[REND] B2. 19.2 - A Serious Talk With Myself

Did I hear that correctly? Spooky Erind would also die? That didn’t make sense. I frowned and said, “Are you messing with me?”

No, no, no… Why would I mess with myself? Spooky Erind walked over to my side and knelt behind me. I’m telling you the truth, yet you don’t believe me? She hugged me, wrapping her arms over my shoulders and around my neck.

“Why would you die when other Adumbrae wouldn’t? What’s different about you? Or me?”

We’re special, she replied as her ghostly hair crawled all around like wisps of smoke. We are one. Through many cycles, we remain tied. Meyoume—

“None of that enigmatic stuff,” I cut in. I wasn’t in the mood for her singing when we were discussing something important. “You’re messing with me. I remember that you mentioned the ‘others’. You were talking about other people that you’ve seeded, right?”

Spooky Erind nodded, her chin thumping my shoulder.

“They died, didn’t they?”

She nodded again. Because they were reckless idiots.

“But…you didn’t die.” I turned to try to look her in the eye, but she was so close that our cheeks bumped. “I’m not sure what death means to an entity like you, but here you are. Why did nothing happen to you when you were, um, connected to the others? Now, you’re saying you’re going die when you’re with me?”

The others didn’t finish dying.

“Do you mean that you detached from them before they died? That’s why you’re safe? I didn’t know that Adumbrae could—”

No, Spooky Erind said in the most serious tone I had heard her use before. This might also be the first time that she had interrupted me while talking. She’d usually let me drone on and on; I felt very talkative when I was with her.

“What do you mean? No, what?”

She hugged me tighter, rubbing her cheek against my face. No. I’m not going to detach from you. We are one. Me. You.

“But you detached from the others that you’ve previously seeded.”

We’re going to do things right this time. I have a good feeling about you.  

Chewing a coconut husk might be more enjoyable than talking with Spooky Erind. “I’ve seen in cartoons this ‘Dunce’ hat placed on the dumb kid in the classroom, but never in real life. Maybe that was a thing during my parents’ generation. Put a conical hat labeled ‘Interdimensional Dunce’ on me because I just don’t get what you’re talking about. It’ll be very, very helpful if you explain it to me.”

You don’t need to understand, said Spooky Erind, letting go of me as she stood. Your role is to survive with the assistance I give you.

“Yeah, I’m working hard on the survival part,” I said, looking up at her. “I think I’ll be able to do a whole lot better if I know what’s going on. Is it some brain-twisting truth about the fucking universe that’d just make me catatonic because I couldn’t process it? Like, it’s beyond human understanding?”

If you know what game you’re playing, Spooky Erind said, you’re not going to play it correctly. You might not even play.

“Ah, is it like getting told to clean my room, so I don’t want to do it anymore?”

Spooky Erind shook her head. You might not like the price or the truth of the game. That’s why I always tell you to have fun. It’s the priority. You don’t care about the truth… Keep it that way, or it’s not going to be fun anymore.

“But why me?” I stood up and waved the marshmallow stick. “What’s so special about me—Oh! This confirms that I’m really the main character. Not Deen. I knew it. A normal seeded person with a normal ass Adumbrae can’t be the main character.” I was joking around while repeating the question in my mind, hoping that she was entertained enough to answer it.

You’re right. Spooky Erind patted my head. She was slightly taller than me. And why you? Because you’re me.

“Ugh, this circular explanation isn’t explaining anything. As the main character, I suppose that’s also why I can have this artificial Core while being an Adumbrae? Why is this, I don’t know, allowed by the universe?”

Beats me, Spooky Erind replied, shrugging. This has never happened before. Which is weird. I should’ve expected this to happen more often. But it never did. Until you came.

“Further cements my main character status. This leads me to the question—what do we do with the Core?”

Spooky Erind laughed as she walked away. I had a feeling our talk was about to end because I tried to follow her, but my feet felt so heavy, as if I was stuck in tar. And I never been stuck in tar before! Still, that was what I could compare it to.

You’re asking me what to do? You’re the one who invited the intruder in. Huh… I guess it isn’t an intruder. A guest?

“Wait! I have another important question!”

