Chapter 9 - Reminders

"And now, onto our final item for today's meeting…" Roz drawled, slowly shuffling the papers in front of her. "Randall Boggs."

Sulley had been staring out of the window, head propped up by his arm as he used his free hand to absent-mindedly play with his tie, but mention of the lizard-monster's name rapidly caught his attention.

"Randall Boggs," Roz repeated, even more slowly than before.

Of all the meetings he had to go to, the weekly CDA update was one that Sulley hated the most; apparently No. 1 wasn't the only CDA board member with a love of bureaucracy.

"Randall Boggs," Roz said for a third time, looking straight at Sulley across the boardroom. She shook her head. "We still haven't found a trace of Boggs. He hasn't been sighted, hasn't used his credit card, hasn't been caught on CCTV- though that might not be surprising considering his…talent."

Of course, Sulley- and Mike- both knew exactly why Randall hadn't been tracked down, but the moment to reveal the truth seemed to have passed. For Sulley especially, he knew that there were many people out there, including much of Waternoose's family, who questioned his suitability to act as CEO of MI. The topic had even been the focus of a prime time Monstropolis talk show just a week earlier. That he and Mike had illegally banished a monster, even if the monster deserved it (as Mike so often said) was not something that Sulley wanted to reveal any time soon.

Yet there was no denying that in his rare quiet moments, since discovering the contents of Randall's locker, Sulley's mind had often drifted to his old foe. He kept being reminded of him; every time he got a coffee from the machine outside Laughfloor F, every time he passed by the Scarer of the Month photo wall (now bare aside from a couple of recent portraits of Mike as Comedian of the Month, as the wall had been renamed) where Randall would habitually pause and sneer at the photos of Sulley. Or whenever he saw Fungus…

Yes, Fungus was the most constant reminder of Randall's absence, but he was also the most reassuring; seeing Fungus so happy, so confident, so free, made Randall's banishment worth it- right?

Roz lowered her papers. "But we still can't get into his apartment, thanks to Waternoose's embargo."

Sulley's brow furrowed- he didn't remember this being mentioned before. "Er, what, what do you mean?"

"Waternoose was Boggs' landlord. He owns the apartment building, and therefore Boggs' apartment. And despite Waternoose being in prison, he's put a block on anyone entering that apartment."

"But what about a search warrant? Surely the CDA can enter buildings if you're looking for a wanted criminal? It doesn't make sense-"

Roz interrupted, increasingly bored by this conversation- and, it seemed, by life in general.

"Waternoose has powerful lawyers. We can't get in." Roz sighed, and then continued with her droning. "A real shame for him to disappear like this, after my months of always watching him…" The other senior CDA board members nodded and murmured, as though trying to show to Roz how much they appreciated her work, but Roz cut through the affirmations. "Does anyone have any other suggestions as to how we can track this…perpetrator…down?"

At this, the room became silent. After a moment of intertwining his fingers thoughtfully, Sulley looked up again.

"Have you asked his family? Maybe he's been in contact with them?"

"Nothing. In fact, they seemed particularly uninterested in his whereabouts."

Another moment of silence. Roz took a breath, but was interrupted by a keen blue bean-like monster.

"P-perhaps we could put more 'Wanted' posters up?"

And again, silence. Roz didn't even look at him before continuing.

"Well, thank you for all of your wonderful ideas. This has been very useful. As all these meetings are." Roz stood up, her heavy sarcasm lingering in the air. "Veeeery useful." She turned and slowly slimed her way out of the room, leaving the rest of the CDA board members to chatter amongst themselves, whilst Sulley was lost in thought once again.


Randall had lived in the human's shack for a fortnight, and in that time he had appreciated every gulp of water and mouthful of food more than anything he'd consumed in the past. He still suffered from certain ailments- a few deep cuts across his side that seemed inflamed, his throbbing middle frond that still bled periodically from being cut in half, a broken arm that just would not heal, not to mention intense headaches that would sometimes last for hours, seeming to radiate from his skull down his spine- but there was no denying that he felt at least some of his strength returning.

