Broken Walls

Abby's Advice

It was eerily quiet in the house as a mother was finishing up some cookies. Her husband was at the school helping with the PTA meeting and her child was still in class. With the Spring Fling creeping up, sweets had to be made, but they weren't made just for that. They were great for comfort food. Chocolate and sweets always helped calm anyone down. Abby thought it would be perfect for Carlos who was coming over. It had been a while since it was just him visiting. 

A knock on the door showed that Carlos had arrived, a bit early, but what is time really in Night Vale? Abby put the hot tray onto the stove to cool before heading to the front entrance to get the door. Flour covered her cream blouse and her black jeans.  As she opened the door, the smell of gooey chocolate escaped and tackled the figure standing on the porch.

"Oh Carlos! Come in come in." Abby spoke happily. She looked so similar to Cecil in ways that almost spooked Carlos. Her silvery blonde hair was pulled to a side pony tail, much longer than Cecil's but the same color. She didn't have the 'neat' fashion sense that Cecil had. Even her violet eyes echoed memories about Cecil to Carlos.

A smile came to Carlos as he walked in. The smell of warm chocolate and cookies seemed to make Abby's home so welcoming.  "Sorry about the short notice, it's just... it's Cecil. I don't know what's wrong with him today."

Abby had led him to the living room and gestured to sit anywhere before going to get a plate of the freshly baked cookies and a nice glass of limeade. After coming back, she laid the two glasses on the table as well with the plate of cookies. Waitress type skills, Abby had.

"So what happened?" She asked before sitting down. "Oh help yourself." She added before Carlos was able to speak.

He couldn't help himself but explained everything that happened that morning before taking one of the cookies. After finishing the cookie he explained pieces of last night. Nothing too informative for Abby. She probably didn't want to hear that. So that was kept out. After talking he went on about his hypothesis about her helping.

"Never have I heard Cecil threaten someone nor become violent. To me, I couldn't help but leave. I was hoping, since you are his sister, you might be able to help him and figure out why he suddenly forgot that I lived with him." He was worried. Of course he was worried, but he was scared. He was scared that his boyfriend was going to be like this forever. It just breaks his heart thinking about that. He had felt like he would drift out of Night Vale. As quickly as that thought came, he tried to push it away. He couldn't think like that.

A frown seem to rest on Abby's pinkish lips hearing this. She had heard her brother lose his temper a few times, but never on people he loved. This was quite different that she expected. It even scared her. Her hands hugged the glass of limeade as she tried to think of something to say. This seemed like something she needed to see for herself or at least hear from her own brother.

"Here I can call him up. His show shouldn't start for another hour correct?" Horrible of a sibling to forget what time her own brother's show was, but it seemed it changed every day. It all depended on who was broadcasting before him.

Carlos nods. "Today,  yes." Carlos on the other hand had his schedule on his phone this week. Cecil always texted him on when it started and when it would end. Every Monday he sent him the schedule of the week. 

Abby got up and went to grab her phone. It was best to use her cell phone for this just in case Cecil thought the house was being called by Steve. She called up her brother and waited. It took a few moments, but luckily she heard her brother's voice.

"Cecil, it's Abby." She spoke softly in a calm voice. She was waiting for an outburst or something, but that didn't happen.

Cecil found it odd that his sister was calling her. Was there something wrong? "Oh hey Abby!" There was that bubbly voice still coming from him. 

"I wanted to ask how you've been. We haven't spoken in a while." A great excuse from the older sibling.

"We talked the -- You'll never guess what happened today! So when I woke up the scientist came by, but an hour too early."

As Cecil began to explain on what happened earlier today, Abby put him on speaker allowing Carlos to hear Cecil's point of view. She gestured for him to be quiet when she did so.

"So I wasn't able to find my pistol, you know the one that father had? Anyway so I found a baseball bat, odd right? Who plays that? Back to the point. The scientist was in my kitchen like he owned the place. He even called me babe! Like doesn't he know that the City Council would throw a fit if they found out about a scientist and I? It scared the heck out of me. I yelled at him to get out and so he did. Breaking into apartments and calling people babe is sooo-- ugh well I gotta go this intern is making me start my broadcast! What happened to Intern Gala? Well TTYL sis!" Cecil quickly hung up not giving Abby enough time to say bye as well.

Abby and Carlos just stared at each other baffled. First, a gun? Abby couldn't remember her father owning a gun, plus Cecil knew that guns don't kill people. Carlos never heard stories about Intern Gala. Cecil always talked about his interns to Carlos in texts or before bed so this Gala was new.

More ideas were filling up in Carlos' head after hearing about what Cecil had to say.

"I think I need to pay Cecil a visit." 

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Author's Note: 1000 words! Yes! Also note to self don't write with a migraine. Bad idea. Hey let's meet up at the Radio Station, okay?