Alive

Ch. 13 Secrets

I'm lying in my bed, completely sore, and feeling lazy, despite having to go to school and make up for my 2 days of missing community service, even though I've never been told about missing it. The day was Thursday and I just banished an evil out of my friend, Kris, who I just figured out is a guy, despite having feminine looking eyes. I had my armor to myself now, I didn't know what to do with it besides to hang it in my closet. When I got to school, the front door was locked. There was a paper posted on the door and it said "School is closed for today due to the lack of teachers." I was ashamed that I didn't wake up in time to prevent Dr. Alphys and Toriel to get hurt, at least they didn't die. I turned back home and I met Kris on my way. I waved to Kris and he waved back, we met up halfway and started a conversation. "Hey, Kris!" I said "How are you doing?" Kris had a smile on his face and said "I'm good! It kind of sucks that the one day I got out of bed on time for school, it closes." I laughed and nodded. Kris and I decided to walk home together, all was good until Kris brought up last night. "Brian, I have a question." I gave a questioned look, Kris continued "What did you mean by 'I got it from God'?" I stopped walking and I let out a sigh. Before I could tell Kris, I looked around at my surroundings, no one else was watching. I said "Ok, from one victim-of-the-supernatural to another, my parents apparently had bad connections with others in my old neighborhood. Some were bad enough to get my parents desperate to get away from them. My parents made a deal with this 'deity', so as long as they complete a task for her, I get to be resurrected 5 times a year." Kris looked surprised and said "So Chara did kill you!" I mentioned I had 2 lives left and then Kris began to connect the dots, he said "So that means... K. Round also killed you and then Susie killed you. You won't get another reset until 3 months from now." I felt the pressure that Kris made me realize, I died 3 times in just 2 days. Suddenly, Susie came behind us and wrapped us around her arms, she said "What's up, nerds!? Are you guys excited as I am for no school?" Kris was the one to answer first "Yeah, you're welcome..." Kris made Susie feel bad, she let go and said "Right. Not funny, sorry, Kris." I couldn't help but feel sick in my chest for Susie, I told Kris my secret, but not Susie. I decided I would yell and I said to her "Susie, you probably were wondering why I had my armor from the darkener world yesterday. I got it from... God." Susie looked confused, but then bursted into laughter and said "Are you trying to pull my leg, Brian?" I was dead serious, no pun intended, and Susie noticed. I continued "God gave it to me when Chara... killed me. They healed my wounds and gave me a fighting chance." Susie looked concerned and she said "Was this the first time?" I had a scared look on my face, I didn't answer her question but Susie realized that she really did kill me. Susie said "Oh god... Brian..." Susie hugged me and said "I'm so sorry..." the hug lasted for awhile, that was ok, I couldn't begin to imagine what Susie felt right now. Although, I kept this a secret from her, I felt like Susie and I got closer to each other.

