Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

The remaining animals were still sitting in the circle under the large chandelier in the foyer of Downing Manor, not yet fully recovered from the Black Cross' visit or Gerald and Molly's decision to have their memories altered.
"It's better this way," Boris told Tyler and Pierce. "It will keep my feelings toward my father out of the way when we're trying to get things done."
Pierce looked up from their shoes. "That was a lot."
Tyler gazed at Boris with a face of understanding. "Dude . . . I didn't see any of that coming but watching it was, like, wow. I'm wondering if that's what I looked like when I yelled at my gramps."
"It's ridiculous. This happens, and then he wants to show that he cares about us after not realizing we were never home or doing nefarious things behind his back? It's bullshit. But I'm done talking about that, for now. Pierce, what was all that with you turning into Leah? What was this plan?"
Pierce sighed. "Oh, well, I dunno. I was reading my book after you left and a little bit later we heard some noises from outside. Leah came out of her room and then told us she sensed a lot of vampires were nearby. She looked really freaked out."
"Oh, yeah, cause she woke me up after that," Tyler stated. "She got us and immediately knew that they were here for Pierce, which makes sense, I guess. She also warned us that they wouldn't leave without killing someone. That was fuckin' scary to hear."
"Yeah," Pierce shuddered. "Then she took me into her room and got this book and then used this spell to make me look like her. Then, she made herself invisible. We all met in the hallway as they came in, and she said the only way we could save Boris is if we played along, no matter who they killed."
Boris blinked. "What?"
Tyler shook his head. "We didn't get it, either. We think there was a plan behind her plan."
"I was wondering why you waited so long . . ." Boris said to Pierce.
"Well, Leah said she was leaving to get something, which I guess was all those girls that saved us."
"So . . . she was going to let those caretakers die anyway . . . Carlos and Marcel . . ."
Tyler swallowed. "It's really confusing. There's a lot going on. But she said it was to save you."
Boris sat back in the seat, slumping down. "So, no matter what, whether I'm possessed by Absalom or going to be saved by Leah, innocent animals have to die?"
Tyler placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "I dunno how any of this works, but that's pretty fucked. At first, I was really freaked out. Now, I'm not even sure what to think about all of this. And how does Leah stay so calm with it all? She's so mysterious."
"Yeah . . ." Boris nodded. "I thought I knew her."
Pierce rubbed their knees. "At least the spell worked, and they couldn't tell it was me. When she told me I'd have to stay silent, I was really worried they'd call me out for it, which they did!"
"Why couldn't you speak?" asked Tyler.
"She said the spell only changes your appearance. I'd still have my voice."
"Well, if they've never heard her voice before . . . ."
"I didn't think about that," Pierce stated.
"Wait, if she can sense them, wouldn't they be able to sense her?" Tyler scratched his head.
"No, because she wasn't there," Boris pointed out. "They said they sensed a vampire there. Well, they were sensing Pierce right in the room."
"Magic is crazy . . . ." Tyler whispered.
"Indeed."
The lemur yawned. "Man, I feel so drained after all of that . . . I wish I had gotten to drink some of that blood on the table. N-no offense!"
Boris sighed. "What difference does it make? They're still dead."
"Y-yeah . . ."
Tyler looked up at the thing hanging from the ceiling above them. "I dunno how I'm gonna even sleep tonight after all of that."
Boris placed his hands on his lap. "Something tells me I'm going right back to Absalom."
"How do you know?" Tyler asked genuinely.
"I just can kind of predict it. Plus, I just came back from my kill, and I'm totally deflated. I'm surprised I'm still awake."
The German shepherd looked around once more, making sure they weren't being watched. "Then, hey, why don't we go to bed?"
Boris glanced toward the dining room door. "I was going to wait for Leah to come back and explain . . ."
"I don't think you wanna deal with all that tonight, especially if you're going to visit Absalom."
