Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Leah nearly shouted in the hallway, but she tried to keep her cool. "And why are you both covered in blood?!"
Boris looked around in sheer panic. "How did we . . . I . . . ." His eyes were wide. "Where were you going?"
"To see a Spark date, but that can wait," Leah told him. "What the fuck happened to you guys?"
Boris glanced back, seeing Tyler there. The German shepherd shook his head, still in shock from what had happened before. ". . . Leah, Tyler's going to use the shower, and then I will. Erm, we need to talk."
"Yeah, we definitely do." She nodded intensely, taking off her heels. "But first, you need to get out of those bloody clothes and into something else because you are not coming into my room wearing that."
Boris sighed. "Fine. Give me a moment to get showered. Tyler, wait here."
"Uh, yeah," the canine answered, standing dumbfounded with his suitcase.
Boris traveled into his room and grabbed fancy red pajamas. Embroidered on the shirt was the crest of the Downing family. He returned to the hall. "I'll just be a little bit." The otter entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Tyler looked at Leah, still standing in her doorway. "So, uh. Hi." The German shepherd realized that he was still painted scarlet.
Leah glanced at him. "Hi." They both stood there awkwardly for a moment before the female otter retreated back into her room, leaving the canine to stand alone in the dimly lit corridor.
Inside the bathroom, Boris peeled his clothes off, seeing that the blood had soaked into everything he was wearing, including his underwear. Now standing bare, he looked into the pristine mirror above the sink. As always, his dark reflection was still clothed in the same outfit it always wore. The mustelid maneuvered to turn on the shower, waiting a moment for it to heat up before stepping in and beginning the long task of scrubbing the blood from his fur.
Once the task was complete, he put on a fresh pair of drawers, and his pajamas, exiting the bathroom and meeting Tyler with his eyes. "All yours."
"Thanks," Tyler responded, grabbing the handle of his suitcase and rolling it into the bathroom with him. Meanwhile, Boris took his tainted clothes and placed them in his room, deciding to worry about it later. He returned to Leah's door, knocking softly.
She opened it practically immediately. "Come in." The female otter quickly moved out of the way.
Boris stepped in, and the door was closed and locked in his wake. The room had always had a Valentine's Day vibe to it. The walls were red, and the bed had a cherry-colored pillow and comforter with pink sheets. All the wooden furniture, such as the dresser and vanity mirror, was white.
Leah stood, putting her hands on her hips. "Now, tell me what's going on. Wait, are you wearing eyeliner?"
Boris stood like a block of ice, unmoving and just staring at her. He had completely forgotten to remove it in the shower. It must have looked like a mess now.
She blinked. "Snap out of it! What's the matter with you?"
"I . . ." That was all Boris could get out. He just looked at her with a gaze.
Leah sighed. "It looks like you need the windowsill. Just let me put on some music. You can open it," the otter gestured.
Boris trudged over slowly, unlocking and sliding open the window all the way. He stuck a leg out and lifted the other, dangling his feet outside, high above the ground. A song by Leah's favorite band, Wild Nothing, came on and she walked over, joining him in the same position, hanging her legs outside. "Now, talk to me. I'm here."
And, for some reason, hearing that broke him. Boris didn't know if it was because he was home again, exhausted, or terribly anxious, but he burst out sobbing, tears cascading down his fuzzy brown cheeks.
"Oh my god." Leah grabbed him and pulled his head onto her lap. "What did you do?!"
Boris shook his head, his cheek rubbing against her. "I can't. I just can't. I feel like I'm losing my mind," he sniffled.
The female otter brought a hand up and stroked his head. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I can't be there for you if you don't give me an idea. Was that blood real?"
Boris swallowed. What should he say? How would she react? It was Leah, but she was an animal like anyone else. He just nodded instead.
Leah's hand movement stopped. "There was a lot on both of you. Well, more on you, but . . . ."
"I know . . ." Boris muttered.
"What did you do?"
The male otter looked forward at the view outside of the window. The courtyard below with its perfect hedges, stone fountain, and dirt paths. The golden gate and the road beyond it.
Boris just felt himself cry more. He needed to prepare for whatever she would do. "If I explained it to you . . . you wouldn't understand."
Leah threw her head back. "Try me."
Boris kept staring ahead. "Why didn't you freak out?"
