One Day He's Going to Eat Me

I wake up with a smile on my face hearing the chirping birds on my window. It sure feels good waking up at their lovely sound. It doesn't fail to lift up my mood to a start. Flipping my blankets to the side, I slide out of my bed and pad towards the window.

The sun's already high up but I don't feel guilty for sleeping in. Weekends like this are the only day I can have a rest after a long week of restless studying. Today, I'll spend it entirely for leisure and play. I look at the lawn below and quickly notice Annalouie sitting on the swing, his eyes are trained at me.

No, I don't think he can see me through the tinted glass. But he's definitely staring at my window. It creeps me so much that I suddenly take a few steps back. Why does he always have that look on his face? I also don't understand the feeling he inspires from me. But one things for sure, I'm a little terrified by the little devil.

I huff and square my shoulders. Why would I be terrified by such a wimpy kid? I'm older and taller than him although Annalouie's fat but my build is bigger than him from working household chores when we're still living in a ramshackle apartment. My body's used to hard work so if he wants a fight, I can easily win. Hmmph!

I make my bed before getting into the connecting bath for a quick shower. Servants automatically serve me my brunch as soon as I enter the dining room after going down. I know mom and dad will be in the hospital today despite it being weekend. Which is good because I'll have fun playing with Annalouie today.

Excitement has me eating fast before dashing out of the house. Annalouie's eyes widen seeing me stepping out of the door. His spine straightens up while clutching his sketchbook tighter into his chest. He watches me approach him and stiffens when I round his back to push the swing.

"I'll swing you." I tell him, not bothering to wait for him to hold onto the metal chains.

Annalouie doesn't answer, only nods his head furtively. I push the swing harder, pushing it faster until he sails into the air. He always has a stoic face as if he's a robot and I'm dying to see what he looks like freaking out. I start giggling when he seems to panic, struggling to look at me over his shoulder while maintaining his balance.

His hands lock tightly around the chains until they turn white and his legs curl inwardly under the seat of the swing, obviously not enjoying the ride anymore. When I look up to watch his face, I panicked seeing him crying silently. Frantic, I step forward to catch the swing, wanting to halt its movement already.

However, the swing smacks hard right into my chest that I drop to my bottoms before Annalouie lunges forward and falls to the grass. I heard something snaps behind the sound of his grunt. It creates a disturbing noise together with the gritty squeaks of the swing and its rattling chains.

I rush towards him, eager to help him up to his feet but Annalouie has already sat up and sobs into his hands. I wince, feeling guilty. I only want to spook him. I never intend to really make him fall to the ground. I kneel in front of his sobbing self and pull his hands away from his face.

"A-Annalouie, I... I'm..."

"It's fine!" Annalouie suddenly jerks his head up and meets my gaze, blood seeps out at the corner of his mouth.

Although Annalouie's eyes are still streaming with tears and his nose running, he's smiling. I'm taken aback by his reaction. I'm sure the fall hurts but how can he still manage to smile like this. I'm suddenly reminded of Chuckie, the cursed doll that can't get killed. I shiver at the sight of his smiling face and bleeding lips. I suddenly stand.

"I... I'm going inside." I say before running back to the house.

That's really creepy. His smile freaks me out. Plus, his eyes are too green, too deep they almost look like the murky pond full of algae and floating crocodiles. I shiver. Annalouie is like a crocodile, lurking silently and smiling with his big, sharp teeth. One day, he's going to eat me!

The rest of the day, I try avoiding Annalouie although he insists on following me wherever I go. He seems to understand that I don't want to play with him so he maintains a considerable distance between us. He draws on his sketchbook while glancing at me from time to time as if checking if I'm still where I'm at.

By the afternoon, I get down from my bedroom towards the living room to wait for mom and dad to come home. Annalouie, as usual, follows after me. I'm getting annoyed by his constant following that I stop at the bottom of the stairs, just beside the large vase, before turning around.

Annalouie is still at the middle of the stairs, tiptoeing as if I don't know hes following me. Seeing that I'm staring at him, he stops from his descent, drops his gaze and looks down to his feet. My frown deepens at the meek look he's showing. Chuckie also looks cute if he's not stabbing people with a knife.

“Why do you keep following me, Annalouie?" I ask, frowning.

Before he can answer, a car's engine resounds outside the door, signaling us that our parents have arrived. I gasp in excitement before turning around, dashing towards the front door. However, before I can make it to the living room, my body sails forward to the vase thats standing at the side.

I forgot that it's there and now it's too late for it to be saved. My weight sends it tipping forward before it makes a loud crashing noise as it hits the marbled floor. Big and small chunks of the expensive vase exploded around, totally damaged and unfixable.

My heart pounds so loud it's deafening me, numbing my body to panic. Annalouie hurries down the stairs and stands beside me, looking at the thousand shards of the vase. Servants footsteps rush to our direction just as the door clicks and slowly opening, allowing our parents entrance before their gazes found us.

"What happened?" My mom asks, frowning at the damaged vase.

"I... It's..." I stammer, unable to admit my fault before my eyes snap to Annalouie.

"What happened, Axel?" Mommy demands authoritatively, making me shiver on my feet.

"A-Annalouie." I say with trembling voice, pointing at the boy next to me. "He... He tripped a-and landed on the v-vase. It... It was an a-accident!"

I can't meet our parents eyes so I turn to Annalouie instead. The boy stares back at me through his lashes, his chin tucked to his chest. His expression didn't change although I just put him to compromise. I swallow, hoping and praying that Annalouie would keep silent the whole time.

"It's alright, Kylie. It's just a vase. The boy said it was an accident." Dad says, putting a hand over mommys shoulders. "Alright, you clean them up." He tells the servants before looking at us. “Are you alright, boys? Were you hurt?”

I shake my head while Annalouie, to my shock, grins at daddy. No, wait. That's not a grin. He's showing our parents his teeth. He lost a tooth and I blink. Huh? How did he... I gawk at him and begin shivering in terror. Is he going to tell our dad that I pushed him off the swing resulting to him losing a tooth?

"What happened to your tooth, Annalouie?" Mommy exclaims, rushing towards us but dad stops her before she can hurt herself with the shards still scattered on the floor.

"You're a brave little one, son. You didn't even cry when you lost a tooth." Dad grins while shaking his head. "Alright, I'll call a dentist friend of mine to check up on you. Both of you go upstairs so you won't get hurt any further."

I don't need more encouraging as I dash up towards the second floor. My wild heart thumps loudly like my heavy footfalls. Once I step into my room, I slam the door shut and take rapid breathing. That was... That was so close! Dad almost discovered I did something bad! He shouldn't know that I misbehaved.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I stiffen and tremble even harder. Who could it be? If it's mommy, I don't want to open the door. I know mommy always has a way of knowing the truth. I don't even know how she does it. The knocking stops but I still wait for another few minutes until I'm sure the person outside has left.

When I've already calmed myself down, I carefully open my door and see no one outside. The hallway is silent but something catches my eyes. On the floor of my doorway is a red metal box with white cross on top of it. Is it what I think it is? I scan the hallway once again and notice Annalouie's door is a little ajar.

Upon closer look, the boy stands behind his door, peering silently through the little open gap. I cringe seeing his deep, green eyes like the leery eyes of a cat at night. I pick up the first aid kit before slamming the door shut once again, looking at the box in confusion.

Why did Annalouie give me this? I check myself and only then I notice for the first time that I actually stepped on a shard earlier. The side of my left foot is bleeding, although it's just a small cut. How did he even know it when I didn't feel it myself?

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