Chapter 6

Kitty sat there in front of the cupboard, screeching like a banshee at the sight of this grinning phantom. In his shock, he had fallen onto his ass on the floor, dropping the biscuits and milk carton. The person was scary, but what terrified him even more was the doll in their arms. At first, he didn't acknowledge it. It was just a stuffed teddy to him. Until its head snapped around to face him. Kitty freaked out even more. How the hell could a doll move? It's impossible. But he wasn't mistaken. He knew what he saw.

Two separate doors clacked open, and in ran Claire and Richard. Claire rushed over to him, panicked. Richard stood in the doorway of where he came from, puzzled.

"What's wrong? What happened? Why are you screaming?" Claire asked in a frantic tone, holding Kitty's shoulders to calm him.

Finally quieting down, Kitty pointed to the cupboard with a shaky hand. "There's someone in there!"

Claire's eyes followed where he was pointing. Once she saw who was inside, annoyance replaced the concern on her face. Richard pinched his brow, muttering to himself.

"It's OK," Claire said, sighing. "The little prick lives here."

The person scowled at her like an angry child. They placed the can of cola down and chucked the doll rather unceremoniously out of the cupboard. She landed on the floor on her back, legs standing upwards. Then, the person flopped down onto their stomach and crawled out like a humanoid spider, all legs and arms.

A short shriek escaped Kitty's mouth and he shuffled back. The fear was diminishing a little now that he knew they weren't a threat to him, but he was still a bit creeped out.

The doll they threw stood herself up and began to rant and rave, swinging her little plush arms around. "You little bastard!" She yelled. "How dare you throw me out like yesterday's rubbish?"

Eyepatch Spider - as Kitty had dubbed this stranger without a name - frowned at the doll before booting her across the room. She hit the wall with a gentle thump and slid down, unharmed but even angrier.

She stood once more and dusted off her little blue dress. She waddled over to Kitty and held her hand out. "Hello, cat-boy. Caroline Liddell, professional computer hacker, at your service. But you may call me Carrie. Everyone else here does, though I do not appreciate my good name being abbreviated."

Kitty stared at her. He bent down and shook her hand, and gave his name in return. He was talking to a doll. If you'd have told him that a year ago, he would have thought you were insane. Wait, did Carrie say she was a hacker? How was that even possible? Well, she could walk and talk, so perhaps nothing was impossible.

Kitty stood up fast, trying not to be so afraid. He knew he was a wimp and it humiliated him. "Excuse me, little doll gi- I mean, Carrie," Kitty corrected himself, trying not to offend her. "You're a doll, right? So how can you do things a person can do? And how can you use a computer with your tiny little hands?"

Tiny sewn-on eyebrows knitted together. "I can use one very well," Carrie said. "I was not always a doll. I was human, but then I died and became a ghost. I brought the Devil Child here," she gestured to Eyepatch Spider, who glared at her, "back to my dollhouse in purgatory, and he sealed me inside this wretched doll!"

"Well, you did try to kill us." Richard muttered.

"That is all in the past now," Carrie waved in dismissal. "Do not dwell on the past. It is not good for you."

Acid green eyes raised to look at Eyepatch Spider. He hadn't gotten a good look at them before since she was screaming in terror. After staring at them for a few seconds, it dawned on him that they were male, around the same age as Kitty. He had a round, pretty face with and a slender body, chin-length layered hair with a fringe that went over one of his eyes in a pseudo emo-punk style. He was wearing gothic-style make-up, but he still had a masculine air to him with his body language and lack of breasts and curves. His face was a mix of feminine and masculine, bordering on androgynous.

Kitty found that he couldn't look away. Not because he was strange-looking. The absolute opposite, in fact. He was incredibly handsome. When the cute stranger made eye contact with him, he could feel his face heating up and his heart racing. He knew he was blushing. He averted his eyes, praying that the other boy wouldn't notice.

After a few seconds of awkwardly avoiding his gaze, he glanced up to see the boy smiling at him in a way that sent a pleasant shiver through his body. Crap. He caught him eyeing him up and even seemed amused by it. All Kitty could do was stare like an idiot. He wished the universe would have imploded or something to release him from this embarrassment.

The boy grinned in a flirty way. "What's your name?" He asked. His deep, husky voice contradicted his appearance, and made Kitty's brain stop working. He had a slight Japanese accent that made him even cuter.

Kitty tried to respond, but his mind had turned to jelly. He couldn't get his words out. He stood there, stuttering, willing his mouth to form words. He was too shy, too lovestruck by this guy he had only just met. The boy's grin widened and he stepped forward.

To Kitty's shock, he gently took his hand in his and kissed it. Then he smiled at him like a prince. This was the last straw for Kitty. A scandalised gasp escaped him, his face now crimson, and stumbled back into Claire. She caught him and yelled at the boy.

"Damien, stop flirting! You'll scare him off!"

"I just asked what his name was." The boy, Damien, replied with a confident smile. "Didn't scare him one bit."

Claire sighed and called him immature. "Sorry. Don't mind him. He does this to every man he meets."

"Only the cute ones." Damien grinned. "You didn't answer my question. What's your name?"

"Oh! Erm," Kitty wracked his brain for an answer. It was such a simple question. Even a three year old could answer. But his mind was blank and he had to think hard to unscramble it. "M-My name's Kitty."

"That can't be your real name, even though it's cute." Damien had a confused look on his face.

"No, it's just a nickname." Kitty smiled nervously. "My real name's Levi."

An impressed whistle followed. "Your name suits you." Damien grinned again. "A beautiful name for a beautiful boy."

Kitty giggled, holding his pink cheeks. The attention didn't bother him. It was exhilarating. He'd never felt so excited. No one had ever flirted with him before. He never felt confident enough to attempt to chat someone up, either. He'd always felt ugly, inadequate, as his bullies often told him. He never felt he was good enough. But now, the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen was hitting on him, calling him beautiful. He couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Once they had cleaned the food mess up, and he was now relaxed, his situation no longer seemed so frightening. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room with Damien, listening to his MP3 player. His music, that he called metal, was loud and scary with a lot of yelling. It surprised Kitty how much he liked it. The instruments were exciting, and the singing parts were lovely. He couldn't understand the lyrics of a lot of them since they were in Japanese, so Damien translated them. They sang of things that he related to, like loneliness, depression and death. It was dark yet poetic. It touched him so much he began to cry. This worried Damien, but when Kitty told him it was because his music was beautiful and they made him feel like he wasn't the only one suffering, he smiled. He told him he felt the same way with a vacant look. Kitty wondered if he was suffering like he was. Was he lonely and missing someone, too?

The song they were listening to had just ended when Claire came in. She greeted them, and they spoke for a while on how Kitty was settling in. She informed Kitty that he would be staying in Damien's room. The only have three bedrooms in the house, so he'd have to share. Kitty started playing with his hands. What if he did something embarrassing in his sleep and made Damien think he was disgusting? Damien noticed his anxiety. He took his hand and squeezed it with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I won't bite. Unless you want me to." Damien's innocent grin and comment made Kitty laugh. "Once you're settled in, you'll feel much better."

His kind words made Kitty feel more at ease. He was still nervous, but felt reassured. They were nice to him and made him feel welcome. He thanked them for letting him stay. Damien had a genuine happy look on his face that made Kitty's heart race again.

What would life be like in this house with this strange but gorgeous man?