“I REEMEEMBEER…” EXFLIBBERAGUIL REPEATED.
“That’s great!” Nick exclaimed, not exactly sure whether or not to be happy or frightened. “What do you remember?” she ventured.
“No,” Exflibberaguil growled, “no.”
“What do you mean, ‘no’? Did you learn something, or did you…”
Exflibberaguil clasped his hand on Nick’s mouth, preventing her from speaking. Nick dropped her bags. She struggled under Exflibberaguil’s clasp, but it only made his sharp nails dig deeper into her cheeks. For someone who hadn’t exercised for a century, he was frighteningly strong. Nick figured it must be adrenaline.
I wonder if he can control his adrenaline as well, Nick thought, rather inappropriately.
“Ex…” Nick tried to say, not fully realizing the danger she was in. Exflibberaguil pressed his hand on harder. He did not look normal. His bulging eyes coupled with his angular features and the obvious lack of sleep made him look like a perfect murderer.
He didn’t bother speaking in English. He spoke in his musical language, only this time, instead of classical music, Nick heard fingernails on chalkboards and the scraping of metal. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Exflibberaguil was uttering a threat.
“He says,” Box translated, his cheerful voice clashing with the dark atmosphere, “that personal memories are not something to share. He will let you go, but if you speak, he will wipe your memories.”
Exflibberaguil relaxed his grip. Nick gagged. “Seriously?” she coughed. “You’re threatening to electrocute me if I speak?”
Exflibberaguil muttered something again. Box translated, “No. I’ll erase your memory either way. But it’s actions that determine how much of your memory is erased.”
“What did you remember?” Nick demanded.
Exflibberaguil hissed. Nick didn’t hear Box’s translation.
In a flash, Exflibberaguil produced two pairs of handcuffs from his pocket. Nick could tell from the glowing aura that this was no metal from Earth. Nick tried to run and scream, but Exflibberaguil clasped his hand around her mouth once more, and shoved a small pill into her mouth. Nick’s vocal cords stopped working. The most she could manage was a whisper, scarcely louder than a mouse’s squeak.
Nick bit Exflibberaguil’s hand, breaking free and stumbling a few more paces. She neared the edge of the park, where she could see a few bored people milling around and watching their children play tag. But she couldn’t reach it before something bit deep into her ankle.
Nick kicked off the ferret, but the damage was done. Exflibberaguil grasped her wrist, locking the handcuffs with a click. Nick was dragged back to the trailer, her legs flailing wildly as she attempted to escape once more. But the second pair of cuffs were fastened on her right ankle and to the trailer.
Exflibberaguil roared. The message was clear. Stay.
Nick trembled with fear. This really was the end. All her jokes about Exflibberaguil being a kidnapper came true. Now she was at his mercy, chained to a trailer. What frightened her was that no one would discover her death. She was certain that this new Exflibberaguil, this real Exflibberaguil, would probably blast her off into space where she would decay. As for Exflibberaguil himself, well, Nick didn’t want to imagine what would happen to him.
Exflibberaguil sang once more, and left the trailer.
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And this is when he murders me. I wonder what weapon he’d chose?
“He said,” Box translated, as if answer to answer her question, “’I’m going to erase my memory first. Don’t do something stupid.’”
“A little too late for that,” Nick whispered in her rasping voice, “I’m chained to a car by an alien that would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’d have to stop at some obstacles,” Box replied, as bright as always. “Death would be one of them.”
“You can hear me?”
“I can hear everything,” Box stated proudly.
“Box,” Nick whispered excitedly, “do you remember the trigger word you said that caused Exflibberaguil to regain his memories?”
Box frowned, if robots could frown. “I’m very deeply sorry, but I don’t seem to have ever heard of a trigger word before. What time would this be around?”
“You started at around seven in the morning.”
“I apologize from the bottom of my CPU,” Box said regretfully, “but I do not remember anything before eight twenty-three in the morning. The earliest thing I remember is the data deletion initiated by Exflibberaguil the Mustela at eight twenty-three int eh morning.”
“Dammit. He even remembered to do that,” Nick cursed. But she knew that despite the agitation Exflibberaguil had been in, he was always thorough. It was not an uplifting thought. A wave of fear washed over her again, and she began to tremble once more.
She collapsed on the floor, wondering when Exflibberaguil would be back. The thought of it made her stomach weak. Bitter bile trickled up her throat.
A familiar flash. She could see it through the window. Nick hoped someone from the park would notice. But she knew the chances were slim. Even if someone did notice, it wasn’t likely that they’d bother to check.
The brilliant blue light ended. Nick knew what was next. In her last moments, she knew she had gone crazy like Exflibberaguil as well. She felt suddenly very happy. Joyful even. If she could, she would have laughed.
How stupid she had been! Leaving her mom in exchange for this crazy adventure. Exflibberaguil too, seemed ridiculous. What memories did he get that made him so angry? It was hilarious that Nick never felt in danger around such a dangerous person. No, Mustela.
Nick wondered about school. How was everyone right now? Was the gossiping girls still whispering about so-and-so? Was Ben still pestering everyone with his punny jokes? Was Devon—or was it Dillon—still able to escape from trouble? How nice it would be if Nick was able to run and escape the trouble she was in now!
Nick heard footsteps approaching the trailer.
Was school still functioning as normal? Did her disappearance make even the smallest impact in school? Did it make an impact anywhere?
Nick heard the car beep, and the locks click open.
No, her disappearance definitely affected her mother. Her mother must be crazy right now, searching for her…or so Nick hoped. Maybe her mother had given up, and went back to her crazy work schedule. Maybe the only person searching her would be her father in China, who Nick had never laid her eyes on. Or maybe no one was looking for her, and that she really did make no impact on the world whatsoever and no one would ever remember her.
The door opened. Nick didn’t turn her head to look. Being frightened will only make her suffer twice.
“Nick?”
Nick set a placid smile on her lips, and did not answer. She refused to look at the door.
“Nick?”
Nick wasn’t even surprised that Exflibberaguil’s voice was fixed. Anything could happen.
“Why are you chained to the trailer?”
Now that was certainly odd. Nick turned her head to look at Exflibberaguil, breaking her rule.
Exflibberaguil had recovered now. His eyes were back in his sockets, with no sign of ever being threatening. His crazy hair now looked just greasy and matted from days without a shower. The only sign of a fight ever taking place was the faint bite mark that was on his hand.
“You don’t remember?” Nick whispered.
“Goodness, what happened to your voice?” Exflibberaguil asked.
Nick stared at him. He looked genuinely concerned.
“You don’t remember?” Nick repeated.
“Nope! I just wiped my memory,” Exflibberaguil explained, “so I probably don’t remember what you think I remember. And I certainly don’t remember how this happened.”
Nick’s head swam. Exflibberaguil really didn’t remember anything.
“Nick?” Exflibberaguil said. “You know, I think you’re really rubbing off me. I’m repeating the same thing again!”
“I…I just have a cold,” Nick lied, “so my voice is temporarily gone. And I found this handcuffs and I thought, quite stupidly, that it would be a good idea to chain myself.”
“You really are stupid,” Exflibberaguil answered disapprovingly. “Do you know how hard this metal is to cut?”
But Nick did not hear him. She was lost in thought.