Sara and Robert walked up the grand staircase of the house, Amy deciding to wait downstairs for when the food arrived and the duo tasked with showing Loki his room. He looked around, his eyes taking in the old construction, and he paused on the stairs to study the photographs on the walls. No emotion on his face, and she knew he wouldn't see her in them, Darla never cared enough to display her shortcoming as a Wife. After Daniel Pruitt was born, she decided her waistline and lust for designer things were more important than pumping out a sibling for her only son. So, She did what other rich bitches did, denied their husband's sex, making Richard look for it in other places. So far she was the only illegitimate child, and she walked to Daniel's old room and opened the door for Loki.
"This is your's. It has its own bathroom, and you get a nice view of the pond out back and the woods. I cleaned it out with some help, but I still need to have the rugs professionally cleaned." She said, and he stepped over the hardwood floors. She felt tiny next to him, and like he was a coiled viper as he passed, but his shoulder length, black hair looked soft under all the grease he had in it. She took a step back, his hand still bleeding a bit from the chip they put under his skin and she knew that she was going to have to get it at least cleaned up.
"Satisfactory." He said, and sat down on the bed. Robert rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. He was obviously annoyed with Loki's lack of gratitude, and he was biting his tounge. Sara decided to be useful, walking down the hall to her bathroom, cutting through the Master Bedroom, that was once her Father's. She dug under the sink, finding the first aid kit, grabbing a towel and returned with everything.
She moved into it, after the funerals at the urging of her friends, and she made it hers with new bedding and a few touches that made the room more feminine. It was definately warmer than her basement corner, and the bed nicer for when she was too sick from the pain in her bones to move. She stopped, looking at the hall, and swore she saw one of the ghosts that inhabited the house, and shook her head to ignore it.
Robert and he were still having a stare off when she got back, and neither one of them was about to loose. She pulled the chair away from the desk, and draped it over her lap. She opened the kit, taking out everything she would need, and began cleaning the blood off his hand. She was applying antibiotic cream using a cotton swab when Robert shifted as he leaned against the wall, Amy arriving as she worked. He was tolerant of her at least, and that helped.
"You should just let it get infected. He deserves to loose a pound or two of flesh." Robert snorted and scratched his bare arm, his own blue hoodie fitting him way better than Sara's. Every stitch of clothing she owned was a hand me down from Daniel, and she had no time to buy other clothes since the funeral. Between Cancer treatments, writing thank you letters, and cleaning out the house, she did not do much of anything else really. She never went anywhere fancy anyways, so leggings made up the only brand new clothes she owned.
"The bracelet is on that arm, Dobby." Amy sighed, using his nickname and watching Sara work. "You are pretty good at that Bugs, maybe you could volunteer at the Clinic. It will get you out of the house, now that you are better."
"Yeah, I will think about that." Sara said, and she jerked back and grabbed the scissors from the kit and gripped them in her hand when he shifted suddenly. He held his other hand up, and Robert clenched a fist.
"Let her finish, and you are actually doing really good Bugs." He said, and leaned back against the wall as she relaxed, but stayed wary of Loki.
Sara felt her cheeks flush at the double compliment as she wrapped the hand in a bandage, making sure to put a square of gauze under it to soak up any more blood that oozed out of the wound. She was never complimented much as a kid, so it made her uncomfortable to be praised as an adult. She finished, cutting the bandage and tucking everything away in the plastic box. She left the First Aid kit on the desk as she put the chair back so he could change the dressing, and he folded his hands in his lap.
"I gotta log that we are going to Walmart tomorrow, that way Seal Team Six does not show up and scare the locals. I think I remember how to do that." She said, and she patted Robert's arm as they all stood over him in the room. She turned back to Loki, crossing her arms. "We will tell you when food is here. Breakfast is early, I can't sleep in late, like ever. Lunch is around noon, and dinner is around seven. Bedroom at the end of the hall is off limits, that one is mine, and so is the Office. I keep personal paperwork in there, and it is always locked unless I am using it, those are my spaces and I want them kept that way. The cleaning Lady comes on Fridays, and she will cuss you out in Spanish if you get in the way. Gardner comes every first and third Wednesday, so don't try and sleep in when he mows and trims. I put some of Daniel's old clothes in the dresser and wardrobe for you, I guessed that they would fit you. There are basic toiletries, we will get you the rest tomorrow. Any questions, I don't care."
