Sort of Deadly

21 - Long Time, No See

Marra's POV:-

Long time no see! I don’t even know where to start, so much has happened.

We’ve got this new neighbor, her name (for you) is Niffy, she can’t talk, but she’s awesome, and she’s the only one who appreciates mine and Es's singing duo . . . oh. Okay. I didn’t know you’d heard of her, sorry.

Uh, who told you? Bee? That’s . . . unexpected.

What do you not know, then? Do you know about the xylophone and mike – oh, you do. Aar's slinging? Okay. Erm. Well, I guess I was wrong. You already seem to know a lot.

I only celebrate one birthday now! Bet you didn’t know that, ha-ha!

Dang it! Bummer.

Okay, I’ll tell you something only I know then. I kind of miss having two birthdays. I know, I know.

But Marra, you told us you thought birthdays were a bit of stretch?

Well, they used to be. Now they’re not. Perceptions change, people.

Bee had to shift – of course you know, Nosferatu! – which sucks. A lot. Aar misses her way too much. But I guess she’s moved on, or is at least trying to, 'cuz she doesn’t even pick up our calls anymore.

She was here for the birthday, though.

That’s right. Was.

Now when I woke up – because I thought I smelled blood (no, I do not like it anymore; drinking it is a disgusting activity and I condone it; wink-wink) – and, well, she was gone. I automatically assumed she must’ve gone to the washroom or something, but then I noticed that Niffy's mattress was empty too.

Maybe the girls are having a party of their own, was my first thought. But Bee and Niffy . . . it just didn’t strike the right cord, you know.

So I got up, annoyed at the my defected nose for waking me up (with my quirks gone I seem to have lost my amazing sense of smell as well) and trundled about in the dark like the Canterville ghost (Bee read the book to us, a chapter a day), and changed my track when I thought I heard a sound in the kitchen.

I went there, but it was empty. The refrigerator was open, though. Stranger still, a peeled banana was just idly lying on the counter. It looked fresh, so I grabbed it and ate away as I closed the fridge.

‘Hm,’ I said with my mouth overly full, watching my reflection make embarrassing monkey faces in the fridge's polished doorhandle. Then I noticed another reflection, someone – or something – standing behind me, so I wheeled about, nerves throbbing loudly, to see –

Niffy.

I sighed, but ended up spitting the crushed banana in my mouth out. ‘What’re you doing here?’ I said to her. Picked the mess up with the cuff of my shirt (yeah, I’m disgusting) and tossed it away. 'And do not tell Aar about the whole banana thing. I just saw an innocent uneaten banana lying there and decided to – hey, something wrong?’

She looked peaky. That’s a new word I learnt from this weird, low-budget movie I watched with Aar after our term exams; apparently, the British love the word. Along with 'blimey' and 'tosh' and 'wazzok' and 'kerfuffle' and whatnot. Whatever, all that is besides the point.

But yeah, she looked pretty peaky. Like she had seen a ghost or something. Or maybe a spirit. (I miss being able to see them again, honestly. Now everywhere I go – especially the 'loo,' another word the British use quite often – I keep thinking if my grandma’s spirit is stalking me? Keeping tabs? Deciding whether I’m naughty or not, whether I’m going to go to heaven or hell or the Void?)

Urgh, sorry. Got distracted again.

'Niffy? What's up?’

I moved towards her, kept a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. Her eyes were wide and catatonic, her breath high and uneven. She pointed at the refrigerator. I frowned.

‘Er, what?’

She got the shivers. So did I.
______________________________________

'All hail the Grail!’ Aar screamed as he awoke. Then he blinked a few bovine blinks and started to wince. He hates having his sleep spoiled more than anything. ‘Why, dude? This is a sleepover. S-l-e-e-p. Do you know what that entails-?’

I set aside the chilled water I had splashed on his face to wake him up and smiled. ‘Shush, shush, little baby. Time to translate.’

And so a very pale Niffy with very wide eyes began to gesticulate with her hands, and a very sleepy Aar with very pinched eyes processed the input. Two mattresses away, Es snored away restfully. Her snores sound more like train whistles, really, and even more like music.

See was sleeping in the waiter's room next door.

Slowly, by the time Niffy's motions had stopped, I could see the stark shift in Aar's bearing. ‘Oh, dear Mother Of God's Children,' Aar whispered.

‘That’d be His wife, buddy,' said I. ‘Anyway, what’s she saying? Where’s Bee? Out for a walk at four in the morning? Is that a thing in {Undis-2-closed}?’

Aar ignored me and looked Niffy right in the eye sockets. ‘Was it an amulet?’

Niffy shrugged. This gesture I understood: Maybe. Probably.

I leaned forward, looking into her eyes as well. ‘Wh-what is happening?’ Back at Aar: ‘It isn’t . . . you-know-what, is it, Aar?’

‘Oh, Santa's shaved beard,' murmured he. 'Was it silver? Round? Was it like . . .’ He reached into his shirt and pulled out what a casual looker might mistake for a pendant. ‘. . . this?’

Niffy moved her head up, down, up, then down again. An unsure nod.

‘Did Bee – did she put it in her mouth, could you see?’ I inquired, getting the shivers again.

Niffy moved her head up and down. Once. An affirmative nod.

‘Curse my life,' me and Aar said together.

You heard from Marra after so long, how'd it feel?