The Disney Reality

Chapter 9- Recollection

Suddenly, the room began to shake as Mickey became more and more distorted, like a malfunctioning hologram. His eyes glitched, changing fast from black to red as the room became dark again. I sat in silence as a single light shone in front of me. Then, Mickey stood under the light and stared at me, moving his arms towards his head, chuckling sinisterly. He then slowly cupped his hands under his chin as his laughter transformed from a sinister chuckle to a maniacal laughter. He then slowly began pulling of his head and as he did so, green goop oozed from the head, mouth and eyes and audible rips were heard as if he were ripping off flesh. His laughter grew louder and louder and less like Mickey and more like the Joker...but more evil. As he held his head in his hands, what was underneath was what was shocking. It was...me. I was inside the mascot. My eyes were all white, face was mutilated and mouth gaped open. My skin was pale and hair stained with blood. He dropped the head as I dropped my jaw.
Just then, memories flashed in my head like strobe lights as visions of my family mangled and me being taken away ran amuck. It was in the evening because it had just turned dark outside, I heard so many screams, so many cries, so much agony. I vaguely remembered only a few sights before seeing darkness. I then remembered waking up in a dark room, afraid and confused. I was restrained by what felt like ropes. I screamed into the silence, but nothing responded. I remember the only thing I did see was a suit across from me. It was too dark to know which one. I kept quivering, trying to vocalize my apprehension through soft mutters for help. I remember hearing strange music. It was distorted, maybe reversed version of some kind of cheery Disney song that was bone chilling and disturbing. I remember feeling scared out of my mind, as if I was in a nightmare and I was begging, pleading for it to just end. Suddenly, a flash of light hit my eyes, causing me to wince in pain. Two dark circles with white sides were in front of me, staring, inspecting me. I remember crying hysterically for my parents. I did not even process the fact that they were dead. The eyes continued looking at me before the light shut off and they vanished into the dark. I screamed for them to release me, asking why I was here. Then, the lights slowly returned to illuminate the room and let me see that I was tied to a wall with ropes hanging from two circular chain loops bolted into it. I looked around to see multiple hollow mascots lying around. Many of them were without their heads. Across from me was a headless Mickey Mouse suit hanging, facing me from the rack. I began panting, struggling to get out of the ropes, but with each pull, the unforgiving rope burned its mark into my wrists, drawing some blood. I then heard a door open to my left and a large Mickey Mouse suit was walking towards me. The usually comforting and fun smile on the costume looked more like the Grim Reaper than Mickey. Tears streamed down my red cheeks as I tried to catch my breath. Faint shushing resonated from the suit as he raised his large gloved hands to his large mouth. I cried more as I asked where I was and why I was there. Mickey then stood still and said callously “You escaped my mouse trap. You escaped eternal slumber. Now I must finish what I started.”
I began screaming, but the more I did, the closer he’d get to me until he placed his hand over my mouth, which meant he covered my whole face with his large hand. He smothered my cries for help as he chuckled. I looked into his artificial eyes, seeing the pre-designed expression of joy as I begged for my life. He enjoyed it. Killing was his form of making magical moments. When he took his hand off my face, he stepped back and stared at me for a while before returning into his den of misery in the next room. I was too frightened and exhausted to keep crying. I kept trying to loosen the seemingly indestructible rope. After about 20 shakes, my left arm was free as I quickly tried my right. As I tugged on the rope, I heard distinct humming behind one of the walls. I knew he was returning. I pulled and pulled, ignoring the burning of my wrists. Finally, I loosened my restraints and quickly tried to escape, but I heard him near, right outside the door. I looked around and saw the large Mickey Mouse suit and jumped into it. Luckily, I was so small that my head was still within the torso and not exposed. I stood as still as possible as I heard the door creak open and footsteps walking inside, the humming as close and eerie as ever. I heard him stop as he noticed I was not tied up. I heard frustration in his tone as he grunted and searched frantically around the room. I remember covering my mouth to keep from revealing my location. After about two minutes, I heard footsteps receding into the hall until I heard the lingering silence return. I slid out of the suit and crept to the door, looking out both sides and saw nothing. I decided to find stairs then go to the lobby and try to find someone to help me. When I walked to the right, I saw the white sign that led me to the stairs, to freedom. I carefully shuffled to avoid echoing my steps and went to the door. I slowly opened it and ran up the steps until I opened the double doors and saw the dimly lit lobby. I wanted to just scream for help, but I did not want Mickey to hear me. I walked towards the desk and rang the bell once. No response. I suddenly heard creaking as I realized Mickey may have been coming up the steps. I decided to dash for the entrance and pushed through the doors and walked out to see nobody around. It was around 9 o’clock, meaning people were probably heading for the fireworks if they kept the park open. The fireworks were miles from the hotel so I could not run in the dark for that long. I contemplated on what to do. I wondered why no one was here at the resort. It was like this place was abandoned. It was quite odd. While I tried to concoct a plan, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I jumped back and saw that it was a man, a security guard. I immediately begged for his help as tears filled my eyes, clouding my vision. He tried to calm me by assuring me I would be okay. He asked about my family and when I told him what happened, he told me that he was sorry. I asked him to call the police or something, anything to get me out of this hell. He assured me I was fine as he suggested come back inside to phone help. I protested, reminding him of killer Mickey. He seemed to have dismissed my warnings and grabbed my hand and walked me back inside. He took me in a room behind the counter. The room was very dark, even after the light was turned on it still was very dim. He slowly walked away from me as he went into a smaller room where I presumed the phone was. It was oddly quiet as I examined the room, seeing all the false smiles on the mascot photos. Suddenly, I heard a noise. It sounded like someone saying “Hi”, but in a distorted and deep tone. I walked to the door where the security guard went and knocked on it. No response. I knocked a couple more times as the noise returned, this time it sounded closer. I yelled for the man to open the door to get nothing in return. I looked behind me and saw standing behind the front desk the Mickey Mouse suit eerily smiling at me, waving slowly. I screamed in horror as I hysterically banged on the wooden door, crying for help. A few seconds later, the door opened and the man stepped out, asking what happened. I warned him that Mickey was here and he was close. The man claimed it was the dark playing games with my mind, saying that after a certain time all mascots are put into the room until morning to be used again. I tried to get him to believe me until finally Mickey had appeared in the doorway to the room, staring at us. The dark covered most of his face, leaving one socket visible, glaring at me. I screamed and the man looked down at me and chuckled. He then grabbed my arm hard and said, “Now you know mice can’t escape a trap without consequences.”
I looked up at his dark eyes and sinister grin and tried to get away, but his grip was too strong. He drug me to Mickey and then struck me, silencing my screams. He handed me over to the MIckey mascot and instructed him to “finish the job.” The next thing I remember is waking in a closed space. It was dark and smelled of mold and unpleasant scents. I stood up and still only saw dark. I looked up more to see two small slits just above my head. I stood on my toes to try to look through them. I looked around and saw racks with mascot heads hanging and random suits around the bottom. I then realized...I was in a suit.I saw two more slits above me where ears would be for Mickey. The next thing saw was an Oswald suit being dragged across the floor. The head popped off and what popped out was terrifying. It was a child’s head, her eyes removed from the sockets and skin pale. I began to cry as I saw white gloves shoving the child back into the suit and the head placed back on. I, then, saw two large yellow feet walking in my direction, the eerie humming resonating in the room. Two eye sockets of a Mickey Mouse mascot head looked back at me one final time. I asked God to help me through quiet mutters. The last thing I heard was “He has abandoned this place.”
The lights shut off and the doors closed.