn't mean to disturb you but Isawyouyesterdayandthoughtyouwerelonelysoicamebackwithcakepleasedon'teatme!" The last was said in a rush as she quickly offered her lunchbox to the monster.

It was a surprise that he had understood any of that. There was a pause as he looked the trembling girl over, holding out the lunchbox.

"I don't want it" he finally said.

Rene felt desperate. He had to take it.

"But it's chocolate!"

Her mother always said chocolate made people feel better, no matter how angry they were. Everyone liked chocolate.

"I don't care". Apparently not everyone.

"Please" Rene begged. Chocolate had to taste better than children. If he had just a bite then he wouldn't want to eat her.

The monster sighed heavily, sounding aggravated.

"Will you go away if I take it?"

Rene nodded.

An arm shot out of the dark and plucked the box from her hands.

"There, now leave"

"You have to eat it first" Rene persisted.

There was a muffled exclamation of annoyance. Rene heard more than saw the monster take a small bite from the slice.

"Now will you leave!?"

Rene nodded and turned to go, before hesitating.

"Did you like it?"

"Oh for the love of…" the monster, clearly annoyed, picked itself up with two of its tentacle arms and stalked away from the child.

Rene nearly lost her balance with each step it took, the building shaking from its foundations.

She was unsure of what to do now. She said she would leave , but for some reason she didn't want to. It didn't seem like a monster to her, and anyway it wouldn't eat her now. It had accepted the cake.

Silently she followed after him, making her way between the maze of crates.

Near the centre of the room was a table with all sorts of items covering it's surface. Behind that there was a hexagonal platform of metal, only half made, over the water.

The man, Rene had decided it couldn't be a full monster, was building the platform with its large arms. Right now he was creating a frame for the unfinished half and completely oblivious to her presence. Either he wasn't aware of her or was ignoring her in the hopes she would go away.

No such luck.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Work that I happen to be very busy at" he answered without looking up.

"Oh…" she noticed something yellow close by. She cried out in delight as she recognised it.

"My boot!" Rene hurried over and picked it up. Her mother was angry yesterday when she had come back without it.

"So it belongs to you then"

"Yes" the girl nodded. She held it tight. "Why were you so sad before?"

The question took him by surprise. He looked up for the first time.

"What do you mean?"

"Before…you were crying" This was apparently not the right thing to say. He stiffened and the arms of his seem to hiss in protest. Rene guessed she had said something bad, she backed up a bit, noticing the man was looking angry. He scowled, then turned around and ignored her again, getting back on with his work.

Rene waited in the silence, instinctively knowing now was not the time to bother him. Instead she poked about the desk, picking up a item here and there to examine it.

Mostly it was tools, some she recognised though she didn't know the name of.

One of the arms snaked over and seem to scan for something. Hazarding a guess, Rene picked one up and held it out. Without a word the arm took it and returned.

Rene had just found a new game.

Every time a new arm came over she tried to hand it the correct tool. At first she rarely got it right and the arms would ignore her, picking the right one as the old tool was returned.

Gradually though, the arms seem to pick up on what she was doing and helped out somewhat, letting the girl know if the tool she was aiming for was wrong with a small disapproving click and waiting while she tried to find the correct one. With every correct guess Rene beamed.

The man himself seemed indifferent to this, completely absorbed in what he was doing while his arms moved about with a life of their own.

Finally the man stood back.

"Done"

Rene perked up.

"You mean you've finished it?"

"For today anyway" he seemed to be in a better mood now.

"What is it?"

"That's a secret" the man replied with a grin. With that put out of the way, he turned to deal with his new problem, one that had refused to go away.

"Now what are you doing here?"

Rene shrugged, not really sure herself.

"I dunno"

"Do your parent's know you're here?" there was an almost urgent tone when he asked this. Worried about something.

Rene shook her head.

"No"

"Does anyone?"

"No" Rene was too busy trying to spin on the chair to notice the relieved look. A tentacle grasped the chair, stopping it to face him.

"Listen carefully.. uh…." he paused, unsure of what to call her.

"Rene" she supplied.

"..Rene then, does anyone know of this place?" he gestured around the warehouse like structure, watching her closely.

"Nope!"

"Good, best keep it that way then hmm?"

Rene failed to see the warning in his words and grinned happily.

"Sure!"

"You best get home, it's growing late" He pointed to the windows that showed the sky beginning to change colour. Rene got to her feet instantly, panicking slightly.

"Mother will be worried"

"Better hurry then"

Rene grabbed her rain boot and ran to a gap where a few planks had been broken out of the wall.

She paused long enough to waive goodbye before ducking through and hurrying home. The man watched her go silently, an unreadable expression on his face. He muttered something, moving over to the table.

Hesitating slightly, he looked over the items all neatly arranged and the bright blue lunchbox near the edge. Inside the cake was only half eaten.

Wordlessly he ate the rest.

GAH! 'Twitch twitch' stupid English classes, so much symbolism. I can't watch a movie without analysing it now.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this so far. Another chapter would probably added within a week, if inspiration strikes. If anyone else has any ideas by all means, share.

Please review, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what can be improved and what you would like to see next.

Until then.