Subtleties Pt. 3 (And it's hard to carry on...) For about a little over an hour, we searched through the rooms of the house, admiring the décor and arts on the walls and stands. We hadn't seen anyone else the entire time. I made sure to do the best I could to make Miss Doe feel wanted so I insisted we stayed linked the entire time. From time to time I would compliment her appearance, flirtatiously or platonically. My intent was to make her feel better. I may not have the best method, but for someone like me who has a deteriorating social ability, it worked. I was inspecting a bust of a wolf nearby. It looked so realistic for something made from stone. If it were colored, I surely would have suspected someone had been decapitated. It was then that I felt the tea getting to me. "Miss Doe? I has to use the bathroom..." I whined. "Hmm?" Miss Doe seemed to be fixated in an artistic picture on the wall. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be able to hold it. The best part of me when I have to answer the call of nature is that it hits randomly, it hits fast, and it hits hard. I saw that she didn't seem to have any intention in moving and at this point, all guardianship instincts left me. "So... Uh.. I'm going to go find the bathroom really quickly and I'll come back," I spoke, trying to nonchalantly hint whether or not she wanted to come with me. "Okay," she replied. I couldn't wait any longer, though. I really had to go! I decided to quickly go and come back. "I'll be right back, okay? Stay here!" I said as I left, hoping she wouldn't think of me as treating her as a child. I dashed down the long hall and into what I instinctively felt was the bathroom. Usually I was always lost and always asking for the restrooms but I would have none of that today! I quickly relieved myself and washed my hands, intent on getting back as quickly as possible. With the most intense face I was able to make, as if it would make a difference, I sprinted back to the room as quickly as I could... And yet... I ran into someone else, face to face. Well, considering they were taller than me, it was more like face to chin... My eyes teared up as I sat up to see that I had ran into, literally, Miss Cat. She was also on the floor, rubbing her chin. Both of our wings and tails were extended and fluffed out with pain, agony, anxiety, and anger. "What the fuck is your problem?!" she yelled. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just got out of the bathroom and I wanted to get back to Miss Doe as quickly as possible!" I explained. "WHAT!? You left Miss Doe by herself?!" she yelled, getting up quickly and standing over me with the most evil of looks. "I had to pee, man. What did you want me to do!? Go in a bush!? There was none around and, I tell you what, that's speciest!!!" I yelled back. "What?! What are you even saying!?" she yelled back, offended. "Hnnng!" I waved my arms in front of her, as if erasing the arguments. "Never mind! I have to get back!" "I can't believe you left her alone! She's just a deer! And she's basically the best prey!" Miss Cat would yell at me the entire walk back, spitting insults to both Miss Doe for being physically and mentally incompetent for her species, and me for leaving her. Her incessant yelling would cease as we entered the room in which I left her. It was empty. I looked around. "Shit..." I spoke. "Where is she!?" Miss Cat yelled. "Look, man," I spoke to her. "You could either continue to bitch about the past or you can help me find her, 'cuz you're not helping anyone right now by blaming me. She's around here somewhere." She looked at me with a bit of surprise, drowned with anger. She snarled at me, "Fine, but don't think this makes us friends." "Sure thing, buddy," I mocked and speculated the empty room. Why would she leave? I told her I would be back and to stay here... I noticed that the room was very sound. I looked down. There was something subtly different. On the floor was a little figurine. No doubt from Miss Doe's cell phone charm. I picked it up and sniffed it. Definitely Miss Doe, but there was a different scent... I couldn't place it. "Come on," I demanded sternly, walking from the room. Miss Cat followed behind. We walked through the halls following the scent of Miss Doe. The scent grew stronger as I turned the corner and I stopped. Miss Cat walked before me and got bumped quickly. "Hey, Mister Fox!" I greeted. He just sharply apologized to Miss Cat without stopping and walked by. His eyes looked so scared. It wasn't like him to ignore me, at least from what I