Monsters & Fairytales (14 page)

He flipped some pancakes in a frying pan and set it back down. I looked at him, wide eyed. I was about to question his skills, but then when he turned down the television, I saw he was watching a cooking channel. It was cute.

“You did this for me?” I asked him.

“Yes. It is my understanding that if humans do not eat in the morning, they get very upset. And I do not wish to see you upset again. I do not think I can bear it.” He smiled.

“Good thought process.” I pointed at him giving him
a thumbs
up; my brain wasn’t ready to make sense of things yet. “You know that it’s not just in the morning though?”

“Learn something new every day.”

He laughed, walking back into the kitchen.

“Do you eat this food, too?” I asked, sitting at one of the stools.
             

“I do not. I’m not entirely sure what half of it is, to be honest. I hope you like it, though.”

“What will you eat?”

“Do not worry about that, I have already eaten. And I have let the animals out.”

“Huh?” I asked.

I looked to Wilson; he was curled up in his cage. Did he walk him?

“Well I guess I just let Spike out. He told me Wilson goes in his cage so I left him. That’s a pretty awful thing in my opinion, but if that’s how it’s done… ” He trailed off cooking.

“He told you?
As in, my dog?”

I looked at Sebastian then at Spike, was I missing something?

“Yes. Does he not speak to you?”

“No. He’s a dog, I’m a human. We don’t exactly speak the same language.”

At the word ‘speak’, Spike barked. I grinned, muffling a laugh.

“He understood that, you did not understand his response?”

“No, he barked. He obeyed a command that I taught him. That’s how it works.”

“Command?
Did it occur to you that just because you do not understand him
doesn’t
mean he does not understand you?”

“Does it occur to you that, like a child, they have to be taught our language and what word means what? If I only teach him certain words, how does he know others?”

“Because he spends his time around you.
He understood all that. And he wishes you gave him more credit and weren’t so naive.”

“Right.
Hang on a second.”

I rolled my eyes. This was ridiculous. I walked over to Wilson’s cage and opened it up. If he hated using his cage, then he could go outside. Wilson just looked at me and yawned.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He says if you really want him to come out, then you should lock Spike in a cage for once.”

“Mm-hmm.
So they can understand us, but they can’t understand each other. Or better yet, I
can’t
look at Spike and tell him to leave Wilson alone so Wilson can go outside and use the restroom rather than dirty his cage?”

With that, Wilson uncoiled and trotted down his open door. He walked over to the sliding glass door and stood there. Spike didn’t move.

“What?”

I looked at Wilson and then I looked back at Sebastian. He mischievously smiled at me.
             

“Get out of here! He’s a ferret and he’s a dog! You did some stupid magic on them to make them suddenly start understanding me!”

“You give them such little credit.” Sebastian sighed.

He walked around and opened the door for Wilson. I watched him wander off into the yard.

“Okay, but don’t get lost!” I yelled after him.

Spike walked up behind me and stared after the ferret.

“No! No, Spike! You heard me, leave him alone today.” I said pointing a finger in his direction. Spike whimpered.

“Can you really understand me?” I asked leaning down to him.

He always whimpered when I took that tone with him. To finally see it as a response to my words, well, it was weird.

“Yes, he does. You really don’t hear him?” Sebastian asked, trying not to mock me in a demeaning manner. He was getting plates out of the dishwasher and only half paying attention.

“No, I really don’t. But now I wish I did.”

I leaned down further and looked into Spike’s eyes. What was he thinking? What did he know? All this time I had talked to him to make myself feel better and he had understood every word of it. I couldn’t believe it. This had to be only because Sebastian was here. As soon as he were gone things would be normal. My pets were just pets.

“More trust, Mira. You have to have more faith in him.” Sebastian whispered. “He says that he wants to tell you something. It is very important that you trust him first.”

“Of course.”

I looked at Spike with a bit of fear. What did he know? He seemed to be concentrating. It was wicked. He and I were honestly connecting. I felt my heart ache.

“He’s full of a lot of, what’s your word, pain? He says he’s sorry. He’s very sorry to see you hurt so much. He wants you better and he wants you to know he’ll never leave you.”

“Really?”

I didn’t know what else to say. Spike seemed to nod his head and place it in my lap. I felt myself start crying. It was all very surreal. Every movement he made that I had just taken as coincidence, he had meant it. All the whimpering and barking had actually been words. And he shared my feelings, of course he had feelings. He missed her, too. It wasn’t his fault.

“It’s not your fault. I love you.” I said.

I pet his head. He whimpered. I never wanted to forget the way I was feeling right now. It was beautiful. I felt complete.

“You’re good to him.” Sebastian whispered.

I laughed in my tears.

“Thank you.”

“Eat now, it’ll get cold.”

I kissed Spike’s head again then I sat back at the bar. Time was still standing still for me. I saw all the delicious food, but my thoughts were stuck on Spike. What else did he know? What else did he want to say to me? There had to be more.

“You’ll have time for that later. You need to eat now.” Sebastian encouraged me.

I nodded my head. There was so much food in front of me. Forcing myself to go on, I cut a piece of pancake. Slathering it in syrup, it slid down into my stomach. Instant relief swarmed through my malnourished body. Everything was so good. Sebastian was an amazing cook for not knowing what he was doing.

I looked up to compliment Sebastian, but the clock behind him distracted me. It was nearly nine o’clock now. Where were the movers? Had they called? I wasn’t even sure my phone was charged at this point. However, I’d give them until 9:30.

