(Your POV)
"And this is where I live!" Ethan announced, swinging open his apartment door, revealing his house. The kitchen was right by the living room with a small hallway leading to 3 other rooms. It definitely was a better place to borrow from since it was more condensed compared to Mark's house and the place was a little messy with a few plates and bowls left on the counter and some boxes of food.
He set me down on the counter where it was the cleanest. "Sorry for the mess, wasn't really expecting company," He laughed in embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck. We stood there, both not sure what to say. "Do you want to watch a show or something?" He asked, I titled my head in confusion.
"What's a show?" I asked, he looked shocked.
"You can't tell me you haven't tried to at least once try to watch what Mark has put on the Tv." He said, carefully scooping me off the counter and walking into his bedroom. In front of the bed was one of those black boxes that would produce images when you pressed what they call a 'remote'. I've almost been caught because of that wretched remote. I remember a couple months back when I had jumped up onto a remote, not knowing it's purpose at the time, trying to reach for a tissue when the black box suddenly turned on. I almost got caught but luckily I had jumped into the box just as Mark came into the room to see what was going on.
"I mean, I've might've caught glimpses of it while borrowing since it keeps you beans distracted while I borrow but I've never purposefully sat down to see what it was about," I told him as he sat down on the bed.
"Well, now we have to watch something." He proclaimed, laying down on the bed, tilting the hand I was on, causing me to tumble onto his chest. Now that his hand was free he reached over for the remote before flicking through a site called 'Netflix'. He put something on but it was hard to focus on what was going on or even hear over his thundering heartbeat below me and his rhythmic breathing luring me to sleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep I felt something heavy and warm drape over me and I opened my eyes to see Ethan's hand protectively draped over my body. I closed my eyes again and not soon after I fell asleep...
"Oh, you're still alive." My aunt greeted too sweetly, trying to hide her grimace.
"Yep! This is almost the 4th month since they've left to live on their own." My father stated, completely oblivious to my aunt's malice towards me. While my Dad might've been the best borrower in our family, he wasn't the brightest in social situations. Ever since Christmas my aunt formed a hatred against me for 'almost killing her son'.
"I'm surprised they haven't run back home," My aunt said, stepping out of the way for us to enter. This year she was scheduled to hold the New year celebration at her house. She's always bragged about easy it was to borrow from this house and how rich the humans were. It meant nothing of course since this neighborhood was a closed gated community, meaning everyone was rich here. I preferred my place though, the human that lived there was humble about his wealth, which kept him from inviting people just to show off his money. There wasn't a big advantage since he still invited his friends over practically every other day but at least I could enjoy their conversations instead of listening to snobby rich men speak about how rich they are.
My father continued to praise me, still oblivious to my aunt's intent as my mom and I went to their family room to catch up on what's been going on in the family. Apparently, my uncle, the one who hosted the Christmas party, was killed a few days after throwing the party, the family owning the house had it sprayed with toxins in fear of mice. It may sound morbid but we didn't really mourn. Of course, we were all sad but these kinds of things happened almost on a monthly basis, plus if we were to mourn for too long we wouldn't be able to borrow efficiently. My aunt kept trying to bring up how her son was almost killed before that in his house but was ignored.
I don't understand how she could be so rude towards another borrower. There were barely any of us left as there is. Luckily I was able to escape the drama by speaking to my cousins until the adults heard the family leave. I began to pack my borrowing bag but someone placed there hand on my back, my aunt.
"I don't think it would be wise for you to come along. The humans will be back soon and I'd rather not lose my house if you freeze up and get caught." She stated in a sickly sweet tone, underlined with malice. I didn't even know how to respond, not expecting her to go that far.
"Come on (Y/n), I can't wait to borrow with you again! Hopefully, we'll be able to find something sweet." I voice spoke out, it was her son/daughter, Alex.
"I don't think she's feeling too good to go." My aunt responded, giving him a glare to not intervene.
"No, you must be mistaken mom, we were just talking how excited we were." They said, they must've known what his mom was trying to do. They bent down, helping me pack a few more things before helping me up, rushing towards the adults with me in toe, holding my hand before their mom could say anything else.
We headed out, my aunt staying behind to watch the children though I think she only did because of me. Alec and I made our way towards the bowl of sweets while the adults were collecting items for dinner. "Awwhh, how adorable. Wouldn't they make a good couple?" I heard my mother tell my dad.
I should explain this now, my aunt isn't actually my aunt so my parents weren't shipping me with my cousin. Since there are so few of us, any borrower is considered a family member so my aunt is really apart of the "Wall" family, since her ancestors created a way to live in the walls by using metal to carve through the walls. My family was the "Clock" family since our family tree has mostly lived around grandfather clocks. I know our last names aren't very clever but it was the only way to know whether or not you were related to another borrower or not.
I blushed and Alex chuckled, still holding my hand as we made our way over to the candy bowl. "So, how's your new place?" They asked, slowing their pace so we could talk. I couldn't deny their voice was pleasant and they did look a little cute.
"Alright, I guess. I was easy during the first few months but his schedule has begun to become more sporadic. I don't think I'll be able to borrow during the day anymore if he keeps it up. What about you, have you moved out yet?" I asked, not wanting to go into more about what my human did since he was pretty weird at times. I mean seriously, who bathes in eggnog?
