Chapter 11: Get Me Out Of Here

"Arthur, are you alright?"

Vivi was standing in the doorway, pausing before entering the hospital room with worry lighting her newly sparkling eyes. Something in the way her friend was looking into his lap, something in the way he didn't even look up at her as she entered the room with the clacking of her shoes upon the tiled floors, something in the way his eyes displayed such sadness lead her to fear for his happiness. In the doorway, she paused, and waited, and waited.

He had been like this for what felt like years. Since Arthur had woken up, not once had he smiled at Vivi, and though she didn't remember much about anything she did remember his sideways smirk brightening the room she walked into with every breath she pulled. She remembered his happiness even if he was usually scared, and she knew that something must've been bugging him to lead him to such silence, such brooding thoughts. There is a fluid connection between two best friends who have had their fingers tied together by red string, and she could feel his distress as clearly as the sun shining outside his window.

In all actuality, Arthur had been thinking of Lewis. He hadn't been lucky enough to forget everything, and with every passing second the boy pictured within his tormented head the scene he had tried so hard to push from his memory, the murder of one of his only two friends. He could still feel his hand upon the soft fabric of Lewis' vest, pushing the boy off of the cliff and watching him fall, crying out in confusion at first but then fear as everything was taken away from him in one swift second. His eyes closed so he could gather his thoughts before looking back up at Vivi, hoping she would think him sincere as he spoke.

"The doctor was just in a little bit ago, he said I have to wait at least two months for my prosthetic limb. I just don't know what I'm going to do during all that time, and I guess I'm kind of bitter that all I'm getting is some cheap piece of plastic. If I had two hands, I could definitely make something a whole lot better with my metal."

Something stabbed at his heart with that lie, and he tried to hide his left shoulder as best he could from her line of sight. He really didn't want to be here right now, he didn't want to be with Vivi or the doctor or anyone. Right now, all Arthur wanted to do was stare at the ceiling and dig his nails into his palm so hard that they bled, the pain bringing him a little bit of peace without Lewis on his mind. Instead, he rubbed his left shoulder gingerly, closing his eyes once more to keep Vivi from seeing how lost he truly was.

She sat down next to him, grabbing his hand in hers like she always did when she visitted. That hurt the most.

"I came here for story time, but if you aren't feeling up to it you know I can wait. We can watch a movie or maybe play a game, it doesn't matter much to me. I just want to make sure you're okay, Arthur. Your the only person I got right now."

This made his heart hurt even more. He had thought of leaving her behind more than once, contemplated in all seriousness the possibility that his death may be better for both of them than this guilt and sadness that followed him around instead. Nothing made him happy anymore, not even listening to his best friend light up with her stories and adventures with his mother and all around town. He tried to smile up at her, but it felt awkward and probably looked terrifying.

"No, maybe telling a story will help get my mind off of things. Where did we leave off yesterday?" He fibbed, knowing that it would only do the opposite. As always, he couldn't let Vivi down, and he could tell that she was tired of watching Megas XLR on his bad days. She smiled, unable to contain her excitement at learning more of their past.

"You were just about to talk about our first ghost hunt, but you started feeling tired."

Now he remembered, and he really wished he had chosen to watch a movie instead. Their first ghost hunt was at the high school in the bathroom, when he was still a senior and she had just been promoted to manager of the Tome Tomb. Arthur bit his lip, trying his hardest to come up with a reasonable way to tell the story but divert the attention away from their new friend at the time. He could always say they found nothing, or that they got some interesting readings on the laptop but nothing else.

But why did he have to lie to her? Should he maybe tell her about Lewis, explain to her who he was and how she felt about him...and how Arthur had ended that? He caught her staring out into the distance often, eyes soft with a sadness that she herself couldn't understand The girl of bright blue began to wear bits and pieces of black, and with every outfit she chose a splash of magenta to go along with. Every once in a while, when she thought he was sleeping and she was curled up on the couch in his hospital room, he could hear her sobbing silently to herself. Maybe it was time for him to tell her, time for him to explain just who the man in purple-pink was, the fourth member of the Mystery Skulls.

"Arthur, I think she wants to talk to you."

At the door, a woman waited for Arthur to acknowlege her, her big brown eyes filled with confusion and worry as she lifted a hand to knock on the frame. She was short and chubby, similar in build to Vivi, but her hair was long and black and her skin a darker, richer color than the paleness of the girl right next to him. Arthur could see on Vivi's face that hint of recognition that made her eyes squint and her eyebrows knit, and he grabbed her arm as quickly as he could before she could remember the hispanic woman.

"Vivi, I need you to leave. Right now." He panicked, forcing her to look at him rather than the woman who waited to speak with him, "I don't know how long it'll be, so just go wait for my Mom to come by. We'll have to wait until next time for this story."

"Arthur, is everything okay? What's happening?"

He shook his head, not looking her in the eyes completely as he felt dishonesty rising in his throat and onto his face, "I can't tell you right now, but I'll explain everything later. Go finish looking through the van or reading those ghost books, I just need to talk to this woman in private."

