Chapter 7-What's the Point?
The next morning came suddenly. 9 awoke with his head resting behind the Scientist's ear. He pushed the paper off of him and stretched.
"Hey, 3…" he said quietly hoping 3 was no longer mad at him.
3 wasn't there. 9 was the only living thing left in the room. The talisman, which 9 had left by the Scientist's box, was also missing. Something clicked in the back of 9's head.
"Oh, no…"
9 bolted out the door and found 3 standing by the graves holding the talisman.
"3! STOP!" 9 called.
3 flinched and turned to look at 9.
"3, don't!" 9 pleaded trying to wrestle the talisman out of 3's hand.
3 wouldn't let the thing go. 9 tried harder to pry it from the twin's hands.
"3! STOP! Give it to me!" 9 shrieked.
3 pulled back.
"STOP! 3! Stop! Listen to me!" 9 finally yanked the talisman out of 3's hands, set it to the side, and grabbed 3's face. "Listen to me! PLEASE!"
3 finally stopped struggling. When their eyes met, 9 continued. "Look, you and I are all that's left, okay? We're all that's left. Our purpose for being here is so that life can go on! We need to be here. We're it."
3's lip quivered.
"Look, I know your upset, but you and I are all that's left."
3 tried to struggle out 9's grip. "3! Would 4 want you to do this?" 3 continued to struggle. "Would 4 want you to just give up like that? Or 7? What about 7? Do you think she'd want you to kill yourself?"
3 stopped struggling. The twin's face twisted up and eventually dug it's way into 9's shoulder. 9 rubbed 3's back soothingly and rocked the twin back and forth. "It'll be okay. Okay? Hey, 3…"
3's arms wrapped around 9 and 9 held 3 tighter. "Do you want to go back to the library?"
3 nodded after a long silence and the two made their way back to the library. They stayed there for a while. 3 picked up where 7 had left off in the Grimm Brothers book. After reading through a few paragraphs, 3 wandered over to a book entitled Hangnails and Hand Grenades and read through the first few chapters. Every now and then, 3 would point to something in the book and 9 would nod. He wasn't exactly sure how to acknowledge some of the things 3 showed him. Once, 3's eyes flickered, hoping that maybe 9 would understand but 9 couldn't.
A week or so went by. 3 and 9 tried their best to communicate. 3 would write something down if the twin really wanted to let 9 know something. It was an awkward form of communication since 9 could answer quickly but 3 would take a while writing out a response.
They would go outside very rarely. Whenever they did it was only for a short while. They passed by the flower 9 had shown 3 and 4 that one day. 3's face fell a little at the sight of them. 9 tried to discuss the flower with 3. 3 would scribble a response in the dirt but it was hard for 9 to read. Eventually they gave up trying to talk about the flowers and moved on.
A couple days went by and nothing had really happened. 3 had already read through most of the books in the library with 4 and none of the new ones seemed interesting. The minimal amount of communication 3 and 9 could have was getting tiresome and after a while they just stopped trying altogether. One day, they were sitting in the front of the library, 3 with a book open and 9 looking over the painting with the grass and the bright sky. It seemed like a distant dream looking at the picture and 9 was starting to fear he would never see the world like this in real life.
He looked over at 3 who wasn't even reading anymore but instead just staring blankly at the text.
9 sighed. "There's just nothing left, is there?"
3 looked up at 9 sadly. No words needed to be spoken for 9 to completely understand 3. 9 took the twins hand and sighed again. Helping 3 up, 9 led the remaining twin back to the first room.
3 stood by the flag 9 had made and waited anxiously. 9 didn't want to do it, but 3 clearly didn't care to live anymore. It was only fair to the twin.
9 cringed as the talisman absorbed 3 soul. 9 turned away as 3's body fell limply to the ground. 9 set the talisman by 3's flag, entered in the combination, and then took a few steps back.
3 seemed almost relived after coming out of the talisman. 9 walked forward and knelt down. 3's arms flung around 9. 3 almost phased through 9's body but managed to stand still enough so that they could have a somewhat tangible hug. 9 wrapped an arm around 3's waist and closed his eyes. 3 moved away and before lifting off, looked 9 straight in the eyes and mouthed the words: "Thank you."
9 watched 3 take off into the sky. As 3's soul disappeared completely, 9 whispered: "You're welcome."