Chapter Text
Banny, by some miracle, had the flyers printed. She had somehow gotten ink all over herself.
“I'm back!” she cheerfully announced, and dropped the pile of flyers onto the table. She puffed her chest proudly. “They're still warm and everything!”
“Banny, wash up, you can't be seen in public like that,” Bon said.
The flyers were indeed still warm, and just as Bon had dictated. He was expecting some kind of disastrous flub, like the wrong address or the pictures over the words. Even worse, a typo that led to some sort of wacky hi-jinks. He just wanted a fun summer barbecue.
Banny returned, free of ink.
“Well? Looks good, right? I was worried the paper would be off-color or the text would get all smudgy, but look, it's totally fine! Now we hand them out, right? Who are we giving them to? I hope the Hippos get to come, they were so nice...” She blushed a little as she said this, so she wasn't solely thinking about the Hippos. Bon rolled his eyes.
“Of course the Hippos will come. We're inviting the whole neighborhood,” Sha said.
And they did just that. They went to the farm and invited the Hippos and their workers (Banny somehow chattier and gigglier than normal as Sha delivered the flyer to the horse worker), up the street to the corner convenience store where Mr. Chu the capybara and his high-strung brother Robert worked, then back down the other side of the street, where they ran into Tammy and Ducky returning from a basketball game at the local park, judging by the ball tucked under Tammy's arm.
“Yeah, we'd love to come!” she said.
Boozoo checked both families off his list.
“We're almost done, Mr. B!” he announced as he made the list disappear into thin air (and up his sleeve). “All that's left are those two reclusive fellows at the dead end!”
Tammy and Ducky suddenly looked scared. The ball dropped from her arm. Ducky ran to retrieve it.
“You don't wanna go there,” Tammy said.
“Yeah, those guys are real creepy,” Ducky said.
“Nonsense!” Bon said. “They're technically our neighbors, so they need an invitation.”
“I don't think we've ever met them before,” Billy thought aloud.
“All the more reason to visit. Now, do you two know where they live?”
Tammy and Ducky exchanged nervous looks.
“Yeah. It's the creepy old house on the right,” Tammy said, pointing in its direction.
“But be careful, okay?” Ducky said. His eyes were pleading they wouldn't go there.
“Of course we will,” Bon said dismissively, and they were on their way.
They made their way to the dead end. Bon was confused when they arrived. None of these houses looked particularly creepy. Then Sha tapped his shoulder, and turned him around.
The house was creepy. It was old, and leaned to the side. The wrought-iron fence looked menacing and there were lots of dead leaves scattered across the front lawn. Bon bravely led his little group to the front door, and rang the door bell. From what they could all hear, it rang like a normal doorbell.
A black sheep in a witch's hat and horns peeking out from her curly black wool answered the door.
“Why, hello!” she said. “I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Witch Sheep.”
“Hello, Ms. Sheep,” Bon said, proffering a flyer. “My name is Bon, and these are my friends. We're having a barbecue next week, and we would love if you and your friend would stop by.”
“How lovely! Please, come in, I'll go get him.”
The sitting room was quaintly out of style by about ten years, but the chairs were soft. A teapot and cup were set on the little table, both still steaming. Witch Sheep disappeared deeper into the house while they waited and made chitchat. After a few minutes, she came back.
“He's a little busy right now, but he says you're welcome to visit him. He's in the room three doors down to the left,” she said, holding open the door.
“Thanks!” Banny said, and skipped down the hall.
The others followed, and all went the wrong way except for Bon. He entered a dark room. Heavy curtains were drawn over the windows. He could see the shadowy lumps of furniture.
“Hello?” he called.
“Hello Bon.”
A figure seemed to pull away from the shadows. Seeing him frightened Bon. It was an orange rabbit as tall as he was, but instead of a face, he wore a yellow mask. It had eyeholes, but he couldn't see any eyes in them. The rabbit's fur was mismatched at the elbows and knees; instead of fur, it was something slick and colored green.
It was suddenly way too quiet.
“I've been waiting for you,” the other rabbit said. “We need to talk. It's urgent.”
The door closed behind Bon. He jumped.
“Don't mind it. There's a draft,” the other rabbit said. “You'll have to pardon me for separating you from your friends.”
“Separating me? They went the wrong way!”
“No. They didn't. You did.”
“No I didn't. I never go the wrong way.”
“You do. Quite a lot, actually. But that's neither here nor there.” The other rabbit stepped closer. “Something is wrong. You know it.”
“Yes. My friends-”
“No. Not about your friends,” the other rabbit interrupted. He didn't raise his voice or grow angry. “About this. About our world.”
“What do you mean?”
“We were supposed to be safe here. This was supposed to be a nice little haven away from reality. Not paradise, but akin to it. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.”
Bon was suddenly cold. Very cold.
“I don't understand...”
“You do,” the other rabbit said. “You have for quite a while. You're lying to yourself and your friends.”
“Now hang on a minute!” Bon said, finding some of his bluster. He jabbed a finger into the rabbit's chest. “It's one thing to tell me cryptic nonsense, but it's another to call me a liar! I've never lied to my friends!”
“You're dirtying my chest,” the other rabbit said.
“My paws are spotless, how could I...”
But when he looked, there were dark spots on his paw that hadn't been there before. He turned his paw over. The palm was dark. Dark and wet. The other paw was the same, but little spots of blue fur peeked out around
blood.
the dark and the wet.
don't think about it
“You know what's happening over there,” the other rabbit said.
Bon kept staring at his paws.
“It's not your fault, Bon.”
“Where are my friends?”
“In the other room. They're learning, too,” the other rabbit said. He didn't look apologetic or sad, and there was nothing in his voice that gave away either emotion.
“How do you know?”
The other rabbit was quiet for a long time. “I have a special connection to the other side. What I've seen...what I know...it's reviling. I cannot stand idly by and keep allowing these things to happen.”
Bon looked back at his paws. Blood dripped onto the carpeted floor and bloomed there. There was more, backsplatter, on his arms and chest.
“But I don't have a connection like you or your friends. My influence is tenuous at best. You need to tell her what's happened.”
There was no need to clarify who 'her' was, but Bon wished he didn't know. Wished he didn't have such intimate knowledge of her. He suddenly wanted to see Sha. She would be a comfortable presence.
“How am I supposed to do that?” Bon asked.
The other rabbit was silent again. His empty sockets never left Bon's face.
“There's a way.”
He told Bon.
“Do I have to do it?” he asked quietly. He felt ashamed being so cowardly, but he was scared. Scared of the blood, scared of what happened, scared for her. She was barely an adult. She needed to be doing adult things, not digging up the bloody secrets of her past.
“You do. You all do. Maybe she won't stop it, but if we continue to do nothing, it'll be our faults as well.”
Bon understood. He nodded sadly. He gripped the doorknob, expecting it be slick, but it felt like a normal doorknob. When it opened, he realized he was expecting it to be locked tight. The hallway light shone on his clean blue paws.
“Oh.”
Bon turned around a little too sharply. The other rabbit didn't look much better with light shining on him. There was a small maroon smudge on his chest.
“You might want to invite Rocket to your barbecue,” the other rabbit said. “He's been looking forward to something like this for a long time.”