“What the hell is WRONG with you?” Dante paces behind the kitchen counter as he continues, “Why would you let some stranger break your hand let alone even approach them! I mean, what were you thinking? They could have killed you and none of us would be the wiser!”
Wendell was crouched beside me as he finished up wrapping my hand. Even crouched he had to lean over a bit to reach. Though as he did, he put one of his hands to his side. Rosey however was filling the fridge door with some of her energy drinks as she comments, “Hey, on the bright side we can always advertise a legit angel sighting on the property, how sick is that? Makes me wish I saw it myself but I was sound asleep.”
Wendell gives Rosey a tired glare, “Yeah. Same… anyways, you’re lucky they just dislocated it. And a new rule. No talking to strangers on this property. That goes for all of you. I don't want to be the only one left here and have to clean up after you all.” Wendell keeps his glare to Rosey in particular.
I looked over my bandaged hand, “Relax, I wouldn’t trust them if they were a murderer.”
Dante huffs while putting away the dishes from breakfast, “Anyone can be a murderer. They don’t exactly want you knowing what they are. I always knew people here in Wickerwoods were crazier than their own rumors and no one ever listens to me.”
Rosey slams the fridge door, “Crazy? It's not the people here that are crazy, it's the cryptids. What business would anyone have killing people here? Any real thieves and murderers would be looting Blair View's rich asses or up in Haze getting revenge.”
Dante’s chin tilts further up the longer he talks, “The motives of nonferals criminal activities are far more complex than boiling everything down to money and revenge. Every case is different and must be treated as such.”
Taking a wine glass from a cabinet, Rosey starts pouring her energy drink into it, “Ok but it’s the Harold of Hoaxes. She's literally THE angel of Wickerwoods. Like multiple confirmed sightings AND disappearances. Like a booshy cryptid of cryptids. We have to be careful. This thing is real and it can kill. You saw Tommy boy’s hand. Just think what it can do to the rest of you if we don’t hear them out.”
I chime in, “It can’t be THAT dangerous right? What were some of the things people said about it?”
Rosey seems to get a bit riled up as her volume seems to rise, “Ok so like first there was this one guy that he was out in his yard, and he saw it and like. Well he spoke to it too. It told him to find what he was eating but worded a lot scarier. He told his family about it but thought Hoax was just some hobo trying to scare him. So then he dies and the autopsy people said he was poisoned from some of their food going bad. That’s like direct correlation. We need to really consider what they say or we might die too.”
Wendell had taken his time to put away the small medkit back in a drawer nearby. Dante tilted his head as he thought outloud, “If you think it's so dangerous then why don't you move out and go somewhere safer? Another apartment further in town or perhaps another town? Maybe Folk Falls?”
She shakes her head, “Nope, I heard the mailman here was hot and I’m in the safest place in Wickerwoods.” Rosey gestures to Wendell, “You forget the Barret family member standing right here. Even if the cryptid was a power house I would be safer here. That and your OCD.” She gestures to Dante, “Nothing's sneaking in here without you finding out.”
Dante folds his arms, “Pardon? I do not have OCD and you would benefit from not blindly labeling such assumptions.”
Rosey sits at a bar stool while swirling her drink, “Ok then what is with the suit and the tomato toast stuff you make in the mornings? That can’t be normal right?”
With a long eye roll Dante responds, “Bruschetta dear. It originated in Rome and reminds me of home.”
Wendell was now leaning on a wall nearby as he commented, “Rome? I thought you were from Italy."
Immediately Dante shoots Wendell a glare, “Rome is in Italy you buffoon."
Before I could say anything, everyone’s ears where ripped apart by Rosey’s shrill yell, “ITALY!!! I LOVE ITALY! Oh my gosh! There’s where like uhm… YEAH! I LOVE ITALY! That’s so cool!”
Dante flinched at the sudden out burst, only making his mood worse, “Indeed... My family raised me in Italy and named me Dante Antonio Valentino in honor of my father.”
Rosey continues before Wendell even has a chance to come up with a way to make fun of his name, “Oh! And like, why did you move here? Is it because your dad died? Is it like you can’t make yourself live around the familiar place where you had all of these fond memories with him anymore because he’s DEAD? Like the memories are just too painful that it breaks your heart seeing your mother grieving over his loss and seeing her own son with his traits and yet not quite the same and it was way too much?”
The kitchen fell completely silent as everyone processed it all. After a while Dante cleared his throat before speaking, “I uh… No dear. Luckily for you my father is alive and well. I moved here due to housing and work circumstances.”
I was starting to get irritated by her as I got up from the bar to leave. Rosey’s hand however immediately snapped onto my wrist as she gave me a big excited smile, “Oh! Tommy boy! Don’t forget we’re getting our nails done today! It’s that cute one, Nail in the Coffin.”
I paused in place as I was trying to filter out any thought of telling her I wasn’t going. Sadly that leaves nothing left so I stood slack jawed. Luckily Wendell interrupted a crosscountry train of thought, “Michael. I need to speak with you privately about your rent first before you go. Just numbers really.”
Rosey’s handcuff-like claws detached from my hand as she sighed, “Ok but meet me there in 10! I’ll go ahead and make sure we don’t have to wait in any line. I’m so excited!!!”
After bouncing on her heels, Rosey goes flying out the lodge doors towards the town. A small prayer runs through my mind for the workers at the nail salon as a glitter filled honing missile closes in on their location. I can only hope that Wendell had a lot to talk about.