They filed out, leaving him alone to settle in, and he sat on the bed. Robert and Amy followed her downstairs, her friend gesturing to his eyes and then to Loki with two fingers. He didn't say much, and she didn't know what to say to him. She gave him the rundown, and she looked at the SHIELD issued tablet that she would be using to file reports. Fury told her to just tell him a story when she wrote them, tell him about their week, activities, whatever. He also made it so that she had to enter a password, and then let it scan her thumbprint before it would unlock.
She followed the instructions, and used the form to report that they were taking him shopping the next day. She found the address of the store using her phone, and entered it into the space, then gave them a six hour window for travel and shopping. She locked the screen then, setting it on the table next to her hand me down phone, and noticed that Robert and Amy were watching her. Their eyes focused on her, and she shook her head and laughed.
"I'm fine, really. I am really hungry though, and wanting Emily and Mark to hurry up with the burgers." She sighed, and traced the wood grain of the kitchen table with her finger. She was used to being the quiet member of their Friend Group, and they laughed when she dubbed them "The Guild of Unfortunate Miscreants." She always was good with words and stories, so they loved when she made up adventures for when they played Dungeons and Dragons some Saturday nights.
"We are just wondering if you really thought all this through Bugs. He could be dangerous still, the guy tried to take over the planet." Amy sighed, and she shrugged as they watched her. She leaned back in the chair, shoving her hands into the hoodie pockets, and let out a long breath of air.
"I went terminal a month ago, I maybe had a year left. And that was if I was lucky, sometimes... I guess you just gotta roll the dice. I don't want to die of cancer anyways, I want to live and annoy the ghosts of my family." She said, and they all turned when Loki made a sudden appearance. Robert looked over his shoulder, and jumped with a shout at him.
"Fuck all and cheese!" Robert groaned, and rubbed his neck at his reaction. Loki raised an eyebrow at him and stood in the door, and they all waited for him to speak. He remained silent, and Sara raised her eyebrows and waved a hand to get him to make a bit of noise.
"I would like some water, if it is no issue. The muzzle left me with a dry throat." He said, amd Sara pointed over her shoulder to the cabinet behind her. He walked over, finding a glass and he looked at the sink in confusion. Robert walked over, turning the cold water handle, and turning it off. Loki did the same, filling his glass, and he drank it all. He filled it again, and he stood with his back to the counter and watched the group when Emily called out from the door.
"We got Noms! Where are you Unfortunate Miscreants hiding at?" She shouted, and Amy laughed behind her hand at the joke. Sara shrugged, and her stomach growled at the smell of Vitamin Grease floating toward them. She smiled, and almost felt dizzy from the lack of food and calories in her system.
"We are in the kitchen Irish!" Robert shouted and she walked through the swinging door with several bags, and Mark had the drinks. Emily had a baseball bat like a club over her shoulder and she set the bags on the table, and she held it on Loki. Her eyes narrowing as she sized him up, Emily being a Ginger, and a good four inches taller than Sara made her scary in her own right. Sara dug into the bags and pulled a carton of fries out and started nibbling them.
"Good to see the Mass Murderer hasn't killed you in horrible ways, I brought him a burger and fries." Emily said, and hissed at Loki like a cat. Sara almost choked on the french fry in her mouth, and Mark dragged two extra chairs over for them all to sit. Loki edged closer, and Emily put Mark between Loki and her. His eyes on the redhead as he sat in the chair that was left empty, Sara scooting a bit to put some space between them. Robert began handing out food, and he sat and watched them as they started digging in.
