Flug walked Melanie into the room. She was still wearing her straitjacket, and she could not move her arms.
Melanie was both happy and slightly disappointed. She was going to get to eat dinner and spend time with Sadie, but there were going to be some major conditions that were going to make it significantly less fun.
"You sit down here," Flug said, sitting Melanie on a rolling chair. "505, where's Sadie?"
"Over here," Sadie said, covertly stuffing her phone under her mattress before she flew out from under the bed.
"What were you doing under there?" Flug asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's my happy place," Sadie said in half-truth.
"Well, sit on the bed," Flug said. "I have a treat for both of you."
"Okay," Sadie said, sitting on the bed against the wall right next to where Flug had rolled Melanie's chair on the other side.
Melanie huffed. She was forced to wear her straitjacket, and Sadie had to stay in a cage. 505 was watching them, though. So, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"So, did they do anything to you while I was gone?" asked Melanie.
"No, they didn't," Sadie said. "They left me alone with nothing to do but read the books you brought me, but it's better than all the times that they almost killed me. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is pretty good so far."
"Quiet down," Flug said, commanding their attention. "Now, young ladies, I have very generously decided to let you two spend time together during your dinners and afterwards while I take care of some other duties. And yes, you're allowed to use the TV. I've explained this to Melanie, and I'll explain it to you now, Sadie, that I am allowing this under three conditions. First, you listen to 505 and do what he says. Second, you don't leave this room unless there's a life-threatening emergency. Third, you stay in your cage, and you stay in your straitjacket. I will be back later to escort Melanie to her room and to get you to sleep. Any questions?"
"Uh, yeah? Can you not suck right now?" asked Sadie.
Melanie giggled.
Flug pulled out his remote and asked, "Any actual questions?"
Melanie shook her head and said, "No, now get out."
Flug rolled his eyes and said, "I'll see you girls later."
Then without another word, Flug exited the room.
"Finally, some time alone," Sadie said with a sigh of relief. "It sucks we're still apart though…what?"
The cage door to Sadie's cell opened after 505 pressed some buttons. He then gestured her to come out.
"505, what are you doing?" Melanie asked as 505 moved on to undoing her straitjacket.
505, of course, didn't say a word. Soon the two girls were unbound and free to interact with each other.
"505, you could get in a lot of trouble over this," Sadie said, hovering anxiously over the bear.
"Yeah, seriously," Melanie added. "Black Hat's not here, but Flug could still ground you or something."
505 shrugged to show he didn't care and tossed Melanie's straitjacket aside.
"Thank you," Melanie said, moving her arms around freely in relief as she walked over and slumped down tiredly on the couch.
505 smiled sadly and rubbed Melanie's back.
"Come on," Sadie said, hovering over the couch. "What are you doing? Let's get going."
505 shook his head vigorously.
"You know what Black Hat and Papi would do to him if he did?" said Melanie. "Besides, they'd find us anyways. We got trackers on."
"Okay, then how about we try the portals thing again?" asked Sadie.
"I can't do that either," Melanie said. "Papi has put a spell on this room. I can sense it."
"How?" Sadie asked.
"It's a reaper thing," Melanie explained. "We'd have to leave this area to get out of it. But what's the point in trying?"
"Melanie, what is with you?" asked Sadie, sitting next to her on the couch. "You can't give up hope."
"How can't I, Sadie?" asked Melanie as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. "I have been forced to kill someone and burn up a boardwalk today. If I act out, they'll make me do something worse. Except for praying, I don't think I can do anything."
"That's not true!" Sadie protested.
"Yes, it is!" Melanie retorted.
"You've thought that before," Sadie reminded Melanie, wrapping her arm comfortingly around her. "Like when I first started getting to know you, remember? This is the same thing."
"No, it's not," Melanie said sadly. "This is different."
"No, it's not," Sadie argued back. "What we need here is a hype session."
"That won't help," Melanie replied bitterly.
505 looked at them confused.
