Forlot - Books 19-21

Chapter Twenty-One

I am not one who takes or even makes deal because something could backfire in the process. This moment was different. Mary Sue could not get away with murdering innocent civilians, and it was difficult to convince her to stop with her plan because she was mentally ill. I knew that she could not refuse a good bet, and mine was not an exception.

Mary Sue and I - and Kathy, Sophia, and Ava if they wanted to - would return to Forlot to see our writer. Once we find her, we would ask her the question that determined whether the real worlders lived or not. Did Ash care if the real worlders were alive? Would she be over the moon if the real worlders were extinct? Of course, I already knew the answer to those questions. Ash loves the real worlders and would not want anything bad to happen to them.

But along the lines of what Mary Sue said in the last chapter, we had to get food into our stomachs. Otherwise, they would be grumbling all the way back to Forlot, and frankly, that would be annoying.

We and Ava, Kathy, and Sophia arrived to the small restaurant. I noticed one of those pay phones that was by the restaurant and told the group to go in without me.

"Where are you going?" Kathy asked.

"Not far," I replied. "Just going to use the pay phone to contact a certain somebody." I shoved my hands deep into my pockets. "Just my luck. I have no money."

"You are not supposed to have any sort of money," Ava pointed out. "Forlot characters do not have money."

"I know that. I was thinking that maybe our writer would write in that I magically had money on me."

Sophia was standing on her tiptoes and had her palms and face pressed against the restaurant's glass, peering in. "For a small restaurant, there sure are lots and lots and lots of real worlders in there."

Mary Sue flinched at Sophia's statement. You would think that she was allergic to real worlders. I flinched too, but for a better reason. There was no doubt that Mary Sue would be uncomfortable in that restaurant. She would be surrounded by a species that she hated and had been killing for more than a century. Things would not go well if we tried to eat there.

I rested a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away and frowned at me as if I had assaulted her. I suggested to her and the others that we go to another restaurant that was not so crowded. Kathy was disappointed, but not as much as Sophia.

"Aw! I really, really wanted to eat here. They serve cheeseburgers and fries and shakes. Plus, our writer is eating alone."

"What?!" Mary Sue and I exclaimed in unison.

The four of us joined Sophia by the window and took a look inside. The very first thing that we all saw was our own writer sitting at a booth and eating a cheeseburger.

"Ash!" I proclaimed her name with enthusiasm. I was thinking that Mary Sue's spree would finally come to an end.

I could not have been more wrong.

Kathy was the first to get to the front door and kicked it open. We flocked inside the restaurant and to the booth where Ash J. was sitting.

"Ouch!" Sophia accidentally ran into a high chair that was by Ash's booth and fell back and landed on her bottom. "Welp. There goes my cute butt."

"Guys?" we heard a familiar voice. It was followed by a baby laughing.

Ash J. was looking at us and had something in her lap. No. Not something. Someone. It was Tamara. She was the one who was laughing at Sophia.

"Funny!" Tamara said. She clapped her hands.

Sophia massaged her forehead and smiled up at Ash. "Would you mind if I sit next to you and Tamara? The only reason that the five of us are here is because we are starving."

"Uh, sure."

With the baby girl still on her lap, she scooted until the side of her body was touching the window. Sophia sat next to her, and Kathy sat next to Sophia. Ava, Mary Sue, and I sat on the other side. I was across from Ash and Tamara. Mary Sue was across from Sophia. And Ava was across from Kathy.

"Might I ask what you all are doing here? Especially you, Ava. Are you not supposed to be up to no good?"

Ava shrugged. "You are the one writing this story. You should know."

The writer giggled. "I know that. I just wanted you to break the fourth wall."

Mary Sue saluted. "I can tell you exactly why I am here."

"Let me guess. You are trying to get rid of the real worlders."

Mary Sue gasped. "How did you know? You certainly are amazing."

A waitress came over to our table and handed everyone except Ash and Tamara menus. She took out a small notepad and pen and jotted down the drinks that we wanted. Then she told us that she would grab our drinks and walked away.

We all took note that Tamara was sad. I asked her why a precious girl like her was sad, and she pointed at my menu and reached for it.

"I think that she wants your menu, Cassandra," Sophia stated the obvious.

"Me want!" Tamara said in her irresistible voice.

I laughed and gave her the menu. She grabbed it and played with it.

"You are lucky that I do not need that menu anymore," I said. "I already know what I want."

The baby had the menu open and pointed with her little finger at a food item. "Me want!"

"You want a chocolate shake?" Ash asked.

"Please?"

Just then, two young women visited our table, and one of them had a card and handed it to Mary Sue.

What did it say?