Choose (A Choose Your Own Story Adventure)

13. "I Want to Help!"

"You can't just leave me at your house while you go play hero," Mia objects. "I need to figure out what the Malice wants from me."

"First off," Night Watch says, "I'm not playing hero, I am a hero. Secondly, I prefer to fly solo. It's better if you stay safe at my house. I'll get you all of the answers that you need when I come back."

Mia isn't pleased with that answer. Though she isn't someone who tends to be adventurous in any way (unless it comes to the number of cookies she dares to eat in one sitting), she doesn't feel inclined to just sit around. She has never experienced such an exciting adventure like this. She's able to partake in a lifetime opportunity and Night Watch just wants her to wait?

Night Watch's house is far out of town. It takes an hour before they arrive at a large and luxurious-looking house. She looks at the house, surprised. She didn't realize that they got paid so much.

He leads her to his large, front double-doors. She walks behind the man, seemingly intimidated by the size of his home. They walk into a spacious room with a large kitchen and an open dining room. It feels like she's walking into a model home. All of the furniture follows a pleasant pastel palette. Either Night Watch has a great taste in home decor or he had a professional do it for him.

"Would you like some coffee?" he asks Mia. She nods. She was deprived of her coffee earlier, so Mia is happy to have been given the offer.

Night Watch gives her an overwhelming amount of coffee options, showing off his Keurig and the boxes of different-flavored coffee pods he has. She finally picks an option, her head spinning. Mia has only been in Night Watch's house for five minutes and she's already overwhelmed.

The coffee is finally made and the two sit down at a tall table. They're sitting on high swivel chairs. Mia sips her coffee, twisting back and forth. It admittedly tastes better than what she ordered at Serene Caffeine could have ever tasted. Not just the coffee pod; he must have added something sweet in it, too. Night Watch sits in a chair across from Mia. Though the table is tall, it's not long. It's only meant for two, yet he seems to live alone in the house.

"What are we going to do about the Malice?" Mia asks.

Night Watch raises a brow. "You mean what I'm going to do?"

"Oh, come on!" Mia whines. The hero groans. "This isn't fair. Don't you think this will be so much better if we work together?"

"I've taken on the Malice plenty of times, I think I can do it again."

Mia thinks frantically for some excuse to help. Now that she has seen a little bit of the house, she knows for sure that she doesn't want to stay there alone. It's so big and quiet that she'd surely go crazy. She would much rather face a dangerous villain than sit there by herself.

Suddenly, an idea pops in her head. "He's surely going to be checking Serene Caffeine tomorrow. What if I go there and get another coffee? We can see where he takes me and I can figure out what he wants."

"I know wh—" Night Watch rubs his temples and sighs. He looks down at the table. Then he looks up, his eyes bright. He smiles. "Hey, that could be a good idea, actually. Okay, let's plan this out."

They spend a few hours sitting at the table and figuring out how they could get Mia in and out of this ploy safely. They both decide that the best thing they can do is have Night Watch follow from afar to see where they go. Mia's hands shake throughout the entire conversation, though she doesn't know if it's from fear or excitement. This isn't something that she ever imagined to experience. She's helping a hero and fighting off an evil villain. How cool is this?