"She means we should listen to music until our spirits feel hyped up," explained Melanie.
"It's my family's solution for most sadness," said Sadie, getting her phone out of her pocket and picking out a song. "There's always an occasion to sing! That's why I was singing earlier. Here, I know just the song."
"It's not going to help," Melanie said, laying down on the couch.
"What are you saying?" Sadie said, finding a song on her phone. "Hype sessions always help. You've said so yourself."
Melanie curled up on the couch and sighed.
Sadie played the song. It was an instrumental of "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance.
"They're gonna clean up your looks with all the lies and the books to make a citizen out of you!" Sadie sang hovering over Melanie which made her look up. "Because they sleep with a gun and keep an eye on you son so they can watch all the things you do!"
Sadie then flew to the top of the cage she had been in, using the top of it as a stage to sing on.
"Because the drugs never work, they're gonna give you a smirk cuz they got methods of keeping you clean!" Sadie sang. "They're gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds, another cog in their murder machine!"
Melanie hopped onto the cage and sang the chorus with Sadie, "Teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They can care less as long as someone'll bleed! So, darken your clothes or strike a violent pose! Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me!"
While 505 danced and clapped on the ground, Melanie spotted a mean drawing Demencia taped to 505's back.
Melanie hopped off, snatched the sign off his back, showed him the sign, and sang, "The boys and girls in the clique the awful names that they stick you're never gonna fit in much, kid."
505 sighed sadly but in one fell swoop Melanie summoned her scythe, sliced the sign in half, and sang, "But if you're troubled and hurt, what you've got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did!"
505 looked to the door, hoping that no one would hear them singing.
Melanie and Sadie sang all the louder, "They say, teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They could care less as long as someone'll bleed! So, darken your clothes or strike a violent pose! Maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!"
505 peeked out the door a few more times. Seeing that the coast was still clear, he closed the door again and smiled, beginning to clap along.
After the musical interlude, Sadie flew down next to Melanie and they sang together, "Teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They can care less as long as someone'll bleed so darken your clothes and strike violent pose…"
The girls put the hands in a praying gesture and continued, "Maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!"
The girls then moved on to jumping on the couch and singing, "Teenagers scare the living shit out of me! They can care less as long as someone's bleed! So, darken your clothes and strike a violent pose, maybe they'll leave you alone but not me!"
The song ended and the teens flopped down on the couch laughing gleefully.
"Oh, man, I forgot how good that felt," Melanie said between chuckles. "Thank you."
"No problem," Sadie said.
505 clapped and grunted positively.
Sadie looked at him curiously for a moment and said, "You can't really talk. Can you, me boyo?"
"Sadie," Melanie chided, looking at 505 apologetically.
"What? I've always wanted to know," Sadie argued.
"You don't need him to confirm that to you," said Melanie. "You already know."
505's face fell, and he shook his head with a sigh.
"There, now you made him sad," Melanie said. "I'm pretty sure Black Hat made it so he couldn't talk. What was the point of that?"
"I intend to fix that," Sadie said, hovering over to the table where her phone had been. "I've been thinking of solutions all day."
505 looked at Sadie curiously.
"Solutions? Like how?" Melanie asked. "Are you going to find him a pen and paper?"
"Better," Sadie said, picking 505's phone off the table.
"Oh, a tech solution," Melanie said. "Sadie, would you please at least ask before you…?"
Sadie unlocked 505's phone before Melanie finished with a sigh, "…unlock 505's phone without his consent? Sorry about this. She tends to spy on people until she gets their passcodes so she can unlock people's phones."
Sadie flew back to the couch and got to work.
Melanie and 505 leaned over and watched curiously as Sadie downloaded an app and set it up.
"Here you go," Sadie said, handing 505 the phone back. "This is one of the best text-to-speech apps out there for mute people. Just type in what you want to say, and the app says it for you. Come on. Give it a try."
505 looked at the pair curiously. He was tempted, but worried about what Black Hat would do if he found out.
