A Beast with a Smile
Chapter 11 (Scarlett): Plates of Destiny

My dreams were filled with the colorful images of the previous night. The destruction of the town square, the electrified girl in yellow armor, and of course Tiny, the gigantic bunny rabbit. It was all preferable compared to the nightmare that followed.

The girl faded into darkness; the town square morphed into a shadowy underground tunnel. It was lit only by a candle that I grabbed to with all of my strength. There were screams further down the hall and being a good samaritan, I decided it would be a good idea to sprint into the unknown. The screams grew louder and more gruesome with every step in the vast chasm. The walls seemed to have had a heavy dosage of Slim Fast because they shrunk, making it only large enough for me to shimmy down the hall.

The candle light grew dimmer from the awkward position I held it at. Eventually, I saw a small red tinted light at the opening of the chasm into the next room, yet the chasm still shrunk smaller and smaller.

When I was about fifteen feet away from the exit, my candle freed itself from my grasp. The second it hit the ground, the cave exploded. I was thrown through the exit, but it was not a cave that appeared in my blurred vision, but a perfectly blue sky. I realized I was laying on a picnic blanket that was similar to the one Scavenger and I would use to cloud watch.

I looked around the immediate area, searching for any adversaries in the trees or near the picnic blanket. Believing this was an ordinary dream and not a nightmare, I let my guard down. I lay down, staring at the floating white giants above, and started thinking about how much Scavenger would make me laugh while we stared into the sky. The thought must’ve triggered my inner problems because the sky began to darken with smoke like rain clouds. The heavens began to rain blood as the sky turned pitch black. I thought it was just the clouds growing heavier, but when I glanced at the town, I saw it was on fire.

Atom’s giant tower had fallen on its side, crushing most of the residential houses. The school was cut in half between fire spreading its deadly ambers on one side and an ice blizzard destroying the other side. The town square was completely obliterated; the only thing left was the crater where it once stood.

The rain had flooded the streets with blood. Two more buildings lifted from their foundation and flew across town, crashing into a part of Atom’s knocked over tower. Lasers and rockets fired from one side of town onto the other. A figure wearing similar armor to the electric girl sprinted across town towards the knocked over tower.

This one’s armor was black, and it was much taller and more muscular than the short girl that saved me. Bullets and rockets followed him and crashed into the destroyed tower where the figure also crashed through to the other side. A rocket flew out of its casing and started to cruise towards me. My legs refused to move; I was completely stuck in place. The tip was a matter of inches away from me when I dropped into the next dream.

It felt real, but I don’t remember ghosts being able to talk. I shot up from my bed in a cold sweat to see Scavenger waiting beside me. He grabbed my hand and scooted closer to my bed. He gave me a hug and said, “Everything is ok. I’m here to help. Just relax,” he smiled at me and I fell back down before I could say another word.

The dreams seized when I shot out of bed again, thinking my best friend was waiting for me with his support. Instead I got Tyler who was patiently waiting for me to wake up, so he could serve his famous breakfast in bed. I ate some of the pancakes and he sat down next to me. He started to rub the back of my head, playing with my hair.

“How did you sleep?” he asked.

That surprised me. Did he know what happened last night? Did I talk in my sleep?

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, did you sleep good? Are you ok? You seem startled.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a really strange night.”

“Did you make a fort with your brother and tell ghost stories all night?” he laughed to himself.

“No, but we did find out Jet is having twins.”

“Really? Does Veronica know?” he laughed to himself again.

“Please tell me you’re joking. If not, I might have to break up with you,” I smiled at him.

He smiled back and kissed me. His blonde hair was fixed tight with gel, so when he kissed me I could smell it like perfume. It was a gross smell that I’ve always hated. He doesn’t realize it smells like burnt rubber and plastic had a love child with flatulent issues. He started wearing it after Scavenger passed away.

Thinking about it nearly brought me to tears. It felt good to feel happy again, to forget about the pain, but now I have to return to the world and free myself from the heavens.

Tyler kept telling dumb jokes and I faked a smile. It was easier that way. Tyler isn’t exactly the best with emotions; he thinks sadness can be solved with partying or buying really expensive things. If I told him that I felt sadness about my best friend being dead for five years, I would get a box of jewelry instead of a hug. He’s sweet in his own special way and I love him for trying, but some things are best left unsaid.

I finished my black charred toast, pretending to enjoy the sweet taste of rock-hard bread, knowing my boyfriend should not be a cook. He picked up the tray and started to walk out the door. He turned around and gestured for me to follow, “Come on,” he said while backing out of the doorway.

I arose from my sleepy grave in pursuit of my runaway boyfriend. I waddled into the kitchen where Tyler now resided; he attempted to take the tray to the sink but banged his shin on the overly large table that filled the available space of the kitchen.

