Michael approached Samantha's house from the back. He easily picked the lock and slipped inside. He heard voices coming from a room toward the front of the house. He moved like a ghost making as little noise as possible. He quickly found himself in the living room. The television was on, which explained the voices he had heard. Samantha was lying on the couch, asleep.
Michael placed her bag against the couch before moving to stand over Sam's sleeping form. She was breathing slowly with her hair obscuring part of her face. He kneeled down so that he was closer to her. His hand moved of its own accord as he reached up and brushed her hair out of her face. As he moved her hair he revealed the black bruise that circled her neck. The sight of it made his stomach drop. His mouth became dry and he felt like throwing up. He quickly ignored the feeling and instead concentrated on Sam.
He watched her sleeping face quietly for what seemed like hours to him. His hand rested on her cheek and his thumb moved back and forth, gently caressing her delicate skin. With his free hand, he reached up and removed his mask so that he could look down at the girl without obstruction. He studied the way the moonlight reflected perfectly off her pale skin. And the way her small form rose and fell with perfect timing as she continued to dream. He moved his hand from her cheek to her chin shifting her just enough to see her face completely. He took in every one of her features from her almond shaped eyes to her thin nose and her perfect lips. Her lips held his gaze the longest before he moved closer and gently brushed his lips against hers. When Michael pulled away he could have sworn he saw the smallest hint of a smile but he decided that it was just a figment of his imagination.
He probably would have stayed there longer if it hadn't been for a small feline that jumped up on the arm of the couch. It sat there staring at him. Its glowing eyes giving away nothing. It suddenly leaped off the arm and landed on Sam before hopping onto the back of the couch. Sam let a groan escape her throat as she turned over and started to wake up. Michael cursed the cat for what it did and rushed out of the room, nearly forgetting his mask, before Sam woke up completely.
Sam woke up slowly and saw her cat staring down at her. It meowed loudly as Sam scratched his head. She swung her legs off the couch and stood up, quickly glancing at the clock seeing that it was just after 2 o'clock in the morning. She groaned again before shutting off the TV and moving to go upstairs but she tripped over something before she made it past the couch. She glanced down and saw that she knocked over her bag. She stared at it with a confused look before it registered in her mind how it could have gotten there.
"Michael," Sam called as she looked around her house. The only answer was her cat's meowing. She doubted that he would be so calm if Michael was in the house and posed her any harm so she decided to ignore him for the time being and follow her cat upstairs and get in her bed. Her last thought before she fell asleep again was of the man that saved her two nights ago.
A blaring alarm woke Sam from her dreamless sleep at 8 o'clock. She looked up and glared at the defenseless clock radio before deciding to take pity on it and let it live for another day. She raised herself up off her stomach before realizing that it was Monday and that she had work. She moved her arms so that she flopped back down into her bed. Groaning she rolled off the edge of her mattress and swung her feet at the same time to catch herself before she hit the floor.
Sam staggered into the bathroom and started her shower before looking at herself in the mirror. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stood up straight so she could look at herself properly. Her neck wasn't as awful as she remembered it being, but there were ten clear bruises that showed where Michael's fingers had been.
"Damn." She said out loud to no one in particular when she realized she had nothing to cover up the bruise. She didn't have any makeup to cover it because all she wore was mascara, eyeliner, and lip-gloss. She exited her bathroom and went over to her dresser. She dug through her winter shirts in hopes of finding a turtleneck or a scarf that could hide the bruise. She pulled a forest green turtle neck out and tossed it on her bed as she ran to go get in the shower. She didn't take long since she had already taken one the night before. Once dry she returned to her room and put on her underwear, followed by her jeans then her turtleneck. She looked in her full-length mirror and studied the top of her collar. She cursed when she saw that the bruise could still be seen above the collar.
Falling back onto her bed Sam decided that the best course of action was to call in sick. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled over to her bedside table that had her clock and phone sitting on top of it. She quickly dialed the number to the tattoo parlor in which she worked and listened to it ring.
On the third ring a gruff voice answered the phone, "Hello you've reached Venom Inc. Tattoos and Body Piercings. What can I do for ya?"
"Hey Andy, it's Sam."
"Jesus Christ, girl where have you been?"
"Sorry, Boss, I've been sick." Sam responded and was actually thankful for her hoarse voice. It helped sell her story.
"Yeah, you sound awful." She could hear him chuckle. "Let me guess, you're not comin' in today, right?"
"I'm sorry about this, Boss. I just feel like shit."
"It's cool, you always come to work so I can ignore a few days off."
"Thanks Boss. I'll try to get back to work as soon as possible."
"Don't worry about it, just focus on getting better. We don't want you to be sick for your birthday." She heard him chuckle again.
"I don't think you have to worry about that it's not for another couple of weeks."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, later." Sam clicked the red off button and dropped the phone on the table. Hopping off the bed she walked over to her dresser and changed into something more comfortable. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie and went downstairs.
"Hey Ghost." Sam said as her cat ran past her on the stairs. The Egyptian Mau dashed into the kitchen and sat patiently waiting for his food. After dumping some food into his bowl, Sam walked over to her cupboard and opened it. She pulled out a box of Cheerios and poured some into a bowl. Grabbing the bowl and leaving the box on the counter, she walked into the living room and slammed down onto the couch. She pulled her bag up onto the couch, which she hadn't moved from its place last night. She opened the clasp and pulled out the two stuffed toys that lay inside. The smile of the clown tugged at the corners of her lips. She set the dolls next to her and flipped on the television. The screen lit up and she saw that the news was on.
"Four found dead this morning. Investigators believe that this may be linked to the now infamous Michael Myers' slayings. At five o'clo-" Sam changed the channel before she heard more. The cereal in front of her suddenly lost his flavor. Setting it aside Sam flipped the channel to the cartoon station. She watched as Bugs Bunny danced across the screen with Yosemite Sam chasing close behind. Letting out a sigh she leaned back and prepared for a day of doing nothing.