Mom's Anniversary 9

When he raised the light, he saw Roman standing beside the refrigerator.

Lu Mi wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but there was something oddly ingratiating about Roman's smile.

He raised a fist and said in a low voice, "Either keep watch for me or get out of the way."

Roman chuckled. "You really don't stand on ceremony, do you?"

Lu Mi opened the refrigerator door, only to feel something settle on his head.

Roman had rested his head on top of Lu Mi's, careful not to press too hard, so they could look into the refrigerator together.

There was actually a mirror sitting in the refrigerator's upper compartment. At first glance, it looked perfectly ordinary, but it was completely out of place here.

Roman reached out to take the mirror, but Lu Mi gave his hand a light slap.

"Touching this mirror might leave traces that 'Mom' can detect. Better leave it alone."

"Oh," Roman said. Apparently finding Lu Mi's soft hair comfortable to lean against, he rubbed his chin against it a few more times.

Eager to open the lower door, Lu Mi said nothing.

The lower compartment was packed with frozen chunks of pale meat, crammed together so tightly they barely fit.

"What kind of meat do you think this is?" Roman asked.

Lu Mi was about to lean closer and sniff when he suddenly spotted a severed finger among the layers of fresh meat.

A piece of a human finger.

"Why aren't you sniffing it anymore?"

Lu Mi gently closed the refrigerator door. "...No need."

Just then, faint footsteps sounded, approaching the kitchen.

Lu Mi held his breath and listened intently. The footsteps alternated between heavy and light, accompanied by something that sounded like a heavy object being dragged.

Roman had clearly heard them too, but he watched Lu Mi with interest, as though waiting to see what he would do.

Lu Mi moved quickly to open the kitchen window. He remembered Roman climbing out through it during the day-

The window wouldn't budge.

"It's locked." Lu Mi kicked at the air in frustration. If he went straight out through the kitchen doorway now, there was no guarantee he wouldn't run into "Mom."

Leaning against the refrigerator, Roman said, "I can buy you some time. You can use the chance to escape."

Lu Mi was looking for somewhere to hide and didn't even raise his head. "Really? Are you actually that nice?"

"What kind of thing is that to say? Beg me, say a couple of nice things, and I'll help you."

Lu Mi pulled open a cabinet door and crawled inside. "Then forget it."

While cleaning the kitchen that day, he had deliberately moved all the bowls and utensils from this cabinet into the cupboard.

There was a fair amount of space inside, but Lu Mi was a full-grown man, after all. He still had to curl up to fit.

Roman bent down to look at him, seeming a little aggrieved. "What about me? Aren't you going to worry about me?"

Expressionless, Lu Mi turned off the light and adjusted his position. "As if you'd actually die. Close the door for me, thanks."

Clang-clang-

The clock struck midnight, and a sudden foreboding rose in Lu Mi's heart. He seemed to have forgotten something during this nighttime refrigerator expedition.

When he fell onto the cabinet's wooden floor with a thump, Roman's gaze instantly turned eager and feverish.

Now that he had turned into a cat, the cabinet could just barely fit another person. Roman happily crawled inside, pulled the door shut, and scooped Lu Mi up for a frenzy of nuzzling and sniffing.

Lu Mi wanted to struggle, but he was afraid the noise would attract "Mom's" attention. All he could do was curse inwardly and add this to the list of scores he had to settle.

The cabinet faced the kitchen doorway. With a cat's keen eyesight, he could see what was happening outside through the crack in the doors.

A grease-stained apron approached and stopped in front of the cabinet, a black cloth bag trailing behind it. Lu Mi vaguely recalled that the cutting board was kept above this cabinet.

With its back to them, "Mom" bent down, unzipped the cloth bag, and rummaged inside for a while.

Lu Mi watched tensely. Before long, "Mom" lifted out something round and heavy-

In the cold, bleak moonlight, Lu Mi saw an empty hole gouged into the sphere. He recognized it as the head of the man whose tongue "Mom" had cut out the night before.

The man's wide-open eyes faced the crack in the doors. They had long since lost all life, but were still filled with terror.

Lu Mi swallowed, feeling the hand rubbing his head slow down as well.

"Mom" spoke. "Ugly. Have to cut it off."

Cut what off?

"Mom" stood up, dragging the rest of the man's body into view. It slowly hauled the human body, which weighed at least two hundred pounds, onto the counter.

It looked as though "Mom" wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

Lu Mi was considering what to do if they were discovered when a deafening thud! sounded overhead, making the entire cabinet seem to shake.

Liquid pattered down through the cracks above his head.

At the same time, Roman's hand began gently stroking his head, as though soothing him.

After a few more chops with the cleaver, "Mom" laughed softly. "Good. Very pretty."

It dragged the man's body down, but the man seemed to have become shorter.

Lu Mi wanted a closer look, but his view was suddenly blocked-Roman had covered his eyes with a hand.

After a while, Roman whispered, "It's gone."

Lu Mi tilted his face up. There was almost no light in the cabinet, but he could tell from Roman's outline that Roman was looking down at him too.

"Shall we go?"

Lu Mi couldn't speak human language at the moment. He placed a paw on Roman's hand and awkwardly traced an X-they couldn't leave.

If he remembered correctly, as many as nine players had died so far. They still couldn't be sure that the man's corpse was the only one "Mom" would deal with.

Sure enough, less than two minutes later, "Mom" came in dragging another black cloth bag.

This time, Lu Mi lightly bit Roman's finger, stopping him from blocking his view of what "Mom" was doing.

He wasn't fearless, but rather than miss a hidden clue, he would sooner test his own mental fortitude.

Just as before, "Mom" dragged the corpse onto the counter, raised the cleaver, and brought it down with a series of thuds.

After only a few chops, something round tumbled down, landing right in front of the cabinet doors.