Silence Falls

“Good morning, Hermanni.” Otep called into the Electronic store as soon as she arrived at her destination. She sported a vacant expression as she stepped up to black gate. “You’re looking...replenished today. Did you sleep well?”

Hermanni was perched on his mound of pillows listening to all the televisions going on at the same time and browsing the three open books on his lap. After a few seconds he peeked up from the pages and twinkled Otep a cheerful smile reminiscent of sunshine. “Good morning, Otep! You look just as replenished, not to mention stunning as always.” His eyes caught view of the male figure joining her side, and beamed. “Good morning to you too, Bert. Is there anything I can do for you two this today?”

“Yeah, actually, we were wondering if you decided to take a break out of your cage last night to play house maid?” Otep inquired rather bluntly, deriving a glare from Bert who would rather handle their prisoner more cautiously. But she didn't care about Hermanni being a probable danger, really, because he screamed harmless.

“Yes, I did.” Hermanni responded confidently, descending his eyes to flick through the pages of the three books on his laps, even though his eyes barely grazed over the words on the pages. To the others it looked like he wasn’t reading a single word when in reality he was reading, it was just at an accelerated rate.

Bert stepped forward, completely astonished now. “Wait, you LEFT this store last night? But Connor and I had locked you in here!”

Hermanni nodded without looking up. “It was only for a little bit.”

Otep folded her arms across her chest, and demanded. “Why did you leave your room?”

Hermani proceeded to flip through the pages rather swiftly, before explaining. “I thought I would make our new home more...tolerable for everyone. With all that dust and mold coating this place, one of us would have inevitably gotten afflicted. I did not want to take the risk of endangering you to sickness, so I dusted and sterilized everything as best as I could before you woke up.”

Bert and Otep shared a dumbfounded look among each other before staring back at Hermanni who grasped another three books to replace the previous three he had just finished flipping through. Otep licked her lips and stepped forward. “You cleaned this place ALL by yourself?”

“Yes, ma'am.” Hermanni confirmed, opening the three books and setting them on his lap. “There was no one else, but me.”

“HOW did you get out of here, Hermanni?” Bert inquired next. Finally, the most vital query was being asked.

Hermanni gazed up at them curiously, then appeared to be startled that they would asked him that before biting his plump lower lip defiantly. What was that question supposed to mean exactly, he considered to himself? Or better yet, what was the suitable answer that wouldn't send them racing for the hills away from him?

Otep and Bert simultaneously narrowed their eyes at him suspiciously before evacuating towards the other side of the mall stores to share a word with each other. Bert had his hands planted on his hips and was shaking his head in disbelief. “Okay look, this may make me sound like a total wimp, but something about the way he paused on answering my question freaked me out. I mean, he has to THINK about how to answer my question? What for? To think of some slander to fool us with?”

“I hate to admit it, but something is seriously off with Hermanni.” Otep conceded, her eyes hurtling everywhere as she reflected on their conversation with him. “He’s been pretty straightforward with answering our questions up to this point until you asked him HOW he broke out of his cell. Now, he’s gone radio silent on us.”

“You're telling me.” Bert nodded, not liking the concept that Hermanni knew a vulnerability to his prison and was protecting it so he could continue to venture out whenever he wanted to. “To be honest, I don’t fucking care if this mystery remains a mystery for today right now. I really don't want to do this anymore. For him to be willing to talk one minute and then not the next means we’re gonna have to MAKE him talk, and I don’t really want to have to slap this guy around to make him disclose his secrets. Unless, we can figure out how he got out of there on his own, but I couldn't see how when I was checking it out while you two were talking.”

Otep chewed her bottom lip for a second in thought. “Maybe he picked the padlock. That's the only plausible explanation...outside of him being a ghost and simply walking through the gate.”

Bert rolled his eyes at the thought. “Please don't tell me we’re gonna consider the latter as an option?”

Otep smiled in hilarity. “No, of course it's not, you idiot! There’s no way anyone can walk through walls, dude.”

Hermanni monitored them conferring on what they believed he couldn’t hear. It would seem him being sincere only strengthened their suspicions of him rather than have the opposite effect. I suppose deceiving would have been the better preference in this scenario, Hermanni contemplated to himself.

But alas it was too late, and therefore he was forced to think of a convincing explanation as to HOW he was able to pardon himself from his incarceration to spruce up the entire mall on his own with no support or magic included. But how? That was exactly how he did it!

Sadly, Hermanni was beginning to understand that these humans couldn’t do the extent of work he did overnight. If that was the case then what other motive could he use that would rationalize his actions and make him seem less of a target and more of a colleague among them?

Locking-picking was the moniker Otep used as a feasible action he executed to escape his cell. Perhaps that could be the key to how he left his cell, but then what of the sterilization? Apparently a human couldn’t clear up an entire three story mall on their own without making a sound or breaking a sweat. Most humans couldn’t manage a task that big...but maybe a human with the prowess for it can?

Hermanni stood up as Otep and Bert began to saunter away from the Electronic without a parting. He could still hear them debating on whether or not to include more chains and locks to make it more problematic for Hermanni to slip out again. Was that their quick fix to keep him locked up? If so, Hermanni would have to be much more meticulous from here on out. They were already wary of him and so he didn’t need to make his situation worse, or make them anymore uncomfortable by using his powers freely.

“Don't forget! Breakfast is hot and ready at that restaurant, and the rest of the stores are open for use!” Hermanni hailed after them, hearing his voice reverberate throughout the mall.

Otep and Bert browsed back over their shoulders at him, but kept going. Bert was at least kind enough to give him a wave goodbye before heading off to the hardware store.