Chapter 16: The Heat Thickens

(Warning: this chapter contains some very gory graphic content Rated PG-13)

I made my way out of the house and walked through the purple grass towards the garage, I passed by Scaredy who was in his hammock reading his novel and eating mosquitoes, I thought about saying hello but I didn't want to frighten him again so I just silently waved, he waved back after glancing up at hearing my footsteps before returning to his novel.

I made it to the garage and knocked on the door. "Come in!" I heard Frank's voice call, I entered the garage Frank and Len were seated on their green sofa, Len was asleep.

"Hey guys" I said.

"What's up Zaí?" Frank asked.

"Just helped out Ruby with a little confidence issue she's been repressing" I thought about what I was saying and kept the reasons classified.

"You mean the way she feels about Skull Boy?".

Never mind.

"You know about how she feels about Skull Boy too?" I responded half-surprised.

"Mm-hmm, ever since Len and I tried to get into the heads of our friends so we could write songs about them, we found out that Ruby 'likes' Skull Boy in more ways than one." Frank finished off making air quotations on the word 'likes'.

"What's going on with Len anyway?" I asked curious about his motionless state.

"Oh right, with dicephalic twins like us, whenever one of us wants a bit of privacy the other one can go into a kind of hibernation and fall into a temporary slumber." Frank finished off.

"Well if that's the case you wanna hang out?" I asked calmly.

"Sounds great" he said getting off the sofa "I know a quaint little spot we can go." he suggested. "Right on" I responded.

We walked through the purple grassy yard to a tree where we climbed up on one of the branches facing the house. (The same one Frank and Len used in Ruby Cubed)

"Wowee zow" I said admiring the view.

"Yep, I come up here sometimes for inspiration for my songs, I've come up with some rockin' lyrics up here." Frank finished.

"You really love music don't you?" I asked.

"What can I say it's been me and Len's dream since as long as I can remember." Frank answered honestly.

"Must be nice to be bonded together with your sibling", I questioned.

"Yeah, I guess it's alright, but if you're one if those people who enjoy privacy I wouldn't recommend it, still I'm not complaining, we've gained a mutual respect for each other over the years".

"I envy you Frank".

"Envy me? how so?" He queried.

"Well I used to have siblings too, before the war started, I had a younger brother like you do, except his name was Zola."

"Zola? for a boy? Parents and their crazy baby names". Frank interrupted. "Oops, sorry for interrupting" he said rubbing the back of his pompadour hairdo with his blue arm.

"No harm done. Anyway, his name was Zola he was only 9 he was a bit annoying but he liked me more than our other sister, I'll get to her later, but he and I had a good relationship for a couple of years".

"What happened to him?" Frank asked sounding intrigued.

"Well, when the witches invaded our home the lake of zombies they went on to commit mass genocide by smiting as many innocent children as inhumanely as possible. All witches are female and not a single one of them has a heart. Our family was pretty high up on their death list since my dad was sort of our commander, they broke into our house and killed Zola when he ignored my dads warnings and he went outside, they ambushed him and used their black magic to stop his heart forever. Then to make sure he was dead they crushed his head with a sledgehammer".

Frank looked at me in shock he was in disbelief that anyone would be heartless enough to slaughter innocent children.

"W-w-what about your sister?" He asked sounding scared but still wanting to hear more.

Her name was Zoë, she was 17 and she was pretty tough, she was training to be the next ARM in our family."

"What the heck is an ARM sposta be?!" Frank said confused.

"Assault and Rifle Master, anyway she had a daily training routine she followed every day, she and I were closer and she was protective of me, but when push came to shove Zoë thought since she was older she was the alpha child, but her training didn't pay off, only a couple days after Zola's funeral she fell into a depressed state, but resolved to remain ever vigilant, until one day when a witch broke into my dads house and even though she fought her hardest it wasn't enough and the witch overpowered her. The witch claimed her life by ripping her throat open with a rusty knife and roasting her internal organs on an open flame."

"Good lord" Frank said dumbstruck, he reacted like he had never heard anything so awful before.

"After my siblings deaths my parents didn't want me to die too for fear that their future would be taken away, so they sent me here so I could be safe and find a better life for myself." I said finishing my tragic tale.

"Wow, I had no idea the kind of horrors you had to endure Zaí, I mean, you lost your entire life in only a few days." Frank replied still in shock of my tale.

"It was pretty brutal" I answered honestly.

"Those witches are savage! sledgehammer to the skull, roasting organs, rusty knives, killing innocent zombies just to wipe them out?" Frank questioned once again.

"People who kill without reason, can never be reasoned with" I said. "The only way to get rid of them is to kill them, but that's easier said than done."

"Bummer, I feel awful Zaí, no living person should have to live through that". Frank apologized sincerely.

"Thanks, and thanks for letting me tell you it...means a lot to me."

"Don't worry, we're all here for you Zaí and we're not gonna let anyone hurt you, come here" he said gesturing for a hug, I complied and wrapped my arms around him, I felt warmth, I felt comforted and most of all I felt safe. After hugging it out we decided to head back to the house.

But unbeknownst to us both a figure was lurking in the shadows and they didn't seem to like me and Frank's bonding.

(Who is this shadowy figure? Why don't they like Frank being with Zaí? Will Ruby ever tell Skull Boy how she really feels about him?

All these questions and more...probably won't be answered in the next chapter, but stay tuned readers there's more to come)