What Once was Broken

Chapter 39.... Handy Dandy Breakers

I rattled the lock secured to a deadbolt on the corner of a wooden, chartreuse colored door, annoyed as I growled, "Serrures infernales! WHY is it this world we know is using so many padlocks for!?" "Uh-oh, she's speaking angry French." I heard Leo mutter as I yanked, and kicked, and bashed the lock. "THAT'S a thing?" I heard Six ask back in astonishment, and I yelled, frustrated by the small obstacle. "How shall we EVER hope to reach the heart of the city when these stupid locks are placed in random places!" I groaned, flopping on my back in defeat. "You could always ask it nicely to unlock." Six replied, and I asked "Is the lock alive? A creature as well?" The two eldest laughed while I stood there dumbly, blushing sheepishly as Leo laughed, "Heavens NO! She was being sarcastic, silly thing." He pressed his finger to my forehead, and gave a gentle flick, which did nothing but annoy me more as I huffed, stomping off into a corner to stand. "Hey! We were only playing. No need to plant yourself in time out!" Leo called, and Six howled with laughter as I tried to shut them out. With a sigh, Leo quieted Six, and approached me from behind as he said, "What's wrong with you now? WHY are you so angry at everything all of a sudden!?" I jerked away from his slowly outreaching hands, and replied, "Vous penseriez maintenant que ce serait évident, n'êtes-vous pas d'accord?" I asked, not even wanting to use English. "Now don't be like THAT. You KNOW we can't understand your cryptic speak!" Leo said, slightly scolding me for my stubbornness. "Eh bien, vous devez apprendre rapidement. Where shall we find a key to open up the lock?" "How should WE know? We just followed you up the stairs!" "Actually," Six interupted, breaking between us, "I saw a hall way just past these stairs. I thought you'd see it WAY before we even noticed!" "And where does this hall LEAD to?" I asked, placing my hands firmly on my hips. "Naughty girl, that saucy attitude of yours will get you nowhere if you don't at least heed SOMETHING I tell you." Six replied, pinching my nose lightly. I waved her hand away, and, taking her words with a grain of sand, I flew down the stairs, and turned the corner. To my shock, there WAS a hall way, with an operative elevator! "I have a feeling that elevators will be key. I wonder how many are still in working order?" I muttered to myself, running my hand along the grate in front of the opening. "Well?" Six asked expectantly, "Are you pleased yet?" "I'll be pleased when that key is found. I wonder.... There are two other rooms ahead! One MUST be housing a key, right?" I said, turning to her. She simply shrugged, and a sly smile came to her face as she held up her index finger to her lips. I knew she wanted me to do this endeavor alone, so I ran off into the other room, which happened to hold an X-ray machine, as well as pictures of hands, and drawings scattered along the wall. "Ooooh! Look at that!" I squealed happily, prancing my way to the odd machine. "Have you seen an X-ray?" Leo asked, leaning on the threshold of the doorway. "Only in a book my father had in his personal library, but nowhere else. I know what it is they do, but I can't seem to figure out how to get it to work!" I replied, circling around to see what made the curious thing turn on. Leo sighed, and quietly instructed, "Stand here." Which I happily obliged to. Leo approached a switch that connected to the contraption, and leapt up to activate it with a low buzz. "What's happening to it?" I asked curiously, scratching my head. "Just watch!" Leo replied, and he disappeared behind the X-ray, leaving nothing of him but the image of a fully formed skeleton, waving at me from the screen. I laughed brightly as I said, "Why, look at you! How silly!" Leo did a little dance behind the screen before the machine flipped itself off, bringing his image back to my view. "I want to try too! Can I?" I begged, jumping around Leo as he stepped from behind the screen. "Go ahead! I've shown you how it's done." He said encouragingly, and I happily responded by leaping off the floor to flip the switch once more. Once the buzz started up again, I latched onto Leo's arm, and ran with him behind the screen as I yelled, "Watch this!" I jumped into Leo's arms, catching him by surprise with my abrupt action as I cheerfully laughed. "If only I had a camera now." Six replied, sounding amused.... Or at least I thought..... Once the fun was over, Leo set me on the floor, and I ran out into the middle of the room to observe the odd X-ray results on the wall when Six said, "Look there! There's a playroom beyond this one. A key MUST be housed in there!" Six said in an obvious sort of tone, and I cautiously stepped in the toy filled room. "Oh how darling!" I exclaimed in awe, looking around at the adorable stuffed animals, and the hand crafted wooden ducks and donkeys, as well as toy balls and dollies, and the books that lined the shelves. What caught my eye most though, were the hand drawn sheets of paper