Cursed Souls Blood, Brains & Rock'n'roll

Chapter 17 Same place, different time

Will had the hallway done in ten minutes. He could have finished faster, he said, but the weakened state of his body put some limitations on his physical labor. The couch, on the other hand, had taken him twenty minutes without success. His first great enthusiasm was slowly fading, and his strength was slowly draining away. But he had no intention of giving up. Alice's arsenal was certainly not bad, but Will was badly lacking some of the cleaning products from his home kit. The blood had gotten too deep into the couch paneling.

"I can't win with a straightforward approach," he said, and staggered back from the couch to change the brush. "It's going to take a little ingenuity and improvisation."

"Look, Will, are you sure you should be doing this right now?" Alice asked. "Don't think I'm not grateful, but I don't think it's necessary. Simon, don't just stand there. Say something to him, or he'll faint again."

"Don't worry, my dear. William has everything under control. It's his way of expressing our undying gratitude for the little inconvenience we've caused you. And then it's good prophylaxis for his special friend who likes to howl at night."

"If you don't stop your friend now, I'm going to have to resort to violence," Alice replied to Simon's suggestion.

Will leaned over the couch and froze.

"I think you have mice," he said, sniffing.

"It's not just a mouse, it's a nasty mouse that spreads all sorts of diseases," Simon said squeamishly.

"I wash him regularly," Alice took out of her shirt pocket Charlie, who was looking at the extravagant people gathered around the couch with interest. "This is Charlie, my little friend. I hope none of you want a snack for him?"

Will lowered his eyes down awkwardly. Rob was offended by that assumption. Simon almost threw up at the thought of putting something like that in his mouth. Julia didn't understand anything of Alice's words, but the small and white something in her hands would have eaten with pleasure.

"I'm sorry that my behavior may have given you the wrong impression of us," Will said, bombarding the area where the bloodstains were concentrated. "We're not in the habit of eating living things, especially cute ones like your little mouse."

"Brains..." supported him Rob, who loved animals very much. And not just fried or boiled, but also alive.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't know very well about the habits of people like.... you," Alice was embarrassed, and so as not to embarrass anyone, she let Charlie go for a walk around the apartment. "Go on, take a walk, kid. No one will hurt you."

The little mouse scurried past Rob, glanced at Will, and, determined to stay out of Julia's way, ran off on his very important mouse business.

"So what do you plan to do now?" she changed the subject.

"I'm thinking of asking you for some toothpaste and, if you have it, a small amount of salt,"

Will replied, staring intently at the stains and thinking about a more effective way to fight back.

"That should be enough for me."

"Sure, no problem. But I meant what are you going to do about the situation in general?"

"Ah, that..." Will was a little disappointed that Alice wasn't as deeply immersed in thinking about the stains as he was. "I guess we'll have to go on the run. Don't we? Rob? Simon?"

"It's an open question for now," Simon said. "We have a lot of factors and circumstances to consider. It will take me some time to design the best strategy for our actions."