The House Companion

Chapter 1: The Arrival

Maria's P.O.V.

"Is she kind?" My voice was a bit groggy as I just woke up and sat properly in the car of my boss's friend. Sir Mayah looked at me through his back mirror and nodded, wrinkles surrounding his eyes as he smiled in thought.

"I mean, she's nothing but accommodating to us every time we went there."

I don't know whether to take that as a sign that she is kind or that she simply tolerates people.

It got me thinking whether or not this babysitting job was it for me when I graduated high school at 22, 2 years wasted because of the pandemic. Or maybe even 4 considering I began school late.

I just remind myself that the pay was good. Although it made me wonder why being a house companion could get paid that much. If I knew way, way back that it paid so well, I would've quit school right then and there.

This girl must be very important and alone that she needed someone to be in the house with. Or maybe she's just that rich to afford one, I don't know.

This curiosity will kill me someday.

They accepted me on a few conditions; one is that I never ask anything as they don't owe me answers, two is that when I see something, I did not, and three is that I keep quiet of the things done, heard, or experienced inside that house. They even made me sign an NDA, not that they knew I knew what it was.

I may not have a college degree, but I'm not stupid.

Only slightly.

But am I gonna obey those conditions? Maybe. Am I gonna ask questions? If I phrased it right, maybe again. Am I gonna keep quiet? Hell no. What if this girl is a serial killer and is gonna make me her next victim? It's highly unlikely, but maybe!

All these overthinking is making my nerves, well-- nervous. I can't help but to bounce my thigh anxiously as we pulled up to the house, surrounded also by identical houses beside it all the way to the end of the block. I didn't notice that we were in a subdivision of some sort.

Makes calling for help a lot less difficult, not that I'd have to, anyway.

The house which was quite big than where I was living in previously before I took the job, looked small. Overgrown weeds and almost yellow-- or, dare I say, dying plants littered the front yard, the house address plate beside the door displaying a faded block and lot number that I can tell was silver at some point, has now faded into almost non-existence with just the outlines being noticeable.

I found it strange that the house plate doesn't have any of those 'last name' residence or the name of the houseowners. Probably the anonymity of it all, which I understand considering I, too, came here to start fresh, where no one knows me enough or, at all.

"Hi." An excited woman greeted us, my eyes visibly widening as I saw the woman I'm gonna be living with for an uncertain amount of time.

Dyed purple-gray hair that I could tell she's done by herself, a round face with a lovely chin, brown eyes hidden behind some cat-eye glasses, so bright that they could blind you, and nose so high my Asian nose cannot compare.

She was cute.

And young.

I'd had thought at first that she was an old lady, but I was wrong.

I was given no context as to who I was supposed to look after, only that her name is Lockley and that she needed someone in the house to do household chores.

"Welcome home." Her eyes dimmed a little as she gave me a tight-lipped smile, her cheeks protruding from her face as she took my hand and shook it.

I don't know why, but I felt a sinister chill down my spine when she did. I shook it off as being in an unknown place and reciprocated her handshake.

"Uncle Mayah." She nodded at sir Mayah, who was leaning against his car and examining us with a calculating stare. When Lockley called on him, he snapped out of it and looked at her with fondness.

"Hello, Lee-loo." She giggled, "Uncle, hellooo."

"She's gonna be your home companion," he gestured to me, "so be nice."

"What--" she mocked being insulted, bringing her hand on her chest and exaggeratingly opened her mouth wide open for a gasp, "I'm always kind! You're too hard on me, uncle!"

Sir Mayah laughed and ruffled her already messed up hair, "Yes, yes, I know. Take care of her, you hear me?" They're speaking as if I'm not here.

"Yes, uncle."

"We don't want a repeat of last time--" Lockley seemed embarrassed as she covered sir Mayah's mouth with her both hands. "Yes, yes, I know uncle. Get going now before it gets dark!"

It's 9 AM.

And sir Mayah's house is just an hour away. I don't get her reasoning.

Nevertheless, sir Mayah heeded her words and got into his car, but not before sharing a pointed look with me before booking out of the subdivision.

"So," Lockley clapped her hands together, "Amara, let's get you sorted then, shall we?"

She took my heavy bags and went inside the house, not waiting for me while I stood there, flabbergasted. In a way, she was very welcoming. But something tells me that this is NOT how she permanently acts around everyone she meets.

And the way she said my name was like a prayer, as if she was praying right before having a meal.

It makes me sick.