The next morning Sam woke up to the sun shining in her face. Opening her eyes, she noticed that Michael wasn't in the bed with her. She looked around and saw that he was sitting in the rocking chair watching her.
"You know that's creepy right? You just sitting there *yawn* watching me." Sam said while getting up and stretching.
To Sam's surprise Michael nodded. Sam started laughing; something about the situation just seemed funny to her and she felt that if she didn't laugh about something she would start crying. "You're such a weirdo." She said with a half-smile.
Michael looked a little pissed but Sam either didn't care or didn't notice. He did not enjoy being called a "weirdo" even if Sam was just being playful. She did seem happier than last night though. He stood up and walked to the door with Sam trailing behind him. He turned and looked at the girl behind him and pointed back at the bed. Sam followed his finger to where he was pointing and let out a disbelieving laugh.
"I'm not staying in here. I'm hungry and I've spent…" Sam glanced at her watch on her wrist. "…Nine and a half hours in this room. Can I at least get out of here?" Sam said motioning towards the room behind her.
Michael turned and walked out, leaving the door open. Sam quickly followed him out before he changed his mind. She scampered down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Michael was putting a grocery bag onto the counter.
"What'd you get?" Sam asked looking into the bag. She stuck her hand in and pulled out a box of Cheerios. "Can I have some?" Michael nodded.
Sam opened the box and one by one she tossed some Cheerios into her mouth. "You want some?" She asked offering him the box. He shook his head so Sam just shrugged and continued eating.
While she was doing that, Michael was searching one of the drawers in the kitchen. He found what he was looking for and pulled out a knife sharpener. He picked up his knife and began dragging it along the sharpener. To Sam it sounded like nails on a chalkboard, but Michael didn't seem to mind.
Michael continued what he was doing until he was satisfied with the sharpness of the blade and replaced the sharpener in the drawer. He turned and noticed that Sam was no longer in the kitchen. He walked out of the kitchen to search the house, but he didn't think he was going to find her. He rounded the corner and stopped when he heard crunching coming from above him. He turned and saw the small girl sitting at the top of the stairs, the box of Cheerios still in her hands.
Sam looked up and met Michael's blank stare with a blank stare of her own. "What?" Michael didn't respond causing Sam to sigh and stand. "You're so weird." She said walking down the hall to her room.
Michael stared after her and tried to calm his nerves. He really didn't like being called weird. Judith had done that and look at what happened to her. That girl was going to have to stop saying that or she might not make it to Halloween.