Sense of Humor

Puppets

Before Lucy could say anything to Mr. Eden, he was coming straight towards her. He was the one that took her. Her blood turned cold and she trembled as he analyzed her. "Dearest princess, your head is hurt!" His hand touched the wound and she yelped from the pain and from being nervous. This man before her could end her life. What did he want with her? "It's only a small cut on the back of your head. I am sorry to say that it's my fault. I did drop you very hard."

The room started to close in on her and she couldn't take enough air into her lungs. Why? Why was this happening? "Mr. Eden I don't-" Lucy felt the harsh sting of a slap on her cheek and her head snapped sideways. He had hit her. "My name isn't Mr. Eden. I am The Jester. Not a Jester, but THE Jester." He gave her a big grin and waved his hands outwards as if he was showing her something amazing. Lucy stared up at this insane man and pressed her hand against the side of her face that he struck her.

"Now don't give me a sad face princess, today is a wonderful day! I have lots to show you!"

"What a-are you going to s-show me?" Lucy tried to stop her words from stuttering, to show that she wasn't scared. She was actually horrified. There was something wrong with this man and she knew that she had to play along, doing otherwise would result in her possibly loosing her life. And she wasn't ready to die yet.

The Jester's smile deepened, as if that was even possible, and he pulled her up using her arm. He tied her hands together around her back and kissed the back of her head. "I'm gonna show you my little puppets. They are my friends." Lucy made a weird observation at this point. When she had first met Mr.Eden he was full of smirks and his voice was deeper, now he wore full grins and he voice was higher and more child like. He acted like a child that had gotten a new toy.

"Where are they?"

"They are in the basement. They give me jokes to make me laugh, and sometimes when it's a good joke I tell it to the king." Lucy took back everything that she had said about him being beautiful. He was a sick man and she needed to do everything that she could to leave.

He led Lucy through the dark hallways and down long staircases. After what seemed like an hour of walking, they came upon a large steel door. "This is where I keep them all. Nice and snug." The Jester pulled open the door with a large grunt and gestured Lucy to walk inside of the room. When Lucy made no signs of movement he frowned and lightly shoved her inside anyways.

The room was dark, hot, and smelled of sweat and mold. There was another horrid scent mixed in and she couldn't place her finger on what the smell was. The Jester pulled her closer into the room by her tied hands and reached into the air. When Lucy heard the click of the light being turned on the room was no longer dark and the door shut with a loud slam behind her.

What Lucy saw made her want to cry. She wasn't the only one with this psycho. There were dozens of kids from different ages all chained up on the floor. They were all dirty and their eyes were filled with fear except for the older teens who were looking at The Jester in disgust. "Hello my puppets! I missed you all very much! I'm so sorry that I was out for so long but I had to get The Princess. Look at how beautiful she is!" The Jester gushed and pulled on Lucy's hair to get rid of some tangles.

"She's bleeding." a tiny voice rang out in the silent space and The Jester's eyes narrowed. Lucy saw that the voice belonged to a small boy with brown hair and big gray eyes. He only looked like he could only be five or six and his face was smeared with dirt. The Jester made long strides towards the boy and he pulled the boy onto his feet using his dirty shirt.

"She might be bleeding but that doesn't make her any less beautiful. How dare you say such things as if they make her less of a Princess. You deserve punishment." The Jester growled so quietly into the little boy's face that Lucy could barely hear him. The other kids stared at Lucy with pleading eyes as if they were asking her to do something.

Lucy froze and when she thought that she would stay frozen forever her voice finally cut through the silence. "I'm sure that he didn't mean any harm by it Jester. I think he just didn't know if you knew, that's all." The Jester's head snapped in her direction and his cold eyes met hers until they softened.

"You are right my Princess, I'm sure he wasn't trying to be rude." He gave her a grin and then grabbed the kid's chains so that he could walk him back to where he was before. As The Jester was chaining the kid back up to the wall a boy in the group caught her attention. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and he was gesturing for her to look to the side.

Lucy's brow drew in confusion and finally saw what he was gesturing to. It was a small but sturdy piece of wood on the floor, it had one sharp nail attached to it and he wanted her to grab it. She gently shook her head. 'I obviously have some sort of control over him that none of them have. I'm not going to risk it.' she thought. The hope that had been in the boy's eyes was replaced with anger and frustration and he continued to sit there and stare at her.

When The Jester came back to stand next to her he surveyed the room and pursed his lips as if he had seen something that he didn't like. He walked away from her once again and he grabbed something that was in the corner. When he pulled it out Lucy had to suppress a scream.

The smell was coming from that. A bloody corpse was now resting in The Jester's hands and he tsked, "I'm so sorry you guys. I forgot to clean up the mess that Lizzy left behind." Lucy tried not to vomit as the noticed one of lifeless eyes from the dead girl was hanging by a string out of its socket. The Jester dropped it back down and covered it with a blanked that he fond at the side. The smell was unbearable in the hot room and Lucy just needed to get out. This man had killed an innocent girl and she couldn't help but wonder if she was next.

"I will be back later to clean that up but for now I am going to show The Princess where she is going to be sleeping. I will see yo in the morning my puppets and don't forget to think bout some jokes! The Princess will be joining us tomorrow so they better be good!" The enthusiasm spilling out of this man's lips was endless and he grabbed Lucy's arm once again to pull her out of the room. Then she had an idea.

Lucy "slipped" on the board that was on the floor pushing it closer towards the boy that wanted it earlier. The Jester looked back to make sure that she was okay and to distract him from the board she nervously laughed and said, "Oh, i'm so clumsy! I apologize." The Jester shook his head in mock disappointment and led her out of the room.

Before the large door could fully close Lucy's eyes met boy's dark brown eyes and he gave her a slight head nod.Lucy hoped that she wouldn't regret her decision and let The Jester guide her once again. This man was a murderer and she only had one thing going through her mind; 'We need to get the hell out of here.'