"Try me," she repeated.
Boris took a leap of faith. "I'm possessed by a demon and had to kill an animal. But he was holding other animals captive and accepting payment to let others do whatever they want to them, no matter how horrible!"
Leah stopped. "Oh my Mo—god. Are you serious?"
Boris blinked, and he lifted his head off of her lap quickly, looking at her like she had just spoken in Monster Tongue. "What do you mean 'am I serious?' Yes, and fucking terrified!"
His sister stared out the window. "I had no idea. I couldn't sense it."
"S-sense?" Boris was bewildered.
Leah nodded. "I thought I was the only special one in the family."
"Special? Special, how?" Boris pulled back, staring at her confusedly.
"You know how I'm always going out on Spark dates?"
"Mhm."
"Well, that was just a cover. In truth, I'm part of a coven of witches. Normally, I would be able to sense a possession, but I don't feel anything from you. But it makes sense now," she nodded, humming.
"What does?"
"A few days ago, the Mortal Guard showed up here. I thought it might have been because they found out about me, so I panicked and took care of them using magic."
Her brother knit his brown together, blinking. "Did you . . ."
"No. Of course not," Leah sighed, fiddling with her charm bracelet. "I sent them on a wild goose chase so they wouldn't report back about me. But, they were for you, weren't they? Oh, Boris, I wish I would have known."
Boris shook his head, leaning back, trying to keep his emotions under control. He was failing. "Why didn't you tell me this whole time?!"
Leah sighed. "It's against coven rules. Come on, Bor. You think I just go around telling every animal that I'm a witch?
"Wait . . . is that where you were going tonight?" Boris asked, gesturing to her dolled-up state of dress.
Leah nodded. "Yeah, but I already texted them that we'll have to push the meeting back because this is really important. As soon as I saw you were covered with blood, I knew something was wrong."
The other otter cleared his throat. "How long have you been in a . . . coven?"
"That's a story for another time," Leah said. "Right now, we need to figure out what to do about this. This isn't an ordinary possession."
"I'm supposed to kill twenty animals," Boris stated. "That was just the sixth one. There are still fourteen left. It's hard, though, with the Mortal Guard after me. I'm so stressed and terrified, Leah. What should I do?! If you're a witch, there's got to be some way you can help me! Please, please!"
Leah put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "My coven and I understand why the Mortal Guard do what they do, and we even support it, but we still have to hide from them so we aren't captured and recruited. Calm down, Boris. We can figure this out. They won't be coming back here for a while thanks to my spell."
She had to remain calm. For him. Inside, she had no idea how to handle the situation. Just another piece to the 3-D puzzle that was her life.
Leah got up from the windowsill, stepping back into the room. "The brood of vampires in Austin have almost been caught by them before. I think they did have a member who was captured and recruited. Simon was his name if I remember correctly."
"Wait!" Boris gasped. "All of those creatures exist?!" His mind was being blown a million times over. His entire life, things such as spirits and demons existed. As a skeptic, it made his mind bounce around with all the implications.
"What, you think they were based on nothing?" Leah chuckled. "Though, it is offensive when they portray witches as old and ugly. Modern media really gets us right now."
"This isn't how I expected this conversation to go at all," Boris muttered. "Does . . . dad know?"
"I'm sorry, Boris, but he hasn't even noticed that you've been gone yet." She opened the door to her closet with its rainbow of feminine clothing and pulled out a dark black box. "I sort of used this to snoop when I had my suspicions. I saw that your reflection was different, but I couldn't see it in real life."
"That's because you don't know his name," Boris responded. "Can this box show you a way to help me?"
Leah frowned. "Sadly, no. It can only show events that happened in the past. I know you're scared, Boris, but I'm not going to let you down."
"Wait, if it can only see the past . . . There's something that's been on my mind, but I haven't had enough time to focus on it." The male otter was surprised that it was the first thing that came to mind.
"What is that?"
"I want to know what happened to Nicholas," Boris told her. "I have no idea where he is now. I took Tyler and ran after knocking him out. That's the last thing that happened between us! Is he okay? Is he safe? I really need to know!"
Leah nodded, bringing the small wooden box over to the bed and sitting down, patting the spot next to her. "Calm down. Let's find out."
