Out of Their Minds

"Personally, I think it has more to do with Calipto than Brenda." Niel says. He looks at the doctor and says "Belleth and Calipto will do whatever it takes to kill each other and all of us are caught in the crossfire. If we are going to have any chance of surviving this, we need to pick a side. While its true that Belleth is with-holding information, Calipto appears to be the more dangerous of the two. So, Chaos and I are siding with Belleth. Which side of this war are you going to be on?"

 

Gregor put himself between Skye and Mortimer. Handel's knife was in reach though it wasn't visible. Gregor spread his arms wide. "My Lord, have I earned your displeasure?"

 

Glenny sighed as he watched both girls leave. He thought to follow one, but didn't want to be a nuisance, if that was indeed what he was becoming. His anger was only easing to more and more frustration. He hadn't seen Ramses for the life of him, missed Gregor with a plot of some sort - whatever that meant, he couldn't contemplate - and now people in the hospital were losing their memories, himself included. The one thing he needed after wanting to know the situation.

He closed his eyes, laughing slightly at the thought of his nurse barging in the door. She was probably dead too.

 

I slapped my register shut and thought..
"Not Calipto, that is for sure. But I have my doubts about Belleth too, if you know what I mean."
I then looked at the clock.
"I have to go talk to someone. Catch you later."
With that, I got up and walked out of my room.

 

"See you later." says Niel as Francine leaves the room. He gets up and limps out of the office. He goes to the play room and sits down in the corner. As he looks at the sky through the window, he thinks to himself "I hope we're doing the right thing by siding with Belleth."

 

Mortimer stared hard down at Skye and Gregor. His eyes shifted over to the left, and a small smile cracked on his face. Suddenly he charged left, rather than directly at Skye and Gregor. Reaching into the shadows, he pulled forth a small creature, the one that had been bothering him his entire stay here. Holding it by the face with one hand, it wriggled and struggled as he squeezed his hand around it's small skull.
"Sorry to give ya a scare there doc. I had to make this 'lil bugger think I was going to f***ing kill you. It was the only way I could get 'im off his guard so I could grab 'im before he melted back into the damn wall."
The little creature struggled with all its might, yelling, "Damn you! Damn you and your trickery!"

 

Gregor pushed Skye far away from the creature. "My Lord rip him apart and don't stop. That will kill him!"

 

Chloris' name was there all along. It must've been, and she must've written on the wall. In a familiar gesture, Olena tried to listen to her.
Do you remember the dream, Olena?

I remember. I was four then.

I know. Very good - there's no need to fear me, Olena. Just like in the dream, I'm not someone to fear.

You're not? But you . . .

No. I'm not. Just learn to live with Vira and I, do as I say, will you, Water? Olena's eyes shot open.
"What?" she said out loud.
You're a smart girl, Olena, you'll figure it out. It was like a twisted Dejavu.

 

Brenda was sitting in the hallway bench, reading a fashion magazine. I walked into the corridor and before she could object, sat by her side.
"Good morning doc."
I smiled, and she reluctantly smiled back. She knew I knew, I could tell from her flimsy expression.
"Morning Francine. Looks like we both are at leisure today."
She grinned, trying to make small talk. However much I wanted to do the same, our friendship wasn't there anymore. Calipto and Belleth had pushed us apart a bit too much.

"I'm not. I want to ask a direct question, Brenda."
Brenda nodded, turning her chin a little.
"John isn't real, right? The real John is dead, isn't that so?"
Brenda opened her mouth to object, when I added:
"And the so-called John is an alien, Calipto. Who wants to destroy us all. Am I following right?"
Brenda shut her mouth close as I continued, my anger rising.
"And the real John was your husband, wasn't he? Well, he was until you killed him."
Brenda eyed me, electrified.
"I...I didn't kill John!"
She blurted fumingly, at which I chuckled and then stopped.

"Then what happened to him?"
Brenda's eyes were filled with tears.
"He...he had a car accident. It was Sunday night. He always went to the superstore to get the kids' some goodies on Sunday. That's when it happened."
I swallowed it, but the part about kids got to me.
"Kids? You two had children?"
Brenda looked away, and finally got up.
"Where are the children, Brenda?"
She was still silent and vacant.
"WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?!"
I literally screamed this time, and Brenda replied coldly:
"Inside of you."

