The Puppet Assassin [TTR sequel]

The Puppet Assassin - Ch 5 [the dog -|- dizelde]

"I'll be back later. Just relax in there. The first room on the right is the lounge room, there's a TV in there if you want to watch. The last door on the right is the downstairs bathroom and the room across from there will be your room. The second door to the left is the kitchen. You can go exploring but I'd be careful not to touch too much stuff. Larkin is pretty particular when it comes to scent and goes a little sulky when people spread their scent over his stuff. If you keep to the rooms I told you about for now, he can get used to you and your different smell."

I stared at him blankly. What was with this guy, Larkin?

Garth grinned as if I'd said a joke. "Larkin's very... energetic. Just a warning for you. But, he's not a bad guy. It's hard to dislike him." His face straightened. "Though it's relatively easy to want to kill him, even if you do like him."

I frowned this time, absolutely confused. He looked over at me and shook his head to clear it and focus.

"I'll be heading back to Luke's. Don't leave the gate. Don't use the phone. I'm sure you're smart enough to keep your identity a secret if anyone comes round. If Larkin comes home, you can tell him. But only him. No matter what anyone else says? Do you understand?"

I wasn't a damn idiot. I felt like rolling my eyes but I'd heard enough condescending lectures from guys older than me to know that a simple yes would get rid of them faster. "Yes... sir," I added as a mutter under my breath. And winced as I remembered his increased hearing. But he didn't say anything, not even a goodbye, and started making his way back down the street.

I turned and took in the huge house. My old home had been described as a cottage. Only one floor, three bedrooms, and only basic, necessary rooms, like the kitchen and bathroom. I hadn't even gone inside this house and I was already in awe. In front of me was a wide courtyard, a strip of water running through the middle with small waterfalls on each side. The garden contained plenty of green shrubbery and thick trunked trees, hardly any flowering plants. It seemed so crowded and mysterious, I badly wanted to explore it, I especially wanted to see if I could climb those trees and find out whether I could view Luke's place from up there. The house seemed excessively big, huge white walls, several upper floor balconies. I floated down the path to the door as if I were in a dream.

I stared vacantly at the keys in my hand and then looked up at the cream coloured door. A small red sign caught my attention, the words on it 'Beware of the Dog' though 'Dog' had been crossed out and replaced with 'Wolf', giving me another reason to run away from here as fast as I could. I knew Luke and Garth meant well, even if Garth had been reluctant to give me the spare bedroom in his shared house, but they could've at least shown me through the door, given me an idea of what I could or could not do. And there was already someone living here, a stranger that could actually be home when I open this door. Did he even know I was coming?

I slid the key into the lock, slowly turned it, and opened the door. I stood there for a minute, taking in the polished floorboards and dark grey runner. The walls were painted olive green with white borders. I didn't hate it. Then I remembered the alarm and quickly punched in the numbers, smiling slightly when the light turned a steady green. It was rare for me to be able to make that happen so quickly. It felt good. Suddenly I felt welcome here.

I moved down the hallway and decided it would probably be safest for me to just turn right at the first door and pretend to watch TV or something. TV was something I'd done before, something I couldn't screw up in this huge house.

Then I saw the TV. It was too big. Surely a simple flat-screen would suffice. This screen clung to the walls, curving into a semi-circle so that the viewer would feel like they were in the midst of things. And it looked as if the ceiling was just one big speaker. This was insane. Television was for watching, not living in.