Vivi didn't stand up right away, looking at Arthur with a mix of pain and worry as he urged her to leave him. She wasn't sure she trusted him right now, knowing that he could do some pretty stupid things when he got down on himself-she vaguely remembered a night where she had to talk him out of harming himself after the last time he saw his father, even if the memory was very far away and hard for her to see. Still, she looked at him and saw in his eyes the purest of pleading, and she left the room without any further question, only glancing at the woman as she left.

Arthur looked back up at the woman now, his eyes fading back into the darkness they had come to know so well, "I'm sorry about that, . I know how much you wanted to see her, but...we can't have that right now. Please take a seat."

Hidden beneath piles of duffel bags, Vivi had found a treasure trove within the Mystery Skulls van. Within a ratty old cardboard box, eaten away at by years of neglect and disregard, she had stumbled upon an entire world of books, all carefully annotated by the curving cursive of a very knowledgeable ghost hunter and the more casual and loose pink handwriting and highlighting of someone different. At first, Vivi had just assumed it had been her own, but as time went by she recognized that her own writing style was nothing like either voices. Not remembering who had written in them or where she had gotten the boooks, Vivi settled with the thought that she had bought them from the same person at the bookstore she worked at all that time ago.

She had read through half of them within a week, carefully reviewing each and every word the two had written within them and trying to absorb them as best she could. Remembering things didn't come easy for her, even when it was new information. She was trying to figure out how she could possibly remember everything when she came upon a yellow notepad, the front covered in ghost duct tape, the inside filled to the brim with detailed observations and information on her prior hunts.

Vivi had found the jackpot.

Every supernatural thing she had ever hunted was in there, along with the detailed explanation of how the team overcame them . She saw a description of an encounter with a rustle of reapers as they congregated on the night of New Year's Eve, a chase through the forest with a mystical sprite, and even a chase through a haunted maze infested by cultists. She could feel, with every description she read, her memories coming back to her slowly but surely, bouncing up as though cued or reminded by the words so sloppily pasted upon the page. She saw her and Arthur and Mystery, the whole team, fighting off and dispelling demons and ghosts left and right. Sometimes, she remembered, she would go into haunts by herself-or did she? Part of her felt like she had someone there with her each time, but she couldn't remember who. Would Arthur really let her explore by herself, anyway?

"Excuse me, Vivi," A familiar voice called out from behind the girl. She whipped around, dropping the notepad lightly onto the floor as she was startled by the sudden noise when she thought she was all alone, "I don't mean to intrude, I just...I wanted to come say hello and goodbye."

It was the woman, the short hispanic woman Vivi had left Arthur with a few hours prior before coming down to finish looking through the van, "No, you're quite alright." Vivi smiled, standing up to come to the back door of the van with hands clasped in front of her, feeling as though she knew this woman but not finding her in any of her retrieved memories, "I'm sorry, I don't remember you. I don't know if Arthur mentioned that, I lost my memory. What was your name?"

The woman looked down sadly at this. As Vivi drew near, it was clear that the woman had been crying, her brilliant brown eyes tinged with the redness of tears. Vivi sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the van as the woman composed herself as best she could, taking in a large breath as she looked at Vivi with the biggest smile she could muster.

"My name is Mirabel, I was...my family was fond of you. I just came by to check on Arthur and you after I heard what happened. It was a little too far to travel with the whole family, but I tell you they all miss you very much." she blinked hard as Vivi tried her best to remember her, feeling something clawing at the side of her head each time she thought she grabbed the memory, "I know you probably won't be coming through your hometown very often or soon, but if you ever need a place to stay..."

Vivi smiled through the pain of the headache that was beginning to form in her head, trying her absolute best too look at her with understanding and reassurance, "Of course, I'd love to hear all about how we met. Who knows, I might remember by time I see you next!"

The woman didn't speak for awhile, and when she did it was not with her words but through a very tight and suffocating hug. With every second Vivi was wrapped in her arms, Maribel's arms tightened, and Vivi might've panicked if she didn't feel so at home, "You were like family to us. I'm sorry this happened to you, Vivi. I'm sorry it happened to him, too."

She let go of Vivi to give her one last pat on the back, leaving without looking back into the parking lot. Vivi assumed she meant Arthur, but there was a sneaking suspicion within her heart that she wasn't referring to the girl's best friend. As she began to entertain the possibility, a pang of pain ran through her head, and Vivi decided to push those memories away. Clearly, she wasn't ready to view them yet.

She was about to turn around when she saw Arthur approaching, holding his left shoulder carefully in his hands, wires flying from the exposed skin. Her heart burst into her throat as she watched him running towards her, eyes frantic and breathing heavy as he went as quickly as he could, "Arthur, what the hell? What are you doing down here, you need to go back up to your room!"

He shook his head as he came to a stop in front of the van, placing his hand on his knee while he panted out a reply, "I can't take it, Viv, I can't take another day of being in there." He swallowed, looking up at her with those sad eyes begging her to listen, "I don't want a damn prosthetic, I want to make my own arm with my own hand. I want to be on the road again. I want to travel with you and get away from these memories. You don't remember what happened that night, but I do, and..."

She stopped him, her grin bittersweet as she offered him a hand into the van, interrupting him as he said the only words she had wanted to hear from day one, "You don't have to explain, Arthur," Part of her wanted to know, but she was just happy that he still was her friend, that he still wanted to follow her into the darkness that they had claimed a year or so before, "Let's get out of here."