"My mom refuses to let me move out yet since she needs a 'strong borrower in the house' but she's only saying that to flatter me and make me do all the borrowing for her like my father did before he passed."
"Yikes" I replied, I'd hate to be stuck with someone like her.
"I'll move out soon though. I'm just teaching my younger brothers how to borrow efficiently enough before I go." They said. Alex had 4 younger brothers, twins who were 14, one 8 years old, and a 5-year-old. "Plus the twins birthday will be coming soon so they'll be able to take charge until my mom finds another man to manipulate." They laughed, causing me to laugh along with them. I think their mom has had 3 husbands so far. Which is very lucky and unfortunate for a borrower.
"Where are you two lovebirds heading out? Gonna make out?" an obnoxious voice spoke, being followed by a chorus of snickers. I turned around to see the "Couch" family. They were known for living in couches by ripping open the bottom of the couch and building within. Clever, but things were bound to be broken as people sat, forcing them to only build a few inches up. There were about 5 of them, all around the same age, the oldest being 19 while the youngest was 15.
I rolled my eyes at them. They were annoying, rowdy, and rude. They've forced their parents to move at least 4 times because they'd be so noisy. "How the hell did you get out here? You're supposed to be within the walls." Alex growled. While they'd never admit it, they were the ones who were in the tree on Christmas. From what I've heard, their parents didn't care what they did anymore, allowing them to roam with the adults even though they were underage.
"Your mom's too busy bashing your date to notice." one said, causing them all to laugh again. "Plus I heard you guys were going after the sweets and we wanted it." another spoke up. Alex huffed, knowing there was nothing they could do about it. Alex shook their head in frustration and grabbed your hand walking towards the candy bowl the was about 3 minutes away. The boys followed us, laughing and joking around, occasionally shoving each other. Alex and I pulled out our yarn, throwing the paper clips and having the latch onto the edge of the bowl though Alex's hook looked a little weird.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing at their hook.
"It's a fishing hook. The humans of our house like to catch fish so they have these hooks all around the house. This one was thrown out so I took the opportunity to grab it. It's definitely more efficient than a paperclip." They said, the boys seeming very interested in his hook now as did I.
"I'll have to get one for myself sometime," I said.
"Maybe when you come over again we could try and find one," Alex replied, I smiled at the thought.
"Is that flirting I hear?" The oldest said, making the others laugh. Alex scoffed, trying to ignore them.
"Here, how about you try out my hook so you can feel the difference." Alex offered, holding his yarn out towards me.
"Sure." I stuttered, taking the rope from his hand. I gave it a tug and it didn't even budge. I look back at Alex who gave me a thumbs up. I began to climb and found how easier it was. With a paperclip, it would kinda swing and it would give a bounce to it every move you made but this hook didn't budge, even with the extra weight.
"This is so efficient!" I said, looking down at the group below after I reached the top of the bowl. It took about 3 minutes to climb the bowl but I was surprised that Alex didn't climb on the other rope, "Alex?" I asked, trying to see where he was. All I could see were 3 of the boys huddled around something.
"Sorry hun, Alex left." A voice whispered beside me. I almost fell off the bowl in fright and looked over to see the eldest couch.
"W-why?" I asked in fear, not trusting the boy near me.
"Moma didn't want him to save a damsel in distress again." He said chuckling. I was confused at first until I was shoved into the bowl, falling into the pit of candy. I looked up from where I fell to see 2 heads leering down at me as they chuckled, giving each other a high-five. "See ya in the morning." One said, "If you don't freeze before then." The other chuckled referring to my reactions towards humans before the disappeared from my sight.
"Wait, please, don't leave me!" I yelled out, trying to crawl through the candy but this caused my body to sink more into the pile. My panicked mind didn't care as it tried to escape but left me further into the pile. I finally was able to calm down enough to stop; I couldn't even tell which way was up anymore. I began to hyperventilate, not sure if I'd ever escape.
I tried to think of ways to get out without worsening my situation when I heard a creaking sound echo throughout the room. It seemed to get darker than it already was. Suddenly, I heard a low rumble of footsteps approaching, getting louder with each step. 'This isn't what happened at the party." I thought to myself. I realized this was just a dream about what happened on New Years but I didn't get caught, Alex saved me a few hours after since the brothers had dragged him back to the walls.
I couldn't think more about what should be happening as the footsteps stopped before I heard rustling above me. I was confused at first until a hand suddenly wrapped around me. I tried to struggle but to no avail as I was lifted up into the air. The hand holding me plucked the back of my shirt, leaving me to dangle from my collar. I grabbed the front of my collar in fear of choking for it slipping, my legs kicked wildly, looking for solid surface.
My eyes locked onto the giant ones in front of me that were black as ink. He smirked, causing me to tremble, Dark...
(Terribly sorry this was released so late. I wasn't expecting this chapter to be this long. It's already at 2381 and I wasn't even done yet XD. So, unfortunately, I have no choice but to leave you with a cliffhanger, Chapter 14 will be released shortly, maybe around Thursday but no later than Friday. Hope you enjoyed this super long chapter!)