7

He always said goodbye to the person, though.

If she ran past the monster that Red Skull was, she was bound to run into her grandfather sooner or later. Which would mean she'd have to deal with him.

Her grandmother was gone tonight. Her parents went out somewhere last week, and they hadn't told either one of them about the monster thing until they were already back. Pexy knew that her grandparents often stayed out late, leaving her and her brother alone in the house to tend to whatever chores they needed to do to stay busy.

But now she really wished they had come home sooner.

With that thought in mind, Pexy quickly got to her feet. She walked to the closet and pulled out a pair of sneakers that were almost identical in size to the ones her grandma bought for her to play dress-up in, and put them on. They helped hide most of her clothes, since her grandfather hated wearing them because they made his feet smell of sweat and dirt. It wouldn't surprise him if he ever discovered that she was wearing sneakers while working in the lab.

As she tied her shoes, she caught sight of herself in the mirror above her dresser. Her hair looked a little messy, thanks to it getting ruffled by her sudden movements. She fixed her bangs, pushing them out of her face, before grabbing the door knob. Before she opened it, she glanced over to the computer. There were no new notifications, no new messages. Nothing.

It seemed like her plan wasn't working. Either the monster hadn't found her yet, or it had, and was waiting for her to leave the house first. So now all that was left was for her to go out and wait for the monster. Hopefully.

Pexy stepped outside, closing the door quietly. As soon as she did, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

The moment the door shut behind her, a cold wind hit her face, accompanied by a chilling shriek and a burst of bright light. She instinctively ducked and looked around, hoping that she didn't see what she expected to see.

A huge black bird with red glowing eyes was standing right next to the door. It looked menacing, with its wings stretched out, its talons bared.

Pexy shivered and backed away from it. She tried to ignore it. Maybe the monster had gone away to find somewhere else to eat its victims. Yeah, that had to be it.

However, just a moment later, the monster appeared in front of her once again, screeching. This time, however, it was still close enough that Pexy could reach out and touch it. Her fingertips barely reached its wing feathers, but she was startled nonetheless when the monster turned around and glared at her with those glowing red eyes.

The monster roared and opened its mouth, revealing rows of white fangs dripping with blood. The monster flapped its wings and rushed at her, causing her to stumble backward. With a quick glance around to see if anyone else was around, Pexy dashed towards the car at the other end of the driveway, jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. Without taking her eyes off the road, she pressed the gas pedal with her foot, speeding up as she steered the van out of the driveway and onto the street. Then she drove in the direction of the nearest exit and started speeding up to fifty miles an hour.

After a few minutes, she pulled into a parking lot, grabbed her backpack and headed outside. Her stomach was growling loudly. She wondered whether the monster had eaten its victims. She was worried she might not get the chance to eat a full meal tonight, since she would be too afraid to return home, since her family might notice that she wasn't there. They would wonder if she had gotten lost and decided to wander around the city alone for a while. Maybe they'd call the police…

No, she definitely couldn't risk that happening. She had to go home as soon as possible.