Snippets of “Puppets”
Believe me, this current original story of mine is not dead. It’s being slowly written. Now, in the eleventh chapter (yet to be finished), there are some very intense happenings so crazy, that I just can’t wait to show people.
I will give a snippet of what happened in chapter 10 so that you, the reader, will understand the second snippet from chapter 11.
I will warn you, this will contain some very graphic situations (with absolutely no sexual content). It’s meant to also trick and confuse you with what’s reality, a dream, a memory, or simply another world conjoining to ours.
I give you an un-revised look of what’s yet to come in Puppets.
****
Terra Mark was quite unnerved, but unusually calm the day her close friend returned to school. She felt that this shouldn't have been a surprise to her. After all, she knew of such horrific things before. She's experienced them before. During lunch that day, Terra kept her dry lips pressed shut as she ever so lightly tapped her unopened applesauce cup with her white plastic spoon in deep thought. These thoughts swallowed her vision of the present whole, for she witnessed different things. Her thought process rewound her back to when she mingled with that demonic puppet at Nately's house. She was pulled back further to when she was practically ditched by Josh, when she stood there in the middle of the street on her bike. Ah, yes, the cat. That twisted, mangled black cat that appeared behind her as she stood parked there in the middle of the street. (Has it come for me?) The way it hissed at her. That sour, gut-wrenching presence was all too familiar for Terra Mark. Those eyes. She absolutely recognized them. Spiders. "This way! I think the lake is back here," Spencer exclaimed, one of Terra's older cousins. It was Easter. It was horribly wet outside. Terra's family got together at her uncle's place that day. Everyone dressed their best, including the very young Terra (who hated that baby pink dress and white tennis shoes that sunk into the mud and got her cotton socks wet). She loved her cousins, especially the three (Spencer, Connor, and Nicky) that she chose to follow into Scar Woods that day. Being the youngest, Terra always wanted to be apart of the big kids and go with them to do cool things. She thought of them as grownups, anyhow. On that particular day, her older cousins decided to quickly pay a visit to Scarlet Lake. Terra's heard the ghost stories of that place involving shipwrecks. Her cousin Spencer spoke about it and tried to prove it to the others this time. He brought them through Scar Woods. Terra's small feet kept sinking into the mud as the bitter wind nipped at her fragile soft cheeks when she chased after them. Looking back at it now, her cousins didn't seem to care when she followed them, nor when she fell those few times into the mud, nor when she cried out their names to wait for her. They chattered on as they got further and further through the woods. Terra fell behind. She fell once again, her mud-stained knees scraped against a rock. Now that fucking hurt that time, and the tears filled her glossy eyes. She cried out her cousins' names again. They either didn't give two shits, or they didn't hear her. Too far. Terra's mouth stretched into a painful grin as the tears trickled down the side of her face, her wet and muddied hand rising to her chin. It started to rain. A giggle. Bright and cheerful. Little Terra lifted her head up, her lips pressed back together before they seized into a quivering fit. Her tears slowly ceased. The giggle echoed around her. Her little pig-tailed head darted in different directions of alarm as she tried to pinpoint where the giggle originated. The tears from the darkening sky thudded and tapped the wet ground; hitting the long-dead leaves, making an orchestra of a million people clapping at once. But the giggle was louder. There! Young Terra's eyes went big like a doll's once she saw it. Another girl. She seemed a little bit older than Terra, for she seemed a bit taller. Her dress was beautiful- the purest and brightest of all whites. It quickly reminded Terra of those toothpaste commercials on TV with those perfect people with the absolute most perfect white teeth. Pearly white. In fact, there was this sort of misty glow that outlined this other girl. The rain didn't seem to touch her perfection. The girl had long, flowing hazel hair