Boris sauntered over to the bed with the pink sheets and red comforter on it, sitting down and crossing his legs. Leah opened the box and revealed that the lid had a mirror on the other side. From his angle, he couldn't see his reflection.
On the more significant part of the box that would hold its content, Boris noticed that there seemed to be a wooden slab that rested at the bottom. Many painted wooden symbols were on the smooth wood, with tons of grooves embedded into its surface.
There was a small purple velvet bag, which Leah pulled out and stretched open with her fingers, dumping the colorful marbles inside into her cupped palm. "What is the date and time you're looking for?"
Boris honestly couldn't believe he was sitting in bed speaking to his sister about something like this while she held some sort of artifact on her lap. It took him a moment to recall when the events took place, but luckily, it was only a few days ago, so he could quickly relay the information.
Leah began taking the marbles and placing them into the grooves in the wood, where they fit perfectly. "This is gonna take a second to set up. Warning, you're going to be really tired after we use it."
"What? Why?"
"Once it's activated, it's going to put the images of what happened to Nick in our minds, then project it onto the mirror there. The projection is going to take a lot out of us. One thing you have to know is that magic has its limits. Boy, after coven meetings, it's over."
Boris nodded, but he was determined. "How did they even let you have something like this if you can see anything?"
"Not anything," Leah commented. "I can't see the future. No one can. No magic exists that can see something that hasn't happened yet."
"I guess that is a little better," Boris said. "But still . . ."
"Ah, well. There are ranks in the coven. I got it when I reached my current level. The fact that it takes so much out of you to use definitely killed the excitement."
"I guess it's more of a practical thing," Boris said, messing with the thick comforter with his hand.
Leah continued to place marbles around the board until they were all out of her hand. "Now that we have the date and time, put your hand on the box, so you're connected to it as well."
Boris lifted his hand and touched the cool wood. Leah spoke Nick's name, and an image appeared on the mirror that covered the inside of the box's lid.
The possessed otter hunched over the jaguar body of Astrid, their poor innocent manager. He had just taken her life. Nick walked into the frame, discovering it. There was no sound from the mirror, but Boris distinctly remembered how Nick had cried his name after that.
Boris looked up from Astrid, taking his knife out of her chest and then pursuing Nick, who tried to run away but was pulled back by the tail. The otter slammed the pommel of his knife into his head to knock him out, and he crumpled to the floor.
Boris ran out of view while Nick lay there. Animals began scrambling around backstage where he was, but none stopped to help him, most likely due to thinking they were both dead.
Then, he saw a group of strangely dressed animals with brown armbands, looking at the bloody jaguar first. Boris saw one of the animals look at another and shake his head. The strange figures hauled off the corpse, and the remaining animals began scrubbing the floor.
While they worked, two other animals, a round calico cat and an arctic vixen walked to Nick, shaking his body and trying to wake him up. He didn't move and, inspecting his head, the strange animals most likely found where Boris had struck him. The other animal that wasn't holding his head waved their hand in a peculiar motion, and they both nodded, picking up the body and carrying it away. The vision ended.
Boris's body immediately became heavy, and he felt like he had been awake for three days. "Uhh . . . so they kidnapped him?"
Leah yawned, shaking her head and closing the box, which she slowly got up and put back in her closet. "That was . . ." Another yawn. "The Mortal Guard."
Boris blinked tiredly. "So . . . he's working with them now?"
"There's a 90% chance," Leah nodded.
"At least he's safe," Boris sighed, relieved. "I'm so happy he's okay. We might have a chance to see each other again . . . ."
"Yeah. Anyway, your secret's . . . ahhh . . . safe with me." Leah closed her mouth after the yawn. "Give me a few days and try to act normal. I'll try and figure out a spell to help with your possession."
The other otter nodded. "Okay . . . I'm going to sleep. Please help me with this . . . I'm tired of being terrified all the time."
"Up-bup!" She walked over and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. "No sleeping in my bed!"
"Have it your way," Boris groaned, slowly shuffling out of the room.
"Boris?" Leah called, tiredly, and her brother turned. "I have a lot on my plate. Things you wouldn't even understand. But I'm not going to give up on you. I'll do everything I can to figure this out."
The sound of the shower water was still going, and he barely registered that Tyler was still in there. He, himself, just made it to the bed and crawled into it, reveling in the feeling of being in a familiar place, in a mattress, before tapping out.