Puppet Master

Chapter 4

Wait, what was that sound?

I jumped up and spun around in circles like I was chasing an imaginary tail. My dad stood across the room, leaning against the wall casually. What was he planning? I heard a low, threatening laugh and realized he was smiling.

He was smiling and laughing. At a moment like this. I felt like laughing too, almost in victory for what I had done. Wait...did I? No, the kid is fine. He's just laying on the ground, coughing up blood.

"What are you up to?" My dad's sudden growl caught my attention. I gazed menacingly into his albino eyes and grinned like an idiot. I felt another rush, excitement to hurt people. Why?! What is this?!

"I don't know, you tell me. You have it, too," He knew what I meant by that. My dad once told me that he was diagnosed with depression when he was only 13. He was suicidal. I learned that he was put in therapy because he tried to stab his parents. He recovered slowly over the years, but his insanity will forever linger.

It's no surprise that I acquired that same trait of insanity.

He frowned at hearing my response. I had a lot of common things with him: brown hair, red-and-gray albino eyes, and a little mental disorder.

"You snapped, kid. That not MY fault. Stop this right now!" He used his vocal chords to his full potential on that last word. I flinched at his loud tone and my nerves relaxed just a bit. My gaze fell to the little kid that was struggling to breathe. Tyler. Is he ok...?

Pfft, why do I care? I was the one trying to strangle him!

"You know what? I'm gonna finish the job anyway!" I accidentally said this out loud. It was a thought, but I couldn't help myself. Why not let little Tyler die? After all, his mom abandoned him here! So I did what I felt I needed to.

I lunged and pinned him down. He kicked and screamed but nothing seemed to work for him. I turned my head and flared a huge smile at my dad. He glared, arms crossed. Wow, he wasn't gonna stop me....but he seemed pissed. I continued to choke the poor child. He couldn't do anything to escape my grasp. He kept coughing up blood. Any minute now, he should stop breathing.

Then something, or someone, tackled me and I slid across the floor. My shoulder was busted and I felt sudden shock. My dad hovered over the child and asked if he was ok. The kid nodded slightly and my dad carried him to one of the tables. He walked over to me and looked down with hatred in his eyes. I grinned widely.

"What are you gonna do? Ground me? Fire me? Ha!" I chuckled and met gazes with him.

At my mockery, he narrowed his eyes and nearly glared the life out of me. Yes, I was partially scared. But I didn't show it.

"Do you have an explanation for what you just did?" His voice was dim, very low. But intimidating.

"Nah, not really," I responded casually. In all honesty, I had just lunged at the kid without thinking. I felt the need to.

"You do realize that you're not only gonna get grounded or fired, right? There's more of a consequence."

Shit. I nodded slightly. He turned his head to the front doors. Everyone had left the pizzeria. All except Scott, who was quivering in the corner and watching the whole scene. This somehow meant that the police was gonna get involved...

"Oh...no...no NO NO!" Being the idiot I am, I broke out in a few tears, begging my dad. There's NO way I'm going to jail. Nope. Maybe I could reason with him and I won't get arrested. "Come on, you can't do this! It was...it wasn't intentional. I didn't really mean to choke the kid!"

"Stop your whining and follow me!" He barked. I immediately froze in place. He didn't feel any sympathy for me, huh? Life in prison, I can't imagine it. He started walking away, but I couldn't tell where he was going because I hung my head in embarrassment. He was most likely going for the front doors to take me to the cops.

"Wait! You can't take me to the police, I'm just a teen!" That was a stupid reason. Way to go, Vince. You can still get arrested, even as a kid.

"Shut up, I said! I'm not turning you in to the police!" He made his point pretty damn clear. I was left in shock again as I looked up and realized he was heading towards the hallways. Why the hallway? I slowly got up and followed behind, but from a distance. God, who knows what he'll do. After all, he is a bit crazy. Then again, so am I. I could easily get out of a life-or-death situation. And if anything happened, I would have to stay away from him forever.

We came to a blue, metal door. My dad fumbled with his keys and unlocked the door. When we walked in, I was careful where I stepped. It was dark and seemed almost empty from the doorway. Then my dad turned on a ceiling light, and the whole room illuminated in a dim, yellow light.

The first thing I noticed was shelves. Tons of shelves. And...heads. No, not a human head. Robot heads. They were all copies of the heads from the animatronics on stage, which I found extremely creepy. The next thing I noticed was how small the room was. It was enough for just 5 people to fit, maybe even a little more.

My dad let out a really long sigh that I'm pretty sure he was holding in. He turned to face me, and flat out, he stated "Vincent, this is the backroom. I think it's time I showed you."

I was left dazed in confusion as he stared dead into my eyes and never looked away. He was knelt on one knee so he was matching my height, and his hand was on my shoulder. I scanned the room very closely and it only took me minutes to realize what he meant.

In the far corner of the room, two small lights glowed in my direction.