"If you're worried about Black Hat, uh... well, yeah, but what's life if you don't take risks," Sadie pushed when she saw him hesitate. "I mean, sure. I wouldn't have wound up here if I didn't attempt to save Melanie, but better that than never trying."
505 looked at the girls warmly, and with a reluctant sigh, he typed in his first message.
"La premeiro y ultimo palbra de 505 fue 'Papa', y despues no sigo a usar palbras." (The first and last word of 505 was 'dad' and then he never spoke again)
505 remembered those words from Black Hat and shook his head.
"Thank you, Sadie," he typed.
The phone read out the message in a voice with robotic intonations.
The girls cheered excitedly.
"You and Sadie did it, 505!" Melanie cheered. "You can talk now!"
"I can see if I can change the voice later, but it's a good start," said Sadie.
"Type something else, 505," requested Melanie.
505 didn't know what to think, but the idea of being able to speak was exciting. He thought of all the things he could say. He knew what he wanted to say first.
"I liked both your singing," 505 typed. "But I'm curious. What song were you singing earlier, Sadie?"
"You mean the song we just sang?" Sadie asked. "That was 'Teenagers' by My Chemical Romance. They've been a band since my parents were teenagers. They're one of my and Melanie's favorite bands..."
505 shook his head vigorously and typed another message, "The one before."
"Which one before?" asked Sadie asked. "I've been singing a lot today."
"Oh, maybe he's talking about one you were singing when you were under the bed," Melanie said. "Were you singing one there?"
505 nodded his head.
Sadie sighed, smiled sadly, and said, "That one is 'Morning has Broken' by Cat Stevens. My Dad used to sing that to me when I was a little girl. He would do it when he was helping me fall asleep or helping me calm down when I was upset or waking me up in the morning. My parents are huge classic rock fans, so I know lots of songs. But that one is one of the most special to me. When I'm stressed out about anything or when I'm away from home and missing my family, it always helps me feel better."
"That really sucks," Sadie said.
"That explains why I've only heard myself sing," said Melanie. "I sang to my parents to convince them to fight back against Black Hat right in front of him, but it didn't work."
"You told me about that," Sadie said with a chuckle. "I'm so proud of you. You know, Melanie used to be scared to sing in front of anyone. She hated dancing or working out in front of people too. She was super shy."
"Well, you can't really fight Black Hat," 505 typed. "No one can kill him, and even if you could, it would upset papa."
"'Papa'?" asked Sadie.
"He means Flug," Melanie explained.
"Gotcha," Sadie said. "But we aren't talking about fighting Black Hat. We're talking about expressing ourselves. Singing and dancing are so good for you, bear. You don't only have to listen to these guys. You can express what's in your heart. I mean, just look how it helped Melanie. She stopped being shy."
"Why do you need to harp on how shy I used to be?" asked Melanie with a playful eye roll.
"Well, 505 is so shy he never speaks," explained Sadie. "He probably can't, but now he can do it with his phone."
"Yeah, he can," Melanie argued. "I've seen his videos."
"And I'm telling him lots of other ways," Sadie said.
505 perked up and asked, "Bauw?"
"I'm sure he appreciates it, Sadie, but I can't help but wonder if the attention is overwhelming him," Melanie said. "I know from experience."
"Yeah," Sadie said before turning to 505. "You should have met Melanie when she first started coming to our 'martial arts club'."
"I only came the first time because you insisted on me taking a flyer at the extracurriculars festival after school," Melanie replied. "I was going to just walk on by on the way to the limo. But Sadie was calling out to me, me specifically. She didn't even go to our school yet, but she was there, calling people over. I'll never forget it."
"I was new to the states then," Sadie added. "I came to help out my older cousins. You looked like someone who'd like to join our club."
"So, I looked like an easy target?" Melanie teased.
"No way," Sadie replied. "You were just nice enough to listen. You did seem lonely though."