gathered tonight. "Okay..?" Miss Cat and I moved forwards and around the corner. Not long after Mister Fox passed by were we greeted by Mister Lizard. He bumped into Miss Cat and held onto her quickly, steadying her as he quickly passed by. He was covered in something that quickly stung our noses. We quickly moved into the room that Mister Lizard fled from behind Mister Fox. There lied Miss Doe in a pool of red. next to her was her card that stated 'bystander' and then her cell phone which was just inches from her hand, an empty spot where the figurine I found earlier was supposed to be. Miss Cat and I stood by the door, watching the body. "That's..." I whispered. "SO COOL!!! This is so realistic! Even the blood smells real! Oh my gosh!! This event is amazing!" I jumped around excited. Miss Cat let out a sigh a relief, seeing that it was fake. As we both inspected the scene, Miss Doe's phone began to ring. She stood still, no doubt part of the rules. "Miss Doe! Hey! Your phone is ringing! You don't have to pretend this long. Miss Cat and I won't tell!" I giggled. No response. "Miss Doe? Are you sleeping? Did you hear her? Your phone is ringing," Miss Cat kneeled next to her. Still no response. I began to get suspicious and leaned over, holding her wrist for a pulse. Something told me, even if she was playing a trick, it was best to be sure. I must have waited for five full minutes trying to get something. I think I was more hopeful that rational. I just stared at her for a moment before looking up at Miss Cat, hoping, praying, wishing that she would yell at me for overlooking something. Instead, her eyes met with mine and she immediately knew what I was thinking. "Mister Lizard...." she whispered. "What?" I asked. "Mister Lizard. When he bumped into me, he smeared a liquid onto me... I now know it's blood..." she explained. "And he was chasing after Mister Fox!" I gasped. "We gotta go! He's making this into the real thing!" With that, we both dashed out of the room to find Mister Lizard and Mister Fox. Hallway after hallway, room by room we passed through the house with haste. We must have run miles in the half an hour we spent searching. Before I could react, Mister Lizard appeared from a hallway adjacent to us. He quickly noticed us and opened his mouth as if to yell. I tried to stop and in front of me, a door opened. It was Mister Fox! "Get in!" he yelled, grabbing both Miss Cat and I and pulling us into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Let's go!" he demanded as he led us out of another door, into the hallway to resume the run. Mister Lizard seemed to be behind us no matter what obstacle we threw at him, no matter how quickly turned the corner. We couldn't lose him. "You realize this is all your fault, you stupid wolf mutt!" Miss Cat called unfairly. I didn't reply, assuming that she was just saying whatever because she was scared and wanted to take it out somehow. It just happened to be on the most popular person in the house, of course! Mister Fox led us into a final room, where he locked and barricaded the door behind us. "Miss Cat! Over there!" Mister Fox directed and Miss Cat quickly followed. "Mimi!" he called to me, gently grabbing me and leading me to a nearby cupboard. "You need to hide here, okay? It will be alright! You'll be safe! I'll be back for you! I won't let anything happen to you!" He caressed my cheek as he coaxed me into the cupboard. It was snug, but I fit. I wasn't sure if it was all the tension, the feeling of anxiety, or the intensity of it all, but I felt that much more attracted to Jeremy. Dare I say it? I had developed a little crush on him. We exchanged smiles and he shut the cupboard. I heard Jeremy's footsteps and then nothing. For a while, there was silence. I probably waited in that cramp box for a good fifteen minutes before being stirred from a loud crash just outside of the cupboard. Despite what Mister Fox has told me, I was compelled to look. As I opened the small door, allowing the light to pour in from the room, I heard Miss Cat gasp. There, I saw her just feet from me and in a struggle. She was being strangled from the back and her throat slowly slit. I gasped as I saw it all happen. What happened next was even more striking... Mister Lizard busted into the room in a hurry and hissed at Mister Fox, who dropped Miss Cat's gasping body to the floor. Mister Lizard lunged at Mister Fox and I quickly ran over to Miss Cat, helping her seal her neck, knowing that it wouldn't do any good. She continued to gasp and looked at me with fearful eyes. "Miss