The otter couldn't lie; his eyes did feel heavy. Even as Tyler held his hand out to him, he just wanted to sit back in the chair and close his eyes, but instead, he reached up and took it, getting up.
"You guys go ahead! I wanna stay and talk to Leah," Pierce announced, waving them off.
Tyler looked back at them. "Sounds good." He began walking with Boris toward the giant stairs. "You're still covered in blood. I didn't wanna say anything back there, but what happened when you left without telling me, yet again?"
Boris sighed. "I couldn't tell you . . . I was timed for this kill, or Absalom would make me kill Leah. I rushed out of here and left the cellar door open. It's my fault the vampires got in. All of this was my fault."
Tyler nodded. "Yeah . . . but you never asked to be possessed. Don't get me wrong, this fucking sucks, and I wish we could go far away from here, but I'm getting it more and more."
"Huh?" They turned at the top of the stairs to find the steps up to the third floor.
"Well, Absalom is having you kill innocent animals, right? But Leah also had to have innocent animals die to save you, right? As fucked as that is, it's the only way."
"I'm starting to think it's not worth it," Boris said. "I just killed a mute man, Tyler. Animals that practically raised me died! I'm just one animal, and it's completely selfish of me to keep living over them. And it's scaring me that we're at a point where death is becoming normal. Do you even hear yourself? There has to be another way."
They reached the top of the stairs and headed for the hallway toward Boris's room. Tyler looked at the floor, rubbing his arm. "Have you ever tried to . . . stop it?"
"What do you mean?"
Tyler slid a finger over his throat slowly. "You know."
Boris nodded, slowly, remembering the time when he thought that might solve the problem. "Yeah . . . toward the beginning. I couldn't."
"I'm only asking because you said that your life isn't worth theirs, but you can't die, so we have to look at it from another angle."
"Huh?"
"If you kill for Absalom, you'll end up killing twenty animals in the end. If animals die for whatever Leah's doing, then that's fewer animals in the end."
"I don't know if either of us is still sane," Boris chuckled. "I feel like I'm going through a fever dream forever."
"To be honest, I think about leaving all the time. Multiple times a day. How much easier would it be if I just left this place and didn't have to deal with all of that? But like I said in the beginning, I have nowhere to go, and something is keeping me here. It would be wrong to leave."
"I wouldn't blame you," Boris said as they entered his room. He began gathering pajamas to change into.
Tyler sat on the bed. "Yeah, well . . . I still care about you. I know I don't know how to fight or do magic or anything, but I still want to be there for you."
Boris felt his voice quiver a bit. "Th-thank you."
"Have a good shower. See you when you get back?"
"Yes." Boris left the room, leaving the door open behind him as he disappeared into the bathroom.
Once he was fully clean and wearing his purple pajamas, he returned after brushing his teeth, Tyler laying on the bed, in his shirt, glasses, and underwear, and scrolling around on his phone.
Boris yawned as he came beside him, laying down. "That was a much-needed cleaning."
Tyler set his phone down on the other side of him and turned to look at him. "I thought some more while you were in there."
"About?"
"Before all of this, you didn't have anyone to talk to or hang out with. You know, to ground you. Well, even with all of this insane shit going on, I think what's going to keep you sane is if I'm still that animal."
The otter blinked. "Do you think?"
"Yeah. Even if I want to throw up at the thought of it all, I don't want to lose you to going crazy or something like that. So if you need to talk, just tell me. And we can hang out and do more everyday things, m'kay?"
Boris felt befuddled at Tyler's resolution. He couldn't say he didn't desperately want something normal to hold onto. "Thank you, Ty . . . Erm, will you hold me so I can sleep?"
Tyler grabbed him and pulled him close, curling up by his side as if waiting for that question. "I , uh, needed this too . . . ."
Boris's cheeks warmed up. This was just like when they cuddled before Absalom. It was a familiar and warm feeling he would always cherish. "Thank you . . ."
"Mmm . . ."
"Night."
"Goodnight."