"You know I was," Melanie said. "I was new at the school. Everyone else there was new too, but I felt like an outcast. Maybe people were nicer than at Black Hat-approved schools, yet I still thought it was all going to be the same. But fortunately, my parents wanted me to make friends and 'engage in activities that would help me grow my villainy and myself personally' so I thought it might be a good fit."
"And you were right!" Sadie chimed in.
"Lucy was there too," Melanie reminisced. "She was so kind, and she seemed to know me already. Later I knew why. She was just like me, and she wanted to help me. I'll never forget that day. It was the first day I started learning about God and the Nunja ways and meeting all my sisters. It was one of the best days of my life."
"Yeah, because we got to meet!" Sadie cheered, playfully hugging Melanie on the couch.
"The only day that can beat it is the day I got baptized," Melanie reminisced.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that day was awesome," Sadie said, falling back on the couch.
505 looked at the girls curiously.
"Would you like to hear about it, 505?" asked Melanie.
"You should show it to him," suggested Sadie.
"Sadie…" Melanie hesitated.
"Come on," said Sadie leaning into Melanie. "You know you want to..."
Melanie rolled her eyes, smiled, and said, "Alright, we have time. I can show him."
"Yeah! Let's do it!" Sadie replied cheerfully.
Melanie smiled and started the vision.
A vision formed around them. It showed Lucy, some other Nun-jas, Sadie, Melanie, and a few of her friends walking on a trail overlooking the beach while they headed to the ocean to perform Melanie's baptism.
Melanie found the song on Sadie's phone and began singing.
"We spotted the ocean at the head of the trail," Melanie sang. "Where are we going? So far away. Somebody told me, that this is the place, where everything's better, where everything's better and everything's safe. Walk on the ocean! Step on the stone! Flesh becomes water! Wood becomes bone..."
505's eyes sparkled. He had never seen such a beach before. Granted, they were on Hat Island, but no beaches were that pretty where they were. The sun was making the ocean sparkle, and he could hear seagulls.
505 watched happily as Melanie was baptized into a new faith and into a new service with the Nun-jas. He watched the ladies all cheer as they gathered on the beach, laughing warmly and congratulating Melanie all the while eventually preparing to leave.
"And half an hour later, we packed up our things. We said we'd send letters and all of those little things. And they knew we were lying, but they smiled just the same. It seemed they'd already forgotten we'd came," Melanie sang as the group took a photo.
Sadie laughed and said, "I remember we had a whole splash fight afterward. The senseis got a bit mad since it was supposed to be a sacred ritual, but we had fun anyways."
"Walk on the ocean!" Melanie sang as the vision shifted to show what Sadie was talking about. "Step on the stone! Flesh becomes water! Wood becomes bone! Walk on the ocean! Step on the stone! Flesh becomes water! Wood becomes bone!"
Melanie continued twirling to the music on Sadie's phone and dancing to the vision of her memory.
Sadie grabbed her hands and danced with her.
505 watched with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Flug sat down at his desk and looked to his cameras. Melanie and Sadie were dancing. It appeared 505 let them out.
The scientist sighed and rubbed his temples through the paper bag on his head in frustration.
Nevertheless, it was probably one of the only times he had seen the girls smiling. Heck, 505 was happy around someone that wasn't just him.
Clients seemed to like the bear, but that kind of affection is short lived because usually Black Hat would be present, and he doesn't like affection of any kind.
Flug knew he should probably get up and stop this, but he didn't. This back and he had forth with Melanie and now Sadie was exhausting. Maybe he could just let them bask in their little echo chamber of themselves for a little bit.
Melanie broke away from the dance and sang as her vision dissolved, "Now, back at the homestead, where the air makes you choke. People don't know you and trust is a joke…"
The last part made Melanie shed some tears. That was enough to give Flug pause.
"Don't even have pictures. Just memories to hold. Grow sweeter each season as we slowly grow old," Melanie sang, pausing a moment to look at 505 and Sadie who were showing sadness of their own until Melanie grabbed Sadie and started dancing again while finishing her song. "Walk on the ocean! Step on the stones! Flesh becomes water! Wood becomes bone! Walk on the ocean! Step on the stones! Flesh becomes water! Wood becomes bone!"