that young Terra had always wanted. She wanted it to be perfect like her porcelain dolls that she kept oh-so-neatly aligned on her shelf at home. Terra wondered for a moment if her face matched her dolls' faces. Terra struggled to get up and succeeded. It was then she ignored all the mud soaked into her shoes and socks, stained into her despised Easter gown- she wandered forward towards this other girl. The other girl giggled once more. Terra indeed chose to follow her. Once she got closer, the other ran farther; deeper into the woods, they got. "Hiya!" Terra called as she scrambled after this new playmate. "Wait for meeee!" The other girl paused, seeming to stare off into the distance. The rain was intense. Terra paused in her tracks, the mud splashing over her toes. "What's your name?" Terra asked, her voice a bubbly tone. After all, she was nearly five years old. This other girl. . .her head twisted to the left as she peered over her shoulder. Yes, Terra did see her face. She was sure of it this time. There was no threat engraved in the other brunette's face. No. It was almost like how Terra imagined it to be, how she wanted it to be: perfect like her porcelain dolls' faces were crafted. The girl's button-nose glimmered with her misty appearance. She was dreadfully pale. Her eyes, well, Terra couldn't quite picture them correctly. "Eli-JAH," she responded. Her voice was a few octaves higher than Terra's. Which was unusual to little Terra, since she assumed that the other girl was older than she. Elijah, did she say? Then, as if she read Terra's mind, she said: "Yes, indeed, sweet Terra." "Hey," Joshua Silver said as he nudged Terra's shoulder. "Bell's gonna ring."
*****
"Elijah," Terra muttered. Her shoes dragged along the sidewalk as she walked slowly down the street with her backpack slung over her shoulder. Cousin Nicky was supposed to pick her up from Josh's place. An hour ago. Cousin Nicky lived nearby. Terra's mother worked late. She didn't want to bother her. She couldn't remember exactly why she left her friends so late, too early. A blur. Somebody called. Wanted her home. Forgotten chores. Angry. But it's . . . almost midnight . . . Isn't it? A blur. Tired, maybe. The lights that partially extended over the street flickered. So blurry. An hour ago. Nicky didn't care about Terra. She never did. What did Terra expect? (Eli-JAH) Terra rubbed her eyes, exhaling. A mist blew past her dry lips. She pursed them, her upper lip tucking under the bottom against her teeth, which scraped and nibbled on the dry skin; pulling on the tiny, tiny scabs. She gazed down the street. Her eyes rolled up, and the surprising blinding light of the street lamp stunned her. She grimaced and blinked several times, shaking her head and looking down. She picked her head up, the blobs of colorful, metallic light danced across her field of vision. But as these anomalies were seeming to be dragged away from her at different rates and speeds, there was a darker shape in the distance. A figure. Terra rubbed her eyes and squinted. Her gut felt as though it tightened after the thought of (Eli-JAH) the almost angelic little girl she encountered in her younger years flashed in her mind. But it was not. No; but a boy. He stood under another light down the street. He slouched horribly; bending forward some with his head drooping downward. His chin seemed to unusually touch his chest. His hair of strange lengths fell before his face- his hair of twists and curls and straightness. His hair of a greasy, greasy brown that almost blended into a tarry black. His spine seemed to poke from his back under a grotesquely thin layer of dirty, bruised, and rash-like skin. Terra from afar could see his shoulders. His attire, she could not make out much. It was horribly tattered. It was darker than his tarry black hair, and had a similar greasy look to it. The boy suddenly inhaled, and the sickly sound jumpstarted Terra's fear. The sickly sound- a morbidly low, animalistic, and demonic growl that came from Hell itself. And it belonged to the boy. He sucked it in, and his shoulders raised. Terra's eyes were nearly as wide as her mouth, which formed into an O; aghast. Before she could realize it, there was no boy standing under the light down the street. There was a snake. The biggest snake Terra has ever saw. Another animalistic growl which thundered from the trees. Yes, this horrific being