Forlot - Books 10-12

Chapter Fourteen

TRIS' P.O.V.

I giggled nervously. I figured - or was hoping - that Triso was just messing with me and Wendy. They may have not joked about them being aliens, but they were not serious about this...right? They themselves claimed that they arrived to our planet in order to act like decent humans. So why start murdering us humans?

My giggles became slow and changed to sorrow, and I felt like that my soul instantly left my body when Wendow opened up the suitcase.

Sharp teeth were hanging on the roof of the suitcase, and a long, wet tongue slithered out. A low grunt uttered from the suitcase, and Wendow scolded it.

"What did I tell you? You are to not grunt or growl. One more out of you, and Triso and I will have no choice but to eat you."

The suitcase's eyes softened...and was I hearing whimpering from it?

Hold up. Did she say that she and Triso were going to eat that monster of a suitcase? Things are getting weirder and weirder.

Triso walked over to her sister and the suitcase and wrapped her arms around the suitcase, pulling it close to her and hugging it.

"Shh. It is okay," she said softly. "Wendow did not really mean it. You are our pet, and we love you." She let go of it and held out an open hand. "Now spit the jar out so we can show it off to our new friends."

"So...you were not serious about eating your suitcase...who is apparently your pet?" I questioned them. "That is quite the relief if you were joking."

Wendow glared at me. "What is this 'joking' that you speak of? And yes, I was being serious. But my sister and I plan on eating it anyway regardless of its behavior."

"Why?" Wendy asked. "He is your pet!"

"That is what you humans do."

"What? No! Well, the crazy person who lives down the street. But not us normal humans."

The suitcase coughed up a jar, and Triso thanked him, took the jar, and hid it behind her back. She looked at me and Wendy.

"Wendow and I agree with you on that," she said. "However, you might as well do what we do because the people living on this planet cannot take good care of their pets, let alone the very planet that you take for granted."

Wendow nodded in agreement. "You let the cats get too fat. You let the dogs starve to death. You allow air and water pollution. You value money more than life. And you are telling us that you are normal?"

"I do not do any of those evil deeds," I confessed. "Wendy might..."

Wendy narrowed her eyebrows at me. "Hey!"

"...but I am a good person. I treat all animals with respect. Unless they are attacking me. I recycle. I reduce my trash."

"It takes more than a good person," Wendow stated. "Our mother taught us that."

Their mother?

I suddenly became curious about their mom and desired to have a nice discussion about her. But when I opened my mouth to speak, I had to immediately close it and keep myself from gagging.

Triso pulled out the jar from behind her, and it was sickening.

"Is...is that a jar...of tongues?" Wendy managed to choke out. I could tell that even she was trying to keep herself from gagging as well.

"Not just any tongues," Triso confirmed our suspicion. "Human tongues!"

As soon as she announced that, I covered my mouth. I felt like hurrying to the bathroom and throwing my gut out of my system. Somehow - I do not know how! - I was able to keep myself from getting sick.

"What is the matter with you two?" Wendow asked, placing her hands on her hips. "You have seen your own tongues before, right? There is nothing gross about them."

"Yeah," Triso said. "We thought that you would like it. Oh, wait. Are you doing a custom that you are required to do when you see tongues? And if so, do you do it with green cheeks?"

Not even giving it much thought, I got off Wendy's bed, stormed over to the two aliens, snatched the jar from Triso's hand, shoved it back into the living suitcase, and shut the lid. I took deep breaths and returned to my normal state. Wendy did the same.

"Why did you put it back in our pet, Tris?" Triso wondered.

I frowned at the aliens. This disturbing situation made me wonder if either alien did any research on us humans.

"We do not like those kinds of things," I said.

"Why? Do you have something against tongues?" Wendow demanded. "What did tongues ever do to you?"

"We are fond of tongues that are in somebody's mouth," Wendy explained. "Not when they have been cut off!"

Wendow ran her fingers through her hair. "What if we told you that those tongues came from bad people? Awful beings who should not exist. My sister and I killed them and took their tongues."

I was on the verge of screaming. "That does not make it any better!"

Triso tilted her head to the side. "Well, somebody has to deal with the crimes. So far, they have gone down because we got rid of the problems."

I slapped my palm against my forehead. "People can change, you know."

Wendow lowered her eyelids halfway. "That only applies to fictional characters, which we are."

"Oh, please."

"If you kill bad people, why kill our parents?!" Wendy exclaimed angrily.

Both of the aliens' bodies shook a little.

"We did not kill your parents or take their tongues," Triso said.

I became surprised and very confused. "But...you said..."

"I was just joking. Jeez. Get a grip."

"But...you two claimed that you did not know what joking was!"

"We are not idiots," Wendow said. "Like your dad who is proposing to Wendy's mom right now."