Lassoing the Cresent Moon

22.Kissy

I gasped as I jolted awake. I held my chest as I tried to catch my breath.

It was a nightmare but I was still here.

The old patterned wall paper, dead toys on the ground, and dark furniture confirmed it. I was in Home Sweet Home! I whimpered as I crawled onto my knees to find fresh blood on the ground. Small rips and scrapes covered my clothes. I could feel small droplets dripping from my arms. I grabbed the skin trying to see the back of my shoulders and back, but could only feel the wetness.

A large circle was carved into the floor around me.

"The Prototype has shown mercy" was scratched around it with some of my blood rimming the edges.

I stood up to feel as if I had been littered in paper cuts. After further observation- that may have been correct. A deep but thin cut littered my left arm, and from the looks of it my cheek and leg. It was small enough that I knew it wouldn't be too much of a problem. The worst case was I'd spend a few weeks waiting for the scar to completely disappear.

No.

The problem was what this meant.

Catnap saved me with a warning. Now I knew, he most definitely could kill me if he wanted to. The only reason he hadn't- it seemed- was that he was following his god's orders.

The same god that killed each and every employee in this factory. He was the one who dragged away mommy long legs body. The one I had so blatantly stated I wouldn't serve.

He was always watching. Catnap was watching.

"Why am I alive?" I whispered. "I shouldn't be alive." I shook my head quickly trying to snap out of it. "For Sam. This is why you have to find Sam."

First Poppy- Or maybe I'd find Ollie. I didn't like this, out of all the toys I had faced Catnap was the most unpredictable of them all.

I stepped out of the circle, my legs still rigid from hearing the sounds of screams in my sleep. I started walking out of Home Sweet Home.

Where?

I didn't know. It had been so long, and I had learned so many nightmarish truths about my childhood nothing seemed familiar. Any hints of familiarity like the sheets over beds or the toys hanging from the ceiling were turned into a mockery.

Maybe I was just going deeper, I didn't no- but I needed to get out.

I wobbled as half of my foot touched the air. A large gap stood in the floor in front of me leading to another floor.

I had barely noticed it.

I groaned and smacked my forehead. "Audrey, get yourself together!" I slapped my cheeks a bit. "You need to focus!"

How many times was I almost going to get myself killed or severely injured? I looked back at the gap to see a gas mask hanging from one of the torn wood boards. If I was careful I was sure I could reach it.

I went back on my knees and stretched forward, needing to spread my legs to keep my balance. My finger tips barely touched the mask before I decided to take, yet another, risk.

I pushed one of my legs forward as I bounced myself further, able to grab the mask and slide it off the wood. I tried to throw my momentum back but could feel my knee slipping before my hand gripped the edge of the wood. I panted softly as I took the mask between my teeth and used my other arm to hold onto the edges again as I pulled myself up.

It wasn't the most comfortable position I had been in- but it did the trick.

I hung the mask from my neck, determined to not end up in another opium induced nightmare.