Rosalie shifted her weight and put her hands on her hips, like her mother did when she was angry. As much as she might deny it, she was very much like Nora.

"He's not Imaginary."

Cross laughed brightly, but his voice was hoarse. Rosalie could see his knees wobbling and noticed the twitch in his happy expression. He climbed the last of the steps and tried to sit close to Rosalie, who took a seat next to him. Skeery stayed behind her, clearly afraid of the newcomer. Rosalie looked the investigator up and down, realizing for the first time just how scrawny he was.

"Not to you. And if you're not careful, not to your parents, either."

"...What is that supposed to mean?"

"An Imaginary Friend is a result of trauma, loneliness, that sorta thing. Like all good things in this world, an Imaginary Friend has a lifespan. The older they get, the more visible they become. Soon, your parents will be able to see him."

"Wait - does that mean Skeery can die?"

"You named him? Wow- ...uh, yeah, right. I'm afraid so. But if we tell your folks-"

"No. They can't know."

Rosalie was adamant. Hanna knew that face well, so he only smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay. Hm, I'll have to lie...When your parents start to see him, gimme a call, okay?"

The wiry investigator handed her a small, bent piece of paper. Hanna Falk Cross, #306, Private Investigator. And a phone number. The two exchanged satisfied looks and Hanna left her to talk to her Friend while he lied to her parents.

"It'll be okay, Skeery...That's a girl's name."

He only nodded and wrapped his arms around Rosalie as she muttered to herself, stuffing the business card into her pocket.


-{Three Years Later}-

"Skeery's not talking a lot. I'm kinda scared."

"What's his favorite thing to eat?"

"Chocolate."

She could hear a small, pitifully shaky laugh through the other end of the phone. She also heard several other things in the backround.

"You should get him some. Friends like presents. Make it a suprise."

Rosalie nodded, and held the phone between her shoulder and her ear and wrote down three simple words in pen on her palm. Chocolate. Suprise. Birthday.

"Ow! Jeez, Worth, don't you have any anesthetic?"

Rosalie raised a brow and dropped the pen, curling her knees to her chest and running her hand through Skeery's hair, who sat on the floor next to the bed. He had very acute hearing, and he jumped in suprise when Hanna shouted.

"Where are you, Cross?"

"Call me Hanna. I'm just getting a checkup."

Rosalie paused as someone, presumably the doctor, said something about putting the phone down for something. She waited until the rustling on the receiver indicated that Hanna was picking the phone up again. She rubbed her face impatiently, waiting for Hanna's breathing to resume.

"I happen to know that Anesthetic is not commonly used for check-ups. What's really going on?"

Hanna sighed into the receiver, she assumed it had something more or less to do with the surgery than her remark.

"Ah - just had a bit of an accident..."

"Dammit, Hanna, put the freakin' phone down so I don't stitch yer nose to yer ear."

"Doc's orders, Rosalie."

"Bye, Hanna."

Click.


Skeery eyed the box cautiously before Rosalie pulled out a truffle. Hazelnut. Skeery's mouth was practically watering.

Rosalie sat down next to her best friend and set the box between the two of them. Skeery took the first truffle and took tiny little bites out of it with his sharp teeth. Rosalie loved to watch her friend eat - he would spin the chocolate around with two long, wiry fingers and take small chunks out of it as it rotated until it was finally gone. When he finished the first one, his glanced darted from Rosalie to the box, as if he was silently asking, until she smiled and nudged the small cardboard container closer to his leather shoe. He smiled and unwrapped another, handing the golden foil to Rosalie, who had the habit of smoothing out the creases in them.

They sat in that silence for a while, Rosalie watching as her friend happily carved down four more truffles, and Skeery occasionally grinning at her and carving pictures into the chocolate with his sharp teeth. When he would finish, Rosalie would clap quietly and laugh, marvelling at Skeery's Teeth Art before he devoured them. That went on for fifteen minutes before Skeery pulled out the last hazelnut truffle and held it out for Rosalie.

"I couldn't. They're yours, Skeery."

"Rosalie," He always seemed to have trouble with talking. His voice was incredibly soft, and he had trouble pronouncing things correctly. "Please."

Skeery stared up at her with his black eyes, until finally, Rosalie hesitantly reached out and took the last chocolate, slowly enjoying it while Skeery watched her, his smile growing. She looked away. Sometimes, Skeery was actually scary, well - not scary. He just made her feel like she shouldn't look at him. Like she was poisonous, or something.

"Thanks, Skeery."

There was a strange silence again. Usually Skeery would rub his face against her head, like a cat, or make that popping noise with his jaw. But there was nothing. Not even the long arm draped around her shoulder moved.

"Mister Skeery?"

Nothing. Rosalie looked up, worry flashing over her face. She grabbed Skeery's black coat and shook him a little, but he didn't respond. Rosalie squirmed out from under his heavy arm to get a better look at his face. His head was supported by the side of her antique dresser, his eyes were wide open, and so was his mouth. He looked to be sleeping with his eyes open. Rosalie would have checked for a heartbeat, but that was the problem.

He didn't have one to begin with.

The white plastic phone was in her tiny hand in seconds. She knew the number by heart.

"Hanna? Hanna - I need you!"


"Oh, shit. Oh shit, oh shit -"

Hanna cursed as soon as he saw Skeery. He ran forward, shovelled through his pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be a glass bottle of very thick purple liquid. Like the stuff you might see in a lava lamp. He poured the gunk down Skeery's throat, but even after fifteen minutes of that, the creature did not respond. After fifty more pointless tries, Mister Skeery was very clearly dead. Hanna stepped back, and turned his head to look at Rosalie, who stood in the doorway with her mouth covered, sobbing terribly.

Luckily, Nora and Jacob had both gone out shopping for their daughter's birthday, so there wasn't a need to quiet Rosalie. The investigator and the child took a seat on the floor across from the Friend, and Hanna Cross watched as Rosalie cried her eyes out. When finally she began to calm down Hanna smiled sadly at her, and she gave him the same shaky smile back.

"Wanna talk about him?"

She nodded.

"Wanna know why I named him Skeery?"

Actually, this was something Hanna was curious to know. Usually, a Friend actually has a name before they meet their Companion, but in Rosalie's case, Skeery seemed to like his name. Embraced it, even. Hanna nodded and reached over to her bedside table, where a box of Kleenexes sat, and handed her one. After she finished blowing her nose, Rosalie smiled in Skeery's direction.

"I met him in our kitchen, stealing food. It was funny because my mom didn't see him...So I got him out and took him upstairs, and as he ate, we talked. You know - back when he could talk...I asked him if he'd a name, and he told me no. So while he stuffed his face," Rosalie took a pause to let out a snort of laughter and Hanna felt a smile grow on his face. "I decided to rattle off names while he ate, and I'd picked the one that made him laugh."

"'Doc. Tom. Pollyanna. Daisy. Mister. Skeery.'"

Hanna grinned when Rosalie reached the last name and she let out her own little giggle.

"He choked on an olive when I called him Skeery, because he thought I meant he was scary!"

The two laughed for a while, until everything calmed down again. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway could be heard.

"I always kept track of how much he smiled after that...Please come back soon, Hanna."

"Sure thing, Rosie."


I know what you're thinking.

It's over, isn't it?

Nope.
Also - I just fell in Ludo all over again.