Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Scrambling around the room and preparing, both Nick and Richard were in a panic due to the news of Veronica's husband Jack's passing. Both animals knew that if they weren't quick enough, she could be next. They didn't even bother to turn the television off as they made a beeline for the exit.
Nick opened the door, and Richard followed him out, practically slamming it as he pulled it shut behind him. They quickly hurried down the hall, not wasting time with the elevator but opting to descend the stairwell at a rapid speed.
Bursting out of the cement tower, they hustled past the reception desk and out into the night, where dark gray clouds were gathering above, only illuminated by the light of the moon. Nick and Richard sprinted down the empty road, knowing the Wirey's house wasn't too far away from where they were staying. Their hearts were pounding in their chests, and they knew that what they were about to come across would haunt them forever.
Reaching the home, the pair wasted no time clambering up the porch and getting to the front door, finding it unlocked. Nick pushed inside, and they both ran down the hall to the room where Mr. Wirey was. The light in the hall seemed much too bright now.
"Veronica!" Nick called, taking out his Prism Pistol. "Are you in there?!" There was only loud sobbing from within, but it was definitely the female sheep. Richard grabbed the door handle and turned it, slowly pushing it open and finding it was dark inside. The light from the hallway cast behind them, painting their long shadows across the floor.
The first thing they noticed was Veronica, in her robe on her knees, crying into her arms on the bed. "Oh! Oh, Jack. God, no . . ." Nick immediately felt sadness prey upon him as his eyes scanned the rest of the room, looking onto the bed. He would never forget what he saw there.
The entire malnourished body of Jack was there; only it wasn't how it was supposed to be. The eyes on his head remained open, the mouth slightly agape as if he were about to scream at any moment. The colors weren't only white, but there were reds and pinks there too. Nick was certain that some of the things he was seeing weren't meant to be seen outside of the body. And that's because Jack had been cut into three parts, severed from the neck and then the waist, his guts spilling across the bed, and they were so real they almost looked fake to Nick. But he knew.
The hyena gasped when he took all of that in, turning away and beginning to shake. "R-Richard . . ."
"I see it . . . ." Richard said, stepping forward, somehow staying strong. "My gods . . . what could have done this?"
"I-I don't know. But it's definitely not a ghost, r-r-right?" Nick stammered, feeling some drool escape his lips. He kept shaking, knowing what was right on the bed there. His grip on his Prism Pistol was tight.
"Ghosts don't do this," Richard said. "We . . . need to call Disaster."
Suddenly, there was a sound from the left of the animals. It started as a low, haunting moan, then turned into a fit of sobs.
The crying.
Nick, Richard, and Veronica looked over at the wall, seeing the previously mentioned mask there. Now that they saw it closer, creepily illuminated by the light outside, they saw that it was in the shape of a sheep head. Not only that but there was a tiny glint from the light that revealed that a tear was falling from the right eye hole. The crying continued, and it was very apparent it was coming from the accessory.
"Wh-what is that?" Veronica stood up now, eyes wide.
In shock from everything he had seen, Nick looked toward it. "I don't know . . . ." He crept closer, holding his gun wearily. As he approached, the mask began spilling tears heavily. They released from the eye holes, trailing down the curves of the mask's shape and convalescing into a significant drop at the bottom, where it fell to the wood floor.
"Nick . . ." Richard held his hand out.
The hyena continued coming upon the mask, and it began shaking, which made him stop. It fell from the wall onto the floor without even a warning, making Richard grab and pull Nick back intensely. Veronica screamed in response. The raccoon held onto his companion as everyone watched. It didn't move.
Nick pressed back into Richard. "Um . . . should we just . . . shoot it now?" As if to respond to Nick's question, the thing on the floor began sliding across the surface, and everyone stepped back. The mask went right out into the hallway, disappearing around the corner.
Everyone stood there, silently for a moment.
Then, all hell broke loose as everyone began running about, Nick intending to follow it. At the same time, Richard rushed to the living room, pulling out his phone and putting in a quick request for the Disaster Sect to come and take care of the body, describing the scene, so they knew what to bring to clean up. Veronica stayed behind in the room, pressed back against the wall, and stayed alert, eyes still wet from crying about the death of her husband.
Nick opened door after door in the hallway, searching for the relatively sizable animated sheep mask. He was in full-on panic mode, having seen something like that and never experienced it before. Things like this really did exist in the world, but Nick had no time to even think about it. The yellow tie he wore meant he had a job to do. The hyena searched all around the house before he came back to Richard, who lowered the phone.
"They'll be here soon," the raccoon reported.
Nick nodded, still looking around. "That was really fucking freaky. And I can't find it anywhere!"
"I know you've never seen anything like that before. I'm sorry. My problem is that this is a more advanced case than we signed up for. I should get them to switch—"
"No!!!" Nick exclaimed. "No. We're going to help Veronica. Us. We have to."
"But . . . This is a more advanced case!" Richard argued. "You could get killed!"
"So?! It's the case we're on!"
"It's too dangerous!"
"I don't care! We have a responsibility to help her! She just lost her son and husband, Richard. We're not gonna leave her in other hands. I couldn't live with myself, then."
"Nick . . ."
"Richard." The hyena crossed his arms. "You're amazing and incredible and wonderful, but if you want to get off the case, go ahead. I'm gonna finish it. And I'm gonna graduate. For you. For Boris. For Veronica. And for me."
Richard's mouth fell open. "I'm supposed to be accompanying you on this! It's dangerous! You could get hurt!"
"Okay? And? That's what Medical is for."
