The Marionette of Madness

18

Tim and Brian drove in silence. Time seemed to be moving quickly today, and despite the abandoned store being not too far out of town, and the boys leaving before noon, the sun was beginning to set when they pulled into the empty and overgrown parking lot.

Tim and Brian left the car and stepped into the air that was slowly growing colder. Tim zipped up his tan jacket and Brian pulled up his yellow hood. While they had tossed aside the hated masks, they kept their usual jackets on out of convenience.

As Tim was checking the camera, making sure it was filming, Brian put a hand on his shoulder, staring into the trees across the street.
"Okay, Tim don't turn around, but its watching us."

Tim laughed, there was no joy in the sound, he didn't even smile.
"I'm not surprised. Here we are, doing his dirty work again. I fucking hate my life."
He didn't make the mistake of looking at it this time.
"Let's just go and get the kid."

They approached the building slowly, the automatic doors didn't move as they came close, no power running to them anymore, but it didn't matter, the glass in them was shattered and one of the doors had been pried open, likely by local teens. The inside was dark, and the air stale. Faintly in the distance they heard sobbing and coughing.

Cut to the other two

Toby was sobbing, staring at the spot where his sister's "corpse" had been laying not to long ago. Mari was crouched off to his right coughing up a green liquid that dissipated as soon as it hit the tiled floor. That thing was still watching them, but she had gone silent, frustrated with Toby's lack of cooperation. Toby had remembered what Mari had told him, he hadn't said anything else to the demon, but his mistake weighed on his mind. Thats why he was crying now, because he had given up one memory to the demon. He didn't remember her name anymore. He couldn't remember his own sister's name.

Mari wasn't in much better shape. Though he seemed to be in his right mind again, having wheezed out a shaking apology that Toby had ignored, he hadn't stopped coughing up that stupid potion in the past 10 minutes.

As Toby's sobs subsided, he heard a soft shuffling sound somewhere behind him, and he wondered if it was the demon, about to start taunting him again. But no, if Toby squinted he could just make out her shape against the wall behind Mari. That only left a few options for what that noise was, and one of them didn't tend to have footsteps.

Toby kept sobbing, it was fake now but he didn't want the thing to hear what he hoped was his rescue party coming. No one paid him any mind, the demon wasn't even making snide comments anymore, just watching Mari cough up a lung.

Off to one side was the sound of a shelf toppling over. Toby smiled subtly, it was a diversion. He watched as the thing turned in that direction.
"Mari, go check that for me dear."

Mari responded by flipping her off and continuing to hack up a lung.

Back to the mask bois

Tim watched as the demon disappeared in the direction Brian had snuck off to. As worried as he was, he trusted Brian to lead the thing around while he freed Toby. Now Tim's only concern was "Mari", though he seemed down for the count right now and less than willing to listen to the demon at the moment.

Tim approached Toby from behind and began to undo his ropes. His crying stopped instantly and Tim realized that Toby must have heard them coming and was trying to cover the sound.
"T-tim?"

"Yeah, it's me," he whispered in response. "Hold still so I can untie you."

Toby held as still as he could, being Toby. Mari had yet to notice Tim, but the second Toby stood up, his head snapped in their direction. The green dripping from his mouth.
"Don't you dare."

Toby and Tim responded by running. Brian must have heard them because the sounds of dropping things stopped and another set of distant footsteps joined them.

"Mari! Get them!"

"Yes Mistress Carmilla. Whatever you say Mistress Carmilla. Ignore the fact that I just finished puking up your stupid potion."
There was sarcasm in his voice, but his footsteps joined them nonetheless.

The boys ran, hoping Brian was somewhere behind them. Tim felt something grab at him, but didn't stop to look, only kicking backwards in response. His foot connected with a body that fell backward with a grunt.

Tim and Toby burst into the dying sunlight and booked it for the car, that's where Tim stalled. It was watching them, and Tim had made the mistake of looking at it.

He felt the static creeping back up on his brain. He stumbled and Toby stopped to help him up. He felt another set of hands join Toby's, must be Brian. Where was the other guy?

Brian and Toby helped Tim to the car. He figured that since he was still concious, the thing was happy with him. Tim didn't like that idea so he promptly flipped the thing the bird.