Skeletons in the Closet

New Lives is the seventh episode of Cyberpunk. The previous was New Lives, and the next is Sam.

Story
“I’m going off to work, guys!” said SpongeBryan as he left the apartment.

Pat and Ron lay in their bed, neither having had any sleep the night before.

“You can’t put this off forever,” said Pat.

“I’m not going back to that…place,” said Ron. “Besides, I haven’t had a drink in days, and I’m fine.”

“Ron, I’m going through the same withdrawal symptoms that you’re going through. You are not going to hold out for long. You need help.”

“No, I don’t! I’m tired of people telling me what I need!“

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

“Who’s that?” said Pat.

Pat and Ron opened the door to find Jim, one of the struggling alcoholics they met at New Life Rehabilitation Center, standing there.

“Hey, guys,” said Jim. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” said Pat.

Pat and Ron stepped out of the way as Jim walked into their apartment.

“Would you like some coffee?” said Pat.

“No, I won’t be staying long,” said Jim. “I just wanted to see if everything was all right after that little incident with Ron in group therapy.”

“I’m sorry,” said Ron. “I blew my top off, I’ll admit, but I’m just not used to that kind of atmosphere.”

“None of us were when we started,” said Jim. “I threw more tantrums than a toddler during my first days at New Life.”

Jim looked down at his wrist-phone then looked back up with a smile on his face.

“You should come back,” said Jim.

“No,” said Ron. “I just wouldn’t fit in.”

“Wouldn’t fit in?” Jim laughed with disbelief. “We’re all outcasts. Why do you think we started drinking in the first place?”

Ron chuckled. “Alright, let me think for a few minutes.”

“Well, I should be heading up to New Life now,” said Jim. “Hope to see you there!”

As the door closed behind Jim, Pat and Ron perched themselves on the couch.

“Are you sure I should do this?” said Ron.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” said Pat.

Ron took a deep breath and went with his brother out the door.

It was another slow day at Mr. Fins’ liquor store. SpongeBryan and Sally were in their places behind the counter, chatting about the weather, dark and damp as always. The bell above the door rang, and a teenage boy appeared under it.

“Well, I see you replaced me fast,” said the boy.

“Order something or get out,” said Sally.

“Alright, alright,” said the boy. “Don’t get pushy.”

SpongeBryan recognized the boy as the teen who got fired right before he applied for the job at the liquor store.

“I’ll have a Flying Dutchman,” said the boy. “Actually, make that two. There’s someone special I plan to meet up with in a hour.”

The boy put a 20 dollar bill on the counter, and SpongeBryan put it in the register and gave the boy his change.

“How’d you get fired, anyway?” blurted SpongeBryan.

The boy laughed, as if surprised that SpongeBryan would ask that question. “I took a few dollars from the cash register, and the when the old man found out, he lost his marbles and kicked me to the curb.”

“We don’t take kindly to stealing,” said Sally.

“It was only three or four bucks,” said the boy. “You didn’t have to sic your damn father on me. I needed that job.”

“Here’s your Flying Dutchmen,” muttered Sally as she tossed two bottles of a clear green liquid into the boy’s hands.

“Thank you,” said the boy before exiting the premises.

“What a pleasant kid,” snarked SpongeBryan.

“Tell me about it,” added Sally.

The teenage boy took a sip from one of his bottles as he walked through an empty street. A large hand tapped him on the shoulder.

“What?” said the boy, turning around.

The bounty hunter revealed himself from the shadows and put mugshots of SpongeBryan, Pat, and Ron in front of the boy’s face.

“Have you seen these three?” said the bounty hunter.

“I’ve seen the yellow one,” said the boy.

“Where?” cried the bounty hunter.

“I’ll tell you,” said the boy. “But first, you’ve gotta offer me something in return.”

“Fine.” The bounty hunter picked the boy up by the collar of his shirt. “I’ll give you…your life.”

“Sounds good enough for me,” squeaked the boy. “He works at Mr. Fins’ liquor shop. It’s just around the corner and a couple of blocks down. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” The bounty hunter dropped the boy, who quickly scurried away. “I’m coming for you, SpongeBryan.”

SpongeBryan walked into Mr. Fins’ office with a nervous expression. “You wanted me, sir?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Fins. “I’d like you to run an errand.”

