All Our Fault

Warning:

Implied alcoholism,

Weapon dealers,

Physical Assault

Guilt

Death

Grief

Murder

Gore, I think?

All Our Fault

“This… is…all…my fault,” I said slowly, staring at the altar. My gaze met a picture of Skye, brandishing her rare smile. It was just Henri; the room was empty. The coffin closed. Henri had a thousand-yard stare towards it.

“It’s mine too.” His voice startled me, not just that he spoke at all, but his tone; he sounded softer. Less harsh than usual.“I just killed my best friend, for what?” He laughed sadly.

“Because I thought it would make me feel whole?” He said, his voice cracking. I put my hand on his back.

“Henri-” I started, Tears lined his eyes. Then, before I could react, he hugged me.

“She…was…my…best friend…” He choked out and collapsed onto his knees, bringing me down with him. He squeezed as he let out a quiet sob. I rubbed his back and tried to comfort him, but ended up breaking down as well. We cried together for a while before pulling apart. She was gone.

10 Hours Before

I groaned in frustration and flopped on the hardwood floor. Skye was unflappable. Working for the resident mad scientist didn’t break her, and neither did working for Saabirinn. Skye somehow managed to get her to stop selling illegal weapons. I was running out of ideas. I propped up Violet’s iPad and reviewed the security footage again. I fidgeted with the bracelet from Marina while I watched, the last thing she made before she went with Skye. Skye said it wasn't her fault, but she could have done something, stopped her from getting torn apart by the dog, and her stuffing being strewn everywhere. She could have at least cleaned up, instead of letting me pick up my girlfriend’s pieces to put in a coffin. I closed the iPad.

I decided to go for a swim to clear my head and get some ideas. I sat up and carefully sneaked around the dog. Careful not wake up the little beast. After getting outside, I hitched a ride on top of a passing car. After about ten minutes, the vehicle passed by the Oxford Community Center, jackspot. I jumped off the moving car, landing with a soft thud onto the ground. The lights were out, as I expected. It was easy to sneak in, as people don’t tend to lock a community center, much less so, living toys don’t sneak in. I slipped in and took a right towards the pool, known as the Great River Water Park. I bathed in the smell of chlorine, already feeling a bit lighter. I started running towards the water park, taking a sharp turn into the women’s locker room. I felt almost giddy. I quickly changed and ran past the pirate-themed kiddie area. I raced to the slide pool and hopped in from the ledge. I floated to the top, feeling my stress wash off of me.

“I didn’t think you would swim somewhere without a dive board.” I whipped my head, I met the eyes of a frog in swim trunks and some recent-ish chest stitches that went down his entire torso. A pang of guilt ripped through me. Kermit, my best friend. He had a big grin on his face and was sitting on the stairs in the slide pool. I smiled back and swam up to him.

“I go here to blow off steam, I can’t practice all the time, you know.”

“Ha! True.”

“Hey, I’m sorry about…this” I said, gesturing towards my chest. Kermit cocked his head.

“For what?” I pointed at his chest, hoping he would get the hint. Kermit followed my finger.

“OH! This!” He poked his stitches, I winced, he didn’t.

“Yeah.”

“Eh, shouldn’t have followed you to a weapon dealer. That’s on me.” He raised his hand as an admission of guilt.

“I didn’t expect to get stabbed straight through the chest, but shit happens.” Kermit shrugged.

“Buddy,” I put my hand on his shoulder. “You are way too forgiving.”

“I prefer to be forgiving rather than revolting my whole life around revenge.”

“Besides, “ he floated on his back. “You should give up on this revenge plot; it isn’t going to end well for anyone.” I know Kermit was right, but as I looked at Marina’s bracelet, it begged for revenge. I couldn’t give up yet, not now.

“Life is a lot easier if you forgive and forget.” He swam around so carefree and happy. Ignorance is bliss to him, not for me, never for me.

“Forgive and forget only works if you can easily forget.”

“What do you mean?” Kermit said and waded over to me, oblivious to what I was referring to.

“You have brain damage and memory loss.” Coming out more bluntly than I meant to.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out so-”

“It’s good, but back on topic.” Kermit started before stopping.

“What was I going to say?”

“Something, something, revenge?” Kermit tapped his skull for a bit as he traced every movement and thought he just had before he finally remembered.

“I GOT IT!” He swam a quick lap around the pool in celebration.

“The problem is that you and Henri don’t move on, you stay stuck on the same thing for years, I mean Henri still hasn’t moved on from the-” Kermit’s voice faded as a new idea popped in my head, involving a certain freelance detective for hire. I started to climb out of the pool, and Kermit was still talking.

“I know getting beaten up is hard to-Where are you going?”

“Back home, I have a plan.” Kermit groaned before muttering under his breath something along the lines of “This is going to go terribly, if only she would listen.” I was almost in the locker room when I heard Kermit say:

“Watch out for mosquitoes! Don’t do anything stupid!”