touched the trees. All time painfully slowed down in Terra's view. A petrifying pressure and weight was absorbed within her. This had to be a nightmare, then! Terra suddenly felt sure of it. But then- "HAGH-" Terra yelped. She instantly straightened her back and raised her shoulders as she suddenly felt something tickle her- something was crawling on her. IN MY SKIN! IN MY CLOTHES! A foul stench filled her nose as it breathed over her. Her screams were rising in her throat, yet a shrill yelp only managed to escape it. Her wide eyes rolled up to see. . . to see the- hhhhhhhhhhhhhh A tickle again- this time on her pale, quivering cheeks. Her eyes dropped down to meet the other thing- Those were hands! Touching her face! Hands made of hairy, twisted, severed spider legs that tickled her face! Connected to dozens of the pitch black, beady spider eyes for wrists. They made this grotesque, indescribable sound as they rolled over to look at the petrified mortal girl. The dismembered parts of different spiders were joined with seemingly normal arms of a milky pale color. Terra's eyes followed up these arms to see the torn sleeves of a pearly white dress- Something wet dripped atop Terra's head. Then a hiss from above that gurgled into a familiar demonic growl. And a shrill, girlish giggle brought sickly pain to Terra's suddenly sensitive ears. She winced before the spider-leg-hands twisted and grabbed the side of her face, the hairy "fingers" dug behind her ears and inside them. A tear managed to slowly roll down the side of Terra's face- a product of silenced fear. A face- Terra couldn't see a face of the being in front of her, the being that was touching her with such morbid limbs. It violated her. There was no face. No face. No face. It has no face. But it must have a face. Don't want to see its face. But I did. I did. I did. I did. And it knows (knew) my name. (You) Then I am (are) her (my) puppet (precious dolly) through the rest of (your) my (life) and for all (eternity) "Yes, Terra, just like I know your cousin's name and your mommy's name and your daddy's name," the angelic little girl in the pearly white dress chanted with a widening grin. "I remember your name cause it reminds me of the word terr-AIN, and, you know, to tear apart." "But you can't do that!" confused Terra blurted out. Her hands quickly covered her mouth as she gasped. Was it the memory? A dream? Was she older or was she a naive little Terra that went off the trail in the woods that one Easter day? This Elijah girl continued to give a wide-eyed stare towards Terra. Her grin didn't seem to match with her face anymore. There was no warmth in her expression, nor her presence. There was the ice-cold stare and the psychotic grin. That was until she slowly leaned down closer to Terra, closer to her face. Terra kept her hands over her mouth, her feet sinking a little in the mud as she stapled herself in place. "I tore you away from the big kids, didn't I?" said the other girl. "They don't care, and they'll never find you; never find your body, never find your sanity, never find me. I'll only greet them as soon as they go into their permanent sleep. But then they'll still keep trying to run away." Tears filled Terra's eyes. Her face reddened as she wheezed behind her hands. Her terror leaked down the sides of her face. The twisted girl that graced the name Elijah leaned closer, and both Terra's and her own nose touched. "I know," Elijah piped up, her breath ice-cold, and her shoulders raising as her hands locked together in front of her by her knees, "let's play a game." "N-NO!" Terra cried, her voice wavering. Her eyes squeezed shut as she slightly curled up before Elijah with her hands now hiding her face. Terra turned her head and looked away. "I-I DON'T WANT YOUR GAMES!" "Oh, well," Elijah inhaled and stood up straight with her hands laced together in front of her, "where are my manners? I can't make you do what you've already been doing. Why, that won't make any sense. . ." Her petite, almost shrill voice trailed off as her eyes rolled to her left. "But a game to make this. . ." her eyes rolled upward and to her right, "pitiful place fun. . ." She gritted her teeth as her unsettling grin grew wider now with her bottom row of teeth emerging. Terra's torso moved backward, yet her feet were still planted in place. She continued to shield her face from this sinister girl. Terra's face