The first night

Steam smelling like grilled meat and baked potatoes escaped through the kitchen and entered the chambers of the house, successfully reaching Michelle's nostrils and waking up her stomach, who rumbled to let everybody there know that they needed to eat. 

Michelle sank down on her chair a bit embarrassed, the cold that chilled her outside had completely vanished and had been replaced by warmth and that feeling of being home and protected. Despite that she was none of those things. 

After a couple more minutes the sounds of cutlery being used and moved around resonated, and just a couple seconds later the man came out, carrying a plate on both his hands and heading to the table. Now that Michelle was calm and had him in front, she could see that his body was more of a rounded way, he had the usual santa claus belly and he walked with the characteristic step of someone who has a prosthetic leg. She focused on the food, the hot steam reminding her to take it slow or she would burn herself. 

When she saw the man walk away she had to place the fork down, she had been taught to always wait for people to be sitting at the table so they could start eating, so she did. It didn't take long for the man to come back carrying a jar that contained red liquid and two plastic cups. He set it down and after a couple seconds he sat on the chair opposite to michelle. After a cough to the side, the man let Michelle know she could start, and so she did, enjoying every bite of the grilled meat. It turned out the red liquid was cranberry juice, very sugary but also refreshing. 

Michelle didn't find the silence uncomfortable so she didn't try to break it. She could feel the man's eyes on her, however everytime she glanced at him he was staring at his plate. The silence went on for a couple more minutes, the echo of them eating, fork and knife clinking against the plates and the rhythmic sound of the cups being settled down was the only thing that seemed to break it until she spoke. "My name is Michelle," she said. Her mother always told her not to speak to strangers but they had already exchanged words so the man couldn't be considered a stranger anymore. 

She thought the man wasn't going to reply to her from how long he took to answer, but when she was already beginning to look down at her food in slight disappointment he spoke. "Name's Tharak." Michelle stayed quiet for a couple seconds and nodded "that's a weird name" she said. The man let out a short laugh and then shook his head, finishing his food when the girl didn't ask anymore questions. 

When both of them were done Tharak stood and grabbed their plates to bring them to the kitchen, where he washed them and put them back in place. Michelle stayed on her chair, swinging her legs and sipping on the drink while she looked around the place once more. He had a couch with an old looking TV, the whole place looked old despite being impeccable. "Can I watch TV?" She asked when she saw the silhouette coming back. With a short no as an answer Tharak walked to the couch and sat down, staring at the turned off TV.

Michelle looked at him and the TV a couple times, confused by the man's actions until he laughed and shook his head. It went on for a couple minutes, the man would make comments at the TV like he was watching something despite Michelle clearly not seeing any activity from the machine. She was unsure of what to do, so she stayed on the chair while also staring at the TV, wondering if it was a magic one that needed from your imagination to be able to see through it. Nothing happened but Michelle was determined to make it work, so she stayed like that for how long it needed.

All it was seen from the outside was pitch black after a couple hours, and Tharak seemed to notice as he simply stopped laughing and then stood from the couch, distracting Michelle who hadn't been able to make it work. "Time for bed" he spoke, no room for arguments given. Michelle nodded and followed him into a corridor and then into a small room, which had a bed and a small chest that would be used to store her clothes and any things she would get. She was expecting to go back home soon, but by the looks of it it wasn't possible. 

Tharak opened the covers from the bed, waited until Michelle was tucked in and then placed the covers over her, making sure to put them under the mattress so she couldn't get out. It looked strange for Michelle, who was used to moving around while sleeping, but things only worsened. The man began tying a couple leather belts over the blanket, one by the height of her knees and the other one by her shoulders. 

She tried moving but with no avail, and looked at the belts with fear filling her eyes and tears threatening to spill. "Don't cry, it's only until we know you won't escape." He said. Michelle nodded her head, there was no point in arguing. After a quick praise the man stood and walked to the door, turned off the light and then left, not bothering to close the door. 

The girl laid there, her heart beating hard against her chest as she tried to listen, she could see the slightest light coming from the corridor and the only sound was the man's laugh. It reminded her of when she had a nightmare and she would wait to see if anything would come to attack her, and after a while of being in tension, she fell asleep.

In the town Peter was laying on the couch with his head leaning on Eleanor's lap, they were watching a documentary about animals to pass the time. Anbur was laying under the table, ears flopped down and tail resting on the floor. Richard had his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder, who at the same time was also sleeping against him. 

He kept thinking about Michelle and what would be happening to her. The many thoughts and possibilities were giving him a migraine but he couldn't stop them. Until he too fell asleep from trying not to lose hope. 

The town itself seemed to be changing, despite the progressive deaths and disappearances it seemed that people were realizing the creatures didn't exclude anyone, not even kids. And that seemed to put a roll in everybody's conscience and mind. Noone talked about it anymore, and The Carrigans weren't getting the attention that they had hours earlier, people knew it didn't help and it wouldn't make any difference, it was best to move on and hope that everything stopped soon.