Whisper in the Dark

Chapter 9

28/08/22

Never rushed around the apartment, setting things up and making sure things were perfect, everything had to be perfect! She went through a checklist again in her head; food and drink? She had chips, chocolate, cold drinks, warm drinks and crackers, not to mention the pizzas she had ordered ahead of time, scheduled to arrive at about 7, food and drink was a check. Decorations? She thought about for a second then came to the same conclusion she did every other time, there didn't need to be decorations, that might be a bit too much. What about activities? Well, she had board games and card games such as clue, monopoly, squids and splat-bombs and twister, she also had some video games on the side as well... it seemed like everything was ready. Then there was a knock at the door, Never rushed over, almost falling over as she did so, and opened the door. On the other side stood Zap and Rum.

"Hey guys!" She said enthusiastically, "Please, come in, come in." They entered the apartment, Rum sat down on the couch, meanwhile Zap lugged his large amount of bags towards the hall.

"Do you know why he's got so many bags?" Rum asked Never.

"Oh, he's moving back in." She replied.

"Oh that's great! It must feel good knowing that you won't be alone in such a large apartment anymore?"

"Yeah, pretty good."

"That's great!" Said rum as Zap reemerged from the hall, without the bags this time. Zap sat down on a bean bag beside Rum.

"So, how do the two of you know each other?" Asked Zap. Rum and Never looked at one another, then back to Zap.

"That's a... long story... and not one of my favourites." Said Never, "though I think I'm willing to share. But first, would anyone like a drink? I've got a few cans of tactifizz in the fridge and I could make some hot chocolate or tea?" Tactifizz was still a small brand of drink, though they were beginning to get more popular with their recent usage in the new Tacticooler special weapon.

"Just some tactifizz would be good please." Said Zap.

"some tea would be quite nice for me actually." Said Rum.

"One tactifizz and one cup of tea coming right up." Said Never, Rum and Zap thanked her and she walked to the kitchen. Zap tapped on his knee for a moment, thinking.

"Wait... you're not THAT Rum are you? Are you D.J. Rumtums?" Zap asked, a slight hint of intrigue in his voice. Rum sighed.

"Yes, that's me." He answered.

"How in the Atlantic hells did you manage to get her to invite you to her birthday? She hates you." Rum chuckled at this.

"Yes, she does like to speak ill of me doesn't she... well, as you may know, I was the captain of her regiment in the octarian army. Growing up she showed promise to potentially be the greatest soldier the army had seen, a soldier more powerful than even our Elite. Some referred to her as the 'Prime octoling soldier,' she had more raw strength, skill and intelligence than I had ever seen. Needless to say she caught the attention of Octavio, he wanted her to be trained correctly, and so he moved her to my regiment. And let's just say the other kids weren't too keen on this, they felt threatened by her, so they would often bully her in groups, kicking, punching and insulting her. And of course I would only step in when absolutely necessary, I wanted her to learn the strength that would make her perfect, I wanted her to be able to hold her own against a small army. I was wrong though... eventually she fled, with Mimi, the one kid who wanted to be her friend. But she did leave me a note, explaining that despite my "neglect" she wanted to thank me for what kindness I did show her... I felt guilty reading that as I felt I hadn't shown much kindness to her at all."