Don't Keep the Lights On

Chapter 4

"I knew you would find me. You're so smart. Too bad all that brain power will go to waste..." the boy doll the shop keeper said was his son came forward. Dolly wasn't Kidding. The Puppeteer was life size, five feet at least. He had changed weapons. The butcher's knife was replaced by a simple kitchen knife instead. He leered over us. "You kids need to learn not to mess with dark magic." Dolly glided over. "You messed with it as well. Leave us alone, Puppeteer!" Her eyes fell to the pouch by the boy doll's belt. "My friend and brother....give me back the souls!" She yelled.

Dolly made a lunge for the pouch, but the Puppeteer easily sidestepped. Dolly wailed in agony. "You keep our souls! You keep our souls there! I want my soul!!!" The puppeteer's mouth perked up in a sadistic smile. "Really? The souls of your friends....that's what you want? If you want them, there's one, simple task. Kill those missy crates." He pointed one wooden finger at us. I felt Hannah and Andrea shaking beside me. Dolly looked at us. Then back at the pouch. Her fists clenched. "No." She said through gritted teeth.

"No?" The Puppeteer held the knife out to her on his open hand. "No. I'll find other means of getting the souls. Like killing you!" Dolly took the book from Hannah. The Puppeteer had just a moment of surprise until he said, "Good job. But you missed one important detail. You see, the book is a fake. The real one, the one that will destroy me, is hidden in the underworld. To kill me would mean to travel through hell. Is this really what you want to do?" Hannah pressed her lips together. Andrea started crying silently. I gritted my teeth.

"Yeah." Everyone turned to me. "Yeah," I repeated. "We're going." Andrea broke down. "What?! Madison, are you crazy?! We're going to die! Go to hell! Literally." Hannah cut in. "Andrea, we're going. Now." Andrea sighed, defeated. "Fine." She muttered. Dolly looked at the Puppeteer. "Key." She demanded.

The Puppeteer took off his ring and handed it to Dolly. Dolly grasped it. Darkness. Then my vision cleared. Let me tell you, hell was not like I expected. I thought it would be red rock with fire spouting out every which way. This was a calm, purgatory like realm. The sky was still tinged with red, but other wise it looked incredibly like a village. A very, very quiet village. "Well, it isn't that bad." Andrea said quietly. Suddenly, a ghoul like figure appeared out of nowhere and started towards us.

"Shoot. Famous last words?" Hannah asked. Dolly handed us each a dagger. "Attack it! Quickly!" The thing looked grotesque. It was incredibly like a girl, but it had white skin, and white hair. It's eyes were eerily dilated black, and it's mouth was open in a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "You intrude our peacefulness." She whispered quietly. "You shall pay the price...." The thing was gaining on us. "Hurry up and kill it!!" Dolly screamed.

Andrea leapt forward, stabbing her dagger into the thing's head. It gave a bloodcurdling scream before melting into dust and shadows. Andrea moaned as she dragged herself towards us. It was then I noticed the long cut on her leg. It exposed her bone. Hannah threw up on the spot, causing me to jump away from her and Dolly to hold her nose. I forced myself to glance at the giant cut and the blood that was pooling. "Dolly? You're the ghost. Can't you patch her up?" Hannah gasped. Dolly frowned but made a white bandage appear, fixing Andrea's leg. "I can't heal it fully, so you'll just have this bandage." Dolly said apologetically.

"It's...fine." Andrea struggled to say. Me and Hannah supported her slowly. "How do we get to the book?" I asked. "Please don't tell me it's a long way." Hannah added quickly. "It's not." Dolly pointed ahead. It's right there.

She was right. Because as the fog cleared, I saw the edge of a large tower coming into view.