Candy Pop Corpse

12. Crépe Criminal

After stuffing my face with as many sweets as my stomach could hold, I left with them. We walked past rows of ghostly houses and leftover, molded food. While Wastia and Styke were in the front, I paced behind Charles in silence.

Crows cawed in the distance. Some perched on street lights, others pecked at abandoned lunches. I huffed. It wasn't fair; they were eating all the good stuff! To distract myself from shooing them away, I closed in on Charles.

"Hey," I called, poking his back. "Quick question. Actually, a few."

"Yeah?" The toothpick between his teeth nodded when he turned to me.

"Before... when I was fighting a savage," I swallowed down any thought of Bonnie and Mary, continuing, "at some point, I couldn't control my body. Is that normal?"

He glanced to me as I tapped my fingertips together. With a sigh, he answered, "Ah, that happens sometimes. Then you hear the buzzing, right? It's pretty common. You'll get used to it."

I didn't want to. "Oh," I commented. Silence. "When we were in the bakery, Wastia and Styke left to have a meeting. Why didn't she call you too?"

A smirk curled his lips upwards. He stopped and folded his hands behind his head. "You really wanna know?"

Charles leaned down to my eye level. I gulped, tempted to step back when he winked. "They like to feel each other up in public. Somethin' about exc―"

Styke's arm wrapped around Charles' neck before he could finish. "Whatcha chatting about, Charlie?" He looked from me to him, smiling. "Sounds fun."

Slowly, Charles lowered his arms to his side. He gave a small laugh. "Oh y'know, just the perks of being dead. T-There's plenty to go around, right?"

When I looked at him, Charles had a slight glimmer in his eyes. He didn't seem terrified at all. In fact, he looked pretty satisfied. I cringed back. At that point, I was weighing the pros and cons of sticking with these misfits. On one hand, I could gain possible protection, but on the other, it didn't seem like they'd hesitate to kill me if I slipped up. Wait, could I die again?

"Would you two shut up?" Wastia hissed. "We haven't even left the sector and you're already playing around." She whipped her head back, eyes narrowed on them. "If you keep this up, your brains'll be fried next."

"Yes ma'am," they said in unison.

We resumed walking, this time Wastia's threat keeping my questions unspoken. For the moment, at least.

The deeper we traveled, the louder the wind howled. It lifted torn flyers and dead leaves. Some of both brushed against my legs before gliding into ransacked houses. I sighed and slowed my pace. The desolate sight reminded me of the past, when Jack and I scoured every sector we could find for a meal. Whether it was stale bread or leftovers, we didn't care as long as we survived to the next day. No matter how much I thought on it, I couldn't understand. Why would he leave me behind, after years of having my back? I had to know. If... If what he says isn't reasonable, then I'd―

"Lulu!" someone yelled.

The distant call pulled me back to the present. Wastia, Styke and Charles were far ahead, pausing to look at me. Apparently I'd stopped in my tracks while thinking of my brother.

I jogged until I was caught up. "Sorry about that," I muttered, keeping my eyes on the ground. A tornado of questions swirled in my head. Ones I wasn't sure when I'd get the answer to.

Charles' shadow turned back. I lifted my gaze to his, forcing myself to not look away. It felt like his stare could penetrate into my conscious and peek at my troubles. That, or I was overthinking a simple look.