The House Over The Hil

Chapter 10

Tommy's phone rang wildly, scaring the two of them awake. He grabbed the phone and it blinded him as he turned it over to answer.

"Hello?" Tommy said, quietly so he wouldn't annoy Toby any further.

"Tommy, where are you?" Wilbur asked, sounding angry. "You said you were gonna be home before dark, and on time for supper. Where. Are. You."

Tommy looked out the window and saw that it was dark out. The stars were already out, and so was the moon.

Shoot. Tommy thought.

"I'm sorry. I'll be back home in five minutes." Tommy said as he started getting up. "I'm on my way right now."

Tommy heard as Wilbur sighed and hung up on him. He looked at his phone and saw that it was 7:25 at night. He sighed and started to walk out the door before remembering Toby was still there.

"Where are you going?" Toby asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I have to go home." Tommy explained, leaning on the doorframe and smiling at him. "Wilbur called me and is mad that I'm not home yet."

"Are you gonna be back tomorrow?" Toby asked, standing up and snuggling Benson.

"Of course." Tommy told the ghost. "I promise."

Toby smiled and waved goodbye as Tommy walked down the stairs and out the house. The gentle night breeze hit his face hard and made him more tired than before. He wanted to walk, but knew he would get into more trouble if he didn't get there on time.

He ran up the hill and stopped at the top, turning around one last time to look at the old house that housed a ghost. There in the window, was Toby looking at him and waving goodbye. Tommy smiled and waved back before going to run back to his house.

The boy took off down the street and towards his house. The night air pierced his skin and he got a chill down his spine.

He felt his chest tighten and he lost breath. Tommy stopped on one of the sidewalks and tried to catch his breath. He put his hands behind his head and breathed heavily.

As he did this, a sound came from behind him. It sounded like a small animal walking closer to him.

Tommy turned around to see a half black and half white cat. The cat's face was half black and half white, while the rest of it's body was black except for small white dots around it's paws. The cat's eyes were a very pretty yellow.

"Hello, cat." Tommy said, sitting on his heels and rubbing his fingers together. "Come here."

The cat hesitated for a second before walking over and sniffed his fingers. It then put it's head under his hand and pushed up, wanting to be pet.

Tommy scratched the cat's head and let out a breathy laugh. "You're kinda cute. I shall name you...Shroud. Yeah, I like that name."

He picked up the cat and pet it more as he walked home. The cat purred and purred, snuggling into his chest. This took away all his worries.

Tommy eventually got to his house and stood at the front door. He could see Wilbur and Techno arguing about something at the table while his father was trying to calm them down.

He wanted to sneak Shroud inside, but didn't know how he was gonna do it without being caught.

Tommy placed the cat into his jacket and zipped it up so you couldn't see the cat, then he walked in.

"Hey guys..." Tommy said, shutting the door behind him.

They all immediately looked over at him. His father looked relieved to see him, and so did Techno. Wilbur looked angry. The brother stood up and started to walk over.

"Tommy! Do know how afraid we were?!" Wilbur yelled.

Tommy could feel Shroud flinch beneath his jacket. He squeezed him a little tighter. He didn't want Shroud to feel unsafe and scared. But Wilbur wasn't much help of that.

"...no..." Tommy mumbled.

He could feel Shroud move underneath the jacket, and he tried to act like nothing was wrong. It was really hard to act calm, since the cat wouldn't stop moving around and about to meow.

"Answer me!" Wilbur yelled, shocking Tommy.

"I..." Tommy started to say, but stopped quickly when Phil walked over.

"Wilbur," Phil said, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you go sit down at the table? I'll take care of Tommy."

Wilbur huffed and sat down at the table. Tommy could tell he still had more to say to him, but didn't want to get yelled at by their father.

"Tommy, where were you all day?" Phil asked Tommy, crossing his arms.

Tommy didn't know what to say. They wouldn't believe him if he said he was hanging out with a ghost all day.

"You wouldn't believe me." The boy said under his breath.

"Why wouldn't I believe you?" Phil asked, looking behind him to see if Wilbur was still there.

Tommy looked down at the floor. He could feel Shroud move underneath the jacket. He didn't even know how to explain it to his dad. No one would believe him no matter what he said. There was no point.

"I was hanging out with a friend." Tommy finally said.

Phil stared blankly for a couple seconds. "Alright then. Go get ready for supper."

Tommy nodded then quickly walked up the stairs. As he got to his room, he unzipped his jacket and placed Shroud down on his bed. He looked back at the cat before shutting the door to go to dinner.

"Just stay in here." Tommy told Shroud. "I'll be back in just a second."