Everything in his hands took flight like a pack of birds migrating to the south for winter. The plates shattered, the cup of orange juice cracked like an egg, and the tray planted itself on the tip of Tyler’s foot. He cursed and slammed his fist on the table end. The wood bent and cracked in a long line across the entirety of the table. He followed by kicking the leg of the table resulting in the table shifting farther into the wall.

“God! Why is this table so big?” He shouted as he kicked the table leg again.

Without saying a word, I reached around the corner where the broom hung and brought it into the room.

“You break it you buy it,” I said with a straight face.

His face was red with rage. It wasn’t at me, but my attitude was not helping his mood. My hands began to shake a little as I attempted to pass on the broom to Tyler. He reluctantly grabbed it and murmured to himself as he brushed the bits of glass shards into the pan. He cleaned up the mess as I watched; neither of us said a word to the other.

“How’s it going with you two love birds?” my father said breaking the silence.

I jumped a little when he spoke; for someone in a wheelchair he was pretty sneaky. He looked down at the wreckage that Tyler had caused and noticed the plate shattered into a million pieces.

His smile faded, “I hope that’s not one of your mother’s special plates.”

My skin filled with goosebumps as I realized what Tyler had just broken. My mother had special plates that represented stories from her childhood. She never explained them, nevertheless we all knew they were extremely important to her. Tyler must have grabbed it out of the cupboard and thought nothing of it.

He stopped cleaning and looked at my father, “Mr. Archer, I’ll buy you another one. I am so sorry. It’s just that the table got in my way and I dropped everything.”

My father held the grim look on his face, “It’s a nice gesture, but you can’t buy something from a dead woman,” he said as rolled the rest of the way into the kitchen.

He grabbed a piece that had a row of birds still intact. I looked at one of the last treasures I had left from my mom and had to bite my cheek to hold back tears.

Most of her things were destroyed in the meteor shower, but somehow five plates stood their ground. They once hung in a row on the walls in the living room. There were more than five when she’d first made them but only five had survived. The plates had different animals on them: one had flaming red phoenix’s with a golden trail of fire behind them, one had yellow bunnies jumping through a blue lightning bolt, one had a bronze falcon soaring in front of the sun, one had a black wolf standing in a thick grey fog with a pack behind it, and the last plate had a black and white dragon that formed a yin and yang symbol .

My father wasn’t angry, but he was far from happy. I think he’s hurt that one of the last remnants of his true love and the time when his life was good is gone.

“Tyler, after you’re done cleaning make sure to vacuum. We don’t want the cat getting ahold of a deadly weapon.”

Barnacle meowed in agreement with my father’s request.

“Evil kitty,” he said, picking up the cat and returning to the solitude of his room with the plate piece tucked tightly in his palm.

I heard Barnacle let out one more roaring meow before the door closed, silencing his mighty sound.

Tyler swiftly cleaned up the rest of the dish fragments as I cleaned up the remaining pieces of the shattered plate that filled the kitchen floor. I set them on the counter knowing I lost another memory of a dead loved one. Tyler had apologized about a million times, but no matter how many times he said it, he couldn’t bring the plate back. I’d trade that plate just to see my mother.

I did not have any remembered memories of her. The only thing I knew about her is that she cared more about the lives of others than her own. The reason I knew the story of what happened during the meteor shower was because my dad and brother gave me bits and pieces over the years.

After the tragedy that struck our town, my dad was never the same. He couldn’t handle the loss of my mother and as a consequence, started drinking and he never really stopped. I’m sure after watching more destruction of my mother’s memories I’ll hear multiple bottles hitting the floor tonight.

Scavenger was the only other person in this town who understood me. Sheriff Sims found Scavenger next to a car with a meteor turning it into a pancake, complete with two burning dead bodies still entombed inside. For all Scavenger knew, his only memory of his biological parents would be a psychological fear of making s’mores on a campfire. He died without a single answer for who he really was.

Tears began to roll down my cheeks onto the floor. One dripped onto Tyler’s shoulder and when he turned around some fell into his opening mouth.

“Gross!” he shouted, standing up quickly.

“Why are you crying? I said I would buy you another stupid plate,” he stated with an angry look.

“I’m sorry. Is this not a good day to cry? Should I call your assistant to reschedule?”

He glared at me then asked, “Would going to New York cheer you up? I’ll call the jet right now and we can be there in a matter of hours.”

That my friends, was my master of emotions right there. Not even a hug or a bit of sympathy.

“I just need to take a walk and clear my head with some fresh air.”

Before his jaw could drop again, I was out the door, heading to the one place I knew would bring me to tears, but give me some comfort.

It was that time of year when I would revisit my friend.

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