Welcome to Crazytown

Wanna Play a Game?

Marcie was just beginning to wake up, her hair was messier than it was in the middle of the night. She sat in front of the dresser staring in the mirror, she yawned.
"Can you brush my hair please?"
"Uh yeah sure."
I grabbed a brush and started combing through the knots.
I put her hair into pigtails, and tied it with a pink ribbon. She then asked me to help her pick out a dress, so I picked out one that matched the ribbons. She twirled, but quickly ran onto the balcony when she heard a loud dinging.
"It's the Madman's clock." She said terrified.
Wait what?
I joined her on the balcony, finding a huge clock.
How do I keep missing these things?!
"Is that bad?"
"That means he knows you're here, and he wants to meet with you."
Well, that really isn't great.
Of course, I already knew that he knew, but I didn't know I would have to speak with him. I mean, I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't that.
"This is bad, very bad. You aren't ready yet. You can't play his game yet. Not now." She backed away from the balcony, "We need Michael. He'll know what to do."
Well god dammit, him again?
I followed her back to her room, she grabbed a giant stuffed mouse, and unzipped a zipper that was on the back. She took out a locket and and started tapping it,
"9...7...4...8..." She said under her breath.
A slight buzzing noise came from it. She set it on the table, and Michael appeared in a giant bubble,
"He knows."
That was all she said, but the look on his face said it, even Michael was visibly terrified. Just who was the Madman?
It was very silent, and when he finally spoke it was shaky,
"So what do we do?"
"There's not much we can do. We have to take her there."
He hung his head.
"Okay, I'll be there in a second."
We were waiting for him, Marcie took me and we looked for new clothes. She found a fluffy pastel, blue dress that went to the knee and a black headband.
"Why are we doing this? I was fine with what I had on."
She sighed,
"The Madman won't take you seriously in boy's clothes, but we also need him to underestimate you. That's the best we can do in the very little time we have."
She grabbed socks that went just below the knee and a pair of black shoes. I put them on, and looked in the mirror. I believe this was my mother's iconic look, but for me this was just... someone else. My mother always told me she hated the color blue because it reminded her of my father. She could barely even stand the sound of her own name, the look her face had when she thought about him was suffocating. Like she was drowning, but she didn't know I could tell. That was a secret I kept from her.
There was knocking at the door Marcie sighed as she looked at me,
"Time to go."
We went to the door, there was Michael. He was disheveled and very dirty, he took a deep breath, and looked at Marcie,
"You ready?"
"No. Not in the slightest."
He cracked a weary smile and we started walking,
"Where are we going exactly?" I asked
"The Madman lives in the biggest room of the tallest tower. But he will be in the library."
"How can you tell?"
"The chime. The clock went off 7 times, fast, slow, slow, fast, fast, slow, fast."
She had become very tense, as she stood up very tall, and she stared directly at where she was going, and she walked at a fast pace.
"I'm going to accept."
And they both froze,
"What?" Michael asked first, "Sorry I don't think I heard you clearly. Did you just say that you were going to accept?" He smiled, it was filled with a genuine curiosity.
"You heard me, I'm going to accept."
"Jane you can't-"
"What else do we do? Decline? Then what happens?"
She opened her mouth to argue with me, but then she sighed. The silence lasted a few seconds but it was interrupted by Michael laughing.
"You are very interesting, Jane. Would've loved to get to know you."
"I wouldn't have."
Did I mean to say that? No. Am I going to take it back? Also no.
He looked at me up and down, and scoffed.
"Alright then."
The rest of the trip there was silent. We made it to a giant wooden door, it was terrifying, I could feel the breath in me shorten. That dreaded Madman, I would finally see him.
"Be very careful, Jane." Marcie said.
"Alright."
My soul seemingly separated from my body, and I could only blink as I watched myself walk inside.
"Wait, Jane..."

***

The library was a beautiful place. There were flying books and floating orbs of light brightening an already bright room, seeing as the roof was made of glass. I aimlessly walked around unsure of where to go. I looked around and behind bookshelves, following a certain pattern.
When I went back to the door, unsuccessful, I scoped out the room, noticing the tree-like structure. I was currently at what would be considered the trunk. With that being said I turned around and there it was. A room with the word office displayed in boring black letters. I knocked on it,
"Enter." A man from inside said.
I opened the door, finding a man. He had on a purple suit along with two cards a Jack of Spades, along with the Queen of Spades and sitting next to them was a folded piece of paper within his hat. He had curly brown hair and bright brown eyes, almost yellow.
The purple suit had various purple strips in no particular order, and a very light purple shirt and a somewhat magenta colored tie.
He was sitting at a large desk, looking through a deck of cards, and when he finally looked up, a smile crept on his face. Like a gambler's poker face melting away as they reveal they're winning cards.
"Dearest Jane. I've been expecting you. Have a seat in this chair."
He said chair but was pointing at the ceiling. I sat in the chair across from him, which somehow peaked his interest.
"Are you scared I might run away?"
"Whatever do you mean?" I said in a cold voice.
"No need to get hostile. I only killed your father and grandma. I meant that you didn't look up, you kept your eyes on me."
I grit my teeth, his voice was maddening.
"Oh dearest Jane, did I upset you? I would say I'm sorry but lying isn't a good first impression."
"Neither is killing one's parents."
He shrugged, and I got a glimpse of the first card. It was blurry but it was definitely something of spades.
"I'm sure you know why you're here. I want to play a game."
"What's the game?"
"I'm sure you know the rules. A simple game of chess."
"I don't think so."
He laughed,
"See, you know. You're the spitting image of your mother. It's too bad though."
"Is that so?"
"No screaming
No yelling
Unlike the others
But your calmness is a whisper
Compared to that shaking voice
You're different no doubt
But not profound
For you are choosing the fool
You can try to deny it
You can hide
But dear Jane
We both know it's a lie." His tone was cruel compared to just a second ago.
"Are you so sure it's a lie?" I said, his eyes were filled with shock and the same curiosity as Michael, the resemblance between their personalities was uncanny, "I accept your little game."
I stood up, straightening my dress, and started to walk out,
"Girls in dresses are better off marrying a rich man than killing."
Excuse me?! Was he seriously about to be sexist about killing? I mean, yes don't be a murderer, but don't be a prejudiced murderer.
I turned to him and smiled,
"If that's what you think, then until I kill you, you will see me as that of a rich man, okay?"
He blinked,
"No, I don't think I can do that."
"And why not?"
"The most feared men across this land have challenged me and lost. And you? You're just a little girl."
I smiled again, showing my gritted teeth,
"Watch me." Was the last thing I said before walking out of the room.
He might think a lot of things, and he can, but little to his knowledge or even mine. I recorded everything.