I arrived back home and saw that a couple of paramedics were taking my sister into an ambulance for her unknown disease. I wasn't going to try anything, I just went inside. My parents weren't home either, they were waiting at the hospital for Judy. I sat on my living room couch, but I didn't want to watch TV, I wanted answers. I decided to call out Mariah by telling her name, no response, I then yelled "C'mon, Mariah! I just want to talk!" Two seconds passed and I heard a voice say "Pause." Everything slowed to a halt except for me. Mariah rose from behind my dad's chair and said "What is it, Brian? I have a headache and I really don't want to chat very long." I stood up and said "All I want to know is what will happen from now on, considering Chara has been dealt with." Mariah let out a sigh and grabbed my wrist, she wrote a rune bearing similarity to an English pound but upside down. I asked "What are you doing?" Mariah replied "I'm activating a temporary rune that will prevent your body from breaking." I began to be concerned and asked "Why?" Mariah cracked her fingers, transformed into a white, full-body latex suit, and changed her hair into a ponytail and said "Fighting gets rid of my headache easier." Mariah proceeded to kick me through 3 walls and crash me into my neighbors house. The pain was great, but my bones weren't broken and I didn't feel like I was bleeding from the inside. At an instant, Mariah teleported in front of me and grabbed me by my collar and through me up to hit the ceiling just to be kicked out of a window and onto the other side of the road. I stood up and Mariah teleported to me again, only this time, I expected her to do that. I grabbed a loose mailbox and smashed Mariah over the head with it, she wasn't fazed. I said "Oh shit..." in anticipation of my ass getting kicked some more. Mariah proceed to punch me in the gut, followed up by an uppercut, then she grabbed my legs and slammed me into the ground. I landed on a curb and left a giant crack in it, but still my body never broke; however, I was exhausted. Mariah let out a sigh of relaxation and said "Ok, I feel better now. Reverse." Everything that was broken was now being repaired and I teleported back into my house, it seemed as though nothing happened. Mariah said "Ok, let's start. Now that Chara has been banished, I will fulfill the second request your parents asked of me." I looked concerned and said "Which is...?" Then Mariah replied "I shall have everyone who you and your family met in Oregon forget about you." I was surprised to hear what Mariah said, I exclaimed "Wait, everyone?! Even my friends?!" Mariah nodded and said "I cannot simply remove the memories of specific people because what if someone asks about you to a old friend and they get suspicious?" I couldn't believe that Mariah was about to make my old friends forget about me, but I can't do much to stop her. I asked "Why did you wait to tell me this?" Mariah thought for a moment and said to me "I didn't want to make you upset." Mariah rubbed her hands together, then made fists in the air and yelled "Ták güon no vier!" Mariah turned her attention to me and said "It is done. If that's all you wanted, I shall be leaving now. Goodbye, Brian. Resume." Mariah evaporated into the air and time resumed. I looked at my wrist and the rune faded away.

I went to the precinct for my community service and expected a talk, but Undyne didn't seem disappointed in my two miss days. I said "Hi, Undyne. I'm sorry that I couldn't do my community service in the past two days. I don't mind making up for it right now." Undyne didn't look like she could yell at me about what I said, she said "It's nothing, Brian. You shouldn't do community service, especially after what you did yesterday. Stopping a murder spree and all of that made me consider a new position for you." I was unsure of what Undyne was going to say, I asked "What position?" Undyne pulled out an unused police badge and said "I want you to be my undercover deputy!" I was shocked and slightly excited, I was about to uphold the law in my town, but for a long time. I asked "Wh-why? I'm just a teenager!" I took the badge for a closer inspection, it resembled a shield and had the abbreviation for Hometown, it read "HPD" Undyne said "I saw how you handled that demon or whatever, it was impressive! Besides, no one would expect a teenager!" I began thinking about the decision, I replied with a smile "Ok, I'll be the undercover deputy. It might be fun." Undyne had a smile stretch across her face and said "Great! Welcome to the force, newbie! Now, since you don't have magic, we'll have to use other means of enforcement." Undyne walked over to a nearby locker and handed me a baton. "You'll just have to use this. Hopefully, you won't need to, the people here don't usually like to resist arrest. Anyway, have fun, newbie!" I left the precinct and placed my baton in one of my belt loops on my pants. The badge went into my inner jacket pocket and I instantly felt pride in my new position. Since I was undercover, I'm going to have to make my position a secret, it shouldn't be hard though. As I was walking home, I saw a moving van pass me. I looked to see where the moving van was going, it parked 3 houses away and on the other side of the road from mine. Four people came out of the van, two women and two men. None of them looked like they were related and didn't look friendly. I decided to stop watching, I didn't want them seeing me spy on them. I felt suspicious of these new neighbors, I shouldn't but I do. I doubted they could be bad, considering Mariah had everyone we ever met forget about us, but I'm sure that these people never met us. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'll be dealing with these people when I'm barely alive.