Cat! Look at me! Look at me, okay? You need to calm down. I know it seems impossible, but you need to get your blood to flow slower or you'll die faster!" I called, remaining calm and being blunt. I was never any good at lying. She looked at me as if she didn't hear me, her pulse increasing. I figured that was it for her. I quickly took out my phone and emergency dialed anyways but didn't put the phone to my ear. "See? I'm calling the ambulance, Miss Cat," I spoke with a soft voice and showed her the phone dialing. I hear that cats emit a pheromone when you stroke their cheeks, so I softly began to caress her cheek in hopes that it would calm her. I whispered sweet nothings to her as her world began to slow. Either it was working or she was going into shock, but Miss Cat began to pass slowly, her pulse fading as did her eyes. She never took her eyes off me, but she did lower her eye lids as she went. I just continued to smile at her until I was sure she was gone, and then a little bit after. I don't know if it went the way I meant it, but I wanted her to see that it was okay and to be calm. I didn't tear up, probably like I should have. I don't tend to tear up anymore. Death is a normal part of #life to me. Particularly to someone I just met, I could not feel any regret. A hint of sadness, yes, but nothing personal. Maybe that made me a bad person. Mister Fox and Mister Lizard continued to struggle behind me. Mister Fox, being clearly more fit than Mister Lizard, tossed him aside and towered over him, stepping on his chest. Mister Fox took off his bloody latex gloves and tossed them into the fire. I didn't see if they burned quickly or not, but now his hands were clean, and Mister Lizard was not. Mister Fox winked at me as he kicked Mister Lizard in the face and disappeared from the room. Mister Lizard, in apparently immense pain but not knocked out, tried to stand and make his way to the two of us. Before Mister Lizard could reach us, Mister Peacock ran into the room, holding Mister Lizard at gun point just as he managed to make his way to Miss Cat's body. "Freeze!" Mister Peacock demanded. In his other hand, he flashed a detective badge. Damn it, Mister Peacock... Why do you have to come in at the most criminalizing moment for him!? "Wait!" I yelled, but to no avail. Mister Peacock just ignored me as he began to arrest Mister Lizard, stating that his intent was to kill all the guests. His motives stated didn't make much sense but he wasn't willing to listen; and poor Mister Lizard could say nothing to his defense, for it wasn't until then that it came up that he was a mute. And then that was the end of the night. Mister Lizard was arrested, Mister Peacock was a secret agent, Miss Doe was dead, Miss Cat suffocated to death before my eyes, Butler just held his hand over his mouth in surprise at it all, Mister Fox was nowhere to be seen, and then there was me. I just pondered the entire night and drew my own conclusions as the rest of the police questioned me. Miss Cat and Miss Doe were being taken out on stretchers and sacked as I recalled the entire story to the police. However, it didn't seem like they took my word for any of it. I wonder why...? Poor Butler. I suspect that he has suspicions that this would happen but he honestly didn't seem like he expected it to actually happen. A defeated Mister Lizard was escorted into Mister Peacock's police car and I was just left there, free to go, but with so many unanswered questions that I was pretty sure were to be left a mystery. The most burning question of all was why? But do some people even need a reason? I made my way to my car and sat in there, slowly collecting myself as the ambulance rolled away. The bright lights of the cop cars stayed, though. I had no idea how long they were going to last, but I was too tired to care. I buckled my seat belt as I heard my passenger door close. Mister Fox had gotten into my car in a hurry, looking around in case he was seen. I just stared at him tiredly. I wasn't afraid of him, I was just so tired of all this shit... I just wanted to go home... "Drive," he demanded, and yet he still sounded so polite about it. "Let's go." "Seriously...?" I grumbled at him. "Come on, please." "Ugh..." I sighed and turned on the car. Even if I did try to turn him in, Mister Peacock was so intent on Mister Lizard being guilty, it would probably result in him going free and I having a less than reputable name. We drove for hours. I, of course, took the scenic route to clear my mind. The car was silent the entire ride but no tension to be