Wonderland Carnival

Makoto

Halo Fourteen: Makoto:

The crack in the door to the Wasteland has deepen. He couldn't separate himself from the horror anymore. What do I do? What do I do? The howling wouldn't stop in his brain. Something broke the peace within him. He couldn't exactly tell what happened, but it sure caught his attention. Who just called me?

He came back to earth when he heard the front door open.

"I'm home!" Evie called as she took her shoes off at the front entry. "My day was crap again. We still have no idea what happened to our boss." She walked into the living room where he sat up against the wall.

"It's so weird," she went on. "He's been known to go off on his binges. But he hasn't returned since he went to go check on the new tenants in that apartment." Evie leaned down to her boyfriend's face.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. Her boyfriend nodded his head. Evie rose to her feet.

"Okay then," she said. "I'll be right back." The woman headed straight into the kitchen. He listened as she opened the fridge, took out the containers, and ran the microwave. Evie returned with the leftover rice.

"Here you are," she said. Evie opened the container and set it down in front of him. She picked up his chopstick and broke them apart. Once they were in his hand, the man took the first bite. Evie sat down and took a bit herself.

"Thank you," the man said in a weak voice. Evie lowered her chopsticks for another bite.

"Oh, you're welcome," she said. It took a second for what just happened to reach her brain. "Huh?!" Evie shouted as she dropped her container. The suffering man covered his mouth as he realized what just happened as well.

"You can talk?" Evie asked.

"I guess I can..." he mumbled. How did this happen?

"Since when?"

The man shook his head. "I don't know..."

Evie narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait a second! Were you just pretending this whole time?"

"No, I swear I wasn't!"

Evie leaned in, curious. "So where did you come from?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any family looking for you?"

"I don't know..." He grabbed his head. Why is this happening? I thought I sold my voice to keep it all locked. Why can I speak again? Why is this happening? Why? Why?!

"Are you okay?" Evie asked.

"No!" the man wailed. She reached out to comfort him, but he slapped away her hand.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled. The tormented man huddled in a ball, crying out in mental pain. Make it stop! Please make it stop!

"Do you remember anything about yourself?" Evie asked as she looked around for her phone. The man lifted his head in desperation.

"My name," he choked out. "I only remember my name!" His "girlfriend" tilted her head at him.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Please don't leave me!" he begged.

"What is your name?" Evie asked again.

"Ma-ko-to..." he answered in a weak voice. He dropped down his head back into his ball.