chapter 8 keeping Kat

What to do with the egg?" That was the question. She stood staring at it for a moment before deciding fresh air might help her think. But the moment she stepped outside, a burst of rainbow light engulfed her.

"Wait—NO, NO, NO—!!!" she screamed as she was launched into the sky like a human cannonball.

With a thud, she landed in an office chair in front of a man wearing a suit. His nameplate read Greg, Guardian of Sirius' kids.

"Finally!" Greg slammed his coffee mug on the desk. "You're here. We need to talk about the egg."

"What? I—"

"Listen carefully," he interrupted, wagging a finger. "The egg is NOT your problem. It will only hatch for the rightful mother. That's not you, unless you want it to be… Do you want it to be? Because I'm telling you, 18 years is a long time to raise a surprise dragon or…whatever's in there."

"Wait, wait, a dragon?!"

"Or a platypus. Could be anything, really." Greg waved a hand dismissively. Who was this guy? Like some sort of Boy Scout janitor trying to make dad jokes?

I didn't say anything.

He seemed to notice I wasn't buying his facade so he leaned forward and got more serious.

"Point is, if you keep it, you'll have a deal with the devil."

He smiled at me like that was a good thing. And then his face and demeanor shifted from that of a custodian closet dweller to a god of darkness.

The office became a sleek high rise pent house with an infinity pool that stretched off the side of the balcony as if one could fall off the side of the sky scraper.

Everything was black marble and glass. The man before me now looked like kaniving was his middle name.

I gulped.

"I'm kidding." He said smiling. A warm demeanor coming over him through a smile that had small fangs. "I'm Loki." The name plate changed to Loki. "God of chaos. That egg there belongs to my grandson. Please hold onto it for a while. And then when he awakens he will come to claim it, you will see." Just don't burn it or it will hatch." 

Then I was left back on my porch as if I had given him my soul. I sighed. It began to rain and the egg seemed to stare at me like a box of kittens. I couldn't leave it out in the rain. It was somebody's baby. "Gaaaaa!!!! Fine." I went back into the house. "Welcome home against my will again." I said. "I better not become a dragon mamma." I muttered. 

As soon as I set the egg down on the kitchen counter, it wobbled.

"Oh no, you better not be hatching already," I yelled, inching away. "Loki said 18 years! Eighteen years!"

Michael came to the kitchen groggily. "What are you up to?"

The egg stopped moving, as if deciding if Michael should know it was alive. I let out a relieved sigh. But just as I turned my back, a loud zzzz! rang out, and the kitchen lights flickered.

The appliances whirred to life.

My blender revved up and the gears got spinning so fast it launched its lid, which ricocheted off the ceiling fan and hit Michael right in the head. Knocking him out.

"Why is this my life?!" I cried. "Oh, so you think this is funny?" I snapped at the egg that now zapped the toaster and it began to smoke. "You're a comedian now, huh?!"

Suddenly, the glowing stopped. Everything went still. The egg sat perfectly still on the counter as if nothing had happened.

I stared at it, holding the toaster which I unplugged but it still attempted to cook nothing.

"You're lucky you're somebody's baby," I muttered, setting the toaster down. "But if you pull something like that again, I'm scrambling you for breakfast."

The egg wobbled once more, as if daring me.

"That's it. I'm buying a fire extinguisher tomorrow and I'm locking up all of these appliances."

The egg sat on the counter, finally still, and I stared at it like it might spring to life again at any moment. But nothing happened.

"Good," I muttered. "You've caused enough chaos for one lifetime."

Michael groaned from the floor, now holding an ice pack to his head. "You know what, I'm done. That egg is cursed. Or you're cursed. Either way, I'm not touching it."

"Fair enough," I replied, glaring at the egg. "But someone has to clean up this mess."

As if like clockwork Bing!

The system offered me a quest.

[clean kitchen: reward 500 exp]

The kitchen was a war zone. Flour coated the counters, splattered yolk dripped from the ceiling, and the toaster was still smoking faintly despite being unplugged. The blender had been dirty that was why. I glared at Michael who was the one who had been making a shake earlier.

Michael squinted at the mess, then looked at me. "You're on your own."

"Thanks for the support," I muttered, grabbing a rag and a bucket of water.

As I wiped down the counter, I muttered under my breath, "This is my life now. Cleaning up after an electric egg."

Michael, who was halfway out the door, called back, "If it does, at least we'll save on heating bills."

"Ha. Ha."

With a sigh, I scrubbed harder, trying to make sense of my increasingly ridiculous life. The egg didn't wobble, glow, or do anything else weird. It just sat there, smug as ever.

Finally, after what felt like hours of scrubbing and mopping, the kitchen was clean again—or as clean as it could be under the circumstances.

I collapsed into a chair and stared at the egg. "You better stay put. I don't have the energy to clean up another mess.

The familiar

+20 hp

+20 hp

+10 mp

Rang out. Why was my reward always so low?

+500 exp.

Ok that one wasn't low. "Im going to bed." I said to the egg.

It seemed to look at me with wanting as if it would be lonely. Why could I feel what it needed? I was starting to really feel like it was a baby that wanted to go with me. "Ok ok. You get to sleep in my bed but you had better not stab me.

I'm gonna name you cat you know what? Because you seem to have a personality like a cat."

(I liked that. Cat. Or perhaps Kat with a K. Yeah very nice. I think I'm going to like it here with Evelyn after all.)