Chapter 13 - Stapler

Leo’s POV

I slapped another lost cat poster to the pole, holding it in place with one hand while the other reached for the mini stapler in my pocket. I have big pockets today. Presssss, release. Presssss, release. Thunk thunk thunk, staple staple staple. It’s hard to staple things to these poles. Maybe I should have found a staple gun.
I step back and admire my handiwork. Five posters, all neatly placed on. Time to move onto the next pole.
I really want Butter back. Who knows how long he’s been gone? He was my cat in the first place too. Leanne says that he was hers but I know better. He’s mine. He likes me better.
As I’m about to staple another paper to another pole, someone says, “You’d better let me do that.”
Telsa? What’s she doing here? She looks relaxed, as if coming up on me unexpectedly is something she does every day. “Why?” I ask. Out of all the questions, like what are you doing here, I choose to ask the question why. Oh well.
“Because you’ll staple yourself otherwise, and I want to spare you the pain and embarrassment when you have your thumb stapled to a large pole.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, let me take that.” She grabs the stapler and expertly put up the paper. She motions for me to hand over my stack, and we begin to walk around town as she does all my work for me.
We talk as we walk. “So, Leo,” she says, “Why are you putting up lost cat posters.”
“My cat’s lost.”
“That would make sense.” I grin briefly, and then feel it slide off my face with her next question.
“Do you really expect to find him?”
We stop, and I turn to face her. She looks sad, defeated in a way. “Yes, I do, actually,” I say, challenging her to give me a better way.
“You won’t find him. He’s gone.”
“How do YOU know?!” I scream suddenly, not caring that we’re in a public place where everyone can hear us. “I’ve trusted you when you say things to me that make no sense, I go along with your little game, but you tell me hardly anything in return! You tell me about myself – you know everything about me somehow! And I know nothing about you! Tell me something!” I lower my voice so only Telsa and I can hear. “You said once that you were not really human. What are you?”
She gives me a sad, heartbroken, puppy-dog-eyes look. “I’m sorry,” she says, so softly I can barely hear. She hangs her head, and turns away.
“I just want to know something about you. Don’t you think it’s fair that we have an equal exchange of information?”
Telsa’s silent. “I-I can’t,” she chokes eventually, sets my papers and stapler on the ground, and walks off.
The only thing to do is follow her, I think, and pick up the stuff so I can run after her.
“Telsa!” I call. She didn’t run, so how did she get so far ahead. “Telsa! Telsa!”
She whips around suddenly, and somehow she’s right by my face. Something seems different about her…I can’t pinpoint it precisely, but from the last minute I saw her until now, it seems like her skull subtly shifted or something. Her eyes seem glossier, but that could be from the tears. Then what’s that silvery line around her irises…? I realize that I’ve never seen her face this closely before.
“Leo,” she starts, and some chord in it (that, once again, I can’t pinpoint) causes my inner instinct to rise up and try push me in the opposite direction as her, “It is not safe for you to be here right now.”
I ignore instinct. “Here as in…” I gesture vaguely. “Around you.”
“I gave you your warning,” she says, completely controlled. I wonder why she said it was dangerous until I feel an icy fist drive into my gut, leaving me gasping and choking and very much winded. It punches a second time, and I think of two things before I pass out: shouldn’t I be stronger than this, and next time I’ll listen to my instinct.
I wake up and I don’t know where I am. That’s always a bad sign. I sit up slowly, taking in my surroundings.
The wallpaper is a light, nondescript pink with faded flower pattern. I’m in a rickety old bed, and the only other pieces of furniture are a desk and a dresser. Then I see Telsa sitting in a chair, looking at me calmly.
“Where am I?” I ask.
She smiles. “In my bedroom.”
“Um….” How did it get in Telsa’s bedroom? That is wrong in so many ways. It’s not even funny.
“How do you feel?” she asks.
I ignore her. “Why the HECK am I in your bedroom? The last I checked, I was in the street.”
“Well, did you think I was going to just leave you there? I’m your aunt, I don’t want to get hit by a car or anything. So I brought you here.”
“You couldn’t have taken me to my house, seeing as you know everything.”
“…I have my reasons.”
I don’t think she realizes how creepy that is. “Look, why can’t I go to my house?”
“YOU can. But I can’t take you,” she says, and then adds on in a quieter voice, “Your mom hates me.”
“…Oh.”
“Yeah. So I brought you here, and because Rob would hate you if he knew you were here, I had to stick you in my room.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah, it does. Now, how do you feel?”
“Fine, I guess.” Nothing hurts.
“Good.” She nods and we’re silent for a bit.
“How did you do that?” I ask after a while.
“Do what?”
“Punch me so hard.”
“Oh, that….” She trails off, and holds up my stapler mysteriously.
“That’s my stapler,” I say unnecessarily.
“I know.”
“So…you did it with my stapler.”
“Yes.”
“Telsa killed me with the stapler, in the street,” I say in an overdramatic voice. Clue is so much fun.
She grins widely. “Are you sure I didn’t do it in the study?”
“Oh, I’m positive.” We have a silent eyebrow-raising contest. Darn, she won.
“So, Telsa, I meant what I said before you knocked me out about telling me stuff,” I say, forgetting humor for a minute. “I need to know what’s going on.”
Telsa looks pained. “I can’t,” she says.
“Can you at least tell me why not?”
“It’s not good to know what the future holds. Knowing your fate will just lead to more…complications.”
“Complications? My fate?”
“Well, to be specific, your fate and your sister’s fate and your sister’s boyfriend’s fate.”
“Well, that’s…nice.” Leanne has a BOYFRIEND? Since when? I don’t have time to get angry, though, because Telsa continues.
“And besides, don’t tell Rob this, but even I don’t know entirely what’s going to happen. After the confrontation, nothing is concrete. All I know is that you’re on my side, and Leanne’s on Rob’s side.”
“You mentioned these sides last time. What are they? Why am I on your side?”
“Because you are.”
“Telsa, whatever my fate is, you can tell me. I can deal with it, I’m responsible.” Sort of.
“It doesn’t have to do with responsibility, it has to do with whether or not you can handle the knowledge. It’s pretty, ah, weighty stuff. Most people wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
I frown, thoughtful. “I think I can handle it….”
Telsa gives me a critical look, then says, to my utter astonishment:
“Okay.”

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