"He going to stare or is he going to eat? You would think he expects to be starved here from his attitude." Amy asked, and Loki set his glass down and picked up the burger in front of him. Sara laughed when Robert gave himself fangs with a french fry torn in half, and Mark and he pretended to slap at one another. She smiled at them and took a bite if her food, it was like before she got sick, and she looked at Mark as he took off his hoodie and flexed. His fresh Tribal band tattoo getting her attention as she grinned at him, and she pointed.
"When did you get that?" She asked, and Mark looked at his ink and slapped it. He pointed to Robert, and drank some of his Coke.
"Robert is going through with the Star Wars sleeve on his other arm, so I went with him to talk to an artist in Eatonville. I figured, that since I was there, I would go under the gun and get me some ink." He shrugged, and Emily laughed and teased her boyfriend.
"He probably wined like a pussy through the whole thing too. He totally bitches out when he gets so much as a head cold." She grinned, abd Sara laughed as Mark wrapped his arm around her and gave her a wet kiss to the side of her head. She laughed, her curls bouncing and he stuck his tounge out to try and lick her. She pushed at him, and he stopped as the others laughed.
"Hey! You already screw her, you don't have to lick her to put a claim in her." Amy said, and Robert threw a fry at him and he caught it in his mouth. He grinned and Emily rolled her eyes at the men.
"Boys, such a lack of manners." She groaned, and Amy laughed as she ducked another flying french fry.
"No throwing shit in my kitchen, the wall paper is older than me and I don't feel like scrubbing it. You wanna act like barbarians, then eat outside." Sara snapped, and they all faked looking sad. Emily giggled, and shook her head.
"Men eat best outside, over the slaughterd carcas of their kill." Emily groaned, and Mark and Robert beat their chests and made hooting noises. They laughed, and both of them grunted at eachother. And Mark beat his chest, and grunted.
"Fire bad! FIRE BAAADDDD!" Mark grunted and gestured, and Sara laughed at them. Robert stood up, and crouched in his chair a d broke into his Smeagol impression.
"Gives it to us, raw and wriggling." He imitated, and grinned. "Gollum! Gollum!" He cooked his head, and looked aside he was listening to someone. "Whats taters, Precious?"
"Po-tat-oes." Emily said, grabbing his chin and staring into his face. Mark threw his head back, groaning as Amy and he knew what was coming.
"Fuuuccckkkk!" He sighed, and Sara grinned and began tapping the table to the beat as She and Robert began singing together.
"Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew." They both laughed, and Amy rolled her eyes as she ate a cheese stick.
"You guys really need meds." She said, and took a drink of her Coke. Loki choked on what he was eating, his face red and he drank his water. They all looked at him, and he raised his hand to show he was okay.
"Did anyone forget he was there?" Robert asked, and Sara laughed and drank some of her drink and raised her hand.
"Boy definately got a corn cob stuck up his ass." Mark said, imitating the Drill Sergeant from Aliens and Sara giggled, and Amy shook her head.
"Speaking if eating outside over a kill, you have got to make that awesome barbecue you always do T.D. I miss your short ribs." Sara said to him, and Mark laughed and agreed with her as he threw a ketchup packet at Robert. It struck the skinny weirdo in the chest, and they laughed.
"Sure, I can combine meat, fire, and seasonings to create Alchemy for you anytime darlin'. Jut name a time, and I will bring out the goods!" He said, and Loki continued to eat his food in silence. Sara shrugged again as she looked at him, eating her burger and her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the taste. The Chemo had robbed her of anything resembling an appetite for months, and the flavors in her mouth were borderline orgasmic.
"We are going to Wally World tomorrow, we can pick up the flesh of a downed beast then. You know the best looking cuts of meat." She replied, and ate some fries. "We can cook it Saturday afternoon, before Movie Night. You going to supply the features Mark?"
"Damn Skippy." He said, and gave Mark a fist bump. "I got Escape from New York, and a really cool movie called Cloverfield. Giant monsters, and Kurt Russell being manly."
