Immortalys

Chapter Twenty-Four: Mysteries Solved

"So," Friction said with a yawn, "when is dinner going to be ready?"

Friction, Willow, Blainey, and Harmony were sitting around the kitchen counter in the vacation suite, the latter three preparing dinner and Friction scrolling through his photos of the solar eclipse from that morning. After the eclipse was over and they all had their fill of swimming, the four friends returned to their room, showered, and shared pictures. Friction was still trying to recover from the temperature outside: Deneb was much hotter than Canada was.

"Soon," replied Blainey. She kept taking breaks from chopping vegetables to type things on her Surface. She smiled down at it and twirled her hair around her finger.

Friction pushed himself up on the couch with an elbow. "What are you doing, Blainey?"

Blainey flushed and went back to cutting carrots (or some sort of vegetable that looked like a carrot; Friction couldn't be sure). "Nothing," she said.

"She's texting the dictator," Harmony giggled.

Willow glanced over from where she was stirring soup on the stove. "What did he say?"

"He was just telling me how he loved the eclipse pictures," said Blainey. She brought the sliced vegetables to the pot of soup and dumped them in. "And then I told him how much we're liking this room. I asked him how often he stays in it, and he says maybe once a year."

"I would love to have this whole room to myself," Friction remarked, shaking his head as he lowered himself back onto the couch.

"He says it actually makes him feel a little lonely," Blainey said. "Apparently it was a gift from the Denebians; he never even asked for it."

"Blainey," Willow interrupted, "do you mind cutting up one more of those vegetables, please?"

"Sure!" Blainey pulled another one from a bag and steadied her knife.

"So," Harmony said, "what are you guys doing for New Years on Earth this year? It's about that time, isn't it?"

"Yeah," replied Blainey. "We'll get home on the twenty-ninth of December, so we'll only have a couple of days to enjoy all of the decorations. They usually start the celebrations and all that stuff around now."

Friction raised an eyebrow. "So, we'll miss Christmas?"

Blainey spared him a confused glance over the kitchen counter. "Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas," said Friction. "You know, presents, lights, Santa Claus, baby Jesus?" His stomach gave a dull flop as he suddenly realized that this was a holiday that Immortalys had probably done away with.

"Oh, Christmas isn't a holiday in Immortalys," Blainey shrugged. "We've learned all about it, of course, but most of us don't celebrate it, because there isn't really a religion in Immortalys and Christmas is a religion-based holiday. Don't worry, though; we still have all the lights and trees and candles and gifts during New Years. It's everyone's favorite time of the year." Then Blainey jumped and snatched her finger away from the vegetable knife. "Oww!"

Both Willow's and Harmony's heads snapped over to look at her. "Are you okay?"

Blainey sucked her finger. "Ouchy. I cut myself." With her finger in her mouth, she froze, her eyes wide.

"Uh oh," Harmony murmured.

"What?" asked Willow.

As Friction watched, Blainey's eyes seemed to go in and out of focus. She removed her finger from her mouth, gazed at it, and gave the room an evil grin that Friction had never expected to behold on her face. Again, Blainey stuck her finger back into her mouth and closed her deranged eyes as if she were savoring the taste of blood.