that littered the wall in front of a small, round, wooden table. "Curious..." I breathed quietly, observing the many drawings, and noticing a few familiarities. "There's a T.v. there, and the eye here.... And a black mass, a ghost drawing...." I turned my nose up to the illustrations above, and my eyes grew wide as I blurted, "Look! The Thin Man!" "WHERE!?" Six said, alarmed before covering her mouth. I turned my head to her slightly, knowing now that she was withholding information valuable to me, so I pointed up at the drawings, and said, "He's depicted here. I've seen him in my visions but I don't quite understand what he does, only that he is the ruler over this dismal city! Do YOU know the Thin Man, Six?" "You're-You're being silly. I don't know ANYONE called "Thin Man". Nope! Not at all child." She lied quickly, pulling her hood down over her face. "I know you are lying, but what is it that you hide? WHY are you hiding it from me!?" I pressed, pursuing her mentally. "Because you are ignorant! The best way for you to learn is to see for yourself what it is you're walking in to. Do what YOU wish, but I'll not stand by idley as you take an innocent person's life, for something as silly as a love-struck "boy"!" "Aha! So you ADMIT there's a boy here!" "Good luck! He was lost a LONG time ago. There's no saving what cannot be saved, and to do so is foolishness and suicide! I thought a bright young one like yourself would know at least THAT much by now, but it's clear that I was incorrect about how much you've grown mentally, holding on to those worthless, silly, CHILDISH dreams and hopes that spur out of you, and gets you nothing BUT trouble! Can't you see that you're setting up your own doom? You're very existence will be erased if you continue down this aimless path!" Six argued. "Well at least I HAVE hopes and dreams! Unlike you, who left yours on the Maw to perish. If I die looking for this mysterious boy, then so be it. If it IS my fate to save him, then I WILL do it! And you, are an obstacle that makes me stronger with each determined step, every breath, every beat of my ever thriving heart and compassionate soul, so I KNOW that something like this isn't going to bother me one bit, NOR will it stop my search for him. Do what you will to me, because I'm ready for it. I'm ready for ANYTHING that you, or this Thin Man has to throw at me! I survived the Maw, and I WILL survive the Pale City, and get to that god forsaken signal tower, and claim what is rightfully given to me!" I replied defensively, stamping my foot as a serious expression took it's shape across my dainty, small face. Six began to laugh in real life as she replied mentally, "You're not immortal, and you are no GOD! EVERYTHING dies at some point in their miserable existence, and there's no stopping the future given to us!" "How do you know? Have YOU tried?" I asked slyly, raising a brow to her. She stopped laughing long enough to shoot me an irritated glare, and I simply smiled in return to show her that her attempts did not affect me. Leo eventually caught up to us, and asked, "So? Did any of you find the key? I tore up the X-ray room for you, but there wasn't anything from what I could see. I peeled my attention from Six, and walked over to one of the stuffed animals in the room: an odd looking bunny with one ear to be specific. "Poor dear, what happened to the other ear then?" I asked it, taking it in my arms gently, and kissing the side of his head. "Who knows? Maybe that stuffed bear there ate it!" Leo teased with a laugh. "You naughty Mr. Bear! Mr. Bunny had no trifles with you, and you went and bit off his ear! Now he shall be half deaf forevermore because of it. But don't worry Sir Bunny love, I still love you even if you were COMPLETELY deaf!" I squeezed the stuffed animal tightly, and my face contorted as I exclaimed, "Oh! Why Mr. Bunny, it appears you have something in your tummy!" "What?" Leo asked, taking the bunny from me, and feeling around in the stuffing of the toy. "Crikey, something really IS in Mr. Bunny!" He said, and he reached into his satchel to pull out his makeshift glass dagger. He stabbed the poor bunny with all his might, and tore down the stomach, before ripping out wads of stuffing. "Well what do you know?" Leo said, holding up a bright, shiny key with both of his hands. "Oh, THANK you Mr. Bunny! Thank you SO much!" I cheered, kissing the Bunny atop his head before happily taking the blessed item into my own hands. "Now we can get through that door, and get one of the breakers for the elevator up!" I said, running back through the hallway at breakneck speed, the other two following in my dust yelling, "Wait for us!" I approached the door with Mr. Bunny's gift, and firmly placed it into the lock once the others caught up. The lock fell to the ground with a thud, and I pushed the door open to reveal a darkened room, with a single light toward the end, illuminating an operating table. "Who has the light?" I asked, looking between Leo and Six. "I do. Stay close, okay?" Leo said, flicking on the