So Night Follows Day Pt. 13

Julie heard the coffee pot finishing and went to the kitchen to get it.

There was a moment of silence before Helen leaned over to me again.

"Wanna see something that's cute, sweet, and disgusting all at once?"

"Um, ok."

Helen raised her voice.

"Hey, Troy, Julie; why do you always sleep in that same position?"

"Because it makes the world make sense!" They replied simultaneously, from opposite ends of the house.

"That was everything you promised." I replied.

"If I did the whole 'bucket list' thing," Helen said, lighting another cigarette. (I hadn't even noticed the last one had gone out. To be fair, though, it's not like I tell you about every drag she takes.) "An item that would be up at the top is 'actually vomit on those two, rather than just thinking about it.'"

That got a giggle from me.

"Have they always done the donut thing, too?" I asked her, referring to Troy & Julie's habit of dunking their donuts in their coffee, taking a bite, then trading donuts.

"They still do that?" Helen asked. "And it's a chocolate-covered old-fashioned and a blueberry cake donut every time, isn't it?" I nodded. "Yeah, see, the blueberry's Troy's favorite, and the old-fashioned is Julie's. But they both like the other, and neither wants to seem like a pig and have two donuts all to themselves, so they trade off like that. Always have! One of their many endearing 'ok, so you CLAIM you two have never fucked and aren't into each other that way, but you do stuff like that without even thinking all the time' rituals."

"Well," Julie said, returning with coffee for everyone on a tray. "It's the way we've always done it. Also, fuck you, Helena; we CAN hear you in here from the kitchen. Troy was just being nice before." She set it down and changed the subject. "There's still one person who's got a part in the discussion that we haven't heard from." She set the tray on the coffee table and sat next to me. "What does Suzy-Q have to say about all this?"

That gave me pause. The other women in my head had been here, paying attention the whole time; however, they weren't used to being discussed openly like this, and had been quiet for most of it. I'd never tried to just bring one of them out to speak for herself before.

"That's... a pretty good idea, Julie. I guess I'd have to go take it up with her." I took a sip of my coffee, then set it down. "Sorry, this is something that's happened in front of others, but usually when I'm getting overwhelmed. I've never done this deliberately, like, 'for' people before."

"If you'd like some privacy, Sweetie..." Julie started to say before I interrupted.

"No, hon, that's ok. All the shit with Whyte aside, this seems to be a day for getting things out in the open. I haven't timed it before, but usually, only a few seconds pass in the real world. I'll be right back."

I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes.

* * *

Suzy-Q opened my eyes.

I was still there, on the couch, in the living room, but there was a feeling of distance; like I was running some kind of shop, and I'd gone into the back to look for something while Suzy-Q talked to the customers. I could see and hear everything going on out front. Sue and Suzy-Ho were back here with me. They were too interested to say anything, either.

"Hi," She said with my voice. "I'm Suzy-Q. Nice to see you again, Helen. Been a while, Julie."

"Hey, Suzy-Q." Julie replied. "I admit, I'm more used to talking to Suzy-Ho than you or Sue."

"She usually has a lot more to say to you and Troy." Suzy-Q admitted. "And I've been shy until recently. But, we pay attention; because we all look out for Susan. You want to talk about how I'm able to get into Helen's head. The truth is that I'm not certain either. Now that it's happened a second time, I can tell you that I felt... not a pull, more like a tug. A sense that she needed help. And then I was there; in the TV studio the first time, and in the dining hall at the castle the second."

"You and Susan both needed it this time." Julie added. "They wouldn't have found the escape hatch without her coming to you."

"That's true." Helen thought. "If we can figure out how to do this consciously, even if it's just a thing Susan and I have, that'd be really useful."

"Hey!" Suzy-Q said. "You know what else has been the same both times? Helen, you were hit by a car, right? In front of Troy & Julie?" She nodded. "So, it wasn't just Susan concerned about you; Troy and Julie were worried for you, too. Susan thought something might've happened here at first, when the phone cut out. And I didn't come to you last time, until she was with them, and they knew you were in danger, too. I'm not saying it's some kind of 'Power of Love' thing, but the four of you ARE connected; and your minds share a powerful secret that nobody else, that we're aware of, knows but you."

She laughed my laugh before continuing.

"You know, thinking about it, Susan created us in her subconscious... we're a bit less 'sub' than normal, except Suzy-Ho, of course. But hasn't the subconscious been your guys' playground all your lives? Susan already had friends here when you invited her in. And apart from the age gap, we're definitely something that wasn't there when you and Troy learned it, Julie. Or when they taught it to you, Helen. I was reluctant to learn, for personal reasons, but we were there when you and Troy were helping Susan along with parts. And "going on tangents," as Troy put it, IS most of our job. We don't go snooping, but some of it's probably kicking around Susan's subconscious. It could've 'crossed some wires' and sent me to Helen. I'll look into it, if it's ok with Susan." I gave my approval. "She says yes."

"Ok, get a message to us if you find anything out, Suzy-Q." Julie said. "Now, if you don't mind bringing Susan back; as always, it's nice to talk to one of you ladies, but at the same time, none of us can really help the fact that it also gets creepy quick."

"We all get that." She hesitated. "Wait, that was creepy too, wasn't it? Sorry. Susan's coming back." She turned to Helen. "See ya in your dreams."

She closed my eyes.

* * *

I opened them.

Everyone stepped forward to see if I needed any help.

"I'm fine." I told them. "It doesn't hurt or make me dizzy. It feels more like I was laying all the way back in a recliner, and everything was going on 'over there.'" I gestured toward the middle distance. "Then I pulled the lever and sat back up, and here it all is."

"So, what now?" Julie asked.

"I... guess Suzy-Q's going to poke around in my subconscious and see if I learned something else while studying What We All Do. I don't know what, if anything, I could do to help her with that. Go to sleep, maybe? I don't know if I could at this point."

"That's not a bad idea, Susan. Or at least, a trance state might be helpful. Julie can do something about that." Helen said, standing up. Julie nodded affirmatively. "I've got a meeting to get ready for."

"The Subconscious IS my playground, you know." Julie said, taking my hand with a smile and leading me up to my room.