A. H. Wong

Chapter Twenty Four

 

June 4th, 2012

 

Mid-Evening

 

"I like toffees so much," Beatrix says, collapsing onto the bed. Veto had just gotten a fresh bag of them for her, and she had already gone through half of the individually wrapped candies.

 

Veto snickers at her. His hair, freshly combed, is raggedly short around his face. His green eyes are warm, trailing across her face. "You are truly the cutest girl I know, Beatrix. I really can't believe just how wonderful you are."

 

She goes beet red in response, quietly scooting away from him on the bed. "Veto....Veto, please. Don't go there just yet."

 

He raises his hands to soothe her, rising to his feet from where he had been sitting beside her. He pads to the window of her room, looking out at the world. "I love the trees."

 

She frowns, sitting up. "The....Trees?"

 

"Yes, the trees. They're so old, you know?"

 

"So....Old?"

 

"You sound like my echo."

 

"That's because you're weirding me out."

 

"I'm weirding you out because I like trees?"

 

"Yes. Yes, you are."

 

"Well. That's weird. Still, I like trees because they just keep going. They can be hurt, bent, scarred....But they keep going, branching into ever-new directions, always reaching for the sky."

 

"I....I guess I can see what you mean."

 

"Good, because I find you to be a lot like a tree."

 

"I'm a tree?"

 

"Yes. You are a tree. You're welcome."

 

She stares at him silently, before giving up and curling up on her bed. "You are a very strange human."

 

"And you, my dear, a very wonderful tree."

 

"I'm never going to understand you, am I?"

 

"No. No, you are not."

 

"I guess I can get used to that."

 

"Good, because you're very much stuck with me."

 

"Why is that, exactly?"

 

"Beatrix, tell me honestly. Do you have anywhere else to go?"

 

"No."

 

"Then, looks like you're staying with me."

 

<3 <3 <3 </3

 

Meanwhile

 

"What the fuck do you want, Martin?" Sarah snaps, hurling the door of her bedroom open. "You've been trying to talk to me for hours now."

 

Martin walks into her room, biting his lip hard. "Sarah, please, I don't want to fight with you. I truly don't."

 

"Well, then why are you here? You have got to know you aren't welcome here."

 

"Ha. I know I'm not welcome. I'm not welcome anywhere."

 

"That's because you're Master John's pawn—what the fuck do you expect?"

 

"All of you guys said the same about Taylor, but now that he's gone, it's—"

 

"Don't you fucking dare say his name. Sure, we had problems with him. But he WAS our therapist."

 

"He was your cult leader!"

 

"He was our therapist! He understood us!"

 

"No, he used you."

 

"Well, so what? So what if he lied to us sometimes? He still did better for us than anyone else."

 

"You're such an idiot...."

 

"Oh, yeah? If I'm the idiot, then what the fuck are you, huh? You're siding with the guy that sentenced your best friend to death."

 

Martin snaps then, his voice loud and echoing. "You don't know anything about what Master John did!"

 

"Oh, and you do? All of us know you've been talking to him, Martin. We know he's been feeding you LIES!"

 

"Then tell me the truth! Tell me what all of you think, what all of you know! Tell me what I don't see!"

 

"What you don't see, Martin, is the fact that all he wants from you is what he needs to destroy all of us. Master John is going to use you to figure out who he needs to have killed—and you're too blind to see it."

 

"N-No. That isn't it. That CAN'T be it....M-Master John wouldn't....."

 

"He shot Taylor in front of you. He had Kevin and Lily killed. That man can do anything he wants to do, and you are far too blind to see it."

 

"You're lying to me. You have to be lying to me."

 

"I'm telling you the truth, Martin. You're being used."

 

"T-Then, can you—"

 

"No. Get out of my room, Martin. If Beatrix is dead, I will place the blame on you."

 

"I-I...."

 

"I know you never meant for it to happen. But I don't fucking care. Get out of my room, and stay out. You aren't welcome in my sight ever again."

 

Martin closes the door behind him.

 

<3 <3 <3 </3

 

Four Hours Later

 

Martin stared into the abyssal dark, shivering slightly in the cold. He looked down, unable to see anything but blankness.

Before his mind could stop him, could fight him, he stepped off the edge of the roof.

 

He hit the earth before he could scream.