The Puppeteer

Voodoo For You

"Sean get up, I think I heard Mark scream." Signe groggily shook Jack awake.

Since they were moving, all of their furniture was packed up, meaning that they had to sleep on the floor as well. Since they gave all of their blankets to Mark, they slept on their clothes since it was better than nothing.

"Whoosh, it's-"

Jack paused as he reached over beside him to check the time on his phone, wincing as the bright white light pierced his eyes.

"Three twenty-nine in the morning, he's probably just playing a horror game in my recording room." Jack assured her, deactivating his phone and tossing it aside.

Jack rolled over and was about to go to sleep when he heard Chica bark and scratch at the bedroom door. Her whining eventually coaxed Sean out of bed so he could see what was wrong.

"I'll be back." Jack told Signe as she went back to sleep, trudging out of the room. He abruptly froze in the entrance of the living room, his breath catching in his throat and his blood turning ice cold, eyes wide in panic.

None of the horror video games he's played could've prepared him for what he saw.

Mark was unconscious in a puddle of his own blood a few feet away from where Jack was standing, his right arm lying close by.

"Signe you need to get up!" Jack yelled frantically as he knelt down by his friend, his hands shaking uncontrollably and stomach threatening to throw up the pizza he ate last night for dinner.

"Mark?" Jack whimpered, unsure of what to do. He wanted to go get his phone and call for help, but he didn't want to leave his side either.

"Jack." Mark's eyes weakly fluttered open, his chocolate brown eyes staring into the tear filled crystal blue eyes of his friend.

"What happened to you?" Jack whispered in shock, staring into Mark's eyes to avoid looking at the empty sleeve of his shirt where Mark's arm previously was.

"Oh my god!" Signe gasped as she entered the room, covering her hand with her mouth as her skin grew paler, making her look more sheet white than usual.

"Call nine-nine-nine!" Jack snapped, not angry at her, but scared that Mark would die and it would be his fault. He should've gotten up sooner to check on him...

"Hello? Listen, my friend's really hurt-no this isn't a prank call, my friend's arm was cut off....I don't know how! No don't hang up!" Signe growled in frustration as the operator hung up on her.

"Is...Chica okay?" Mark spoke up, his eyes like slits and breathing labored.

"I'll go find her." Jack assured her, getting up and going in search for the dog. He found her in his recording room with her teeth around the Mark doll, it's right arm lying a few feet away from the rest of the doll.

"Chica!" Jack lunged for the doll. Thinking they were playing, she sprung up onto her paws and padded off with the doll still in her possession. From the living room, Jack heard something slide across the floor and crash into the wall, followed by Mark groaning in pain.

"Drop it!" Jack commanded Chica. Chica ignored him, heading into the living room before laying down by Mark, chewing on the doll like a toy.

Mark was pressed against the wall, lying still like a board. Mark tried to speak, but couldn't due to the amount of pain he was in.

As Chica chewed on the doll, Mark grimaced in pain, his chest and back feeling like he was getting bitten by a giant creature even though there wasn't one.

Signe finally managed to take the doll away, noticing that there were bite marks on the chest and back, some of the fluff inside visible.

"These dolls...they have to be voodoo dolls." Jack realized, examining the doll and Mark. Every injury one had, the other had as well.

"Hide the rest of the dolls somewhere safe, I'll take care of Mark." Jack instructed, darting into the bathroom and returning with a plethora of first aid equipment. Signe took the box of dolls and placed them on top of the fridge to keep them away from Chica.

"Mark, please wake up." Jack pleaded desperately, lightly shaking his friend to see if he was still alive.

"T-tell Amy....I'll a-always love...." Mark trailed off, his eyes fluttering shut and chest falling for the last time. 

"No..." Jack whispered, shaking Mark again with more force.

He didn't react.

"No!" Jack repeated louder, swallowing hard as he wrapped his arms around his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls onto Mark's unmoving face.

"Sean-"

Signe cut herself off, unsure of what to say to comfort him. She wasn't even sure how to console herself. She knew Mark, but Sean knew Mark. They had hung out at conventions, played video games together, donated to each other's charity livestreams, and Sean even fake proposed to him. Mark was Sean's role model for the longest time, now Mark was lying dead surrounded by his two friends, his dog, and a pile of bloodstained blankets that served as his bed.

He never got to say goodbye to Amy or his other friends waiting for him back home in LA. His family had no idea that he was even here in Ireland. They all never knew what happened.

Chica whimpered and nudged Mark's only arm with her soft furry head before laying down beside him despite the blood, giving a remorseful howl as she mourned the loss of her owner.

But he wasn't dead.

Not yet.

Sean pressed his ear to Mark's chest and held his breath, listening for any kind of sign that Mark was alive.

Thump

A heartbeat.

That's all Sean needed to confirm that his friend was still alive, even though he was hanging on by a thread.

He immediately set to work, bandaging up the bite marks the best he could while Signe abruptly left, returning with a sewing kit. She delicately picked up the neglected Mark doll and the missing arm, slowly stitching the arm back on.

Sean watched in shock and mild horror as Mark's arm was reattached to his body with black thread like a Frankenstein.

Mark awoke with a gasp, looking over at his right arm and flexing his fingers to make sure they worked.

"What happened?" Mark shook his head in confusion.

"It's a long story." Jack sighed wearily, running a bloodstained hand through his faded green hair, causing a few strands to turn red and stick up in various places.

"But what I can tell you now is that I have a lot of research to do." Sean stood up and walked to his recording room. He typed "how to get rid of voodoo dolls" then hit search, hoping he would find the answer he would need.