Despite this, his mind still remained shrouded, almost foggy. He still heard the screams of children, though more distant now, as though they were coming from the trees outside. The wailing never ceased to unnerve him.

And although Randall tended to keep the curtains closed, sometimes he'd see a flicker of movement through the corner of a window; aggressive, terrifying movement, that would leave his heart palpitating. This fear was driven wild by Randall's paranoia, his anxiety that the human who had owned this shack- his…friend…- might have more people who cared about him than at first appearance, other people who would eventually realise that he was missing and come looking for him.

It was because of this that Randall knew he couldn't outstay his welcome.

Thoughts of the man's family or friends wandering the swamps, calling out his name (whatever it may have been), concerned for him, worried, fearful, suffocated Randall. He hated humans and yet the guilt he felt sometimes for what he had done became immense. This surprised him. In a way he felt more guilty about what he'd done to that human than about anything that had happened in the Monster World.

Perhaps it was because he knew that as stupid as humans might often be, they had a great capacity to love their own. Whilst scaring, perched invisible in the corner of the bedroom, he'd observed many a human mother or father tenderly reassuring their nervous, wide-eyed offspring, trying to convince them that there was no such thing as the Boogieman. They might have been oblivious, but they cared.

And the stuff that had happened in the Monster World was hardly his fault, anyway.

These thoughts inevitably led him to consider what his own friends and family might be doing whilst he rotted away in a Human World swamp. Would they, too, be wandering about in dismay, searching for him, wringing their wrists with worry?

Pah. Unlikely. Randall almost chuckled at the image.

No. It was probably more like he'd just never existed. Disappeared into thin air. He was pretty good at that, after all- even if his prized ability still eluded him since that encounter with a human and her shovel…

Randall took a deep breath, and quietly chastised himself. It was no use mulling over such thoughts. He'd always been able to get on with things. Perhaps the current lack of distractions was feeding into all this rumination- usually, the worse things became, the more hours Randall would work- but still, all this thinking wasn't healthy.

No, best to be proactive, to get up and do something. He couldn't stay in that shack forever, after all, and he did have a project to be getting on with.

Earlier in the week, Randall had spied a set of keys hanging up on a hook by the front door. These were the keys to a pick-up truck that was parked up round the back of the shack.

The pick-up hadn't been driven in a while and needed a bit of care to get it back up in working order, but this didn't pose much of a challenge to Randall. He worked during the night and slept in the day to avoid being seen, but soon got the pick-up running. After loading up some essentials onto the passenger seat, he was ready to go. He'd leave the next night.


"Caawwwffee break!"

In an office in central Monstropolis, a cheery orange monster stuck her three eyes-stalks over the top of her friend's cubicle. "Did you hear me, Charlie? It's time for a caawwwff-"

"Yes, I heard you the first time Sheryl." Charlie looked up from her work. There was a touch of annoyance in her voice, but she smiled nevertheless. "…Okay, let's go."

The small, grey-furred monster slipped off her desk chair and made her way to the break room as her friend nattered away beside her.

"And then my sister chose the white wedding dress- I mean, a white wedding dress? Who does that?! I couldn't believe it when I saw it, and I told her so, I told her that she should go for traditional black, that she'll look so weird wearing white, but she wouldn't listen to me-"

Charlie snorted. "I have no idea why…" she muttered under her breath. Her friend's three eye-stalks turned towards her.

"What was that?"

"Oh," Charlie chuckled, "nothing! Just saying how much I need a coffee right now…"

Thankfully there were other monsters in the break room for her talkative friend to corner.

As Charlie leant back against the counter, sipping her hot beverage, something on a noticeboard to her right caught her attention.

WANTED

FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SEVERE BREACH OF CDA PROTOCOL, INCLUDING ENDANGERMENT OF THE MONSTER WORLD

RANDALL BOGGS

FORMER EMPLOYEE OF MONSTERS, INCORPORATED

Beneath was a physical description, including mention of Randall's camouflaging abilities, and a number to call.

Charlie pulled down the poster for a closer look, being careful not to rip the paper with her claws. She shook her head.

"Shit, Randall…What have you gotten yourself into this time?"