The castle is truly a maze. I pass dead ends, travel down dead ends just to go back. My legs hurt, I'm tired of seeing these square panels. I passed by the same flower vase seven goddamn times. There's a painting of a man with a long handlebar mustache sitting in a high back chair. He's dressed in red, with diamond rings on his five fingers. Silts in his eyes and black wings behind him, he has four arms and a lion's tail. Ti-orukọ, the Bright Born. What the hell does that mean?
He's everywhere on the bottom floor. I make some headway, Ti-orukọ is hanging from a wall with a flight of stairs. I go up and the eyes on the painting follow me. I must have gone up fifty steps by now, I stop at a blank wall.
I race back down the steps and turn right. A much narrow hallway with the same white flower with a red bulb. I don't know what I'm doing or going. "La Dama!" I shout into the open, maybe she can hear me. Maybe she's watching me. "I hear a bird twitching." She sings. "Having trouble finding your way out?" she snickers.
I clear my throat and kneel to the floor. I'm not begging, I'm tired. "Ok!" her voice is high-pitched again. "I'll give you a hint. Lost and Found, I've wasted time. All for a victimless crime. The soldiers chewed me out and it took half the time. Hear me now, look at my smile, and know it's all on the silver line."
My brow twitches, "What the fuck!"
"It's very simple. You should understand it well." I hear a howl behind the mic. "Hey! Who let you out your cage!" I pay attention to thumbs and bangs. "No! No! Sit down!" she yells away from the mic. "Stupid mother—I SAID SIT DOWN." I hear another howl and snarl. "What—there's five—seven—oh my god." The speaker breaks into a high whistle. I block my ears. Toda is screaming, the ripping of her flesh is audible. She cries but it's covered by barking.
"Damn." I hear. "Hope it isn't broken." Says a masculine tone. "Hey baby."
That voice is familiar to me. "Who is that?"
"It's not your fault you don't remember. But I bet you remember I feel Thankful."
My eyes widen, he continues. "Baby, it's a plot! A ploy."
Thankful…
"Your mother killed one of the White Parade Members." He speaks. "Remember? She told us stories even back then. They switched me with Agradecida. A Spanish girl who was adopted." I hear whimpering dogs. "Magna! Agradecida means Thankful in Spanish. You called me Thankful as a nickname."
"What about my mother!"
"To tell the truth," I hear shuffling papers. "It's a fucked-up scheme of shit. I have a map of the maze. I'll walk you through it."
"Fantastic." I'm not really concerned but I feel a wave of calm over me. My left temple hurts. "I need to find that memory. Or at least the keyword. I can put you back together!"
"Go ahead and look for it! I can manage on my own."
"Uh…" there's a moment of silence. "I don't think so… I'll lead you. Just listen!"
"Can you see where I am?"
The hallway starts to drum. "I can see you. Wait a minute—" The ground shakes. I look around me, moving shuffling papers sound from the speaker. "I found a spell. Ubi—" he pauses struggling to pronounce it. "Am… bapo. Or something." I don't even blink. I'm by the entrance where I started, where I first heard Toda. "I guess it sent you back."
"Where are you?"
"Tip top of the castle. It's small on the outside but big on the inside." He explains. "I would send one of the hounds but… I don't know how."
"Meaning?"
"I'm at the top but there isn't a door around me. There's a balcony behind me, it's night time."
"Night!?" When did it get that late? "I know. I can fill you in on some things. Agradecida is a bought baby. Like—they made her, they used a ritual to create a human half breed—thing."
"Damn, you have to call her that?"
"Nigga, they have been beating my ass this entire time. Like I was in a cage! They beat my puppy, Mahoney! I am not in the fucking mood!" he screeches. "Do you even remember my name—of course you don't! Fucking Scottie Calhoun!"
My head is heavy. I hear a ring, "Scottie?" The world is spinning around me. I go to the wall to lean on it, "Magna, they threw me down a hole and I broke my fucking leg! Scottie?"
All my head what's to think about is Thankful, her. All I can think about is her. "Magna!"
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He pressed his back against the bricks of the bookstore. "Why did you bring me out here?" questioned Magna Carta. His hair was black and shaved on the side. The rest of his locks were tied into a bun. "You're wearing my favorite shirt." He spoke.
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A black car came into view behind Scottie. In Magna's eyes, he saw a shiny black, vintage Cadillac, burning rubber down the avenue. The car turned around as it went down one side of the street to drive on the other. "Get that one! Get that one!"
//He got shot first. In the shoulder, I ran to him and a bullet sent him down.//
//Why do I think…//
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"IMPS!" Magna grabbed Thankful's hands. "Run!"
//Scottie used to tell me all the time. Stay away from Agradecida. Something was wrong with her.//
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Katelynn shook Thankful's shoulders and legs. "Hey! Your boyfriend is awake!"
"Thank!" Magna got to his feet. He held his stomach and head. His vision wobbling. "Thankful…"
"Hey, negro!" yelled Skaare. "Your girlfriend's not dead!"
//I saw Agradecida but her face kept changing to Scottie's dark skin.//
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My mind is focused on unpuzzling this shit. "Magna! Magna!" he sounds like he's about to cry. "Agradecida is two faced as hell. She's a Jekyll Witch! She's two faced by birth!"
I slide off the wall, clinging to my head. "Remember, she had two faces! She was created with a defect!"
"Defect?" the ground is shaking again. Scottie grunts, "This isn't the fucking time. Magna! Get off your ass!"
I'm dizzy. "I bet if I said, there's a damn gargoyle in the halls you'd run." Scottie threatens. "And he's 8' feet."