The Count of Castle Rock

Chapter XVI- Children's Games

The door slams shut and the piano's music becomes frenetic and violent. The two men separate and begin dancing around the room; the one with the black head twirling and leaping, the one with the white head gesticulating in interpretive form. Their steps bring them closer to Leesa and her friends and a little voice at the back of her head warns her to stay away. She fights against the phantom clothes pins holding her in place and manages to move her arm.

Nemu whimpers then suddenly throws her arms wide and kicks off her shoes. With a twirling flourish she skips away from the others and into the arms of the strange black painted man. He takes her wrist and dances away.

"H... Help!" Thaddeus throws off his jacket and begins to mimic the white painted man's motions, moving towards him with rhythmic and fluid gestures. He looks back at Hans and Leesa, eyes fearful and pleading.

Thaddeus, Nemu, and the strange men dance past Olivia, but she has eyes only for Leesa and Hans. He backs up and reaches out. Leesa takes his hand without thinking about it and the pressure all around her eases. They both breathe a sigh of relief. Leesa stands a little straighter, Hans stands taller.

"You're fighting me," Olivia whines. "Why are you fighting me!"

The invisible pianist bangs the keys then begins a discordant song with no sense of rhyme or reason. Nemu jumps into the air, then Thaddeus, then their dance partners one after the other. When the last lands, Nemu begins jumping anew. Olivia stomps over to Leesa and Hans, but somehow her footfalls are silent.

"How are you doing this?" the child hisses, wagging a finger in Hans's face.

"I... I don't know," Hans responds, pulling Leesa behind him.

"Why won't you tell me?" Olivia pouts and crosses long arms across her chest.

"I promise you, if I had any idea, I would tell you. Please, stop this."

Her eyes narrow and she leans forward to study his face. Leesa feels Hans shaking, his sweaty hand grips hers tightly.

"Fine... you can watch."

Olivia claps twice and the music stops abruptly. Thaddeus, Nemu, and the strange men all stop. Their chests heave after the constant jumping up and down. Tad sweats profusely and Nemu's face is a waterfall of tears. Olivia spins around on one foot like a ballet dancer then tiptoes towards her dancers.

"Lessa!" Hans shouts.

The floor beneath Leesa's feet undulates, rolling, separating her and Hans. She holds tight to his hand while trying to keep her footing, but there is no fighting the roiling tiles. Leesa strains until her arm is stretched to its limit. When the pain becomes too much, she lets go and allows the floor to drag her away. Leesa bends her knees and plants her feet as best she can in order to remain upright. The tiles make a sound similar to tinkling xylophones as she and Hans are pulled twenty feet apart.

Leesa tries to close the distance and the ground ripples, placing her back where she started.

"You stay right where you are, Red," Olivia giggles, her childish voice sickeningly sweet.

She prances over to her dancers. Towering over Nemu, Olivia bends her knees until they are eye to eye. Nemu glances left and right frantically, frozen in place.

"You're very plain, Shorty, but there's a cuteness under all of this nothing." Olivia sings. "Who do you belong to?" She waits for a response that never comes. "Knife!"

A hunting knife with dark wood and silver grip wrenches from a small table at the back of the room and whips through the air as if thrown by an angry arm. Slashing past Thaddeus's head, it shaves bits of hair on its path to Olivia's open hand.