Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Finding himself right back in the seat within Absalom's realm, it turned out that Boris was right about the demon wanting to meet him. Just like last time, the straps on the chair were open, meaning he could get up and roam if he desired.
The light flashed on behind him, painting that circle of white light that created the wall in front of him, the shadow of Absalom appearing with it. "Well, hello there, puppet!"
"Couldn't you at least wait until tomorrow?" Now that his hands were free, he crossed them over his chest, frowning.
Absalom sighed. "No. Even with all that you've been going through, work must go on. The vampires were a surprise, for sure, but none of them died and none of those caretakers were killed with the Blade of the Mirror, meaning they don't count."
Boris clenched his fists. "Fuck you!!! You're lucky I'm used to all this death now or I'd be losing it just like Molly!"
"Hush, puppet!" Absalom hissed. "I don't have time for you to yell at me! Happily, I was able to take you over and destroy those police officers with the Blade of the Mirror, so I thought I might be lenient and count the five of them. The power I feel is magnificent, and is definitely enough for us to finally bring King here."
"That . . . puppet thing?" Boris shuddered, pulling his feet up off the floor.
"He is not a puppet in the Mortal Realm," Absalom explained. The light on the wall shifted and formed into a large rectangle, with two doors appearing in the center. They were blank and didn't possess handles. A second later, they slowly swung inward, revealing more void that expanded on forever. A chair exactly like the one Boris was in skidded out of the darkness, stopping a few feet in front of him. There was no one inside, but it had straps all the same.
"Blink," said Absalom, and Boris did just that, now finding that an entire animal had appeared in the seat, arms and legs strapped to it as Boris had previously been. It was a handsome red fox with perfect orange fur, pure white on the bottom half of his face, sharp triangle ears, piercing brown eyes, the pointiest fangs, and a straight posture to die for. His clothes were very similar to Boris's in that the fox was wearing a black suit. Boris had never seen an animal as flawless as this in looks.
The fox looked around. "So it finally happened."
The shadow of Absalom moved as the doors closed and the light became a spotlight once more, following him. The dark figure moved to another wall where both Boris and King could move their heads and see him. "So you know I've been trying to reach you."
"Absolutely," King nodded. "But every time I would come here my body would feel like nothing, my arms pulled on strings. The first time, I could only see black, but the second time, I saw him." King pointed toward Boris, who slowly lowered his feet back onto the invisible ground.
"You were that thing?" Boris asked.
"I assume so if we saw each other. Tell me, how did it come so easy for you to get here?"
"It just happened," Boris told him. "One day, Absalom appeared to me, and then I was able to come here."
"Very interesting. You see, I've been trying to come up with a way to contact Absalom, as he's been calling to me."
"This is true," Absalom stated. "You are a vital part of my plans, King. I take it you are already ahead on your own?"
King grinned. "Yes. I am both Greed and Pride now. It took some experimenting to figure out how to transfer one's Soul to me, but I made a breakthrough using revised Mortal Guard extraction technology. What a beautiful day that was!"
Boris gulped, watching the exchange. "So you're King?"
"I am."
"King what?"
"It's just King, my friend. And you are?" The fox eyed him carefully as if inspecting him.
"Boris. Boris Downing. I made it possible to bring you here, I think."
King leaned in, sniffing the air. "You have potent energy about you. The same as Greed and Pride did. Absalom, I'm assuming this otter is one of them?"
"He is," the shadow nodded. "I've been housed within Wrath for months now."
"W-Wrath?" Boris tilted his head. "Can someone explain to me what's going on?"
"Oh, he didn't know." King lifted his chin in understanding.
Absalom paced across the wall, back and forth, as he spoke. "Are you familiar with the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins, puppet?"
". . . No."
"They are Lust, Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, and finally . . . ." Due to the way the muzzle on the black form turned, Boris could see Absalom was looking at him. "Wrath."
"H-huh?!" Boris furrowed his brows.
"There are seven animals that are the physical incarnations of these sins. You are Wrath, the sin of anger and hatred. Have you not noticed your strength before?"
"I-I . . . I don't understand." The otter tried to find his words in that deep void but only found more blackness.
"You don't need to, as of yet," Absalom stated. "Just understand that you are critical. King, keep working on your plans. I can already feel you slipping, keeping two animals here."
"I will. Until we meet again," the fox smiled, vanishing into thin air right in front of Boris.
"Wh-what was all that about?" Boris stammered, staring at the chair.
