Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 53: Chapter 53

"Boris?" Tyler blinked, stepping forward and reaching his hand out. The song continued to spill from every speaker in the mansion. "Boris, wake up!" The German shepherd put his hands on his shoulder, trying to pull him away from the mirror, but Boris kept staring at his dark reflection.
Tyler grabbed Boris's arm, trying to pull it from the mirror, and it was only then that he realized from the surface of the glass, a bloody hand stuck out and was grabbing Boris's. The canine gasped, putting his arms around Boris's waist and yanking, but the otter simply wouldn't move.
Tyler just stared at the scene as he waited until Leah rushed into the room with Pierce. "Oh my god . . .We're losing time, and the ritual isn't ready!"
"What's going to happen?" Tyler fretted as the male otter continued to stare forward blankly.
"I don't know. I've never heard of a possession like this before!"
"There's never been anything like this?! Aren't you a witch?!" Tyler crooned.
"An arm is coming out of the mirror!" Leah argued. "That's not normal, even for possession!"
Pierce stared fearfully. "Wh-what do we do?"
Tyler curled his hands into fists. "I have an idea." He turned around and yanked the white towel off of the towel bar, then maneuvered the bar itself out of its holding. "I'm gonna smash it."
"Good idea," Leah nodded, stepping back.
Pierce came forward. "I'll grab Boris when that thing lets go!"
Tyler raised the towel rod and the moment he did, the hand coming out of the mirror let go of Boris and retreated. The canine swung it, and as it connected with the mirror, the cracks on the surface extended out from the point of contact until he hit it again, harder, and the mirror shattered entirely, pieces of it sprinkling the floor and falling into the sink bowl. As soon as he did, the music died, and Pierce grabbed Boris and pulled him away, finally gaining some purchase on his body.
Leah grabbed her brother's shoulders. "Boris! Boris! Are you with us? Are you here?"
Boris continued to stare forward. "N-Neil . . . where are . . ."
The female otter shook her head. "Neil? There's no one named Neil here. It's just me, Tyler, and Pierce."
"Where am I?" The otter raised his head. "Who are you? What happened here?"
Tyler's heart dropped. "Boris? It's us! Me, Tyler! Pierce, the vampire you picked up, and your sister!"
Boris looked down at himself. "What the hell am I wearing?"
Leah stepped back. "Do you genuinely not know who you are?"
"Of course I do." The otter pushed her off. "Why wouldn't I know who I am? Now, explain where I am!"
Pierce's muzzle twisted. "Who is Neil?"
"My boyfriend." Boris rolled his eyes. "He's the cutest goat in the world."
"You're literally a killer!" Tyler cried out. "And you have a boyfriend?! Why are you talking so weird?"
"Don't freak out, dude," Boris chuckled. "Let's talk about this. I'm sure some supernatural shit is going down."
"Yeah, the bathroom's getting cramped," Leah swallowed anxiously. "We should take this one to his room."
Tyler felt that he was hyperventilating as they left, Boris looking around at the decorated hallway. "Dude, nice crib you have here. This is totally sick."
"You live here," Tyler reminded as they entered the room.
"Are we still in Seattle?" Boris questioned. "I don't recall a big ol' mansion in the neighborhood or living in one."
"Seattle?" Tyler's mouth fell agape. "We're in Austin. Austin, Texas."
"AUSTIN?!" Boris jumped back. "Fuckin' aye, this is incredible! How the hell did I get here?"
"Is that you, Boris? What is this?" Tyler shook his head in disbelief.
"Stop calling me Boris. My name's Adam Foster," he told everyone, causing the room to fall silent. ". . . What's everyone staring for?"
Leah crossed her arms. "So . . . Adam . . . Who are you? And just what happened my brother?"
"I . . . can't remember much, sorry. I remember some people and my boyfriend and little bits of info, but it's like I woke up in a completely different time. Wait, what year is it?"
"It's . . . 2021," Tyler said. "It's June."
"Over forty years . . . ." Adam looked bewildered. Then, he paused. "Oh, my god. Neil is over fifty years old!" He buried his face in his hands. "All of our plans . . . ."
The other three animals just looked at each other, extremely confused. Everything was welling up inside of Tyler. "What happened to you?! Are you really Absalom messing with us?"
Adam's head lifted, his eyes wet. "Absalom . . . I know that name. I can't remember where from, though."
"So he knows about Absalom . . ." Leah noted. "This has something to do with that because of course it does."
Something snapped in Tyler's head, and his eyes widened. "Do you know You vs. Me?"