Brenda then heard squeaky noises from a creature in the hall. She went running towards it, and saw Mortimer, Gregor and Skye in one place. Her eyes widened and she screamed.
"DON'T!"
Her voice was shrill, and she acrobatically jumped and pulled the creature away from Mortimer.
"Get the hell out of here!"
She screamed to the creature which trembled against the situation.

 

Owww.double post.

 

"Does anyone have a pen?" Olena asked, loudly, coming out of her room. She hesitated. "And maybe a piece of paper?" A nurse handed her a pen and a sheet of staitonary with her anitials. HCG.
"You may keep that pen." She said, sweetly.
"Thanks," Olena replied gratefully. She wrote on the paper the words in the blood, and then she wrote the four numbers, nine words, and symbol on the back. She folded the paper neatly and put it into her drawer, and then she began to repair her wall. When it was perfect, she made sure everything else was perfect, too, and while she did, she thought carefully.

 

Skye was pushed back at Mortimer grabbed the creature. Confusion struck her as Brenda saved it. She looked at her angrily.

“She’s an alien….” She muttered under her breath. She gave Brenda a nasty look.

“You naughty! Mortimer was going to get rid of the bad thing!”

 

Brenda got up straight, eyeing the creature angrily.
"You were not supposed to!"
She thought to herself, and then cried out to ther creature once more:
"I said, LEAVE!"
The creature shrunk until it became a mere memory. Brenda looked back at Gregor, feeling afraid once more.
"It's not what you think it is."

 

Gregor looked at her. The knife was still within reach. Small black ropes slid unseen beneath Gregor's shirt rubbing cooking oil over the knife. "Go ahead Brenda, explain."

 

Her room was spotless - it was perfect. Not a spot or a smudge anywhere, and all the furniture perfectly straight. She smoothed out her sheets and went into the hall, then back to the playroom, to see if perhaps someone was there she could talk to.

 

Brenda looked around, confused. Francine had come by, intensifying her state of helplessness.
"Well...it's not a frontik, do you get me? It's a vermin we should all forgo for now."
Francine was confused, and asked:
"What now?"

 

Gregor shook his head. "One day Brenda ... you'll have to trust someone."

 

Mortimer growled and drooled, emanating pure rage.
"You f***ing bitch! YOU F***ING BITCH!" Mortimer grabbed at his hair and tugged it, "I had 'im. I had the f***er right in my f***ing hands! What the hell is your f***ing problem! I'll f***ing kill you bitch!"
Mortimer dragged himself on the floor, his bad leg stretched out and useless. His eyes popped from his head and he bore his teeth like fangs.

 

Brenda looked away and then watched as Mortimer went all crazy. I moved towards the guy tried to pull him up, but he was too frantic.
"Damian!"
I called to an orderly, who got himself a partner and they pulled Mortimer off the ground, and towards his room. I looked at Gregor and Skye with shifty eyes and then looked at Brenda.
"What the hell is a frontik?"
"Nothing."
Brenda mumbled and started walking out of the hospital. I sighed and without saying a thing to the two, followed her.

 

Mortimer was hauled back to his room. The orderlies called the police, who were on their way to the psychiatric hospital to pick Mortimer up. Mortimer sat in his cell, grimacing, feeling the foulest he ever had in his life.
"Damn f*** it. I ain't goin' back to that joint, no way..." promised Mortimer to himself.

 

Brenda played with the mental pendulum which swung freely suspended in front of her. She swayed it with her hand, disrupting the flow. Something had occupied her mind since a long while, and now it seemed to her that there was no alternative but to dig into it further. Who did Belleth think she was? The Queen of England, or the Wizard of Oz? The mystery remained.

It was a very beautiful Sunday noon. The sun was dwelling in the sky like a ball balanced atop a long pillar, rolling around and showing its simplistic beauty for a couple of hours. I was busy pulling out the weeds that noon, and planned for a late afternoon nap while the kids played with the hoses in the garden. Eden, nine and Tyler, five, were always obsessed with water fighting. If it wasn’t for Tyler’s sensitivity to germs, they would spend all the day playing with the garden hose. However, Sundays were a little different. Where the two would spend evenings and sometimes nights in the bath tub or in the garden, on Sundays they would go about this differently. John would come back from work right about six and then take us for a dinner and a family trip. If he would not be able to come by six, we’d be greeted by treats and surprises which would make up for the delays.