Melanie and Sadie danced while 505 and Flug watched.
Demencia almost snuck up to see from behind Flug, but the scientist was used to it and just put her hand in her face and knocked her down.
"You're not allowed in here," Flug reminded her. "Get out or I'm sending the Hat Bots after you."
"Awww, come on," Demencia complained.
Flug pulled out his watch and said, "Lethal mode."
"Fine!" the girl grumbled as she stomped out. "Loser!"
Flug turned around in time to see 505 clapping.
Flug sighed and decided that he'd let them stay for the full amount of time despite breaking the rules.
505 typed, "what kind of music do you like?"
Flug paused in surprise.
"What did he just…" Flug said to himself.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that 505 was using his phone.
"I love anything you can express yourself or dance too!" Sadie gushed happily. "Especially Broadway, J-pop, K-pop, rock n roll, techno, indie, jazz, and well everything, especially if it makes you want to dance or perform dramatically. Melanie likes the more emotional stuff: blues, emotional numbers in musicals, late 80's to 2000's rock, some pop, some jazz and especially grunge, anything that makes you feel things."
"I like other things too," Melanie added sitting down on the couch. "I like any genre with meaningful lyrics, 1960's rock, 1970's rock, old Mexican ballads, Old French cabaret and jazz like Edith Piaf and some modern French bands Lunet introduced me too. I also like Debussy, Satie, and all the impressionists. Oh, and Dixieland jazz! It reminds me of back home in Louisiana."
"Like I said," Sadie said, floating in the air like the Cheshire cat. "Anything that makes her feel emotions?"
"Well, is there any music that doesn't register with you emotionally?" typed 505.
"Yeah, I don't like the openings to telenovelas," Melanie said. "I used to watch them with Mama Muerte and Iliana. They had all these shallow women who did super bad things to get what they wanted. I hated them and Mama Muerte and Iliana would tease me for not liking them. I don't like most 1950's to 1980's rock either. They feel just like empty dance songs."
"What's wrong with dance songs?" asked Sadie asked flying in Melanie's face.
"Nothing but I don't like when music is just there focusing on shallow things," replied Melanie. "It has no deeper message behind it. It doesn't make you think."
"Sometimes, you don't need to think," said Sadie. "You just need to feel it for yourself."
"Why shouldn't I think?" Melanie asked.
"I told you," Sadie said, flying over to Melanie. "It's about what music makes you feel inside too. Like the first song we sang, it made you feel rebellious and strong even if the lyrics were dark and violent, right? It has that meaning too. The song had that meaning for us because that's what it means to us. Songs can mean other things for other people too whether the lyrics say anything complex or not. Understand?"
"Yeah, I think so," Melanie said. "So even telenovela themes could mean something to someone else other than me."
"Exactly," Sadie said. "Besides, not thinking and letting yourself live in the moment can be nice."
"It's called meditating, genius," Melanie replied sarcastically.
"No, I mean just letting yourself focus on your emotions and the feeling of the moment and not thinking so much," Sadie corrected, her face only inches from Melanie's for emphasis. "It's staying outside of your thoughts for a while. That's different from meditating. Enough with the back sass."
"You're one to talk," Melanie chuckled, playfully flicking Sadie in the forehead.
"Ow," Sadie whined.
"That didn't hurt," Melanie retorted.
"You don't know that," Sadie argued before coming up with an idea. "Speaking of feeling the moment, you know all our camp talent shows? Do you think we can show 505 some?"
"I don't know," Melanie hesitated.
"Come on," Sadie goaded. "505's not going to laugh at you, and you're way past ever being shy again."
Melanie sighed and said, "I suppose."
505 looked at them curiously to ask what they were talking about.
"I guess we can do a little reenactment," said Melanie. "Let's do it."