flashlight, and cautiously entering the room before us. As we trailed along behind him, he shone the beam on a truly creepy sight indeed. "Are those-" "Mannequin parts? Looks like it to me!" Leo replied with a shiver. We continued past the hanging arms and legs, and passed one of the poor, doll like creatures on the operating bed. "Look! The door is open!" I said, trying to push past Leo when he wrapped his arms around me to hold me back. "We don't quite know what's in here, so tread lightly Claire." He whispered, and I nodded to show that I understood. We crept through the threshold, and entered into a long, very dark hall way. "Great, NOW where do we go?" Six asked, looking both directions. Leo turned to me expectantly, and I knew automatically what it was he wanted me to do. "Alright good heart of mine, where to next?" I asked, and my chest produced a golden path that went down the left side of the hall. I followed where it lead to, and was stopped by a door in my way. "How shall we cross?" I asked the air around me, and the golden glow crept up the surface of the door, beckoning me to turn my gaze to a smashed in window above. "Oh! So this requires someone to lift us up through? Hmmm...." "What did you find?" Asked Six, placing her hands on her hips. "Can you lift Leo in the air?" I asked in curiosity, giving no context. "I can't lift HIM up, but I CAN lift YOU up. Why ask?" I pointed up to the smashed window, explaining, "My heart tells me that we must traverse behind this door! I wanted to see if you could get Leo over with me." "Or Leo could stay behind, and I could go with you." Six said, beaming her pearly whites at me. Something deep within me told me not to take her with me, but she was right. Leo was MUCH heavier than the two of us, and I dared not traverse this place alone, so without having much of a choice, I sighed, "Fine, we shall do that then." Six called Leo over, and told him the plan as he held an uncomfortable look in his gaze. "We'll be fine Leo. I promise you!" I consoled, taking his hand in my own gently. Reluctantly, Leo sighed a long sigh, and nodded in response. He positioned himself in front of the door, and said, "You know the drill, then." And I bravely stepped into his hands. He threw me up to the window, and I climbed the rest of the way in before waiting patiently for Six to come in behind me. Once she plopped to the floor, she lifted herself up and asked, "Alright cheeky monkey, where to next?" I chanelled my heart again, and the path produced led over to a box of plastic parts. "We have our answer, now let's hop to it!" I said, racing ahead of her. "Slow down skippy! What if you wake something?" She whispered frightenedly as she pointed to the mannequin on an operating bed in the center of the room. "Relax! If the one in the room we just left in didn't move, WHY would this one?" I dismissed, and I moved the box only slightly..... I really wish I didn't speak at the wrong moments.... The body jolted to life, it's arm jerking, and pulling away from the body in question. "Wanna tell me to relax AGAIN?!" Six asked, joining me into hurryingly pushing the box out of the way of a crawl space, just as a living hand leapt to the floor. "EEEK!" I squealed, jumping back as it fled into the shadows. "L-Living HANDS?!" I gulped, grabbing onto Six for dear life. "We have to go NOW! It's not gonna stop!" She exclaimed seriously, and pulled me along with her through the space. We could hear it crawling around us as we made our way to a heightened leveled shelf.... Or maybe a bunk? I didn't care! I looked around as the parts rattled and shook from their boxes, and my blood began to turn cold as Six reached down to lift me up beside her. "W-Wh-Where do y-you think it went?" I asked slowly, trembling. I heard snarling and clicking coming from the table in front of us, and Six and I were pretty certain that we hadn't outran it yet! "On my cue, we split up, and get over to that table there!" She whispered between breaths. I nodded, and awaited her signal to go. "Ready? NOW!" She screeched, and we both leapt to the floor, losing my footing a little as I landed. "Run! Run kid!" Six yelled, and a lump choked me as I was met with the creepy hand, getting into position to strike. "Oh!" I yelped, swerving just in time to see just how high they sailed through the air, and THAT was simply enough to get me going! I sprinted to the table, and leapt up, taking hold of Six's hand as she yanked me up the rest of the way with superhuman strength. "It just keeps coming!" I cried, breathing heavily. "We're not in the clear yet! We need to get to that vent up there, you see?" She pointed up a metal rack, and sure enough, there was a vent. I didn't want to know if they could climb, but from our current situation, we had no choice but to go up. "God hope they don't corner us." I prayed quietly, and Six and I leapt to the floor, with her causing a distraction as I ran away. I eventually made it to the rack, and I started up the bars like a ladder, keeping my prayer in my heart as my sweaty hands lifted