"It's a pity I couldn't keep him here longer, but I need to show you something."
"Something else?" Absalom was dead silent as the room around Boris completely lit up and began shifting, the walls closing in. Boris thought they might crush him until they stopped before they reached him. The cement-looking floor turned into hardwood, and the walls became lined with paintings. Doors appeared along the surface, and Boris recognized where he was.
Ken Green's house.
"Look around," Absalom whispered. "What do you see?"
Boris craned his neck, not wanting to remove himself from the seat but noticing the pictures. There was an image of a happy male raccoon, Ken, being kissed on the cheek by a female raccoon, the man in a suit, and the female in a puffy white dress. Boris felt his heart drop as his eyes flicked to the next photo and saw three animals there, the same two from before, but now a tiny little raccoon girl was standing in front of Ken, eyes closed and smiling as if she'd never smile again.
The otter's eyes started to water as he turned his head away. "No . . . no . . . You told me he lived alone . . . You told me." There was a significant jolt, and Boris yelped as the room shifted, the hallway he was previously in seeming a little far away now. To his left was the stairwell he and Ken had tumbled down. "What are you . . . ?" The two right legs of his chair lifted, and Boris flailed his arms around wildly, desperate to grab onto the railing nearby. "No, no! Ah!"
The chair set itself back down, and right as it touched the floor, Boris's entire field of vision had changed, and now he was facing the front door of the home. The possessed otter's heart was heavy as he stared at the door, almost knowing what was to come.
Suddenly, the adult female raccoon appeared from the right, wearing a black dress and holding a cigarette. Black tears streamed down her cheeks, and her makeup was ruined, but she didn't seem to notice. "I can't find your father anywhere! His car is gone, so he must have left, but he was far too sick to do that when we did."
Then, a little raccoon girl who couldn't have been more than ten stepped out from the right, holding a small stuffed bear. She, too, was wearing a black dress and had tears falling down her cheeks. "Did daddy call you?"
"He didn't, no."
A black shape appeared behind the blinds at the door, and there was a loud knocking sound. The female raccoon began walking over when the scene changed yet again, the woman on her knees on the floor, sobbing loudly. The little girl was holding onto her, wailing out. "Daddy! Daddyyy!"
"Oh, god, why?!" Ken's wife cried.
In front of them, two animals dressed in uniform and wearing orange armbands stood, only they were very blurry. Boris couldn't make out their faces. One of the animals, a weasel, turned to the other. "I think it's time for the memory shift spell."
Her partner, what seemed to be some sort of brown dog, nodded, coming forward and raising his hand toward the mother clutching her daughter over the loss of her husband.
Everyone froze, then, and the two animals on the floor slowly rose, turning around and facing Boris, along with the two Mortal Guard members. "You did this," they all said in unison.
"Wh-what?"
"You did this." The group began walking forward, seeming like zombies with the pace and slow speech. "You did this! You did this! You did this!"
"No! No!" Boris yelped, shrinking in his seat. "L-leave me alone! I didn't know he was a father! I didn't know!"
"You did this! You did this!" They yelled, closing in on him.
Boris, unsure of what they would do and unable to bear the realization, broke. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He thrust himself out of his seat.
His eyes opened to see the ceiling of his room, a loud song blaring throughout the entire mansion, filling every space with sonic noise. Boris escaped from Tyler's grasp, only staring forward as he got out of bed.
The German shepherd was already awake, looking around wildly. "Boris?! What the hell?! What's going on?!"
Pierce was standing up from their chair, book in hand, brows wrinkled in confusion. "Uh . . . are you okay, dude? Boris?"
The otter was autonomous, moving forward as the vocals of the song came in. He had never heard it before but recognized it.
Don't ask me
What you know is true.
Don't have to tell you
I love your precious heart.
Both of the other animals got up, trying to snap him out of his stupor. Unfortunately, the otter was already out in the hallway and into the bathroom.
I, I was standing.
Boris stopped in front of the mirror. He heard Tyler shout at Pierce to get Leah.
You were there,
He stared deep at the pseudo's chocolate eyes, a dark ring of makeup around both of them, innocent blood splattering his face, dripping down the complexion. He felt a gravitational pull toward it like it was a friend he had known a long time ago.
Two worlds collided.
Boris lifted his hand, as did the reflection, and he pressed it to the mirror so that their touches would meet perfectly. And he felt it, then. There was the soft, warm feeling of a hand on the other side.
He smiled.
And they could never tear us apart.