Ruby Red Marionette

fortyfour | core

It happened almost immediately. One moment, Carlos was sitting on the kitchen chair provoking all kinds of thoughts about who he was and what his words really meant, and the next moment the rest of them were walking through the door. I waited there for them just like I waited for the footsteps earlier. I could hear them wondering why the door was unlocked, unbeknownst to my lock-picking, and in the middle of their speculation there was a severe, sharp halt. Everything stopped.

Yvette looked at Carlos and let out a scream.

He didn't smile at them the way he smiled at us, but instead accommodated for their trauma. He got up from his seat and held his hands up in surrender, but just like the police, they did not care. Nothing he could have done would reduce the shock and fear that they felt right now. It was a feeling that could not be understood even when described. It was...profound.

It wasn't right.

"What the hell is going on?" Batul asked. Yvette stood next to her, shivering.

Isaiah and I didn't answer, since we had the same question ourselves, but Carlos said: "Well, yesterday is now last year, Isaiah and Geneva had a very heartfelt moment, and I walked in. What's your night been like?"

They all blinked at him in their individual trances, and in the midst of their astonishment came a hard thump on the floor.

Tyler passed out cold.

- - -

After resuscitating Tyler and making us all some tea, we sat in the living room with all of the lights on and all of our hands on our laps (Batul was very wary of Carlos and wanted to make sure no funny business was happening).

There was silence for a while. Only amongst us, though – outside we could hear fireworks and cheering and indications of general happiness. These sounds didn't even have to mean that the people outside were happy. Everyone had their problems, sure. But they could at least experience temporary joy because of a celebratory event. Not us, though.

No, we had to sit in here and try to regain our grasp of reality while our supposed-to-be-dead, untrustworthy "friend" was on the couch.

I could see it on the others' faces. Every time they tried to say something, the words got caught right at the edge of their lips, and they stopped there. Nothing came through, nothing came forth. Our thoughts were trapped inside of us until we could figure out how to behave again amongst him. It was like he was an alien. At first, we'd all heard theories of aliens existing, but had never seen any substantial proof. And then suddenly, we got proof that aliens existed, so it was accepted that they were real. But now, with one sitting in our living room, it was a whole different story.

Yvette was the first one to have any success at getting words out. She sat on her knees on the ground, shifted a little bit in her position, and then finally with a clear of her throat: "It's good to see you again, Carlos."

He looked at her and laughed. "Likewise."

I wanted to leave the room at that moment, but it was impossible.

"It's also good to see you, Tyler," Carlos said. "I'm sorry my presence brings you such...unconsciousness."

"I'm the one who saw that you were dead. Well I mean, whatever you were. I saw it first and then I told the others," Tyler told him.

"Yeah, I know. I was given video footage of that night and I saw."

"Video footage?" Batul asked. "I'm going to need you to explain."

I sighed, for I knew what was about to happen. The entire episode that took place with Carlos, Isaiah and I was going to take place with them. He was going to explain the whole thing all over again. I put two pillows over my ears and lay down on the floor, catching Yvette looking at me strangely before I closed my eyes.