“Movers?
Oh, yes, I sent them away.” Sebastian said looking at the clock with me.

I dropped my fork.

“What? What do you mean? Sebastian!”

I jumped up and ran to the door as if to hope to catch them. What was he thinking? Wait a minute, then today was Wednesday. I had been reliving the same day only in my mind. Thank God I was caught up. That meant Joe does remember me and everything else had happened. How weird. Well, no, if I
lived yesterday like I did, but I also went to the apartment, how is that possible? Did I live two Tuesday’s? Oh, I wish Sebastian remembered.

“You and me both.”
He grinned.

“Hey, I’m still mad at you.” I sighed.

I walked back over and finished eating, less enthusiastically as before.

“They were not good for you. I can help you move.”

“Oh yeah?
And how do you suppose we do that without a car?”

“I got you here, didn’t I?”

“Yeah...how did you do that?” I asked, pointing my fork at him.

“I’m not allowed to show you.” He whispered and crossed his arms.

“What? But you just-” I couldn’t believe it.

“Yes. I cannot share any information with you that would reveal
myself
. Everything must be figured out on your own.” He paused for a moment, “If you use your brain to show me those thoughts again, you can narrow down on that part where I got you here. And then maybe I could do it again.”

“I thought you could only see wants, not thoughts. Besides, I was unconscious for all that.” I mocked him.

He snorted. This was hopeless. I leaned on the counter and pushed my empty plates towards the sink. Resting on my arm, I stared dully at him. He had to think of something.

“Hmm, oh, alright, I’m stuck here anyways. Okay, go do your human thing and get dressed.”

“What?”

“Just go.” He
shooed
me off.

I curiously got up and walked into my room. He was playing with me, how cute. Now I was worried about what I should wear. I had to have something in this room. I wondered what he was going to do. Were we going to fly? I should wear jeans. Did I have any jeans here? It wasn’t that cold out. But if he took me up into the sky, the wind would be brutal. There had to be a pair I left, I just knew it.

“Ah-ha!”
I exclaimed when I opened up a drawer and found a pair of jeans. These clothing items kept appearing when I needed them. Could Sebastian really…
             

I thought about it for a second but shook it off. I needed a shirt. I really didn’t want to wear this shirt for the fifth time, or however many days it had been. There were no shirts hanging up. I did have a jacket and a spaghetti strapped shirt lying on the floor from Sunday. That would have to do for now.
             

I looked in the mirror when I was in the bathroom. My hair had maintained itself somewhat through the night. Thank goodness I buy children’s bobby pins so they hold better. In the reflection, I saw that I still had all my clothes in the tub. They should be dry by now since I had hung them over the edges last night. However, I really had no other place to put them right now. They could stay on the edge. I just needed to wash my hair; I didn’t think my bandage was ready to get wet, anyway.

Rinsing the tub out enough to my satisfaction of cleanliness, I washed the day's mess out of my hair. I was disappointed when I saw some teal still
coming out. The box had said it was permanent. I knew this color would never last. They never last. Each associate tells me one product is better, but they’re just in it for the sale. Everyone is worried about their money. Oh, well. I’d have to make a trip to the store again anyway for black dye. My blonde roots were starting to show.

With all the conditioner out of my hair, I towel dried it and then scrunched some leave-in conditioner in the kinks. Staring into the mirror again, I cleaned my face with a wash cloth. After brushing my teeth, I put my favorite teal hair tie and white bobby pins on my wrist. I felt ten times better. I was ready for anything. I walked out and Sebastian stood up. He looked me over real quick and nodded.

“Thanks for your approval?”I raised my eyebrow at him, questioning his need to judge me at all.

“Sorry. The last few times I have seen you, well, you weren’t trying to look good I would think.”

“Ouch!” I shrieked.

“Your leg?!”
He rushed over.

“No, you moron, my feelings.”

I hit him in his arm a tad over playful.

“Feelings?
I’m sorry. I was just being-”

“Sebastian?” I interrupted him.
“Anyway.”

“Right, okay. Think of your apartment and see us in it. I can go from there.”

He stuck his hands out towards me. They were a little high up. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do with them, so I did what any normal human would have and wrapped my hands around them.

“No, Mirabelle, I need your head.” He said sternly.

“Oh, okay.” I leaned forward and closed my eyes.
“Hey Sebastian?”
I whispered.

“What?”

“It’s Mira.” I said back.

A few seconds later and I felt like my body was getting pulled inside out. I wanted to scream, but no sound would escape. It was the worst feeling I had ever felt. My body was on fire. Every bone was being broken in the slowest, most painful way possible. The only constant feelings were his hands on my head. What was he doing to me? This was utter agony. Then right when I thought I was going to die for sure, Sebastian let go. I fell backwards clutching my head.

“What the hell was that?!” I screamed; I was in so much pain.

“Open your eyes.” He mumbled.

“What?!”

I forced them open and then I jumped up. We were sitting in my apartment living room.

“I’ll get the boxes.” Sebastian closed his eyes and vanished.

What was going on? Did he really just apparate us to my apartment? I couldn’t believe it. I had read about it in so many stories. Why did none of them
warn me about how bad it felt? I would have never wished to have that gift or to even experience it.
             

My car! I had to check on it. I knew I had left it unlocked. I rushed over to the window and turned the handle up. Then I pulled it out towards me and stepped on the ledge. Looking down and up the alley, I felt so dumb. My car was parked on the other side of the building. There was no way to see it from here. I should have known that. I needed to go outside. I wasn’t sure that I should leave the apartment yet.