found. I drove us through a forest filled path with no other cars in sight. I slowed the car and drove to the side, stopping the car and taking my hands off the wheel. "You must have read my mind," Mister Fox said. "Mister Fox," I addressed. "Please, dear, call me Jeremy." "… Why?" I finally whispered. "What? Well, because it's my name, dear," he laughed. "No. Not that. I meant why did you kill those girls...?" "… Do you really want to talk about that now...?" he said, leaning into me, kissing my lips lightly. I drew back quickly. I was angered and offended at the mere thought of it all. "Seriously?!" I growled. "Come on, baby. I need this..." he moaned, trying to put his arms around me. "Damn it! Stop this shit! Seriously!" I yelled in the most fed up tone. Unlocking the door, I gave him the choice. "Look, I'm not going to turn you in, but the last thing I want right now, or EVER, is drama. So, please, just go." "Why would you want me to go? Don't you want to be with me? I deserve this!" he argued. "Okay, so why is this my fault?" I said truthfully and still mad. I never care how attractive someone is. No one fucks with me unless I say so. Especially if I'm not getting paid for it. He stared for a second and sat back into his seat, clearly bothered by my statement. "The world owes it to me," he began. "Before I was born, my mother and father couldn't breed. Maybe it was because they were different species, maybe it was because one of them was infertile. Either way, every time they tried, the fetus would grow inside of my mother but would never develop enough to reach the second phase. My father was a very stubborn buck and he demanded a new, upcoming type of procedure to be used on my mother. It wasn't licensed so they had to go to less than reputable places... But, it worked. My mother was a fox, so she was able to give birth to a litter, however, since my father was a deer, it shortened the birth to just four of us. Three baby fox pups and one deer. My father was furious at the deer. I guess he never wanted to be a deer himself so he took it out on it. One day, my mother and father had had it with the deer and started to provoke a fight with it, my father bearing a gun and my mother a noose. After fighting about how damned the deer was from birth and who was to slaughter it, my mother threw the noose to the deer, demanding it take its own #life. The deer cried and cried and cried. How could its own parents hate it so much. It was much too young to understand why. Its brothers and sister were also crying but they huddled to the corner in such fear. Giving up on #life, it fastened the noose around its neck as the parents watched. They turned away to prepare it for the lynching... But then quicker than anything else, it tied the noose that was on its neck to its father and used all its strength and weight that it could to force its father to the floor. He accidentally shot himself with the same gun that he was holding to off the deer. Its mother screamed in fear and tried to get away... But I managed to use all my strength to pick up the damn gun and shoot that bitch in the back... And I didn't even finish her.. I let her bleed out... She begged me to end it... She begged me to not let her suffer and that she was my mother... I just bit her eye out of her socket and swallowed it in front of her and my brothers and sister..." I stared straight at Jeremy with the most hilariously disgusted look ever. "Why do you have to stare at me like that!?" he demanded angrily. "Like what?!" "You can't even be scared enough to either be scared or pretend to not care!?" "What the fuck face am I supposed to make?! You ate her fucking eye ball!" I was always famed for making light of a tough situation, but perhaps this wasn't the best time... "She wanted me dead!" he defended. "'Kay den, but still! You need Jesus," I motioned to him. He laughed heartily at me. "This is why I like you. We just connect on so many levels and you can just make me laugh!" This man is crazy... Deer.. Buck... Whatever, he's cray. At that exact moment, time began to slow and I felt as though I was floating away from the car. I was able to see my body as I left it, in a perfectly still motion, with that slightly disgusted look and Jeremy just laughing and trying to put his arm around me. I began to float higher and higher, through the rag top of the car, into the clouds, and my vision became less and less vivid and more blurry... I wasn't sure what was to become of that night but I guess it didn't matter anymore at this point... … And then I woke up...