Boredom was a monster.
A horrible, soul crushing beast that every child hated as much as the feared the Boogeyman or loved Santa Claus.
Being forced to sit and do nothing was literally a punishment by used by adults to punish naughty kids.
' You're on a time out' was a phrase equal to the death sentence.
For it truly did kill.
It killed joy. Happiness. And left nothing but the remains of sulking child.
And no one, couldn't stand doing nothing, more than Nikki Watterson.
Nikki looked around , his head twisting left and right like a broken bobblehead doll. He smiled at everyone who looked at him, even a glance, seemingly not minding that his smile was stretched a bit too tight.
But he didn't really care. Or rather, he didn't see it that way.
His philosophy was more teeth, more happiness.
Or something like that.
He wasn't sure he had one if you asked him.
"Nikki stop staring at everyone who passes by," Natasha glared at him," You're gonna make them start to stare back at us, at not in a good way."
The Watterson kids sat on a seven person sofa in a lovely lounge area, the decor was light yet detailed. Natasha, when Vivian left them here, kept rubbing the sofa and sniffing it, trying to see if she could smell the pinkness it contained. Nikolai sat at the edge of the sofa, scowling at anyone who looked his way and silently brooding like a wronged vigilante. Nicole sat between them, playing with a ball of blue string that Vivian left for him, he kept trying to unravel it, but the thing was tied too tight.
"Can i-" Nikki started but before he could finish the sentence, his older siblings cut him off.
"No!" The twins said at once glaring at him.
"But I didn't even finish! You don't know what I wanted to say." Nikki gave a small pout but neither of them fell for it.
Which was a very hard thing to do, since Nikki was a pretty boy. With deep black hair, sapphire blue eyes, delicate features and creamy pink skin, he looked like what Adorable and Cuteness's baby would look like. Most people tended to be drawn to coddle him, compliment him and assume he's a precious thing, much to their regret.
The only people who didn't fall for his cute looks, were his family.
Natasha saw herself as way cuter than him, so his Bambi eyes were ineffective and Nikolai was just too cross to be sympathetic at all.
"Doesn't matter, anything you want is not allowed." Nikolai said crossly.
"But...I can't...stand doing nothing." Nikki felt restless, caged and nervous. He scratched his wrist subconsciously as he talked to them," Mom says I shouldn't do something that makes me feel bad."
"She also says you should behave and if you forgot, she's mad at us." Natasha jabbed a finger at him," I won't let you two ruin this day for me. I've wanted to come here since I was in mom's stomach."
"That's not how that works, and what do you mean 'you two'?" Nikolai glared at her," I just wanted to get out of the house and do something. But now I'm stuck with a whiny princess, a troublemaker and a baby."
"Who are you calling whiny?" Natasha zeroed in on him," You're the one who was crying in the picture because he got a cake. It was my birthday too, but I didn't end up looking so much like a dumb mess."
"You take that back! I didn't cry!" Nikolai shouted at her with a quivering and angry voice.
"No I won't and yez you did." Natasha crossed her arms.
"Take it back!" Nikolai shouted louder than ever.
"Whiny, baby," Natasha breathed on his face," You should trade diapers with Nicole. Right little brother?"
Nicole looked at his two siblings and smiled tossing the ball of yarn at them. Natasha caught it and turned to hand it to Nikki.
She froze.
Nikki was gone!
...
Sarah Ramirez liked her job at Enchanted.
As a receptionist, she was the first face and the last face customers saw.
With her soft black hair, deep brown eyes, olive skin and immaculate smile, she was a knock out. A perfect face for the perfect place as Suzanne once told her, laying her down and telling her this was where she belonged.
Did she miss designing? Not too much, she could do it at home at night.
Were some customers unbearable? Well, yes, a few were abrasive and severe.
But she didn't dare ask for a reassignment. Suzanne didn't give people a chance to even say feedback, unless they wanted to be unemployed. As a mother with a child, staying with her own mother, she could not afford it. Her husband was not around and her own family were not rich to support her or her Angel.
This job was everything. It was a blessing.
"Hello Miss lady."
Sarah was startled hearing the soft voice. Turning over in her seat she saw a child looking at her with a small smile. The child looked no older than eight or seven, his cheeks still holding the roundness of infantile innocence. Their body was lithe and skinny, very androgynous too and Sarah couldn't tell if they were a boy or a girl.
So she took a guess.
"Hello little girl, are you lost?"
Nikki's eyes grew a bit wider as he giggled.
"I'm not a girl. I'm Nikki. " The boy scratched his wrist absentmindedly as he looked at her work station," What are you doing here by yourself?"
"This is where I work. Umm... where are your parents? Do you have someone looking after you?" Sarah asked him gently.
"Mom is here somewhere and i don't have a Dad," Nikki reached forward and snatched a pair of scissors from the counter," Shiny and sharp."
"Oh! Dear be careful, those are dangerous. Why don't you give them back and we can find your mother? How's that sound?" Sarah opened her palm so he can hand her the scissors.
Nikki looked at her open palm and for a moment, a tiny second, wondered what she would do if he shoved the scissors through it. Then he remembered what Nicholas said about hurting people and the thought fizzled like a fried fish in a wet fish bowl.
"I don't want to go back to doing nothing." Nikki tossed the scissors onto the counter, making Sarah recoil instinctively," If you try, I'll run again. I'm good at running. My mom says I'm the fastest boy ever. No one can catch me."
"Oh is that right?" Sarah gave a small sigh as she looked at him, thinking about her own son. Of course her own son was not nearly this peculiar, but children were blessings from above so she didn't question it too much that Nikki behaved strangely.
"How about, you sit here and stay with me? And if your mother comes, you can go with her?" Sarah suggested but Nikki shook his head.
"No, mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers... so does big brother, and big sister and oldest brother." Nikki said with a thoughtful look.
Sarah gave a hopeless smile at this child's odd behavior, and reached for some blank sheets of paper, a pair of pencils and pens. She offered them to Nikki, who slowly took them and sniffed the paper with a curious smile.
"You can sit here, next to me" She put some fabric onto the floor, knowing the floor was clean.
The little boy sat down next to her and started to draw.
Sarah smiled wistfully and resisted the urge to pat his little head.
Which was her saving grace, because if she had, Nikki would have shoved the scissors into her hands with no hesitation.
Instead the two settled into silence as Nikki drew on his paper and Sarah occasionally tended to customers.
...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: We're getting caught up with our other novel and can barely talk about ourselves. We apologize in advance, we know our story is entertaining. So we'll try to upload more chapters when 'The lich's path' apocalypse' reached chapter 100. Please support us, Nikki needs more drugs and Natasha wants to go to a sex club people!