me from square to square. Once I was up, I called for Six, and she rushed over to the rack to begin climbing. As soon as she hit a quarter of the way, the hand took notice of our escape plan, and persued us, following Six up the rack with immensable speed! "Behind you!" I yelled, and knowing what that meant, Six paled, and race her way up the rack quickly. Once she was with me, we ran into the vent, and together we pushed it just as the hand was about to corner us! Luckily though, we made it just in time to fall from the vent, leaving the hand monster trapped as we landed on a cold, black bag. "What is this?" I asked, tapping my foot on it. "A body bag, and it's full!" Six exclaimed, and I shrieked, jumping down from it immediately. "Quiet! The hand may still be here!" Six hissed through gritted teeth. I covered my mouth, looking silently in fear around what I assumed to be a storage closet. Six came down from the body, and we cautiously tip toed our way into an open room. The vents above began to crash, and bang, and I whimpered fearfully, "It's in the vent! It knows we're here!" "Not if you stay quiet." Six hissed again, and we made our way across the room, silent as mice. "We're almost there, we just gotta-" before Six could finish, the hand fell from the sky, and madly crawled over to dominate it's newfound prey. "SCATTER!" Six yelped, and we split off into different places, hoping to confuse the hand, which ultimately chose to go after me. I cried literal tears as I blindly made may way to a climbing space, and hoisted myself up onto a desk as quickly as I could as it pounced, missing me by an inch! "Six! Over here!" I called. Six, who was trapped on the other side of the room, braced herself for action, and she glided off the table, landing gracefully onto her feet. She seemed to float as she ran from the five fingered menace, dodging it's attempts to pounce her. She finally made it to where I was standing, out of breath as she gasped, "That was TOO close!" "You can say THAT again!" I replied fearfully, looking around as to where it may have gone. "Come! I sense the end of this chase is near." Six assured, and we leapt onto a metal shelf behind us. Staring out, I saw a glowing, white object setting on a desk in the middle of a brightly lit room, and I asked curiously, "Is THAT what we're looking for?" Six followed my gaze, and when she set her eyes upon the device, she nodded quickly. "That's our breaker all right! Now, how to get TO it with out Mr. Grabby there snatching our feet out from under us." "We can always use the split technique we've been doing. Will that work?" I asked, looking down. "I don't think so, but we'll attempt. Let's move!" Six commanded, and we leapt to the floor from our safe haven above, and made a mad dash for the breaker as the hand came out from under the table, and began to hide in the nooks and crannies. "The breaker plug! Get it!" Ordered Six, arming herself with a heavy looking hammer. I made my way to the table when the hand leapt in front of me, and attempted to pounce. "Ack!" I screeched, and swerved just as Six landed a blow on the hand, sending it scurrying away back to the darkness. I took the opportunity to climb the table, and retrieve the breaker plug, leaving Six to deal with the hand. The hand emerged from a blind spot behind her, and I yelled, "Look out!" She whirled around, and landed another perfect blow onto the fleeting menace before it scurried away into the dark for a second time. "Go! I've got this!" Six cried, and I leapt from the table, accidentally letting the plug slip from my hands. "NO!" I screamed, and I flipped on my back as the hand skittered toward me. I raised my arm in defense, bracing defeat when a loud crunch caught my attention. I lowered my arm, and there was Six, standing over the corpse of a broken hand, smiling silently. "It won't come back, will it?" I asked, out of breath. "No, but you're lucky I was with you, butterfingers!" Six replied, lifting me from the floor. I dusted myself off, and retrieved the plug once again, bringing it with me as Six moved another box of plastic parts from in front of the door, revealing a partially shattered window. "Throw the plug. It's our only exit." Six said, pointing to the glass. I readied myself, and with a mighty thrust, the plug completely shattered the window, and we regrouped back out into the hallway we came from. "What happened to you two? You're frazzled!" Leo asked, concerned. Six told him about the hands, and I told him about the battle for the breaker, making him smile. "I guess it was pretty HANDY that it was so easy to get." Leo said with a chuckle. Six shook her head, and I laughed a little at his poorly made pun. "Gotta HAND it to you, you were a great team, like PHALANGES to a PALM." "Okay, Leo. Enough with the puns." "Seems like you were able to HANDLE it on your own!" "LEO! ENOUGH!" "My bad." He said, scratching his head sheepishly. I studied the breaker plug in my hands, and I couldn't help but wonder what was next in store for me in this hospital of torture.