"Oh great, another testerone fest." Amy said around her food, and Sara gave her a fist bump in response to her ribbing. She sat back in her chair, her stomach shrunken from being sick for so long and she nibbled a fry and drank her Sprite through her straw. She pushed Loki's Coke toward him with her fingers, and he drank from the cup and coughed.
"We could just watch Lord of the Rings again." Emily said, and the guys groaned at the idea. Sara smiled at her friends, taking up her usual spot as the Quiet one and she watched their back and forth. She missed it, all of them arguing, the subject changing every fifteen seconds and their ideas flowing like a hyperactive squirrel on Ritalin.
"We could look for other movies at WallyWorld, I am pretty sure they have something in the nine dollar DVD bins." Mark shrugged, and crossed his arms. He stood up, and dug through Emily's purse. "You bring my AD ountment for my tat? It is starting to itch babe."
"Outside pocket, I stuck it in the side." She answered, and he found it. He held it up, kneading the tube and applying some to the fresh scabbing to keep it soft.
"Real question guys!" Amy said, and pointed at Sara. "Who is spending the night here?"
Emily and Mark raised their hands, and Sara shrugged at the volunteers to make sure she was not strangled in her sleep. Emily lifted her baseball bat from its place between her legs, and grinned at everyone. Robert shaking his head with a laugh, and Amy lowering her bat hand.
"Down Irish." Robert joked, and she hissed at him. He backed up a bit, and started to hug the wall behind him. He held his chest and pretended to be afraid.
"He fucks around, he will find the fuck out." Emily said, and she grinned as she patted her bat.
"Anyhow... The Clinic just got an MRI machine, I gotta leave early in the morning to see that it works, and Dobby is on Nursing duties until Julie gets back from Maternity leave. We will have to head home and call it an early night, I have faith that Irish can hold her own with her bat." Amy sighed, and finished her food. She crumpled her wrapper, tossing it into the bag, and Sara felt a little better not being alone with her unwanted houseguest. She was starting to question her own sanity, and she took another bite of burger and washed it down with some soda.
"I'm sure Irish and T.D. can handle it. They can sleep in Darla's old room. I donated all her clothes to a Women's shelter in Tacoma." Sara said, and Amy and Emily laughed at her announcement. They all knew about Darla and her need for luxury brands. Chanel, and Louis Vuitton were always on her, and her heels with their red soles were expected to be handled with the utmost care. Sara felt delight in knowing that the bitch was in Hell, and some homeless woman was wearing her Hermes scarf to stay warm.
"That was your best decision yet. Remember when you scuffed her Prada Platform? She chased you with that stick for an hour!" Emily laughed, and everyone got quiet. Sara stared at her burger, Emily's habit of talking without thinking showing up and making everyone uncomfortable. She shrugged, nodding as she giggled a bit.
"Yeah, my ass is still sore from that day. I had to jump in the pond to get away from her." Sara laughed, doing her best impression of the she devil. "You have to come out of there sometime Worm! I will have a layer of skin for that!"
"My Prrradddaaa shhoooeee!" Amy wailed, laying the back of her hand on her forehead dramatically. "Sweet Buttery Jesus, she dragged that bullshit out for years. You would have thought you threw goats blood on her Chanel dresses."
"It was tempting, especially after the funeral. I'm amazed she is not haunting me for putting her a Walmart Mumu when we buried her." Sara said, and finished her food. She sat back in her chair, and laughed at what she did. Emily gave her a high five, and they began chatting among eachother. Sara passed Loki the last of her fries, and he took them with a curt nod. He had his food in a napkin on his lap, and she scooted her chair so he could at least keep his clothes clean.
She didn't have to a complete bitch to him, just fourty percent of one.
"Oh. My. God. Travis asked about you at Burger King Sara, please tell me you are not leading him on, he is such a waste of space." Emily said, and Sara felt her skin crawl at the mention of his name. He was basically a cock with legs, and he was always at the Clinic getting antibiotics for whatever he had caught from one of his conquests. She managed so far to avoid him, but it was a matter of time before he came sniffing around. Especially since she had money now, and she could be a payday for him.
