the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but did we ever fall?

chapter 4 (a stage for puppets)

Oh ow turned out, being killed hurt like HELL. but that's okay. Charlie always got revived. He'd play a new character sure, be another pawn in showfalls sick sick game, but... Ranboo was out. He had escaped. Charlie rolled his head to the side, trying to see how bad it was. Oh hell oh fuck oh Jesus. Well, maybe this time charlie can't bounce back. After all he's just a man. Not a demon or a slime man immune to pain. Ow ow ow he sucked in a quiet breath. His stomach was wide open. Again. His left leg was mangled and looked inside out. How in the shit was he still alive? His ears were sore from the headphones that had squeezed his head for so long. Was he ever his own person? Ow, fuck why wasn't he dead yet. He just wanted to die, but somewhere deep down he knew that showfall might just be keeping him here in this mall from hell, for another show. He was very repurposable. He had been in countless shows, hell, he'd even been the hero once. It sucked to remember it all, and he couldn't really. No, not now. Right now his brain was fuzzy from pain. "help." "Help I need help." His weak voice hardly carried to the edge of the room. After Ranboo had disappeared everyone left the room. Even the security had retreated. But even that was strange. It was like it had been pulled away by a string. Like it didn't want to leave its prey. It shouldn't. It should've just killed him. "help. I need help." Fuck. Nobody was coming huh. He hoped that somehow he would die. Maybe if he bleeds more? How would he even do that? Ah, shit. There was something on his face. His glasses were all blurry and his face is wet. Oh no, he was just crying. He was so so tired. He lay there silently crying, and fell unconscious.

"Boo bitch!! I see you've found my cabin! Eheheh" Yes! Yes!! Someone new had found his cabin. Someone to play with! He had his gouls but they were no fun really. Well, yes they were but they were boring after a while. He'd been in this cabin for as long as he could remember, opening the door every now and then to see what he could get. It was like a roll of the dice, which was fun. But having company was the best! So he started the fun like always, bringing the hero into the kitchen. Challenging them to a ~spooky~ cooking challenge. Going though the motions, rediscovering things about his own cabin, trying desperately to scare them. Looking directly into the camera. Grinning.

Unearthly green eyes boring into Charlie's memory. "F-fuck man." Charlie wiped a shaky hand over his face, trying to forget the eyes. The voice. They were his. But he never had wanted them. He just wanted to forget. That character, that character was so sad, so horrifyingly scary. But not for the reasons Showfall wanted him to be. It was scary because that wasn't charlie. That couldn't be him. Yes he might've made a character like that. But it was just the fact that he was a drone, a remote controlled drone, thats what really scared him.

"FUCK!! OH FUCK STOP PLEASE. PLEASE." the gutteral screams could not be heard by the hero. "PLEASE, SN- SNAP OUT OF IT AARGH!!" the pain was unmeasurable. He wished the show had numbed it somehow. He knew the people on the other side of the screen couldn't hear him. Couldn't help him. What was Showfall punishing him for..? Hadn't he done well? Hadn't he put on a good show..? And how did he survive..? After what felt like hours of unfiltered agony something had happened and the pain ceased. He was again a puppet for a show.

Charlie smelled blood. Everywhere. Everywhere. It was in his hair, his nose, his mouth. Charlie let out one last scream. One that let out so much regret and sorrow. All that he could drain, all that he could find within himself.

And the cameras cut.

And a hand reached out to him.