Mr. Fins took a sheet of paper out from under his desk and gave it to SpongeBryan.

“I’m doing some renovations to help attract customers, and I want you to pick up these items from the local hardware store. You think you can handle it?”

“Of course.”

“Great! See you soon.”

SpongeBryan tucked the sheet of paper into his shirt pocket and left through the back entrance.

“Sally, you’ll be taking care of the cash register while he’s gone!” announced Mr. Fins from his office.

“I know what to do!” replied Sally.

Sally opened and closed the cash register repeatedly. The endless cycle of opens and closes reminded Sally of the endless cycle that was her own life. Every day, she did this stupid job at her father’s boring liquor shop, and nothing ever changed. Not even her father, who still called her “dearie” and treated her like she was thirteen years old. She wanted to do something else with her life, but she didn’t know what yet. This job was all she had and all she knew, and even though she hated it, she didn’t know if she was ready to give it up.

Suddenly, the bell above the door rang, and the bounty hunter appeared under it.

“Where is he?” said the bounty hunter.

“Who?” said Sally.

The bounty hunter slapped SpongeBryan’s mugshot on the counter.

“Him,” he said.

Sally paused for a moment, then said, “He left about a minute ago. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, you’ll have to.”

The bounty hunter knocked over the counter, sparks of electricity shooting out of his fingernails.

“What the hell is going on?” whispered Mr. Fins in his office.

“If you aren’t going to tell me where you’re hiding him, I’ll just have to shock it out of you,” said the bounty hunter.

Sally got a grip on the floor with her claws then kicked the bounty hunter with both of her legs. The bounty hunter tripped over the fallen counter, and Sally seized the opportunity to run out the back entrance. The bounty hunter quickly got back up and jumped on the fleeing seal. With his hands on her neck, he stood and giggled with delight.

“Oh, I love a good fight!” said the bounty hunter. “Too bad you won’t be alive to brawl me again.”

“Think again!” said a voice from behind him.

A knife penetrated the bounty hunter’s back, but an explosion of static sent the knife and the person holding it to the other side of the room. Sally’s heart dropped when she realized that the person holding the knife was her father, Mr. Fins.

“You crazy, crazy bastard,” said the bounty hunter. “My spine has 100 volts of current running through it.”

Sally broke away from the bounty hunter and raced to Mr Fins’ side.

“I couldn’t save you, dearie,” he said, coughing. “I couldn’t…”

Mr. Fins closed his eyes and let out one last breath. Sally checked his pulse, and the resulting stillness turned her gray.

“Well, that was a disappointment,” said the bounty hunter. “If you see the yellow guy, give me a call.”

The bounty hunter left the establishment, and SpongeBryan walked in through the back entrance five minutes later. He had a pile of hardware supplies in his arms.

“I got the stuff you wanted, and…” SpongeBryan dropped the supplies. “What happened?”

“What happened? What happened?” Sally stood up with a rage in her eyes that SpongeBryan had never seen before. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“Wha…”

“Why are there people after you?” Sally picked up SpongeBryan’s mugshot and threw it to the ground.

“Oh no.” As SpongeBryan looked at the mugshot, he realized that his past had caught up with him. He told Sally everything about his criminal life in Alveus, his escape from prison, and the detective and guard.

“It would’ve been nice if you mentioned some of this during your job application,” said Sally.

“I didn’t know it mattered. It was history…or I thought it was.”

“You know you have to turn yourself in.”

“What?”

“Turn yourself in before more people end up dead! If you don’t, I’ll do it for you.”

“Sally…”

“I never trusted you, not from the moment I met you. Damn it! If only I went with my instinct, none of this would’ve happened.”

“This is all my fault.”

“You think? Just turn yourself in, so nobody else has to go through this horrible nightmare.”

SpongeBryan looked outside and saw that it was raining heavily.

“I know what I’ve got to do,” he said.

SpongeBryan darted out the liquor store, and though the pouring rain, he headed towards the New Life Rehabilitation Center. He had to tell Pat and Ron about this before they or someone they had gotten close to fell victim to their newest threat. All the while, Sally’s words from earlier in the day repeated in his head. We don’t take kindly to stealing.

“What have I done?” whispered SpongeBryan. He only hoped that it wasn’t too late to make everything right.