I was separating the onions from the Bermuda grass – a classic, Indian weed – when I had been informed by John that he would be home late. I accepted the fact, as it wasn’t anything out of the normal. It was like every other Sunday, and not that it was bothersome. But the issue did become difficult to tackle with when he didn’t come home till nine. We were a traditional family and John’s mother, Mrs. Gloria Francs, lived with us. She was also upset, and we tried to reach him on the phone but he wouldn’t pick it up. When it finally got connected to him, a policeman told me my husband had died in a car accident.

That sounded like a death knell for me. I loved John, and he loved me. We had been together since high school and had married right after school. We had done college and university together, whilst being husband and wife – he had helped me bring up Eden as I prepared for my sophomore challenges. His death was devastating to me. And even worse – to the kids. The kids loved their father, the detective who the whole of New York adored. They were virtually disabled and did not play with water for the rest of their short life. Since my marriage with John was secret, him being a detective and all – we had to pretend we never knew John. I couldn’t attend his formal funeral, nor the kids.

I was a strong woman per se, and tired to recover quickly so as to console my children and help them move on with their lives. I got them into a few activities and clubs, and we started going out for dinner very frequently. Well, it might’ve really helped if they lived more than four days.

Eden and Tyler were playing chess in the lounge. I could tell from the kitchen; they were teasing each other and the board clapped as they moved the players. I was busy making orange juice for them – another of their obsessions. I slapped my hand against the table as I found a bug lurking on it. I grinned, the smallish grins I could always bring up, but the aftereffects would be prolonged moments of distress and pain. I heard Tyler scream something and then run out of the lounge, followed by Eden. I shook my head as I placed the juices on the dinner table, and then called to them. When they didn’t respond, I walked out of the lounge and looked around. The back door was open, gaining my anger.

“Eden, you are in charge of shutting the back door when you – “
I stopped. My breath stifled, and my heartbeat ceased. The air around me seemed to condense into sweat and exhaustion. I then trampled to my feet, crawling outside, quivering. I wanted to scream, but I felt choked by the sight. My children lay in the garden – yes, but their heads had been cut off.

It was Thursday, four days after John’s death. And that was when I saw Calipto. Grinning, eyeing me calmly from the street. He had seemingly two footballs in his hands – which turned out to be my children's heads. I walked towards him, but he melted. His liquid form drained into the drain and I simply stood there, bewildered. After that, I moved out from my mother-in-law’s house. We met again - and that's when I started to understand him, and that's when the story became connected.

“Did you get the information?”
Brenda finally asked, and George nodded.
“Belleth seems to think you are Zvera.”
He said, pointing to a woman standing in the screen. To Brenda’s surprise, she looked just like her!
“Zvera is a frontik from Ghalmaraz, Calipto’s servant. Sometime back, she was a good person, but poverty forced her into his slavery. She’s dead now, but Belleth probably doesn’t know that.”
Brenda grinned, looking somewhat evil.
“This works to our advantage. As long as Belleth thinks I’m Zvera, I’m at advantage.”
“Yes. But the issue arises when you try to convince Francine. She will not believe you.”
Brenda’s face stoned, and she spoke coldly:
“That woman will just have to.”
Brenda stopped, and then spoke again:
“I lied to her about my kids, though. I didn’t know how to explain.”
George placed his hands on her shoulders, saying:
“You’ll do fine, Danielle.”
She nodded and then walked out.
“Alright, plan B it is. We have to quarantine Francine and displace the mad guys.”
George nodded and spoke coolly:
“Done and done.”

 

Flee away right now
His mom has been replaced
His mind refuses truth​

 

Olena was hearing things. The name echoed in her mind over and over, like a siren, but with each time she heard it, something became clearer.
Chloris. "I have split personalities."
Chloris. "And my memory's been erased."
Chloris. "And I have to do something to figure what I once knew."
Chloris. "And she'll tell me how."
"Glenny!" She called, happily, sitting down next to him at the table, when she could no longer stand the familiar name and had to hear a different voice. "How are you?"

 

Glenny opened his eyes, hearing someone call his name. Olena sat in front of him, and shaking away the dumb thoughts creeping into his head, he greeted her.

"Um.. hi." he said.

"I'm kinda frustrated right now. H-how are you?"

 

Olena gave him a sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry." she said, "you wanna talk about it?"