Forlot - Books 1-3 {Completed}

Chapter Twenty-One

"What?" I scurried over to the table and stood next to him. "Hansel, are you making up words again?"

"No, Gretel," he said sharply. "Besides, how would I come up with a random word like that?"

"Well, you have been known to make up the most bizarre words," I said. "And you sometimes spell them in a weird way."

"They are my words. I can spell them in any way."

I leaned over and examined the paper that he had in his hands. "'The Lubriem,'" I read the heading. The heading was in big, black letters.

"But what is a Lubriem?" Hansel piped up.

I shrugged again. "I do not know. I have never heard or seen that word in my life."

"Me neither."

He set the paper back down, and I glared at the black door.

"Hansel, we should leave. The monster will probably enter this room at any given moment."

He did not say a word. He moved to one of the ends of the table and fiddled with the papers.

I facepalmed. I was a bit frustrated. "Hansel..."

"Ooh!" he said, picking up another piece of paper. "This looks juicy."

"Shh!" I put a finger over my lips and spoke in a whisper. "You had better be quiet. The monster will hear you." I frowned. "And we had better leave before our juices are cooked and served with mayonnaise!"

"But, Gretel. I need to know what a Lubriem is. So do you. We are curious."

"I am not curious."

He sighed and tossed the paper aside. "How about this?" He picked up a videotape. "We will watch a video. After the video is done, we can leave."

I looked at the videotape, and then back at him. "And you will come willingly?"

He nodded. "Yes."

I thought for a second and came to a decision. "Fine. But the video cannot be long."

"No problem." He set up the system of the television and slid in the videotape. "We will view the first ten minutes of it. Once the ten minutes have gone by, we will leave the house."

"Sounds reasonable."

The truth was that I did not think that it was reasonable. I wanted to leave this house. Get far away. I did not want me and my brother to be on the monster's menu.

It was not unusual for me and my brother to come to an agreement. If I did or did not desire to do a certain thing, then my twin would make a deal with me. He always desires to do the opposite of what I want, so we compromise.

I was not leaving without my brother, so I was not about to go without him.

Now, we have two outcomes.

The two of us escaping the house.

Or...

...the two of us becoming the monster's meals.

Hansel turned on the television, and we stepped back and watched.

The videotape started playing. We saw someone - a girl - sitting on a bed. Because of the video's angle, her head was cut off. She wore a blue shirt and blue skirt that had green flowers on it.

Piano music was playing in the background, and the girl was singing.

"Why do you suddenly turn around?,
Because I said something crazy?,
Oh, that Cartoons exist?,
Well, I am not ashamed,
You have caught in the real world's lies,
The lies that they have placed,
Upon you that Cartoons,
No Cartoons do exist,
But I have not caught up,
Into the lies of this real world,
I am not part of this world,
I am a Lubriem,
Half-real worlder, half-Cartoon,
I will bring the Cartoons back,
To their little homes,
When they will go, I will go too,
You think that I am nuts and crazy too,
That is what I am saying out of my mouth,
But it is true,
They are in this mall,
Next to me,
Right in front of you."

The music stopped, but the girl continued singing.

"Lookin' at my phone,
Gettin' tired of it,
Gettin' sick of this world,
I need to go back,
Go back to the fictional world,
Where I truly belong,
Because I am a Lubriem,
I am nothing else,
Lubriems, Lubriems,
Lubriems will rise,
People think that I am crazy,
And people think that it is great,
But I know that I am right,
Fictional characters,
Are real to us,
But only Lubriems truly believe in them,
And they will be the ones,
To see them,
Lubriems, Lubriems,
They will rise,
Lubriems, Lubriems,
Do not toss them aside,
You only have one,
And that is me,
'Cause I am the only one,
Who believes that all,
Fictional characters exist."

The screen then went black.

"Is that it?" I said.

"I think so," Hansel answered. "The screen has been black for at least seven seconds."

As he said that, something appeared on the screen. It was the girl. She was sitting on the floor. Again, her head was cut off.

Standing behind her was a young woman. Her entire body was cut off except her legs and feet. She had on black heels.

"Tell me," the woman said. Her voice was sharp. "What is the word that you are using?"

The girl spoke in a sweet voice. "Lubriem," she replied. "It is my word. A word that I made up."

"This is nonsense. A word with no meaning?" She snorted. "It is not even spelled correctly."

"It is my word! I can spell it in any way!"

I turned to Hansel. "Is that not what you said?" I asked. "Something like that?"

He slowly nodded. "Weird," he stated.

The woman in the video grasped the girl's wrist. "You need to stop this," she ordered. "Fictional things do not exist."

"Yes, they do!" the girl shouted. "They are my people!"

We then were interrupted by a scratching sound.

And growling.

I turned and glanced up.

There was the creature. At the top of the staircase.