Subject Zero: Mirrors (Book 2)

Chapter 19: Can You See Me?

Thursday, May 23, 1985
3:55p.m.
Treehouse, Melancholy Woods

Third Person's POV
Norman, Alio, Naomi, Rei, and Anne were all in the treehouse again, patiently waiting. Alio and Rei were just sitting on the floor, Anne was sitting in the little hammock in the corner, while Norman and Naomi stayed standing.

Alio was feeling awkward in the silence for once, so he just begins a tormenting conversation. "...If a fly loses its wings, is it now called a walk?"

Rei just sighed in annoyance, Anne put her hands over her ears, Norman just pressed his lips together, and Naomi shook her head.

"If you sweat in a sweater, does that make you the sweater?" Naomi said as she turned to Alio.

"What if every country has ninjas, but we only know about Japan's ninjas because they're so bad at being ninjas?"

"The amount of people older than you will never increase."

Then Rei finally steps into the conversation, "Guys."

Alio and Naomi looked at her.

"There are millions of people of all ages who have the same number of days left as you do," stated Rei, which took her friends by surprise since she's usually the one telling them to shut up.

Alio blinked then says, "Why do we drive in parkways, but park in driveways?"

Norman blinked, taking a moment to process these words. "Actually, that's a good point-"

Anne sat up. "I gotta ask my mom to call that therapist-"

Suddenly Jesper showed up in the treehouse, appearing in thin air, startling his friends. When they jolted, he felt a bit startled, too.

"Jesus Christ, Jesper!" Anne blinked.

"You scared us half to death," said Naomi.

Jesper fought back the small smile growing on his face. "Sorry."

Alio stood up. "So they're coming, right?"

Jesper nodded his head. "Yeah, they'll be here in a minute. She's getting distracted by the flowers."

Norman asks him, "Well, um, is there anything we should avoid talking about? Like, in case she gets mad or offended?"

"I dunno," Jesper responded as he shrugged his shoulders. "She seems to be pretty okay with talking about anything, even if we don't know what she's talking about."

Then they began hearing footsteps climbing on the ladder outside, so they all faced the entrance, seeing Klaus climb in. Norman helped him up. Footsteps were heard behind Klaus, so he and Norman both stepped out of the way as Mizuki climbed into the treehouse.

As Alio, Norman, Naomi, and Anne just kind of stared at her, she curiously looked around the small room.

      "Whoa..." Mizuki said as she admired the decorations. "These artifacts are very unique... What is that?"

Jesper looked at the box she was looking at. "It's a record player. It plays music."

Mizuki looked at him, then at everyone else.