Insanity Was A Man

9. Mistress Of Intelligence

I followed him into the cabin, with only one thing on my mind. One horrible thing, a horrible thing that I didn't want to think about or believe. Something I had been concerned about, but had absolutely no clue how to face.

"What do you mean, my grandma's dead?" I asked, a surge of urgency in my voice.

"Calm down," Protectiveness said. "I mean she's dead. Why don't you come with me into the dining room, and we'll talk."

I stepped into what looked like a living room. It was small and cozy, with shelves full of board games and a plasma TV resting on a wooden dresser. Two green candles were ablaze on a small coffee table, filling the room with the aroma of a Christmas tree. Max hadn't been lying, the emotions seemed to live exactly like humans.

We walked past that room and into and to a locked door. Protectiveness pulled a key out of his pocket and began fiddling with the lock.

"Damn door always takes so long to open," he huffed as he violently shook the door knob. Finally after fifteen whole seconds, it was open, and we walked into another room.

"I need to get that thing fixed..."

The room was a kitchen, small like the living room. The walls were lined with wooden shelves, and an open door tucked away in the corner revealed a walk-in pantry full of food. A pot of boiling water sat on the stove, a box of noodles lying next to it.

"I don't allow the kids in the kitchen without me in here," Protectiveness said. "There are knives. Raw meat they could consume by accident. I especially won't let them in here now, with the boiling water."

He led me to a table, and we both sat down.

"You still want that tea?" Protectiveness asked me.

"No thank you," I replied, having never wanted any in the first place.

"Ok then," he said. "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know. I just want to know if my grandma is ok."

"Well, I'm sure she isn't," Protectiveness said. "Not really my issue. She isn't my kid."

I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a hint of rage emerge into my chest. "What the hell is your problem?"

I didn't really have any reason to be surprised, considering the fact that I had known him for all of five minutes, but that didn't make that any less a of a terrible thing to say.

Protectiveness sighed. "Look, kid, I'm sorry. If your grandmother is alive, she'll probably be in Insanity's palace. I don't know. I'll call up Knowledge and see what's up, since she's aware of everything and all."

He pulled what looked like a cell phone out of his pocket, turning it on.

"Oh, and kid," Protectiveness said, as he scrolled through his contacts. "You'll quickly find that every part of your brain and every other human's brain, every single part, has a bad side. Even if the main portion of it is nice as hell, it will have a bad side. Just know that."

He clicked on the contact.

******

After he had made his phone call, which had consisted mostly of "ok" "uh huh" and "yeah", so much to the point I had pretty much no clue what they were talking about, we just sat in a painfully awkward silence. Thankfully, it wasn't long until the ringing of the doorbell sounded, and Protectiveness ordered me to stand up and follow him out of the kitchen.

"Knowledge is taking you to see your grandma," he told me.

My eyes lit up. "She is? So she's alive?"

Protectiveness didn't answer. He just led me to the door.

"Are you ready to meet Knowledge?"

I quickly nodded, desperate to speak to someone who knew something about my grandmother.

Protectiveness pushed the door open, to reveal a young woman. She had the straightest brown hair and light tan skin. She wore a flowing white dress and simple white sandals. She smiled at me, a dazzling grin that lit up her intelligent blue eyes.

She was stunning.

"I am Knowledge," she said. "Mistress of intelligence and all things written and read. Come, I will show you where your relative is."