The Orbist

Chapter 37

    "Stop joking around!" Ralph yelled at him.

    "You're in denial, buddy." Mr. Mac retorted. "It happens to the best of us at times like these."

    "I know you." I spoke out shakily. "You were the kid with his 'mom' that was at the hotel with us."

    "Explains why you know what 'swag' means." Levi added.

    "Also explains why Cayson couldn't find you at the library." Elian joined in. "Because he was looking for the wrong Mr. Mac."

    "Well, look at you! A Scooby-Doo gang of detectives. If only you applied this smart thinking two minutes ago and didn't allow this innocent man to blow his face off." He nodded towards the corpse.

    "It doesn't make sense." Bryan grinded his teeth. "If he wasn't you, then why was he pretending to be you?"

    "He didn't have a say in the matter." I realized. "He was under the mind control. That's why you slapped shades on him, so we didn't see his dull orange eyes while he spoke your thoughts."

    "Bam! Cayson, man, this is why you're my favorite!" He laughed.

 We were screwed. There was no way to kill him without that bottle bomb, and we straight up fell for the decoy. The only thing we could do now was stall him.

    "Here's what I don't get." I said aloud. "Why on Earth would the Ecators put some bratty 12 year old on their throne?"

    "Because surprise, surprise, one more twist coming up, I'm an Orbist."

    "But they despise Orbists!" Ralph growled.

    "See, but I'm not like your average Orbist. And they're proud of me for that. Plus, I've got a hecka cool power. A power which is kinda useful."

 It was silent. Everything we didn't understand before, we understood now. Finally, I said it.

    "Mind control."

    "Bingo!" He shouted. He pulled out a small pistol from the back of his pants, and pointed it at us. "Now that we've got everything cleared up, I'd like to proceed to shoot you the lot of you in the face."

 We all stepped back, frightened. I began to spit out stutters, trying to stall him. But what for? Who would come?

    "Where did we come from? We still don't know that!"

    "What are you worried about? I won't be killing you, Cayson." He grinned. "No, but good call." He crouched down, and a pulled a DVD case out of Not-Mr. Mac's bloody jacket, and passed it to me. I caught it.

    "As a matter of fact, two lucky kids get to not  die with you. Let's see, um, eenie meenie, minie moe.."

  As the song neared an end everyone got tense.

    "...meenie, minie, moe! Congrats to the lovely Levi and the hunky Elian for being the chosen ones to not die! Round of applause for these not die-ers." He clapped, his pistol in his right hand for 15 seconds before continuing. "As for big ol' Ralphy, skinny Bryan, and the ever-so-flubby Barry, congratulations on becoming our new pieces of bait!" He gestured them over to his side with his gun. They lamentably followed, their eyes glued to the floor in horror and defeat.

    "We'll speak again, Cayson, but we won't be able to do it here. It's just not the way I want it to go down." He finished. "Now leave before I shoot one of your friends."

 How did everything go terrible so fast? Why was this happening to us? I shuddered, and tried to convince him.

    "Please don't hurt them."

    "I wouldn't have if you left already." He shot back, smiling. "But since you decided it would be smart to continue talking, here's a personal gift to you."

 He rapidly pointed the gun at Ralph.

    "You're going to shoot me, you little brat?" Ralph spit out in anger. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not leaving this Earth by your tiny hands. I could change that pistol's position right now and blow out your brains from below your throat, so why don't you-"

    "Save it, tough guy." Mr. Mac grinned in response. "If you could actually do any of that B.S I'd be on the floor right now. But you can't, can you? You're only good for tossing soda cans, with your lack of experience."

 Ralph grrred back threateningly. He tried to look tough in front of us, but I knew. He was scared, and he wanted to cry. He didn't want to die. Just like Teo didn't want to die. Him and I had our arguments in the past, but now I knew. All he ever wanted to do was to give us all happy lives. He never stopped to think about how he acted in the present because he was always focused on the future. And now he was going to die. By them. He lost. He didn't get a Happily-Ever-After.

    "But if I'm ever at a vending machine and my Snickers bar is stuck in the coils you're on speed dial." He continued relentlessly. "Now be a dear, and pull the trigger yourself."

    "Your mind control crap doesn't work on me."

 Mr. Mac blinked, and his eyes changed from caffeine brown to a bright, shining orange. Ralph's eyes in response became a dull orange. He handed the gun to Ralph.

    "Pull the trigger, Ralphy. If anyone tries to stop you from carrying out my order, go crazy with the gun."

 We all froze. We'd seen this happen before. Don't let him get in your head, Ralph. I tried to cut in the mind chatting. Fight it.

 Ralph looked up at us with dull, sad eyes. He raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through his head and broke into the wallpaper. He sunk to the floor as blood gushed out his nose, hitting the glass table with the back of his head. And just like that, Ralph was gone.

    "NO!" I screamed, my body frozen in terror.

    "Now, does anyone want to step up and challenge me? I'm sure making flowers and bending fingers will totally kick mind control's butt." His eye color changed back to brown.

 No one answered. He giggled and nodded towards Bryan.

    "Pick up the gun by its muzzle and hand it over. Or do I need to go orange eyes on you too?"

 Bryan stared at him with immense hatred before picking up the gun and giving it over. Mr. Mac snatched it and pointed it at Barry's head.

    "The fatty lives if you get out of here in the next ten seconds. It's a good offer, Cayson. Don't be that guy."

 I tried to push back my tears, but there was no use. They streamed down my cheeks and dripped over my pale lips.

    "You'll pay for this."

    "Agree to disagree."

 I turned around and raced out the door, my heart pounding against my chest. Levi and Elian followed me out, tears falling from their lashes even harder than mine.

    "Did you have fun?" The man grinned on our way out. He knew. This was a set up the whole time. Probably Ralph's death as well. Mr. Mac beat us. He beat us. We ran out of the hotel and out the parkway. We lost the battle.