"Huh? You mean animals still listen to that song today? That's . . . the best song ever written."
Pierce swallowed. "This guy is all over the place . . . ."
Adam sat on the bed. "Try being a gay guy from the 80s who woke up in the twenty-first century surrounded by animals he's never seen in Austin fuckin' Texas. Also, my boyfriend is probably married to another man!"
"What happened to Boris?" The German shepherd asked. "He's not . . . gone, is he?"
Adam looked up. "Lemme just enter my mind vault. Oh, wait. I dunno how to do that. No clue who Boris is, either."
Leah put her hand over her mouth. "We're running out of time. We need to do something fast. Oh, why did this happen to Boris? His life is hard enough!"
Pierce rubbed their eyes. "I don't feel so good . . . ."
The witch blinked. "What now?"
"I dunno. I started feeling bad recently, but all this started happening like right after. My stomach feels weird."
Leah exhaled. "It has to be the lack of blood. You haven't had any since you became a vampire aside from Boris's. You must be having withdrawal."
Adam gasped. "Hey! I got a bitchin' idea. You're a vampire, right? I know how to get some blood! Unless the future is totally teched-out crazy."
Leah fiddled with the bracelet on her right arm. "Boris, erm, Adam . . . Bloodsucking mortals is illegal now."
"Illegal? As if. Unless the government knows about vamps."
"The Mortal Guard made the law," Leah explained. "Does that name mean anything to you?"
"Mortal Guard?" Adam wiggled his head left and right. "Yeah. Yeah, it does. Wild. I can't remember anything else, though."
Tyler put a hand to his forehead. "I . . . feel like I'm gonna be sick. This is fucking crazy."
"Barf me out, literally," Adam joked.
"How are you so calm about this?!" Tyler wailed. "We just possibly lost the animal we were trying to save!"
"Hey, you're not the only one who's really fuckin' confused right now!" Adam shouted back. "Again, I just woke up in 2021 after not existing for over forty years. It was like I was brought to life again! It's seriously gnarly but crazy bad, too. Mom's probably really old, Dad probably died from alcohol poisoning or some shit, and Seattle's probably changed a lot. Damn, I can't even imagine everything I missed while I was gone."
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Leah inserted.
Adam leaned back on the bed. "I think I should explain later. Your vamp buddy looks really sick. I can help him if you give me a chance."
"Them," Pierce corrected weakly.
"Them? Them who? These guys?"
"My pronouns are they/them," the lemur explained, holding their stomach.
"So, what? You're, like, multiple people?"
"No," said Pierce. "I'm not a boy or a girl. No gender."
"Sounds confusing," Adam responded. "So, do you like guys, or what?"
"This isn't a discussion we should be having right now!" Leah announced. "We're not just gonna turn you loose into a world you know nothing about to get blood! You're still in a killer's body!"
Adam frowned. "Bummer."
The witch squinted. "How come you're so calm talking about vampires and witches?"
The male otter shrugged. "I already know that stuff exists. How? Beats me. But I can get you this blood for your bud."
"It's too risky. The Mortal Guard is already after Boris," Leah explained. "But I still have research to do about the ritual I'm planning . . . But Pierce is out of commission and it's a terrible idea to send Tyler out there alone . . . If we don't do anything, Pierce's hunger will make them act irrational, though."
Pierce groaned and walked over to the bed, laying down on it. "I think now that you said it, the hunger hit badly."
"See!" Adam pointed. "I promise I won't run off, and I'm a master of stealth, so I won't get caught."
Tyler raised his hand. "I'll go, Leah. And keep an eye on him. No offense, but I'm really worried about where Boris might be. I've gone along with him on something kinda risky before."
Leah frowned. "Pierce, why didn't you say anything about your hunger when you started feeling it! That was really stupid! We already have enough on our plates to deal with!"
Pierce moved their legs and whined. "I'm sorry! I dunno anything about actually being a vampire even though you gave me a manual. And imagine if all this had started while you were trying to get me blood! With that arm coming out of the mirror, we have no idea what could have happened!"
"Urgh . . . Tyler, take out your phone. I'm going to give you my number. Call me as soon as something goes wrong."
"Someone's a Negative Nancy," Adam laughed. "Before we go, what are your names?"
"I'm Tyler," the German shepherd told him.
"Leah," the witch said. "I'm going to bring him back."
"Pierce . . ." the weak animal said from the bed.
"And who exactly is this Boris guy you keep talking about? Something about Absalom?" Adam asked.
