The Puppet

“You okay?” Bleu was sitting across the booth from Harry, at Wawa. She couldn’t stand to see Dana after her brother had found Jen’s body. She’d laid on her living room floor, unconscious for almost a whole day and when she came to, she had a call from a number she hadn’t recognized. When she called it back, Harry asked her to meet him at Wawa the next day.


“Um… in what sense? Like am I non-suicidal okay or sane-okay? Because I’m not going to kill myself… but I don’t think I’m ‘of the right mind’ right now.” She tapped the top of her coffee cup, wishing she could have at least said good bye.

“Well, the fact that you aren’t thinking of committing suicide is good but I meant really okay… like… with the funeral planning and stuff.” Harry seemed to be much better than he was when they met at Bleu’s job. Or so she thought, anyway. He was still jumpy, like he was avoiding someone but he didn’t seem as… scarred.

“Well, I still can’t wrap my head around it… my sister not being here, I mean. Everything’s just a mess,” Bleu sniffled and wiped her eyes, trying not to cry in public. “And now I have to call my parents and tell them everything… and they’ll have to come here.” She looked down at her nails, unable to hold her tears in this time. Her parents had been right about her.

“What happened with you parents?” Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to get all into her life, but he owed this girl comfort. It was all his fault.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Bleu said. Her history wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, especially with Harry. He may have been cute, but he was still a stranger, at least partially.

“Okay, that’s fine.” He didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore. Bleu thought that was their cue to begin to leave, but he was just distracted. He’d seen the last person he wanted to see. Stryker Jadis. Stryker was headed their way, too. Harry was paranoid, but within good reason. Harry was hoping that Stryker wouldn’t see him so he bowed his head, not aware of how he was offending Bleu.

“Maybe I should go…” She said, grabbing her bag, but Harry knew that was a bad idea. If Stryker saw her, he’d know that Harry was here. He’d known that Bleu was Majenta’s sister, he was sure of it. Stryker did his research.

“No, no… I’m sorry. Just stay here a moment.” Harry got up from his seat and crashed into Stryker.

“Watch where you’re going, Mate,” he snarled in his thick Aussie accent, not seeming to recognize the boy he considered his master’s lap dog. He did a double take and slowly took in the tortured green eyes, mussed curly hair, and tall frame. “Hes, nice to see you again. Though, I must say, daylight does something different to you. Is it that Mollartach isn’t glued to your hand or is it that your normally dark eyes are a tortured green? I don’t know…” He smiled cruelly, his perfect teeth clearly on display.

“Look, you killed her family, Jadis. Just… leave her alone,” Harry growled, his eyes clouding over even more. He felt like he had to keep Blue from encountering even more pain.

“As I recall, Hes, you, killed her family. So, why don’t you leave her alone?” Stryker wasn’t planning on standing down. He had a job to do and he had just as much at stake as Hes did. Bleu watched the confrontation curiously. She didn’t want to rush Harry but her mind couldn’t take rejection at this point and she still had to call her parents and tell them everything.

“You’re an arse, you know that? I already feel bad enough for what you basically forced me into doing. I get that I’m a horrible bastard, but you… you don’t even understand guilt.” Harry jabbed a finger at Stryker, accusing him of his inhumanity.

“Actually, Hes, we aren’t so different.” Harry flinched at the comparison. He’d rather die than become a Stryker Jadis.

“The only thing we have in common is that we’ll both be going to Hell.” With that, Harry made his way back to Bleu, his eyes crazed and his skin pale.

“Are you alright? Who was he?” Blue asked, though she knew she had no right to ask those questions. They barely knew each other.

“I’m fine and he’s… a reminder of my past.” Harry took his seat, feeling dumb for wanting to meet Bleu here. How could he believe he was even worthy of being in the same room as her after what he’d done?

“Alright, well, can we meet up again later today? I have to call my parents and stuff.” Bleu had already pushed back informing her parents for as long as she could. Even though they were horrid people, they deserved to know and she was beginning to feel bad.

“Of course, love,” Harry said, causing her heart to flip a little. She didn’t know why, but she was becoming attached to this beautifully, tortured stranger. As she walked from Wawa, she dialed her parents, whom she hadn’t called the entire time she’d been staying with her sister.

“Bleu? What has you calling? Are you finally coming home after you saw how much you failed without us?” Oh, joy, Mother… always a pleasure, Bleu thought as her mother answered on the second ring.
“No, Mom. Umm… Majenta…” This was a lot harder than she thought it’d be.

“What about Majenta? Are you both coming home? I knew you’d never make it on your own. Tom—“ Her mother called for her husband, making this all the harder for Bleu.


“No, Mom. Neither of us are coming back. We’re… she’s…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She couldn’t make it so real… she couldn’t deal with the blow again. She climbed in her car and put her head in her hands. Why was this happening to her?

“What? Majenta’s out of luck, but Ren is still here. He’s still waiting for you,” Tia started again, further patronizing her daughter. Bleu couldn’t take it anymore.

“Majenta’s dead!” She screamed as loud as she could, breathing fiercely.

“What?” For once, Tia was at a loss for words. Bleu took a deep breath, preparing to repeat herself.

“Someone killed Majenta.” She couldn’t hold in her sobs as she kept talking. “You need to come to Nashville. I need to plan the funeral. Call me at this number when you get here.” Bleu hung up before she got assaulted by another round of tears. She realized that she hadn’t given the address but Tia and Tom would call back when they needed it. Now… she had to go see the body. Pick out a burial outfit or some stupid shit like that.

Bleu looked into the windows of McCathy Funeral Parlor and immediately she wanted to disappear. It was dark and scary and she wished she could tuck her tail and run the other way. In the past few days, she had constantly been asking herself why. Why did this happen to us? She thought, her eyes stinging with tears, yet again. She couldn’t cry again. Jen wouldn’t want that. She wiped her eyes and rang the eerie doorbell, all the while wishing she could shrink and disappear. A skinny man with dark eyes and dark hair opened the door.

“Are you Bleu?” His boney fingers gripped the door tightly, as if he was afraid it would fly away.

“Yes.” She followed him to his hideous basement, her stomach knotting with every step. It reeked of formaldehyde and death.

“I just need you to take a look at her condition and tell me what you’d like her to wear and such.” His hands tapped on the wall, very nervous and suspicious like.

“Got it,” Bleu replied, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw beneath that sheet. She looked back at Mr. Bones and then at the display table thing. She felt her coffee coming back up and ran up the man’s stairs and through his front door. He stood there, shell-shocked by what he’d seen too. He didn’t understand. Bleu pulled out her phone and called the one person who could possibly help her.

“Good evening, Love,” she heard, the minute he picked up the phone.

“Harry… we have a problem. Could you come get me?” She clutched her stomach, hoping the contents of her insides wouldn’t come back up.

“Sure. What happened?” She took a deep breath. She didn’t have anyone now. So, he was the only person she could talk to.

“Majenta’s body is missing,” and she broke down crying, again.

Notes