scrunched up as she bit her tongue to prevent herself from sobbing. "OH, I LIKE THAT!" Elijah exclaimed, which seemed almost like a scream considering her fucking shrillness. She stood on her toes as she shouted that. "LET'S PLAY HIDE AND GO SEEK! OH YES, SWEET TERRA, LET'S DO THAT!" And in that second, her horrific face was not but an inch away from Terra's shielding arms now. Terra sniffled, her eyes still squeezed shut. "H-How about you s-start c-counting, uh-and I go h-hide?" she stammered. There was a sudden crack as Elijah quickly stood up and straightened her torso. "Okie-dokie, sweet Terra," she said, nodding vigorously. "But I have to warn you. . ." Terra finally glanced up from her shielding arms. "Nobody knows what's out in the woods. Nobody knows about the spiders and the snakes." Her sinister eyes rolled down to stare at Terra. "They're bigger than you think." Help. Help ME. She took off. The psychological weights tightened around her ankles. Or are they chains- (The chains of many, sweet Terra) Droplets of mud flew up from the ground and splattered her white tights as she ran. Run and hide. . . HIDE! She nearly tumbled head-first into the trunk of a tree when she slipped once again on the mud. She quickly put her hands out in front of her and stopped her fall against the tree. The pressure in her chest intensified when she stopped. She cautiously glanced over her shoulder with her hands still on the trunk. Her nails scraped against the bark as her fingers curled back to the palm. Trembling.
"Have you any idea how. . .precious this is, sweet Ter-RAH?" shrieked Elijah. Her piercing voice seemed so close- "You have such nice friends- nice friends, indeed! Now. . .who was it. . .N-N. . ."
Terra's eyes widened as she winced. She shook her head, clenching her teeth together.
"You leave Gnatty a-alone," she wheezed. "Don't scare her like you've done to me-"
All these years.
"Oh, that's RIGHT! Nately. Her daddy died just recently."
"LEAVE her BE!" Terra cried. She weakly hit her knuckles against the tree.
"He's really been wanting to talk to her, you know? He keeps SCREAMING N SCREAMING-"
"STOP IT!"
"And I saw you locking my favorite dolly away! You know, his mommy is very, very maaaad."
Terra inched her way around the tree, trying to ignore the demon-girl as best as she could. She felt something tickle her fingers as they brushed themselves along the bark. Spiders. She yelped and flicked it away.
"Not mad at you, not at Nately, but mad at me, 'cause I kinda foiled her plans. I really think they weren't working in the first place."
Terra continued to run further away, but the voice remained at the same volume everywhere she ran.
"I think I might use that cute puppet boy for something. I'm not letting such soul go to waste-"
Terra ran her clammy fingers through her hair in distress. She managed to let out a growl.
"And that Nately girl has been suffering quite enough, don't ya think?"
"NO!" Terra yelled. "I WON'T LET YOU! SHE WILL MOVE ON! HER BROTHER WILL MOVE ON! AND I WILL MAKE SURE SHE KNOWS WHAT WE'RE AGAINST, AND SHE CAN LEARN TO BE STRONGER THAN YOU! AND YOU WILL WEAKEN! YOU WON'T HARM HER!"
It hissed.
"I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
It snarled.
Terra began to chant: "I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
Leaves began to crunch around her. Branches cracked and twigs snapped.
Terra's fingernails dug into her scalp as she screamed: "I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
Something tickled the back of her neck.
And under her clothes.
"I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
Spiders emerged from under her sleeves, from her pants, from her shirt. She yelped and began swatting and aggressively brushing them off and stomping on them as they fell. But they seemed to disappear in thin air. More of these spiders appeared from such place and attempted crawled to her face and in her hair as she chanted.
"I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
Terra screamed as the arachnids continued to appear and increase in numbers all over her, but she kept declaring that single line. The footsteps got louder.
It growled.
"I WILL LIVE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
REPEAT.
"I-"
"QUIET!"
"WILL LIVE-"
"I'LL CUT YOUR TONGUE OUT!"
"AND YOU-"
"SILENCE!"
"WILL-"
Terra gathered the final word in her throat. She opened her mouth wide and prepared to scream it out-