"I said it before. He's my brother," Leah began. "And this is all very weird. I mean, he just went out, presumably on one of his missions. He comes back, and vampires attack us, and now, this! It just doesn't add up. This is unlike anything I've ever dealt with! Ugh, I'm so stressed right now."
"We didn't lose Boris, though, right?" Tyler asked, tapping his fingers together.
"I don't know," Leah answered. "I hope not."
"Same," Tyler sighed.
Adam stood up eagerly. "Hey, but I don't wanna go out in this stuffy shit. I like to have my fur showing."
Leah walked to the door. "I'll take care of it. Be back in a sec." She left, footsteps receding down the soft carpet in the hall. A 'Please, Boris . . .' could be heard from her outside the door.
Tyler looked back at Adam. "You can drop the act now, Boris. Please."
The otter stared at him for a moment. "Sorry, bud. Still me. That blows to hear about your friend. But, hey, you got the gay aura about you! I really did have a goat boyfriend named Neil! And he's probably ancient now! I honestly don't wanna even think about it."
Tyler dropped his hands to his side. "I'm sorry. That sucks. Do you really not remember anything?"
"Nada," Adam frowned. "It blows."
"And what are we gonna do to get that blood?" the canine questioned, rubbing his cheek nervously.
"Oh, no big D, don't worry," Adam grinned. "We aren't gonna kill anyone or do anything illegal. Uh, can you drive? Neil was always my driver."
Tyler nodded. "You're lucky I've driven Boris's car a few times."
"Good!"
Leah returned with a black tee-shirt, jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. "These are Molly's, Boris's other sister. She likes to wear guy clothes, so you can borrow these." She tossed them at the body of her brother, now inhabited by someone else.
"Thanks, Lee."
"Lee?"
"Shortened your name."
"It's already really short," Leah blinked.
"Well, now it's shorter."
"Okay, well, Tyler, keep him out of trouble. I mean it. If you get my brother's body caught by the Mortal Guard, I will kill you."
The canine's ears flattened. "Don't worry. I won't get him caught. "I'll probably learn a lot . . ."
Adam put a hand on his chest. "You think you'll learn a lot, buddy? I get to experience the future! Are you willing to clean that shit out of Boris's car?"
"Har-har." Tyler was already missing the way that Boris used to talk, despite being bothered by it before. Even if Boris was a possessed killer, Tyler now realized how much he cared about his friend. He genuinely wanted to save him.
"Then get outta here," Adam waved. "I'm about to get in my underwear, and only Neil is allowed to peek at this body. The weird no-gender lemur vampire can stay."
The female otter and German shepherd left the room, and Adam began pulling the suit off. "Don't worry, vamp. I'm gonna get you that good blood."
Pierce groaned. "I barely got to get to know Boris before you took over . . . This is really weird for all of us."
Adam sighed. "Word. I just hope I'll be able to acclimate with this crazy new society I woke up in. I'm a good guy, though, so you can trust me. I don't plan on running away, especially if I woke up in a free mansion."
"You don't wanna contact anyone about what's happening to you?" Pierce asked. "Maybe get help or something?"
"No," Adam answered. "This is crazy enough as it is, and if what you said is true, I'm in the body of a wanted man. Don't plan on making any stupid mistakes out there. Plus, I woke up in the midst of a witch! I'm sure she'll be able to help me!"
Pierce coughed. "And why do you wanna get me blood? Not the first thing most animals would do in your situation."
"Well, I genuinely wanna see outside the mansion, and you're feeling sick. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Honestly, I wanna know how I'm back. Lee will be the answer to that, hopefully. I'm just gonna take this one step at a time, okay? Blood first, answers after."
The lemur moved in bed, laying on their side as the male otter slipped on all of the clothes Leah brought for him. "This outfit is choice, man! Er, animal. Leah gave me the right stuff. I look great! If only Neil could see. Anyway, I'll be back. Don't starve while I'm gone."
"Will do . . ."
"No, don't do that." Adam teased, going out into the hallway and finding Tyler leaning against the wall. "Yo."
The German shepherd stopped for a moment, blinking. "Uh . . . Woah." He didn't expect the otter to come out wearing an approximation of the outfit Boris's dark reflection wore. The only difference was that there was no graphic on the tee-shirt. The dog cleared his thoughts. "Hey," Tyler nodded his head. "I'm ready to get out of here, I guess . . . ."
Adam grinned widely, looking around the hallway and taking it in. "Let's jet. Back to the future. Well, not back, but to the future. You get it."
"Uh . . . yeah." Tyler turned as they began walking toward the elevator. Come back soon, Boris.