Worth Your Weight In Gold

Will waited patiently for Virgil to continue.

" Well this island isn't really an island " Virgil twirled around and walked in the opposite direction.

He cupped his hands behind his back and gestured for them to follow him.

As they back tracked they passed the stall and noticed that the other fruit was gone. The stall owner looked at them and shook his head in a seemingly fabricated regret. Will saw this and the gears began to turn in his head. He fell into a deep contemplation.

As time went on it was almost noon before they arrived at the store. They again climbed through the window after admiring the wacky and creative design of the building.

Virgil lead them to a room behind the counter. It was filled with rows upon rows of clothing. The style was almost ever changing. From Lingerie to chef outfits. From mini skirts to Godets. He had everything. In the center of it all was a seating area presumably used to try on shoes.

" So Will , You've been quite observant since you have come here. What have you noticed?"

Will stared deeply into the eyes of the clown like man before him. He seemed to be serious but he asked to be sure.

" Are you working with them?"

Virgil gave his best smile. The tattoos of his face squished together indicating how deeply he was smiling.

" Thats up for you to decide little Blessed " Will resumed his staring contest. Meanwhile belle was staring into space and drifting into the her own thoughts.

Davie coughed because of how sweet the room smelled. It irritated his sensitive nose and after a while he had to leave and stand near the entrance.

Apathy, surprisingly was also awake. She sat next to Will. It seemed she had also formed some ideas on the topic but she wanted Will to go first.

" This place. It it doesn't feel real once you look at it for long enough. It seems like this Island was once inhabited by people now its only inhabitants are people like you and strange islanders."

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

" ohh? What have you noticed about them?" His eyes darted back and forth in anticipation.

Will recounted " They act as if their being watched by someone all the time. They move almost like a machine. But from what I've seen that doesn't work with some of their lifestyles or personalities. And it seems that everyone has made the term. " out of sight out of mind" their core philosophy in public. "

Apathy smiled m. His reading had expanded his vocabulary and he's able to converse better with adults. They wont take him as a kid anymore.

Will had paused to collect his thoughts but remembered something curious.

" But just this morning some men were drinking and complaining about the island. In fear one of them talked about this figure called the innkeeper. Even though I've seen him once before-"

Virgil's head ticked to the side confused.

" You've met Dr Sombre? Hmmm that's not pleasant all"

Virgil frowned.

Will hastily asked " Why? "

" He didn't get the name Innkeeper because he owns a inn."

At that same moment a rhythmic knock came from the "front door".

They all got up. Virgil jittered in excitement. His whole body seemed to glitch out of place.

Back at the front desk Davie was twirling his pistol and staring at it. This was a regular occurrence for him so nobody paid it much mind.

Virgil turned to the tall man and enthusiastically asked

" Whose at the door?" Davie shook his head he didn't feel like checking.

Virgil didn't respond and turned towards the door.

On the inside of the building there was an identical door frame placed in the same position as realistic drawing from outside. Virgil twisted the knob.

Davie had stopped twirling his gun and stopped to watch. Belle who had been extremely quiet looked on with the same anticipation as Will.

He twisted the knob and pulled the door open. Mysteriously the door opened revealing the outside world. Holding in their shock they looked at the doorway.

At the foot of the door was the hand that Virgil threw into the shadows. The fist was clenched and the blood vessels in the hand were all protruding. The stump where the rest of the body should be was a wriggling black mass of maggots and filth.

Will walked forward and picked up the hand. He lived as a alley kid. A bit of maggots didn't scare him. However Apathy and Belle were singing a different tune. They each visibly gagged at the sight of it.

Will casually inspected the arm. In the tightly clenched hand was a note. It read

---

Hey ,

It seems you didn't get lost when i asked you too,

No biggie,

I'll just have it done while I write this tune,

Check the arm ,

I beg you do it soon,

Or you wont make it out the room!

------

Will turned the end of the arm to his face.

Each second that passed a number appeared. It read

3

2

1

Boom!

Will closed his eyes and a roaring hot fire that assaulted his face caused it to melt. His eyes were shriveled and burnt to a crisp. The flesh around his neck was torn off by the searing flames. The fat on his cheek bubbled and sizzled into a yellow gouy mess.

By this time his fingers were already white ash and had began to rain like dust in a storm.