"But I have nowhere to go!"
I protested.
"Not my problem"
How could he be so heartless?
"Please, could I stay until I find a new place?"
"You are never gonna find a new place while you can stay here for free"
"Exactly, so why should I look for a new place?"
"Don't be so entitled. I already let you stay for a night. That was more than generous"
He was right and I knew it.
As hellishly chaotic as this place was, I had to admit I had the best sleep I had in years sleeping on this dirty couch than I've ever done in the comfort of my own bed back home, which was no longer my home as far as I was concerned.
"Leave. Now"
So there I was, back to square one. Spent a night at the place of a good Samaritan, but now out on the street sitting on the front steps of this residential building.
"Hm, haven't seen you around here before"
It's then that a relatively old man - well, probably only in his early 60s but that's in the same age group as my own grandpa - stopped on his way to enter the building.
He had a very kind face and was well-dressed in a suit, albeit with a bit old-fashioned hat.
"Yeah, I'm new here"
"Have you just moved in?"
"Kind of"
"Yesterday?"
"Yes"
"Will be seeing you around then"
He gave me a wholesome smile and continued going up the steps after tipping his hat theatrically.
"Hey, old man"
"Hm, what is it now little girl?"
"I have nowhere to go…"
"Shouldn't you be at school now?"
He had a half-concerned and half-amused look on his face.
"I suppose"
"Did you have a fight with your family?"
"Kinda"
He then looked up at the sky for a second, stroking his chin.
"I suppose you could stay at my place for a while if you don't mind. I'm waiting for my granddaughter to come home from school. She'll be back in a few hours"
"You live with your granddaughter?"
"Yes, she goes to school around here. But I suppose you are not from this area"
"How could you tell?"
"Well, your school uniform"
Gees, I realized I was still wearing my school uniform jacket and even the stupid tie, like a good girl.
At that time, my stomach let out a loud grumbling sound.
"Haha. I suppose you are hungry as well. Come on up, I was just going to have some tea and cakes"
He then lifted up a little cake box he was carrying and tapped on it with his fingers.
"You can't finish it all though as it's for my granddaughter"
"Oh, thanks!"
With that, I followed him back into the very building I got kicked out from, somewhat triumphantly, and we took a lift upstairs.
The flat I entered was the total opposite of the place I was in last night - Jim's, which I knew wasn't his name but he didn't tell me any more than that.
It was very clean, with antique furniture that was kept in good condition, and a fragrant scent of flowers by the living room window. There was a large black cat napping on a large upholstered armchair, but when it sensed that the gramps was back it hastily jumped down and came to rub his body against his leg.
"What's its name?"
"Pluto"
"That's a funny name"
The gramps said nothing as he lovingly stroked the back of his cat.
"Make yourself at home and take a seat"
I couldn't resist and allowed myself to sit on that big armchair where this Pluto was lying just before, and boy, it felt so comfortable I felt like I was sinking right in.
"Would you like some tea with your cake?"
The gramps asked me while putting the kettle on.
"Sure, thanks, gramps!"
It only took a few minutes till the tea was ready but by then I was already kind of falling asleep, and a gentle tap on my shoulder woke me up as he placed my cup of tea and plate of cake on the coffee table.
"Try and see if it is agreeable to you"
And agreeable it was, indeed.
"This must be the best cake I've ever had!"
Not that my Dad ever bought me cakes.
"Don't eat so hastily or you will choke, haha"
While the cake was delicious, the tea wasn't particularly to my taste.
Not that I was a connoisseur of high-quality tea or anything.
I better just be grateful and drink it up.
"Do you mind the old man telling you some story?"
"Sure, go ahead"
"A long time ago, when I was a child, younger than your age, I lived in a small village by the sea, which we joking referred to as the 'kingdom by the sea' as it was in such a remote location from everywhere else"
"Mm hm"
I answered with my mouth full of cake.
"I used to have a very good female friend. She was a kind soul, and easy on the eyes. I was madly in love with her"
"Aw, that's sweet"
"We used to go to the sea together to explore, and one day found this little cave by the rocky cliff that we'd never seen before. I don't think any of the villagers have ever seen that before either. It was exciting as we thought we were the first ones to discover it"
"That's cool"
"So we went in, but alas, we were in there for too long and when the high tide came, we were trapped"
"Oh no, what did you do?"
"We knew we were doomed, because living by the sea, we knew we won't be able to get out until the next low tide, and soon enough, we were getting hungry"
"Heh-, but you made it out alive, obviously?"
"The same can't be said for the poor girl"
"Oh… what?!"
"She had beautiful pale skin. As I sank my teeth in her throat, the blood dripped down like the most brilliant red paint against a white canvas. Her scream, echoing in the empty cave, was angelic. And God, the taste - I have never tasted anything so good before or since. I still savor it, and I have been craving it, seeking it, dying for it ever since, and I tried many times, but no one ever came close to her"
FUCK. I have to run.
But as I tried to get up, I realized that I had no strength in my limbs at all and I just sat there and sank deep into the armchair.
"I wonder how you'd taste, little girl. What's your name again? Ah, shame, I should have asked earlier. You can't speak now"
And he was indeed right. I couldn't even scream as if I couldn't control the muscle in my throat. All I could do was let this psycho run his hand up from my knees toward my crotch, but he got fully irritated as he lifted my skirt and saw the bruises on my thighs.
"What an abomination! Who in the right mind would do such evil to such beautiful skin!"
:WHACK!:
It is at that time I heard a loud whacking sound by the door.
Maybe his granddaughter came back?
Hang on - how stupid was I? He probably never had a granddaughter. This man is just a full-on psycho.
The pervert put his finger upon my lips and went shhhh, as if I could speak in any way.
"Who's this?"
:WHACK! WHACK!:
The whacking sound continued and I realized it was actually someone trying to break the door - oh God, am I gonna be rescued?
The old man panicked and he ran for a shotgun he had hanging on one of the living room walls, but he was too late.
He only made it about halfway there when a man finally broke through the door and caught up with him. The man had a big axe which had an impeccably clean and shiny blade that almost looked like it was made out of silver, and I caught a quick reflection of my pathetic self on that blade as it was lifted high up in the air, and landed right in the middle of the pervert old man's head, shooting blood everywhere as he met his timely insta death.
Pluto the cat hissed and ran up to its now deceased owner although there was no life there to protect anymore, and the man looked at Pluto for a second and lifted his axe up again, this time landing it on Pluto's neck to cleanly behead the poor cat.
Even in my drugged-up state I was still shell-shocked and electrified with fear, that is, until the man finally walked toward me and spoke.
"I told you there's a dodgy man upstairs. How stupid can you be?"
It was Jim.