"Hey Hilde." Came the quiet voice of Quatre. Hilde makes a small noise of acknowledgment. She sits on the edge of her bed staring out her window. It's raining today. As she watches the rain she lightly taps the little note on her bottom lip. Silently she wonders. How in the hell did he get in?
"You ok?" Quatre now sits next to her. She lets out a deep sigh and turns to him.
"If you were from there . . ." She nods her head to the outside world. "And wanted to come in but not stay. How would you do it." Quatre thinks about this, not really knowing what she is getting at.
"Uh, I would say I have a friend or family that I wanted to visit."
"Nah. That wouldn't work. You'll have to get a doctor's note to be let in."
"Well. I'd guess I'd . . . "
"Hey." A nurse pops her head in. "I want the computer off. It's a thunderstorm." The two nod and Quatre heads for the computer. But before he turns it off he prints off some pages, from his 'Murder Mystery' no doubt.
"Come as a janitor?" Hilde says, still on her earlier topic.
"No. They live on campus."
"Then how?"
"Hilde. Why do you want to know?" He watches as the printer spits out page after page.
"Duo left me a note and I want to know how!"
"Oh." Quatre stiffens at the name. Before he came over Amy had stopped him to deliver her daily dose of gossip.
"What?" Hilde says as she looks to her friend. He keeps his back to her as he grabs the pages from the printer. "Quatre?" She says again. He turns off the computer and laughs as he heads out the door.
"N-nothing. It's just I need to go."
"You know how don't you!" She stands up and rushes the blond. "How did he do it!"
"How did who do what?" Says Sarah. Quatre pails as he hears her voice and suddenly the connection clicks with Hilde. Her eyes darken and she steps away.
"Nothing." She grumbles. Sarah shrugs and walks away. Quatre lets out a deep breath. "It's so like him to do something like this."
"I think it's kind of sweet. In a weird, morbid kind of way."
"What? Go out with Sarah to get a free trip in? How is that sweet?"
"I said it was in a weird, morbid way." Hilde crosses her arms over her chest as she sits down on her bed. "Come on. Let's forget about it and let me share you this story." He hands the papers over. "It's quite good. The writer writes so vividly that you almost feel it's real. Almost like they lived through it too." The last sentence comes out as a whisper. Hilde takes the pages and looks at her friend. A shadow crosses over his eyes as he recalls his hidden past. Hilde says a small 'ok' and watches Quatre move down to sit on the floor. Hilde follows, with her back to her bed and his to the wall across from her. An empty feeling fills his stomach as he sees Hilde start to read. Never has he told anyone what happened to him. The doctors only know what the police knew and that isn't much. They weren't there. Quatre could never tell anyone. He can barely tell himself! That's why he reads this 'Murder Mystery'. Author, the writer's pen name, writes with such detail at the reader can almost feel the pain, see the blood and know the horror. Quatre looks up at Hilde's eyes and can see the shocked look on her face. Yes, Author must have witnessed a murder. Like he did.
"Uh, this is sick." Hilde says as she looks at the blond. "How can you read this?" But he didn't need to answer. Hilde could see in his eyes he is trying to show her his own pain. She remembers Dr. Une, the head doctor at Newberry, telling her that some people find comfort in reading or seeing others in situations they have experience. "Quatre?"
"I was coming home from school." He says quietly. Tears rim is eyes. "I-I came home and . . ." Hilde places the papers down and hugs her dear friend. She rocks him back and forth telling him he doesn't need to tell her. "But I need to tell someone!" He pushes back. Hilde returns to her sitting potion and smiles at him.
"Well I'm honored that you would consider telling me."
"You never asked."
"What?"
"When I came here. That's all people ever did was ask me why. You never did." He smiles up at her. "Remember the first thing you asked me?" Hilde scratches her head in hopes of remembering. Then it dawned on her.
"Uh . . ." She says shyly. "Are you going to eat that pudding?" Quatre bursts out laughing as he remembers it too. How could he forget? He had just come from a three hour meeting with the board and was placed in Newberry. The moment he got here everyone was asking him this and that and he almost had it, until Hilde slid in the seat next to him and flashed him a smile. He readied himself for another bombardment of questions but instead he got: 'Are you going to eat that pudding?'
" Hilde you are the best you know?"
"Aw Quatre! You're making me blush." The two laugh and both really feel good. Quatre knowing he can tell his secret and Hilde knowing someone needed her. After the laughter died down it became silent. Hilde wanted him to make the next move. And he did. "Did you finish it?" She blinks and suddenly remembers the 'Murder Mystery'.
"Oh, not yet." With a sigh she takes the papers and continues to read. Quatre is right. The writer goes into heavy detail. But a cold chill runs down her spine. Did this 'Author' really go through something this horrible?
Confined in the pages is a tail about a murder, called by 'Author', Killer. And Killer is some guy who went into a small bakery one day and saw himself a girl, called Smiles. For some reason he hated this girl. She did nothing to him but something about her really made him mad. Mad enough to kill her in the most brutal way. And now Killer is on the run from Smile's brother, called AP (Apple Pie). Author's reasoning behind this name is because the brother is described as tall, strong, and handsome with blue eyes and blond hair. Making him a suitor for the title: 'As American as Apple Pie'. Back to the story. Killer is leaving little notes for AP to follow him, slowly torturing the poor man. AP doesn't know what Killer looks like and Author never describes him. There are moments where Killer would be sitting is a café sipping coffee only a few feet away from AP.
Now in the story AP has become obsessed with finding Killer and Killer is enjoying the show it makes. Hilde can't tell if Author is for Killer or against because they make fun of AP so bad, talking about how the poor soul hasn't shaved or cut his hair or nails in over a year! And how he has became paranoid about everyone he meets.
Further down the story Hilde reads how Killer has now taken a new victim, this one called Test. The woman is strong willed and Killer is trying his best to break her. So far he hasn't, maybe the only thing keeping her alive. But Hilde reads on and finds that Test has a brother as well. It seems that Killer is done with AP, finding him boring, and seems to like this one a little better. Author describes him in a better light than AP is. His name is Baby. He is a quite boy with handsome green eyes and hair with a mind of it's own, covering half of his face. Baby is described as a guy Hilde could fall for. But he too is being lead around by Killer and is slowly turning out like AP. Hilde sighs as she continues. The Author's words hang heavy on her. The people seem real, almost too real for her liking.
Quatre watches as Hilde reads more. The room is quiet with the storm ragging in the background. Quatre takes a deep breath and listens to the rain and soft music? He sits up more and turns to the window. As he gazes out he can make out a form standing is the rain. He wares a black raincoat and holds a black umbrella. The man steadies himself with a cane. Quatre smiles as he can clearly see, even though the rain makes it hard to, that the man is Duo. Behind him is his car and he has the music blaring. 'Must be one of Hilde's favorite songs' thinks Quatre.
"Hey! I know that place." Says Hilde. Quatre turns to look at her.
"What?"
"Come here." She waves him over and he complies. "See, that's our park!" Quatre takes the pages and sees that Author must have updated their story. The story now adds Killer coming to a new town. He has yet to break Test and Baby was coming to close so he had to run. Now Killer has left AP a note to follow but gave Baby a letter that instructed to go to Black Hills Park to find something of his sister's, a necklace. Quatre gasps as the Author writes their town with such detail that it has made Quatre believe that Author is somewhere in their little place on earth. He smiles with delight. Maybe he can met this 'Author'?
"Hilde?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you used your free day yet?"
"No. Why?"
"Good. Cause we are going out tomorrow!"
*Hee Hee* Thanks for the reviews! I'll write more tomorrow!