I Am Elvis

Chapter 14 Marionette

I opened my eyes, "Leah? Are you there?" I started to worry, she wasn't with me this time. I saw Parker, sitting at a table, holding a marionette puppet that looked like me. He grinned, as he made the puppet move around with his fingers, he said, "You see, my boy? I've always had the higher power, from the moment I met you I was in control over you, you've always been my little puppet." "Parker, I'm not gonna tolerate you anymore! I AM NOT YOUR PUPPET!" "My boy, life is all just an illusion, you're fake, I'm fake, Leah's fake," he said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You've always been fake...nothing about you was ever real..always faking, faking...you've always been faking." "I never fake," I huffed, "You're a liar and a cheat!"

Parker gave me the dead stare, "Throughout your entire life you've always worn that fake smile as a mask...but in reality...you're just a washed up, depressed, weak faker who never would've gotten to the top without my help! So you see, I'm the one who should've gotten all the credit and the praise for making you what you are." "You took everything from me and you still want more!?" I growled, "You're a fat, penny-pinching, shallow, evil snake who just wanted to use someone for your own personal gain! Y-you never even cared about me at all!" I hid my face and sobbed quietly.

Parker got up and walked toward me, he took my hands away from my face so I would look at him, "Without me you're nobody," he said, "Now come along." "W-where are you taking me?" I asked. "You'll see, you'll see~"

~Later~

I woke up on a stage, I gazed at the audience. I saw that I had strings around my arms and legs, like the puppet. Parker stood behind me, the strings connected to his fingers, whenever he moved his fingers, I moved. He made me dance, even though I didn't want to. The audience cheered and screamed my name, like they used to do back then. "Stop! Let me go!" I screeched, I tried to move on my own but I couldn't, it was like I was paralyzed. "You can't do anything on your own, boy," Parker scoffed.

He made me raise my arms up above my head, he made me stay in that position until my arms were tired, "Stop...my arms are hurting," I grunted. "They wanna see you dance, boy!" He laughed, shaking me around. "P-please stop! I can't take it anymore!" I cried. I looked out at the audience, tears pouring down my face. "My boy, we don't cry on stage! Get it together!" Parker hissed. "Just stop making me do this! Please! Let me go, let me go!" I yelled. Parker sighed, "Fine, I'm starting to get bored anyway." The floor opened up and he pushed me into the hole, "AAAAAHH!!"

~Meanwhile~

Leah's POV:

I looked around in my old bedroom. "Oh no, not this memory," I sighed. I saw myself sitting on the bed, I was fifteen years old back then. I sat on the bed and played my guitar, my dad opened the door, "Leah, would you stop that racket!" "Fine," I glared. He sighed and slammed the door, I continued to play my guitar. "Leah! Knock it off!" My dad shouted. I rolled my eyes and continued to play louder. After a few minutes, my dad angrily stormed in and ripped the guitar out of my hands. "Hey! Give it back!" I cried. "No! This is what you get for disobeying me, missy," my dad growled, walking out of the room.

I watched as my young self followed him, begging him not to take it away. He went outside on that cold winter day and tossed the guitar in the dumpster. "It's not fair!" I cried, "You never let me have any fun!" "WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" My dad screamed. All went silent, I stared at him with tears in my eyes, I ran back into the house crying.

The atmosphere started to go wonky as I felt I was coming to the end of this awful episode. A few minutes later I woke up in a dark bedroom with Elvis, no source of light except for the dim glow of a candle. I noticed that he was hugging his knees, trembling and crying, occasionally choking out sobs and moans. "Elvis? Baby what's wrong?" I patted him on the shoulder. He wasn't responding, he just kept crying and mumbling incoherently, I started to worry.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I held his face in my hands. He gulped, looking up at me, "I-I..I'm worthless," he sniffled. "Where the heck did you get an idea like that?" I asked. "P-Parker," he sighed. "You can't let him get in your head, Elvis! That's what he wants!" I said. "I know, I know...but it's just too hard," he coughed. He put his hands over his face, crying and coughing until he was breathless. I took a deep breath, "Elvis...I didn't wanna have to do this but...you need to toughen up." He looked at me, his eyes puffy and his face streaked with tears, "Oh I see," he scoffed, "Now you're gonna pick on me too? Just leave me alone!"

"What I mean is, you got me to believe in you...but you don't believe in yourself! You can see the best in others, but you only see the worst in yourself," I said, "I know you're strong, but you don't know it yet." "I'm not strong," he sighed, "You are...I'm just weak." "Now you see what I mean? Stop being so hard on yourself and just believe!" I shook him a little, "You're brave, I've seen it! When Parker pulled out a gun on me, you were willing to take the bullet! Elvis, you're strong, act like it!" I smiled encouragingly. Elvis wiped his eyes and nodded, smiling back.

"Ready?" I held out my hand to help him up. "Yeah," he nodded, taking my hand and standing up. As soon as we took a step forward, the floor dropped out from under our feet, "AAAAAAAAHH!!" Oh, I should've seen this coming, typical Graceland...