Chapter Text
Life with Michael Myers was, to put it mildly, strange. Little Jamie had learned this a few weeks ago when she began living with her uncle on Dr. Loomis's “recommendation.” Jamie didn't understand the old man's reasoning, but she trusted his judgment because, after all, he had treated her uncle for years and hadn't been killed. Of course, at first, she was very worried, and her adoptive family, Rachel more than anyone, refused to let Jamie stay with her psychotic biological uncle. The guy had no qualms about killing. What would stop him from killing a little girl who couldn't even defend herself against him?
Dr. Loomis, with his impeccable professionalism, explained that Jamie's presence could be a deterrent to Michael's instincts, and told them about the brief moment of connection they had when she called him Uncle for the first time.
“Michael needs someone to keep him centered, grounded, and who better to do that than his biological niece?”, Loomis had said.
“Are you suggesting using my sister as some kind of weapon against that psychopath?!”, Rachel roared, while her mother cried at the mere thought of it and her father clenched his fists, ready to punch someone and take his family away from there.
Loomis, however, remained calm.
“Jamie will not be used as a weapon, much less left alone at Michael's house. There will be round-the-clock surveillance, seven days a week, and I will go every week to talk to Michael. At the slightest sign of anything suspicious, we will get her out of there and I will take care of Michael.”
“The school will be suspicious if Jamie stops attending,” Richard snapped vehemently.
“The plan,” Loomis explained, “is for her to continue her normal life. She will continue to go to school as usual and will be able to contact you, only her place of residence will be with her uncle.”
Jamie wasn't sure she fully understood what Loomis had told her parents and sister, but now she was under the same roof as her uncle Michael. Loomis took care of bringing all her things and assured Jamie that there would be people watching the residence if she needed help.
The first week was the most difficult (or terrifying). Jamie hardly left the room she had been given for fear of running into her uncle. The man was extremely stealthy and always appeared and disappeared like a ghost. Jamie wondered a couple of times if he had some special power that allowed him to go from one place to another without being detected.
So far, Michael hadn't done anything strange. He almost always left, locking the doors and windows first to make sure Jamie didn't escape, and was gone for an hour or two, more or less. There was no clock in the house, so the girl calculated the time by looking at the sky when she had nothing else to do. After that time, her uncle usually returned with bags in his hands. At first, Jamie was afraid to find human remains that Michael was bringing home as trophies, and her fear increased when Michael approached her to leave the bags next to her.
He would just look at the bags and then at her, in a silent signal that he wanted her to open them. Nervously, the girl would do so and never find any remains of any kind, but rather... food, soft drinks, and some sweets, such as candies and chocolates. The good part? None of those items had traces of blood on them. The bad part? Jamie doubted that her uncle had paid for them.
Even so, she knew she shouldn't question him and accepted his “gifts” with a shy thank you.
She knew that this would be her life from that moment on.
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One night, the girl was dying of thirst. She quietly left her new room, hoping that the creaking of the old wooden floor would not be enough to alert her uncle that she was awake. Before going downstairs, Jamie looked over her shoulder. There was little light, as her uncle had extinguished the candles he lit during the day so that his niece could walk around the house without difficulty, but the few rays of light that filtered through the windows helped her find her way.
There was no one there.
Letting out a sigh she didn't know how long she had been holding back, Jamie went downstairs, stopping abruptly every time a step creaked under her feet. The silence itself was eerie, so the abrupt sounds tended to frighten her.
When she finally reached the ground floor, Jamie walked quietly to the kitchen. She knew her uncle kept some intact glasses in the cupboard. The problem was that the cupboard was high up. Jamie was not even five feet tall, so how could she reach something high up if she needed it?
Exhaling with annoyance, the girl decided to drag a chair as quietly as possible and place it next to the countertop to use as a makeshift ladder. She climbed onto it and then onto the countertop. Knowing that the doors squeaked (everything creaked in that house, and she wondered how the building hadn't collapsed yet), Jamie opened them very slowly and waited for her eyes to adjust to the extra darkness inside the cabinet. Not quite sure which glass was closest, she reached out and grabbed one at random.
The sound of the chosen glass hitting another in front of it made her shudder, and her fear grew when she saw the struck glass fall.
But the sound of glass shattering on the floor never reached her ears. Jamie risked a glance and came face to face with the large shadow of the man who should also be nicknamed “The Silent One.”
The girl let out a little scream of fright and was about to fall backward off the counter. She heard the sound of the chair being pulled away and then felt Michael's hands steadying her. He turned her around and sat her on the edge of the counter.
Jamie couldn't see her uncle's expressionless mask clearly, but just by looking at his figure in the darkness, she could tell he was upset. Hearing him put the glass on the table and close the door somewhat abruptly confirmed it.
“Hmm... I just wanted... some water,” Jamie murmured, hoping that this simple action would not unleash Michael's fury.
In the darkness, Michael tilted his head slightly and looked at his niece, who kept her head down, unable to look into the black eyes of the mask. Without saying anything (Jamie didn't expect him to), the man took the glass from her and went to the refrigerator, which was used only to store certain things and make space in the abandoned house. He opened the door, and Jamie was almost surprised not to see any remains of... any kind. She preferred not to think about it too much, or she was sure she would vomit.
The girl heard him take something out, and a few seconds later, the sound of liquid being poured. Michael opened a drawer, rummaged through the few utensils he had, and returned to Jamie when he found what he was looking for.
Jamie only looked up when Michael handed her the filled glass with a straw to drink.
“Thank you...”, she murmured shyly. She drank the water through the straw, which, fortunately, didn't taste like stagnant water or rotten remains.
Michael watched her the whole time, perhaps thinking about what her next move would be. Jamie finished the water and Michael took the glass to put it in the sink.
“I'm going to sleep,” Jamie said. As she tried to climb down from the counter, she remembered that her uncle had removed the chair so he could catch her before she fell. Normally, she wasn't afraid to jump, but in the darkness, she was worried she would step on something and hurt herself.
Sensing her fear, Michael approached her, took her under the arms, and lifted her down from the counter. As soon as her feet touched the floor, Jamie hurried back to her room. She ran up the stairs as fast as her short legs would carry her and, at the top, turned to look down once. She had to stifle a gasp of fright when she saw her uncle standing on the first step, watching her intently. Jamie still didn't understand how he managed to be so stealthy, but right now, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
The little girl continued on her way to her room and closed the door behind her.
Michael did not follow her.
From that night on, every time Jamie got up to get water, she found a glass, a bottle of water, and a straw on the counter, as well as a small stool next to it that she could stand on to reach the items without having to struggle to balance herself. At the same time, her uncle stopped surprising her during the nights she got up.
Perhaps even he could show some consideration for his niece.