Once I headed back to the locker room, I got dressed, and the clothes clung to my skin, and the cold air stung my face. I stormed out of the community center, reinvigorated. I caught a car and lay on the top, mind racing. If I get Henri to help me with my revenge plan, then Sky will finally break, and Marina can rest in peace. I was halfway home before I remembered something. Skye and Henri are best friends. Shit. I groaned out loud. Maybe they fought recently? I lay in silence for the rest of the way.

After sneaking past the dog, I ended up back in Violet’s room. A deer was sitting on the bed, engrossed in a book. Jackpot. The desk chair spun. My head swirled, and I leaned against the back to steady myself. I exhaled and looked at Henri again, whose nose was still buried in the book. I jumped onto the bed, where Henri finally noticed me.

“What do you want?” He stated, turning the page. His voice tone was somehow both flat and harsh.

“I want to know if you know how to effectively blackmail someone.”

“I’m not going to help your petty revenge plot against Skye.”

“Well, I’m out of ideas. And with your job…”

“Wouldn’t sending it to everyone work?”

“I don’t have the technological experience, but you, however, do.”

He scoffed. “That video could not make Skye bend to your will. I’ve known her my whole life.”

“Watch the video and see for yourself.” I pushed the iPad towards him; it had been moved onto the bed while I was gone. He gave me a questioning look and watched me unlock it. Luckily, Violet has had the same password since she was 7. I opened photos and played the video. The footage was grainy, but you could clearly see Skye beating someone up in a frenzied rage. Henri’s eyes widened, and he froze. I realized with horror who the toy in the video was.

“Henri, I’m sorry, I had no idea-“ I started, but he interrupted.

“It’s fine. Really. I’ll meet up with you in an hour.” He hopped off the bed and ran straight into Skye, who was coming in.

“When were you going to tell me?” Henri asked.

“Tell you what?” You could hear a slight tinge of nervousness in Sky’s voice.

“You know, Sky.”

“Who told you, Patty?” Skye stepped towards him.

“Are you really going to believe that little bitch over your best friend for a decade?” She said, crossing her arms.

“Is this why you’ve been ignoring me? Afraid I’d find the truth?”

“I had a lot of anger management issues back then-”

“Yeah, you got pissed off at the guy who just had a stroke. Very compassionate of you.” I gasped. Skye winced.

“I’m really sorry, Henri-”

“Don’t waste my time, Skye.” I heard Henri walk away, and Skye let out a big sigh.

“I know you’re here, Patty. Are you happy now? Did you get your revenge yet? You are a Petty little bitch, no wonder you don’t have many friends.” She laughed bitterly.

“I actually have three friends, which is a lot compared to you.”

“I have Henri-” She stopped herself. “Right…” She walked off, probably to the bar.

9 Hours Before

An hour had passed, and I was sitting on the couch downstairs. Luckily, the beast was put away in his crate for the night, so it was safe. I haven’t been down here since Marina passed. The living room looked the same, lightly coated in dog hair, with soft lighting. I smiled at the familiarity. While I was taking in the sights, Henri came down, sitting on the ottoman across from me. I started the conversation.

“You had a stroke?’ Henri nodded.

“When I was 25, eight years ago.”

“I never would have guessed you are one of the most active people here.”

“I am because I had to. Either I run everyday or I have to relearn how to walk.”

“Again,” Henri muttered and broke eye contact. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots.

“Skye was my best friend in college. She had anger issues, but I never thought she would…” He trailed off.

“I’m sorry, Henri, I wouldn’t have shown you the video if I knew.”

“It’s..fine. I’ve always wondered who it was and now…I know.”

“She abandoned me after that, and now I know why.”

He got up and sat next to me on the couch, grabbing Violet’s iPad.

“Call everyone downstairs, we’ll make Skye regret this.” I nodded and smiled. I ran upstairs to call everyone down while Henri stared at the video. Rewatching it over and over again, almost compulsively. After getting everyone down (except for the kids and Skye), we all piled onto the couch as Henri fiddled with Violet’s iPad. I wasn’t sure what he was doing until a very, very familiar grainy security video popped up on the TV. This is going to be good.

I watched everyone’s reactions; they looked confused, but then, as it went on, they realized who the two people were, and the facial reactions got pretty entertaining. Regina had her mouth agape and was taking notes. Kermit was looking away while Daisy, who was sitting right next to him, and Regina, only watched for a second before burying her head into Regina’s shoulder. Rosemary and Saabirinn were unimpressed, clearly having done worse. Henri’s wife, whom we all call Mommy cat, had her mouth agape and covered it with one hand, squeezing Henri’s hoof with the other. This was going better than I thought. What happened next was a brilliant show of Skye’s comedic timing as she came down to check what everyone was doing, at the exact time the video ended. Looks of disgust, confusion, anger, and fear turned to her. She knew what had happened. She tried to lunge at Henri and I but Rosemary stopped her.

“They won’t forgive you for this,” Rosemary whispered. Skye stormed out. After everyone calmed down, I lay down for the night. Satisfied, not knowing that the Beast would pounce on Skye when she came back in the morning from the bar, beheading her in one small bite. Her body and detached head waited for Henri and me to find her the next morning, saying it was all our fault.