"That Hobosexual? The only reason he has girlfriends is so that he has a place to crash, I can do way better than him." She said, and Amy gave her a thumbs up. They all laughed, except for Loki, finishing their food and chatting amongst eachother. He just sat and watched the conversation go back and forth, his eyes on all of them as Sara kept an eye on him from to corner of her eye.
--
He walked back up the stairs after eating, taking in the dark wood room as he walked into it. He sat in the blue, upholstered chair near the window and found it somewhat comfortable. His eyes on the bed with gray, cotton sheets, and the blue quilt over it. There was nothing he truly cared for in the room, and he flexed his still sore hand at how irritated he was by it all.
The food was not settling, and he belched a bit as he heard a thunk outside, and saw the one named Mark raise the axe over his head and spit some logs in front of him. Sara and Emily picking them up and putting them onto a neat woodpile that was erected between two trees to support it. He saw the one called Sara pick up a tool, and put something over ears. She pulled a cord, and the tool came to life and she began to work what appeared to be a saw into a log to cut through it.
She worked it back and forth as she cut the larger piece into smaller portions, and Mark stacked more wood. He wondered how he was going to survive in this world for a moment, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to get the device out of the back of his hand, and then get the cuff off. He could leave then, and make sure no one stood in his way again. He could easily kill the girl, and her companions, but there was something about them that made them all a bit interesting to him.
Their manners as they ate were boorish, the way they threw things and food at eachother and how loud they became as they talked. Yet, they were all forgiving of their faults, and they all seemed to gravitate toward one another for some reason.
He looked around the room again, and found a small, plastic mouse on top of the desk. He picked it up, and turned the little white knob on the side and listened to it click. Not fully understanding the concept of the object, he set it down on the floor and nudged it. The tail clicked down, and the gray mouse started moving around the floor with a whining sound as he watched.
It traveled circles, and he then looked out the window to see them all working away. He stood up, and collected the mouse, placing it back and he decided to explore the upstairs a bit before they realized what he was doing.
He walked to the end of the hall, and opened a door under the master staircase and found a large linen closet. The scent of freshly washed towels and sheets greeting him from the shelves, and he pulled a cord in front of him and the light above him came on. He looked through the shelves, and found more bottles of soaps and hair washes in them. He picked up a bar, smelling it and inhaled the fresh scent before putting it back.
He tugged the cord again to turn out the light, and closed the closet and walked around the landing to follow the stairs up to the top floor. He ascended, finding a finished attic, and several rooms off the hallway. He opened another door, and found boxes neatly stacked for storage. There was nothing of true interest there, so he walked to another room around the hall. The brickwork in the center of the floor had to be from the fireplace that graced the Foyer to warm it in the winter, that was beautifully decorated with elegantly carved wooden shelves and intricate vases that someone had placed there for decoration.
He opened another room, and found a toilet like the one in his room, and a sink. He continued his explorations, discovering small guest rooms and such, and came to a locked door at the end of the hall. He assumed it was the office that he was forbidden to enter, and left the brass and crystal knob be. He let out a long breath, and looked around him at how neat everything was. The wooden floors shining with polish, and he opened the next door to find another set of stairs.
He had to duck his head under the low passage, and he took the winding steps down until her opened the door at the bottom and found himself standing in the kitchen. He stood in it, closing the door behind him and mused about finding the Servant's Passage. The third floor must have been rooms for live in maids at one time, the rooms being smaller, and having narrower closets in them. Now, sitting empty as guest bedrooms.
He opened a door that was under the main stairs, and found a sizeable closet with packages of food and other supplies in it. He then turned his attention to the door next to the one that held the stairs, and opened it to find more stairs leading down. He descended again, finding a finished basement with laundry facilities and more storage along the metal shelves near the brickwork walls. He walked around, and found a corner with shelves creating a hiding spot. Inside, there was a battered bed with a sad looking mattress on it. There was no bedding, and it looked as if it had seen better days. He ducked under a support beam, and stood in the space, his eyes wandering the area and he saw a doll laying on a shelf and a few toys meant for a girl.