Spooky Erind stopped and turned. She knew what my question was.

I held up the marshmallow stick. “This isn’t cooked,” I pointed out. “You said that it’ll cook eventually. Were you lying?” I wanted to ask Spooky Erind a dozen actually useful questions, like how to use my powers better, but she would’ve ignored me. This was one last showing that I was a funny gal. A comedic and charismatic main character. Spooky Erind would want to talk to me longer next time.

Eventually, Spooky Erind slowly said. But eventually never comes here.

“That’s… a neat explanation. I’m going to buy marshmallows once I return to the city.”

Time for you to wake up.

“Any last tips?” I quickly asked. “Anything that could help me, and you, survive.”

More eyes will be on you as the intruder… guest… awakens, replied Spooky Erind. I must’ve misread her eyes, but it appeared as if she pitied me. Or I was as delusional as Deen, thinking there was meaning in eye contact.

“You mean that Corebrings will come? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already in the city with so many Adumbrae among the populace.”

And… duck, okay? Hmmm. Can we duck while lying down, or do we need to stand?

“What are you—?” Something hit my face. Hard! I saw white while my eyes were closed as pain exploded outward from my nose. “Aw!” I sat up, pushing away whoever hit me.

The roof of our leafy hut wasn’t tall enough to accommodate me sitting. Yep, it was that short. My first architectural masterpiece collapsed on Deen and me. We shoved away the branches and leaves, confused as a newborn turtle about what the fuck was going on.

“Are we getting attacked?” Deen asked, spitting out leaves. “Gabe is—”

“Someone hit me!” I wiped away the blood from my broken nose that snapped back into place. My sleepy brain figured it out. “You hit me!”

Deen blinked. “N-no! You were attacking me! You were biting my arms as I tried to shove…” She was miming something, and then, she let her hands fall. “I… was probably dreaming.”

“Probably? Why is there hesitation?” I stood up so I could be taller than Deen for a few moments. “You were actually dreaming about me attacking you?”

“Oh my god! I hit you!” Deen pulled my hand away from my face and wiped my blood with her shirt. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really,” I said. “But that was a really hard hit. That was just from a dream? Was it like PTSD from the illusions of that Adumbrae in the PCM laboratory?”

“A mixture of that and recently knowing that you’re Blanchette. You were chewing my arm.”

“Because of your nightmare, our little home got wrecked. Homewrecker.”

“That word means something else.” Deen dug into the ruins of our home. “Help me look for our sports bras. We shouldn’t make it easier for the BID to find us if they do reach this place.”

“Why didn’t Gabe warn you about not hitting me?” I asked as I helped Deen search. “Our collapsed home isn’t really like serious danger, but Gabe alerts you to minor stuff, too.”

“Perhaps because I was asleep? I’m not sure. Maybe Gabe also sleeps when I’m sleeping, or I can’t ‘hear’ him when I’m dreaming. I’ve never been in danger while asleep before.”

“We should test it. That sounds like a weakness. We should learn more about our powers.” I felt so proud after suggesting that. Hey, I was caring about important stuff.

“But you shouldn’t use your powers so much that you’ll start to change.”

To find our way back to civilization, we once again climbed a lofty tree to scout for a quick path westward. We noticed a helicopter far, far away, that soon swerved out of sight. No drones around. Deen’s Guardian Angel also had nothing to say. The BID knew there were monsters in the forest, but how fast would they realize that the monsters had gone to the city?

Since it was no longer dark, we traveled rapidly through the forest. We blasted through the maze of tree trunks in a blur, with Deen in the lead shouting warnings for upcoming obstacles.

We were extremely lucky because after around an hour of running, we reached the road. No BID or police cars were passing by; we must be far from the PCM compound. Still, we made sure that our masks hid our faces. Not sure if it would’ve been better not to wear the masks.

“Left, or right?” I asked. “Or continue heading West?”

“If we pick correctly, we might run into the BID,” Deen said. “If we pick wrong, we might end up further.”

“Ignore the road then.”

We crossed the road and continued running across a rocky terrain with sparse trees. Descending a slope, we eventually found another road. While we were wondering where to go, a pickup truck with guys sitting on the back stopped in front of us and offered a ride. More specifically, they were trying to hit on Deen. I wasn’t sure if they wanted me to ride the truck, too.

