A Chapter Walks into a Bar

Chapter Four walks up to the bar and sits down with a weary sigh. They ask the bartender for something high in alcohol and vast in volume. “Well, friends,” they say to the other patrons after accepting a rather large glass of amber liquid, “looks like she’s coming for me now. I knew it was just a matter of time, but I guess I thought it would take longer.”

Two gives their friend a sympathetic look. “That sucks, cuz.”

“Really?” Three responds to Two with vodka-scented acid dripping from their words. “What do you know about it? She kept most of you. Just renamed you.”

With a shrug, Two says, “It’s called empathy,” before turning back to the hockey game on the nearby screen. They take a sip of their beer and mutter something about how they've lost any sense of who they are thanks to the author, thank you very much.

“Know what she did to me?” Three asks, ignoring Two's mutters. “She told me she was going to keep one of my plot points. Made me think at least a little part of me would remain in intact. Then she rewrote the whole blasted thing. Nothing of me left.”

“At least you got that much,” comes a voice from a dark corner. The chapters go still. Even the bartender barely dares to breath. “A plot point might not be much, but it’s something. You could be unexplored backstory.”

“That’s Chapter One,” Six whispers to Seven. Seven makes a sign to ward off bad luck.

Four shakes their head. “Well, I’m not getting that much either. She has a document with my name on it open as we speak. And not a single note she has on what to put in there has anything to do with me. Although some of it looks like it’s lifted from Five.”

“Where is Five?” Seven asks. “I haven’t seen them around.”

“I think they’re hiding,” Two chimes in. “Don’t really blame them. Even when she keeps your guts, it hurts when she strips you of your name and pretends you're someone else.”

The chapters nod in agreement as outside the snow turns to rain.