Cupcake Candule: A Short Story

Cupcake Candle exhaled. The smoke from his cigarette billowed into the stagnant office air."What we got here," he muttered, "is a good, old-fashioned murder."
Lined Post-It Pad began to tremble. "Ain't been a murder in years, Candle," he whispered. "What happened?"
Cupcake Candle sighed. "We all knew Blue Paper Mate .7 ran his mouth too much. It was just a matter of time."
They stared at the body. Blue's lower half was severed from the upper. His innards, the long tube full of his flashy blue ink, lay a few inches away. The clicking mechanism at the top appeared chewed on. "What kind of monster chews on the body?" gasped Pad. Candle frowned. Pad was too sensitive for this type of work anymore. He'd seen too much, been broken too many times.

He was too many pages short of a full pad, and there was no getting those memos back.
"We're gonna find out," said Candle.

"We owe him that."
They entered the Drawer. It was an after-hours type of place, full of arrogant stamps dependent on the Ink. Some were running low; those desperate types were dangerous. "Can I help you?" asked Entered AP. He was one of the twins, and his brother, Posted AP, was never far away. The brutes were huge, and always hopped up on too much red Ink. It made them wild, unpredictable.
"We need to see E-Mailed," said Candle. He felt Pad quivering beside him. He nudged him roughly.
Entered shook his head. "No time for you," he growled. "He's

busy."
"He's not busy," snapped Candle. "The Woman hasn't even scanned the packets yet, she won't need him for hours. I've watched."
Entered crabbed Candle. "You think I'm lying?" Suddenly Posted AP was next to Entered. The two formed a thuggish wall, and Candle was ready to cut his wick and run if he needed to. Pad wouldn't make it far.
"Cut it out," drawled E-Mailed. "They're fine."
E-Mailed was a small stamp, but he knew he ran this show.

His word was law. He was the definitive proof for the Woman, the final word in her documentation trail. "Been a while, Cupcake," E-Mailed grinned. "What do you want?"
Cupcake frowned. "You heard about Blue?"
E-Mailed stopped grinning. "Yeah, we all heard about Blue. But we all knew he had it coming. Couldn't keep his trap shut, always scribbling notes."
Cupcake nodded. "All the same, he's dead. And we want to know why."
E-Mailed stared at Cupcake. He was always business, this stamp. Business was his only modus operandi. "What's in it for me? We don't investigate your sudden surplus of Blue ink right after a murder." That caught Cupcake's attention. "You know the Woman isn't the only one at that desk, right?"
"Tell me something I don't know." Cupcake replied with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
E-Mailed smiled again. "Maybe you should look for something a little...different. Something a bit out of place. I'd check Keyboard if I was you."
Cupcake turned to leave, Pad close behind him. "Cupcake!" E-Mailed called. Cupcake glanced back at the small stamp. "This isn't going to end well," E-Mailed said. "You're not going to like what you

find."
Cupcake turned back towards the Drawer's exit. "I never do," he said.
They crossed back to the edge of Keyboard. Cupcake scanned the edges of the silver device. She was asleep, for now. She relied on the Woman for power, just like the rest of the electronics. "Beautiful, as always," whispered Cupcake. He'd loved her for so long. But she was a finicky dame, only responding to the Woman. Too proud, and he knew it. Suddenly he saw it. The glint of yellow, barely visible against the pale blond wood of the desk. It would've been impossible to see in the early morning hours without E-Mailed's hint. Cupcake pushed Keyboard out of the way. "Help me out here, Pad," he yelled. But Pad was standing inches away, quaking in fear. Cupcake ignored him. He'd have to get Pad help after this. Cupcake saw the note fully after he'd pushed Keyboard away. It wasn't the Woman's handwriting. It read: "Amanda, Please order paper towels for the men's restroom. Thanks! -Sarah"
"The cleaning crew..." Cupcake gasped. The cleaner had always used Blue to leave the notes, but Sarah was the new gal. "She must've chewed on Blue, some humans do it out of habit. But why take him apart? Why not put him back?"
Cupcake stared at the note for minutes before he understood what he was really looking at. It was a Post-It. And it was lined. He spun around to Pad. "Pad?!" he growled. "What did you do?!"
Pad was edging closer to the edge of the desk. "He was screaming, Cupcake, he wouldn't stop!" Pad was panting in fear. "I couldn't listen anymore, he kept screaming that she bit him, and that I'd let her do it! She used my Post-It, so Blue thought I was in on it! He was screaming so loud at me, Cupcake, I had to stop him!"
Cupcake moved towards Pad slowly. "Easy, buddy, it's okay. It's going to be okay. Just come with me, we'll be fine. We'll get you help."
Pad shook frantically. "I won't do it anymore, Cupcake! I won't help!" Pad stopped shaking. His eyes widened as he looked at Cupcake. "I liked it, Cupcake," he whispered. "I liked taking him apart. I liked pulling out his ink tube. I'll do it again. You've got to stop me."
"I won't," Cupcake begged. "You're my best friend, Pad, please."
Pad pulled out the box cutter. "I'll cut Keyboard's cord, Cupcake!" He was manic, frenzied in his sudden loss of sanity.
"Pad, stop!" Cupcake screamed. Pad rushed at Keyboard, still asleep in her power-deprived state. Cupcake charged him. They collided, and tumbled to the edge of the desk. Cupcake grabbed the box cutter and stabbed Pad in the center of his lined frame. He stabbed him twice, then three times, then four. The box cutter clattered to the side. Cupcake was sobbing. Pad had a smile on his face. He'd finally calmed down.
"Thank you..." Pad whispered. Cupcake held him until he was gone. He heard a clatter; the humans were here. He quickly dropped the Woman's box cutter into her drawer where she kept it, then climbed back onto his place at the base of the monitor. He stared at the body of his only friend, his partner.
They all had a breaking point, he thought. Every one of them in the force had their limit. Pad had reached his that evening. Cupcake's was now. He'd climb into the trashcan the next night the cleaning crew came and never looked back.
Amanda frowned. There was ink everywhere. "What the hell happened to my pen...?"