Forlot: Who Framed Her? - Book Seven {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Katrina was back at her apartment and in her room. She was in her comfortable chair and holding the sides of a picture frame, admiring a beautiful drawing in the process. Her kids, Bobby and Kat, were on their tiptoes and gripping the armchairs, peering over. They were curious as to what the picture represented.

"Mommy?" Kat spoke. "What is that?"

"What is what, honey?" Katrina responded, still keeping her eyes glued on the picture. "Are you talking about what is in the picture frame?"

"Yes. It looks weird."

Katrina could not help but giggle. "It is not weird. It is a work of art! For...it was the last piece to be created...before...she died."

"Died? What does that word mean?"

"Ooh! I know!" Bobby cried happily. "Aunt Ava told me all about death."

Kat placed a hand over her mom's. "Oh. Death. When you owe a lot of money to the real world because those darn real worlders desire to make lives miserable."

"That is debt, sis. Not death."

"Huh? But death sounds scary. Owing dollar after dollar to people who have no class is the most scariest thing ever!"

Bobby sighed. "Sis, the word 'death' means 'to pass away.'"

"You mean floating down a river?"

"What? No! Do you know what a soul is?"

"A person whom you love so much. The boys go with the girls, and the girls go with the boys."

He facepalmed. "That is soulmate. Souls are spiritual essences that are in bodies, like ours."

Kat instantly became terrified. "So...a soul is controlling my body?!"

"No. You are the soul. When you die, your soul will leave your body, and if you have been on your best behavior, you will receive a special reward."

"Not being in debt?"

"And much more."

"Yay!" She clapped her hands and had on a cheerful smile. "I love death!"

Katrina giggled again, however, this time, it was nervously. "I guess...that is one way to phrase it." She set down the picture and hugged them both. "You two will be going places when you grow up."

The children hugged her back.

"Mommy, are you not going to tell us what the drawing is?" Bobby asked.

Katrina slowly pulled her arms away from them, ending the hug, and adjusted her glasses. "This is a special picture of a dear friend whom I lost long ago."

"You mean...your friend faced death?" Kat guessed.

"You are correct. She unfortunately did. For some reason, I cannot remember her name, but what I can tell you is that she was the Lubriem. The best Lubriem ever."

Bobby had a sudden urge to pick his nose, so he did. "What is a Lubriem?"

"A Lubriem is a person from the real world who believes that all fictional characters, good and bad, exist. And that is astounding to us. You know why?"

The kids shook their heads. "Why?"

"We are fictional characters. All three of us. And not just us. There are fictional characters all over Forlot. Even Forlot itself is fictional. It is a fictional town that no one has heard of until now."

Kat had twinkles in her eyes. "Wow!"

Bobby pumped up a fist in the air. "Cool!"

"This is why we owe the Lubriem. For without her, we would be outcasts and reduced to nothing."

Kat climbed up and over the armchair and landed in Katrina's lap. "What happened to the Lubriem? Why did she die?"

"She was killed."

"Killed? What does that word mean?"

"Let us say that it means that somebody who does not value another person's life or life for that matter forces an individual to die."

Bobby frowned. "That is cruel."

"And not right. Unless you are defending yourself. Anyway, she was killed a few years ago. I was devastated. I still am. And I tried my best to figure out who could have done it."

Her daughter rested her head on her chest. "Did you solve the mystery?"

"I most certainly did. At first, I assumed that it was the real worlders. They are deceitful and hated our Lubriem. Heck, they hate all Lubriems! But no. As much as I wanted it to be them, it was not. I discovered the truth. I saw it for myself." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I saw her being killed by someone who used to be my best friend. She used her ghostly powers to kill her."

Her son held her hand. "Who was it?"

"It...it was Lean Share."

As if somebody in the room predicted, Lean herself magically teleported into Katrina's room. Her ghostly tail was a couple inches from the ground, and the ghost threw her hair back.

Katrina and her kids immediately saw her, and Katrina was definitely not happy now.

"Speak of the person," she said, motioning to Lean.

"Katrina, I need to talk to you," Lean started and noticed the two children. "Who are these?"

She held them close to her. "Young kids. What else would they be?"

Lean's face had on an 'I Am Not An Idiot' expression and crossed her ghostly arms. "You know what I mean. Why are you with these kids and not with your niece and nephew? You know? The ones that you purposely locked up in a mental asylum!"

"That is it!" Katrina got up, took her children's hands, and led them into her kitchen. "Bobby. Kat. You stay in here. No matter what you hear, do not leave this area. Got it?"

"Okay," Bobby and Kat said at the same time.

She kissed both of their foreheads and stormed back into the living room. Her eyes changed to a black and purple mix.

"Katrina, please," Lean said. "We need to talk. It is urgent."

"Well, you should have thought of that before." She ran up and shoved Lean into a wall. "You should have thought of that before you killed our Lubriem! Killed our Lubriem with no mercy!"