Chompy (ONC 2021)

~7~

"Wow, I can't believe we're saying goodbye already. Be a good girl for Mom and Dad, 'kay?" Luca bent down and ruffled my hair. A grin stretched from cheek to cheek, crinkling the corners of his eyes. But even though he was smiling, a different emotion seemed to be dancing in his eyes. I wished I'd second-guessed his dark lashes that were clumped together because of the tears or the way his eyes looked like broken, hazel fractals. I should have told him "hang in there" instead of simply waving and leaving him alone at the entrance of his college dorm.

"The house is going to be so quiet with Luca gone, isn't it?" Dad spoke up on the drive home.

Already, we could feel his missing presence. Despite our nine-year age gap, Luca was a pro at reading me and keeping me entertained. Right about now, he'd probably suggest a round of I Spy.

"Here, I brought this along in case you got bored." Mom twisted in the passenger seat to hand me a thick book that looked like it would make a good makeshift pillow. My eyes scanned the harsh coloring and aggressive writing on the cover: CALCULUS FOR DUMMIES.

"Calculus?" I asked aloud. "I'm already ahead of the class doing algebra. Why do I need to learn calculus?"

Dad's lips twitched into a grimace in the rearview mirror, and I kept quiet. Slowly, I turned the pages and tried to understand the foreign language before me.

Be a good girl for Mom and Dad, 'kay? I heard Luca's words and remembered his expression. Besides, that face was terribly hard to forget.

---

"Hey, little bean," Luca ruffled my hair before reaching for another chip. "How have you been? Are you holding up okay?"

Now that I had experienced life in the house without Luca, I realized how carefully he phrased his sentences. "Are you holding up okay?" translated to "are Mom and Dad giving you a lot of trouble?"

I looked up at him, surprised that he'd plopped down beside Chompy and me as if the three of us were lifelong pals. Luca flashed me his gummy smile and reached out to pinch my cheek lightly.

"What's wrong, little bean? Is everything alright at home? To be honest, I got a call from Mom and Dad earlier that you went missing at Mt. Helleron, so I rushed over. I guess that's the perk of attending university somewhat close to home. You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Any pain?"

I ignored all Luca's questions and instead focused on the broken fractals in his eyes. "Are you okay?" I turned the tables on him.

That seemed to snap a few strings because instantly, that smiling facade crumbled and was replaced by a deep frown. Even Chompy gasped in surprise. The monster pushed his stash of chocolate chip cookies, nudging one into my brother's hand gently.

Luca shook his head. "I'm so sorry Isa," his voice cracked. "I wish I could have done more to protect you. I thought this would be enough."

Protect me? From what?

"Oh no, we made him cry," Chompy sniffled. The little blue monster looked about ready to sob himself.

"Shhh, we need to move to your room so we can talk more comfortably," Luca stood up. "Follow me. Oh, and bring the snacks," he said while grabbing a few more jalapeno chips.

So we followed my older brother past my parent's room. I glanced at his foot hovering over the wooden planks and almost yanked him back when he pivoted and narrowly avoided an extra squeaky one.

He knows. I thought while exchanging glances with Chompy. After our little waltz down the hallway, we settled down in my room.

Luca glanced under my bed, as if out of habit.

"I promise it's just me," Chompy wagged his tail nervously. "Can I ask a question?"

Luca nodded, his dark hair bobbing. "Go for it."

Chompy shifted his gaze nervously from me to my brother. "How are you so calm around me?"

I faced Luca, eager to hear the answer. It's true he'd acknowledged Chompy without batting an eyelash. And he'd been strangely aware of the creaky floorboards. I knew for a fact that wasn't common knowledge. My brother crunched loudly on a chip and scanned the room, unable to meet either of our gazes. His eyes settled on my torn up CALCULUS FOR DUMMIES workbook as we held a silent conversation.

"Don't ask," I blinked twice.

"Why not? What happened?" he wrinkled his nose.

"Hey, focus. Chompy asked you a question. You should probably answer it," I huffed. Besides, I was just as curious to know his answer.

Luca sighed–the freckles on his face darkening as he tucked his head in between his knees.

"The truth is," he began slowly, "I've met a monster before."

My eyes widened. Luca was always the fearless, confident older brother. His voice never trembled like this. Plus, the two of us usually talked about everything. I'm sure I would have known if Luca had come face-to-face with a monster. Right?

"Do you remember who you met? Or what they looked like?" Chompy prodded. With each question, I could tell the two in front of me were growing more nervous. As if they were connecting the pieces of a puzzle I wasn't yet aware of.

Luca swallowed the growing lump in his throat. "Big and blue with iridescent green and lilac scales."

Chompy dropped his cookie in surprise. "I always speculated, but I wasn't sure if I was right."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we talking about?" I placed my hands on my hips. As you can probably tell, I didn't like feeling left out. I wanted to be all shocked and wide-eyed, too.

"Not what. Who?" a voice corrected me.

"Fine. Who are we talking about?" I reworded my previous question.

The voice grew louder until I realized what was happening. A pool of gelatinous liquid materialized in the center of our snack pile, taking shape and form until a 6'0 figure towered over us.

"Me," the monster replied with a wickedly sharp grin. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Toothy Nightcrawler. It's a pleasure to eat you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too," I reached out to shake his hand, but Chompy backed away.

"No, Isa," my resident monster whimpered. "You heard him correctly."