He crouched down, lifting them out of the basket, and a little book slipped to the floor. He picked it up, and he opened the cover to see a child's writing in it.
"Thos book belongs to Sara Pruitt." He read out loud, and he set it back down. He then realized what he suspected from before, when he saw an absence of photos of the girl in the hall or anywhere else. The girl was not wanted, and she was a shadow to the boy they wanted. He returned the doll to the basket, and dusted his hands off on his trousers and walked back up the stairs.
He walked the main floor, and looked at all the photographs. Not seeing a single portrait of Sara, only the brother and the rest of the family. He found a formal dining room with an ornate fireplace, and a hutch of fine china in it. And he ended his exploration when he saw a shadow from the corner of his eye, and the swinging door to the kitchen move back and forth. There was no one in the house, so he pushed it open and peered through to the empty space and felt a cold draft.
"Ah, this house is kept by the dead." He smiled to himself, and he returned to the stairs and back up to his room. He lay back on his bed, and crossed his good arm behind his head when he looked over and saw that the mouse was not where he left it on the desk. He left it to the side, and now it was in the center of it. He watched it for a long time, and grinned to himself as he heard the doors downstairs open and shut.
--‐--
Sara finished the dishes, and stared out the window over the sink at the setting sun for a moment. She closed up the dishwasher, and set it to run as she dried her hands and hung the dishtowel over the handle on the stove to dry. She walked through to the den, and heard Mark and Emily shifting around above her as they got themselves ready for bed and picked up the book she was reading. She flopped into the Lazy Boy Recliner, and curled her feet under her as she snuggled into her hoodie and opened American Gods by Neil Gaiman and began the next chapter.
She held the book in her lap, and was getting into it, when a shadow passed over her and she glanced up and almost screamed when she saw Loki standing in front of her with a bottle of water. He held it in his hand, and she slapped a hand in the center of her book as she tried to calm her breathing.
"May I have one of these?" He asked her, and she noticed that he had changed his clothes into a t shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants from the ones he arrived in. His hair hung around his shoulders, and was damp from a shower, and he waited for her answer. She swallowed hard, and she gave him a nod.
"Yeah, have two if you want, just don't scare the shit out of me like that again." She groaned, and he gave her a curt nod. He turned to leave her and paused before going back to his room, his green eyes back on her as he let out a breath.
"My apologies for startling you, and thank you for the meal tonight." He said, leaving her and she felt her mouth drop open and she held the book in her hands. She put her bookmark back into the pages, and closed it and turned out the lights as she headed upstairs herself. She turned on the light at the bottom of the stairs, the crystal globe supported by a cherub lighting the way perfectly on the post at the bottom of the handrail and began to climb.
She stopped before heading to her room and looked in at Emily and Mark, suppressing a laugh as she saw Emily sleeping with her bat next to her. It was funny, but she couldn't blame her friend as she walked into her room, and checked the shotgun she had laying near the headboard, and made sure it was still loaded. She opened the drawer in the bedside table next to her bed, and set two extra shells on the surface. She then pushed the back of the drawer, and it opened to reveal a false back and she put her set of keys to every door in the house and the tablet from Fury in it and closed it with a silent click.
She stripped off her leggings, and tossed them into the hamper and turned down the bed and lay awake for a long time. She tried to go to sleep, but it was hard with him down the hall. She made a decision then, and took the wooden chair and set it in front of her cracked bedroom door. The chair would either fall over or groan as it scraped over the floor, and that would wake her up if he tried to come into her room.
She curled under her sheet then, and let out a sigh and wondered what she did in a past life to deserve everything she suffered through. From her new roommate, and barely surviving Darla, she was beginning to believe she was Hitler or The Blood Countess at one time. She eventually let her eyes close, and her body relax as she fell asleep.