The Blue Orchid Years

Chapter 40: An Aggrieved Inner Child (The Haunter and The Haunted)

June 28th 2664

Neesa, Keith, George, my siblings, and I had been taking turns looking after Linda's puppies. At first I was hesitant about having puppies in the house because I didn't want them to make a mess, but my worries were assuaged after Neesa and Keith told me how the puppies seemed to understand human language. I still had no idea if they really did or if they just appeared to be that way—I knew some animals are allegedly smarter than others, but language processing is a whole different ballpark altogether. Well, time to test the puppies, then. What if I talk to them?

It was almost sunset when I gave the puppies their kibbles and they were already tired from chasing a tennis ball out in the front porch, so I brought them in. Moira was in the living room watching a cooking show and her big, beautiful eyes lighted up when one of the puppies wiggled out of my arms and jumped onto the couch, giving her slobbery kisses and wagging his tails.

"Hey, Roscoe, you want to watch the cooking show with me?" she asked, scratching him behind his ears. "Look, the chef is gonna roast the marinated duck! What do you think of eating duck meat?" she pointed to the TV screen. Roscoe barked loudly in response and then panted, as if to say the roasted duck was positively saliva-inducing. Moira giggled and gave him some head pats.

"Glad you've found a TV program you like." I sat next to her with the other puppy curled up on my lap. "I'm going to the basement to play music. I'm taking Baxter along to see if he really is as smart as your cousin said. Would you be okay sitting here with Roscoe while I practice?"

"I'll be alright!" Moira squeezed my hand. "This sweetie right here would be the cuddliest little pet, won't you, Roscoe? Who is a good boy? Yes, you are!" she laughed when the good boy barked again before spinning around and snuggled against her belly, looking perfectly content.

I chuckled to myself as I went down the stairs with Baxter running after me. After flicking the light switch on, I crouched down to pet him. He sniffed and licked the back of my hand and followed me as I walked toward a corner dedicated to displaying my small collection of ukuleles.

"Okay, Baxter, let me give you a brief tour of my studio." I said as I picked up a plastic ukulele and began tuning it to tighten the loose strings. "This is the ukulele corner. What I'm holding right now is the oldest one I've ever had. I got it as a birthday present from dad when I was nine. Speaking of, do dogs even remember their dads?" I stroked Baxter's fur. He stared at me quietly.

"I still remember mine." I continued. "I don't know where he is and I don't really care. Mom speculated that he might be long dead and buried and he might as well be, it's not like I miss him or anything." I shrugged. Baxter let out a low growl as if to argue with me. "Okay, I lied. A part of me does want to give him a second chance if he ever crawls up to me and my siblings to apologize. Maybe that sentiment is the real reason I haven't thrown out this old ukulele."

"Look at me, talking to a golden retriever!" I shook my head. "Perhaps I'm even lonelier than I thought. Anyway, back to my musical instruments. I don't know if dogs know anything about music, but I'll just tell you everything. You see, Baxter, this plastic ukulele isn't the best quality ukulele. I soon grew out of it and saved up to buy a proper soprano ukulele." I gestured at a bigger ukulele hanging on the wall. "Here is my pride and joy! The body is made from mahogany with satin finish while the frets are from rosewood. The first time I played it, I felt as if I were on top of—"my sentence got cut in half because my phone vibrated in my pocket.

The caller ID showed Kenta's name. Frowning, I unlocked my phone and received the call.

"Hey, this isn't really the best time. I'm practicing and would rather—"

"Nardho!" he screamed in my ears. "Johan is missing! I've sent LJ and Naoko to look for him and I'm scouring the town too but I haven't spotted him yet. I've tried to call him but he never picked up. Should I notify the police? It's not 24 hours yet but I'm so worried he's hurt himself."

"Missing? What do you mean missing? Isn't he at the psychiatrist office?"

"That's what I thought! His appointment ended hours ago but he wasn't there when I picked him up. I asked the receptionist if he ever came at all and she said yes, so he must have left without waiting for me. The question is, why didn't he let me know where he's going?"

"That's odd. Did the receptionist tell you if Johan look distressed or upset?"

"Shoot, it didn't even cross my mind to ask her that!" Kenta's nervousness was apparent in his voice. "But what could have upset him so much he didn't just go straight home?"

"Maybe the psychiatrist dug too deep into his past and he became agitated?" I theorized. "Maybe he's taking a long walk to calm down. Oh, that reminds me. Couldn't you track down where he is by seeing if he has the "find my location" feature activated on his phone?"

"Oh, right. Hang on." Kenta replied and for a few minutes there was nothing but deafening silence. "Nardho, this is so weird. If the location tracker is to be trusted, Johan is in the southern part of town, at the shrine I frequently prayed at to be precise. But why a shrine? If it were a church it would have made a whole lot more sense, but a shrine? Is he converting into a Shinto?"

"I doubt it." I reassured him. "If he ever ditch Catholicism, there has to be a compelling reason. We wouldn't get an answer until we talk to him ourselves. Let's go to the shrine together."

"Okay." Kenta took an audible deep breath. "See you soon. Bring Moira if you need to."

"I will. I'm supposed to babysit two dogs, though. Should I leave the dogs alone?"

"Linda's dogs? I think you can leave them in their crate and they'd just sleep."

"Gotcha. Okay, we're coming. Let me know if you arrive there before we do."

----

45 minutes later, I parked near the shrine's entrance and helped Moira got off the car before texting Kenta. He texted me back, saying that he found Johan in the playground attached to the shrine and that we should hurry up because it appeared my brother was in serious trouble.

"Johan!" I rushed when I spotted him and Kenta on top of a slide. "What's happening?"

There was a pool of vomit off the side of the slide on the ground and a few cans of beers scattered around it next to a half-empty bottle of... crushed pills? Did Johan relapse? I moved closer to inspect the bottle of medication and to my horror it indeed contained the kind of medicine that should never be taken together with alcohol. Shit. He must have lost control.

"N-Nardho..." Johan muttered weakly and showed me his wrist. There was a deep line of fresh scar, still bloody. I glanced at Kenta, who was tearing the end of his shirt to create a bandage.

"Did you slice your wrist? Why? Was it the voice in your head?" I took the bandage from Kenta and wrapped it around my brother's wound. Johan nodded and eyed his jacket's pocket. I reached into it and found a wet, bright red blade. Fuck fuck fuck. This was no accident. The hell?

"D-Dad returns." Johan tried to get up but he swayed and fell against Kenta's shoulder.

"Your dad? But I thought you mentioned he is long dead, didn't you?" Kenta asked. There was no response from Johan. "Hey, are you sure you weren't just imagining it?" Still no response.

I pinched Johan hard but he didn't respond to my pinching him. "Johan, can you hear me?"

"He's alive...white-haired but alive!" my brother sobbed. "This is literally d-dream comes true, but w-why doesn't it feel good? I-I'm a b-bad s-son!" he slurred his words, groaning. "Every day I begged Mother Mary to convince Jesus to let dad find his way back to us, if he in fact isn't dead like we had believed, and my wish is now granted but I... I—"he sighed. "Hikari, I don't feel well..." he softly moaned and closed his eyes, his quivering lips turning blue.

"His skin is as cold as ice. This is bad!" Kenta shouted. "Teddy, hang in there, please!" he cried. "We're bringing you to the emergency room. Don't you dare quit on me, teddy!"