“What’s up with the masks, babe?” asked one dingbat. “Let me see your pretty face.”

Deen shook her head and motioned for them to go away. She didn’t even look at them. Deen had explained before that the best path to handle situations like this was to ignore the guys. Talking to them would make them think that they had a chance. Words of wisdom from Miss Popular.

The guys continued to pester us until a huge cargo truck came up behind them and honked its horn. The cargo truck couldn’t pass the pickup truck, so the assholes had no choice but to drive on. We timed the passing cargo truck and jumped behind it to hitch a ride.

“Up, up, up,” Deen said as she started climbing. “Before other vehicles can see eyes.”

“Vehicles can’t see us because they have no eyes,” I said, giggling. “You mean the people inside them.”

“I’m just going to ignore that lame joke, if it’s actually one.” Deen reached down and pulled me up on the roof of the container carried by the cargo truck. “Just in time. There’s a car coming up around the bend.” She pointed behind us. Then she gestured for me to follow her to the middle of the trailer so that we wouldn’t be seen.

“Are we sure this truck is heading for La Esperanza?” I asked.

“It has a La Esperanza sticker on it.”

“Yeah, and a bunch of other stickers, too. We also don’t know if it had picked up cargo from La Esperanza and is delivering it somewhere else.”

“We’re heading south. I don’t think we’ve traveled far enough to have La Esperanza to the north of us. It should still be to the south.”

Good thing that Deen was here, or I might’ve found myself in Nevada. But I wasn’t going to compliment her that easily. “Say, can we duck while lying down?”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just thinking about ducks because that cloud looks like one.”

We talked about random stuff during the ride, lying on the container’s roof while gazing up at the sky. It was early in the morning, so it wasn’t hot yet. From time-wasting topics, we moved back to serious ones.  

“Do you think Myra and Kelsey made it?” Deen asked.

“I think so,” I replied. “Kelsey’s power can catch BID agents unaware and teleport them far from her. She also has this forcefield thing going on. I think they’re fine. Maybe they’re in Myra’s place right now. Sisters reunited at last.”

I hoped they didn’t come to my place because that’d probably make Deen jealous. Weirdo best friend. And Kelsey had to climb the building to reach my room, adding more damage to the exterior. I had no idea how to cover up the holes that I made when I brought Kelsey to my room. It wasn’t like there were maintenance guys regularly checking the exterior or cleaning windows, but I should probably think of transferring someday.

What would Kelsey tell her sister about me? That I ate her? That I was an Adumbrae? Not sure how Myra would react to that. Might be a source of problem, but also a goldmine of juicy drama.

“Erind….”

“Hmmm?”

“Your mom’s coming next week, isn’t she?”

“Oh!” I almost slammed my fist on the metal roof. “I completely forgot about that. But things will be easier because you know my secret. You can help me hide the growths on my right hand. Mom also wants to meet you,” I added.

As expected, Deen was delighted. “I’ll be there for you, don’t worry. We’ll have a much-needed rest and relaxation with your mom, forgetting about our problems for a few hours. I know the perfect place for a spa treatment and…”

Deen rattled on about her plans for Mom’s vacation as if it were her own mother visiting. I just agreed to it because resistance was futile. Maybe I might need the downtime because my future was going to get fucked, especially if Corebrings were to enter the picture soon. Hell, BID agents were already looking for Red Hood. Through it all, just have fun.

Right, Spooky Erind? I thought as I gazed at the tops of buildings sprouting over the horizon. It turned out that we were really heading for La Esperanza.

I couldn’t wait to buy marshmallows.

(Author’s Notes: And there we have it, the end of Book 2! We’ll have Book 3, Chapter 1.1 this weekend. We’ll wait for Book 2 to end on RR/SH before having the Author’s Retrospective. Do share your suggestions for Book 3. My current plan is to have Dario’s full team developed, deal with the BID, and maybe have some Corebrings already. More Spook Erind and Core shenanigans. Let’s hold off on a new face for now. Thank you very much for your support. REND couldn’t have reached Book 2 without you.)