Best Served Cold

Of Skulls and Mozart

Note: The characters belong to MysteryBen and Artsy. A nice long sleep is hopefully mine now…

………………………………………..

            Arthur stared up at the ceiling from his bed. He lay flat on his back, clutching the edges of his covers like a child afraid of the monsters under his bed.

            Between Vivi bracing him and Lewis taking control whenever he was about to drop to the ground screaming, his friends had gotten him back into his own house. Lewis had assumed full control only long enough to shed their filthy clothes and shower for Arthur, then dress in pajamas and settle him in bed.

            Vivi had promptly taken up first aid duties. He’d lain there, unresponsive, just staring up as she picked gravel out of his face, washed the scratches, and taped a large gauze pad over his cheek. When he refused to answer any of her attempts to find out how he felt, she’d pulled the blankets up around him, grabbed an extra blanket herself, and settled into a giant beanbag in the corner of the room.

            He refused to close his eyes longer than it took to blink. He kept himself completely silent, barely breathing, trying to keep his mind completely blank.

             Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

            A deep sigh issued from his mind, and he flinched away from it. He felt something collecting itself out of him, and watched as a ghostly skeleton rose up out of his body, pulling completely out. It crossed the room to Vivi, hesitating a moment before touching her sleeping form lightly on the forehead.

            “There.” Lewis said. “Always sleeps like a rock, but just in case.” He turned back to Arthur.

            Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

            “It’s just us.” The skeleton seated himself at the end of the bed, cross-legged, staring at him.

            Don’t think about it.

            “None of those things you’re trying not to think about will happen.”

            Don’t… don’t think…

            “We’ll do what I should have done first. Talk.”

            Don’t…. d…..don’t…

            “Arthur."

            “You died!” The words exploded out of Arthur like bullets before he could swallow them. “You died and I killed you!” Somewhere he knew he wasn’t making sense, but he still couldn’t sort things. “And I killed you but I didn’t, but it was my fault!” His mouth hung open for a second, then he curled in on himself violently. “I opened the door and it killed you with me. I killed you, oh Lew…” His body shook. “I… I…” He slammed the release on his robotic arm and hurled it across the room. The arm sailed straight through Lewis and hit the wall behind him. “That arm!” He pointed after it, wildly. “Not that arm, the other one! It…” His eyes darted. “All the time. Every day I remembered. Every day what I did. Could have stopped it if I just… TOLD you, TOLD her.”

            “You don’t know that.” Lewis’ voice was unexpectedly calm, which only drove Arthur to greater frenzy.

            “Yes I do!” He ran a hand through his hair desperately. “Don’t think you that I spent weeks out figuring… I… I thought… I thought about it all the time and how I could have done different…”

            “That’s what it wanted. It preyed on that. I saw, it made sure you thought about it every day.” Lewis turned his head away. “I thought you pushed me, celebrated, and never looked back.”

            “Nnnnnn….nnnnnn…” Arthur wrapped his arm around himself, rocking and shaking his head, unable to complete the sound to negate Lewis’ statement.

            “You know me, Arthur.” Lewis’ voice was heavy with regret. “You know what happens when I get angry. When someone’s hurt me, or I think someone has. I didn’t see anything else. I didn’t want to. There were probably a million signs I missed. And then I saw what he did to you the day before…” Lewis’ hair flared brightly and his fists clenched. “Nobody should have to go through that. Ever.”

            Arthur shut his eyes, moaning.

            Something warm touched his hand. He opened his eyes to see Lewis’ bony knuckles bumping his.

            “You screwed up.” Lewis informed him. “But not as badly as me.”

            Arthur’s eyes flicked from the knuckles up to Lewis’ glowing eyes and back down to the knuckles. “I missed you.” His voice was hoarse. “A lot.”

            “I was busy trying to kill you. But I would have missed you if I knew.”

            Arthur looked up to him again. “Ghosts… ghosts stay for unfinished business. If you knew…” He swallowed. “You wouldn’t be… I wouldn’t get to say…” He lunged forward, startling the skeleton by gripping him tightly in a one-armed hug. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

            He felt Lewis’ awkward pat, and almost laughed. There was Lewis.

            “You should sleep. You know Vivi’s gonna pitch a fit if you don’t.”

            Arthur tensed, pulling back. “I can’t.”

            The skeleton studied him carefully. “You think you’re going to--”

            “Yes.” Arthur’s fingers knotted in the blanket. “Dream of falling.”

            Lewis tilted his head to the side, considering the situation. “That was the first time I ever possessed anyone, but maybe I can help? I don’t need sleep. Maybe I can do something about the images.”

            Arthur hesitated. “Y-you won’t make me… do things… unless I’m okay with it.” He stated, half question, half plea.

            “Never.” Lewis promised quickly.

            Arthur lay back down, his muscles still knotted with anxiety. “Okay.”

            He held his breath as Lewis returned to his body. Somewhere in the back of his mind, strains of Mozart started playing. He could feel his body relax, as he chuckled thinly. “Really? Mozart, that’s the best you can do? It takes a lot more than that to put… me… to….”