Richard sighed heavily. "That won't save you if . . . Fine . . . We'll stay." He looked around. "The question remains. Where is that mask?"
"I don't fucking know, and that's really creepy," the hyena said.
The front door opened, and a group of animals in strange gray complete body outfits came in. The armbands they wore were a part of their suits and showed a pile of rubble.
A large calico cat strolled in, then walked over to them. His fur was a mixture of white, orange, and black, and between his triangle-shaped ears were two little horns. Around his neck, he wore a strange metal collar. The cat put a hand on his hip. "Are you the cutie who called?" He was looking at Nick.
The hyena raised a brow. "Wuh?"
Richard stepped between them. "It was me. I called for you."
The cat looked past him and smiled at the animal there. "My name's Elias. But a pretty boy like you can call me Eli."
"Uh . . ." Nick scratched the back of his neck. "Hey, Eli."
Richard kept a stern gaze. "Anyway, the mess is in the bedroom. Be aware that the creature is still around. Nicholas and I intend to wait and find it. We're still on this case."
Eli winked at Nick and turned to the group that came in with him. "Alright, guys! Let's get that body cleaned up!" They disappeared down the hall.
"So that was Elias," Richard huffed. "The incubus."
"Wait, seriously?" Nick looked back in the direction he had gone. "Ahhh . . . now I get it."
"It doesn't matter," said Richard, changing the subject. "We should let them do their job and then wait to find the mask."
A second later, Veronica came out, crying again. "Oh god . . . my husband . . . J-Jack . . . ."
Nick went over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have left. I'm so sorry."
"Why did you leave?" Veronica asked. "Why?"
"We . . . waited for three hours, and nothing happened," Nick said. "So we went back to the hotel . . . ."
"And then something happened!" Veronica cried out.
Richard approached. "We apologize for the mistake, Mrs. Wirey. But this isn't any time to make poor choices. You need to get out of here."
Nick's ears perked. "I'll take you to our hotel room!"
Richard shook his head. "No, Nicholas. I need you here. It's hazardous to be alone in these cases. That's why we're in pairs. And we can't leave or something could happen to the Disaster Sect members. They aren't equipped to handle whatever this is."
"Then what do I do?" Nick blinked.
"We should get Disaster to escort her to Trauma," the raccoon told him. "After they clean up."
"Sounds good . . . I think," Nick said, looking at the sniffling female sheep, his heart heavy.
After the Disaster Sect had cleaned up the remains of Jack and left with large black bags, Richard had them take Veronica with them, where she would be safe from whatever was in her house.
Nick was sitting on the floor, rubbing his knees. He only stared forward, blankly. The mask hadn't appeared in the thirty minutes after they left. Richard came back from the room, sitting down on the couch behind him. ". . . How are you feeling?"
"I'm not," Nick told him. "I can barely process how much we fucked up. Honestly, I think I failed my first mission. I fucking failed." He looked down.
Richard blinked. "You didn't fail."
"We left! Jack fucking got chopped up! CHOPPED UP, RICHARD!" Nick curled his hands into fists and squeezed. "I've never seen shit like that and . . . and . . . ." He sniffed. "Knowing that she lost her son and . . . ." His voice began to break. "And . . . h-her husband . . . ."
Richard had never seen Nick act like this. He swallowed dryly. "Nick . . . Hey, it's okay. It will be okay."
Nick buried his face in his knees, sobbing. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!"
Richard adjusted, so he was laying on his stomach, wrapping his arms around the hyena's neck. "Calm down, Nicholas . . . " He could feel the animal shiver in his arms, unable to bear the weight of the recent events.
Nick couldn't help but continue for a bit longer before he ran out of tears. "W-we can't leave tonight."
"We won't," Richard stated. "We won't until this thing is over." He put his cheek against the side of Nick's head. Usually, he wouldn't ever think to pull this kind of thing with another animal, but seeing Nick suffer truly broke him down. Of course, he was distraught that they lost Jack, but he needed to be there for Nick right now.
And they needed to stay alert if the creature decided to show itself.
The wait continued, and there was still no sign of the mask. Neither of the animals had moved. Then, Nick spoke. "Do you think it left?"
"Hm . . . ?" Richard asked, having almost fallen asleep.
Nick sighed. "The mask. Do you think it just waltzed out of here?" There was a roll of thunder outside after he said this.
Richard made a strange sound. "Mmm, I'm not sure. We're staying, though."
"I didn't realize there was a storm coming . . . ."
"Good thing we have a roof over our heads then, hm?" Richard said.
"Yeah . . . it is." Nick couldn't help but smile at that. He exhaled deeply and relaxed his shoulders, letting his tension go.
Time passed, and both of the animals, in the warmth of the other, trailed off into the land of sleep as it began pouring outside. Despite the mask possibly still being there, staying awake was difficult for the two animals.
When Nick's consciousness first snapped back, the first thing he heard was low mumbling. It was Richard, very clearly. What was he saying? "Yeah, Dick?"
"Dad . . . no . . . no . . . don't . . . let me go . . . let me . . . ."
Nick's eyes opened. Was Richard having a bad dream? Was this a common thing? Poor guy. "Hey. Hey, wake up."
"No . . . no, no, no . . . don't touch me!" Richard almost barked.
Nick realized the raccoon's arms were now limp on his shoulders. "Hey! Wake up!" He hadn't wanted to move, but now he figured he might have to.
Richard began audibly whining and making noises Nick didn't understand, freaking him out. He moved his arms off of him and turned his head quickly, the first thing he saw being Richard's wide brown eyes. And around those eyes was the outline of something.
Eyeholes.