Goosebumps: Vacation of the Living Dummy

5

  They both stood completely still, a look of shock plastered across their faces. Percy had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. No-one had ever told him what to do if the cursed Dummy you found in a bush suddenly insulted the sister of your only help. Should he apologise? Should he run? Should he find the nearest matches and burn the damn thing? No need.
"Percy, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Harvey laughed
"Tell you what?" Percy replied, no idea what she was talking about.
"What do you mean? That was excellent! I could hardly see your mouth moving, and I was right up close!"
Percy blushed bright green. She thought that HE had said those insulting words, using the dummy! How would he explain himself? At least she didn't seem to mind, and it hadn't said anything else...
Yet...
Harvey bent down so she was eye level with the dummy, a wide, unnatural smile plastered across her face.
"Hello there! I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I'm sure we can have a fresh start! What's your name, little guy?" She cooed, talking to it in an overly-happy tone, as if it were an animal or small child.
"You might not want to lean so close to me when you find out!" It replied in it's tinny, grating voice, "The name's Slappy, and you're within arm's reach!"
Slappy struggled a little to free his arms from Percy's hold, but couldn't and soon gave up.
"Aww, I think you're great!" She giggled
Slappy rolled his eyes "doesn't everyone?"
"How do you want to work alongside..." she paused as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a small, red bat puppet, "Miss Flappy! Look, your names even rhyme!"
Slappy took one look at Miss Flappy and burst out laughing manicly.
"Me? Alongside that old dishcloth? Quit clowning around!"
Harvey stood up straight. Percy could tell that underneath the white clown makeup, she was blushing bright green.
"Ugh, Percy! Why's he so rude?" She hissed, her face scrunched into an ugly scowl.
"I-I swear, it's not me!" He stuttered, "he's cursed! He's saying these things himself!"
"You really think that idiot could come up with such magnificent insults?" Slappy chimed in "wow, you really are as stupid as you look!"
He tipped his head back and laughed long and hard at his own joke, his wooden teeth clicking together.
Harvey let out a small squeal and stamped her hoof. Hastily, she turned and marched off. As soon as she was out of sight, Slappy turned to Percy.
"Nice job, smarty-pants," he giggled "now the one person who could help you has left, because YOU insulted her!" He let out a loud howl of laughter, his little head spinning from side to side.
"You're wrong" Percy squeaked, terrified, but standing up for himself.
Slappy stopped laughing. He blinked and looked up at Percy, confused.
There was a moment of awkward staring before Percy was able to squeeze another "you're wrong" from his throat, which was tightened with fear.
Slappy went into a frenzy, kicking and thrashing violently within Percy's grip. He wasn't used to being denied, as he usually always found how to get his own way, usually through force...
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M WRONG?! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S WRONG! YOU ARE!" He screamed, before attempting to bite Percy's arm, only to find a mouthful of crumpled tissue stuffed in there instead.
"You're wrong," Percy repeated yet again, "I didn't insult Harvey, you did. You're wrong about the other thing too."
Calming down from his temper, Slappy looked up at Percy, breathing heavily. His vision was still blurred from his fury, but he could make out another purple face right behind the frightened Horror's. Slowly, he turned his head all the way around to see many small, terrified faces staring back. He turned once more to the two Horrors in front of him.
"How much did you see?" He croaked to the newcomer.
"Enough." Nancy replied...
~
The walk back to Nancy's flat seemed a thousand times longer than it should have done. As they walked through the park, several children tried to get their attention, but Nancy just walked on faster, scowling. No-one spoke to each other, but Slappy occasionally growled and muttered to himself.
Shivering, Percy looked up. Dark clouds stirred in the sky, and a faint rumble of thunder could be heard under the loud, eerie organ music that played from speakers hidden in trees.
"It's going to rain." Percy stated bluntly. The silence between the three of them made him feel awkward, and holding a petrifying possessed puppet under his arm didn't make things any easier.
No-one responded.
After what felt like hours of walking and contemplating the outburst in the restaurant, they finally arrived at the flat. The rainbow ornaments seemed a lot duller now in the solemn mood of the afternoon, and the zesty scent of the lemons had faded.
Percy placed Slappy on the table and took a seat while Nancy prepared sandwiches for them.
Bored, Slappy put his hands on his feet and tapped them together like a child while he whistled a merry tune. Percy shivered again; the mere presence of that thing gave him the chills. There was an unmistakable unnerving aura to Slappy, he felt evil to Percy, despite the fact that the only things he had done wrong were mere childish pranks and insults. There was the curse, of course, but Percy knew no-one had read that out loud, so the possibility of being made to bend to his doing was very low. He had read it in his head, but surely that didn't count. 'It's highly unlikely he has any psychic abilities,' Percy thought. But then he remembered how only a day ago he thought it was highly unlikely that an inanimate object could move and insult people.
Nancy entered holding two plates of ham sandwiches. She placed one in front of Percy and another in front of her own seat.
"Hey, none for Slappy?" Slappy complained, crossing his arms.
"Yes none for Slappy, Slappy can't eat sandwiches." Nancy replied and patted him on the head.
Percy heard him mutter something about peanut butter and jelly under his breath.
Taking a deep breath in and closing her eyes, Nancy placed a single paw on Slappy's chest. Immediately, the air began to smell sour and there was an unnerving feel in the air. Although his wooden face was constantly contorted into a wide grin, Slappy's expression seemed to change into one of shock. His eyes slid frantically from side to side, and his mouth clicked open and shut, gasping, as if he was trying to speak.
"Ohhh I've heard about these," he groaned, "I-I'm warning you! You're making a big mistake!"
Not really knowing what was going on, Percy grabbed Slappy's sides to hold him steady, just in case. At this point, Slappy screamed, and his head almost popped off of his shoulders.
"YOU WON'T EXORCISE ME! YOU CAN'T! I WON'T LEAVE THIS BODY!" He yelled with his head tilted upward, wriggling frantically in Percy's grip.
"Calm down, I'm just extracting your spirit." Nancy assured him calmly, her voice sounding somewhat deeper than usual.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING!" Slappy squealed in reply.
The sour smell grew stronger, and Percy had no idea what to do other than hold Slappy still until the whole thing was over. He winced and turned away as Slappy howled in agony, complaining of pins and needles in his entire body.
Suddenly, it all stopped. The screaming, the smell, the wriggling, everything stopped. Nancy had taken her paw off of Slappy's chest, and they were both gasping for air.
Slappy turned his head all the way around to face Percy, took one desperate look into Percy's terrified eyes, and collapsed.
"What just happened?" Percy whispered, not wanting to wake the exhausted Slappy.
Nancy sighed. "I was trying to see if I could read whatever is possessing him, to try to find out where he came from, and if he's more dangerous than previously thought."
"And?" Inquired Percy, desperate to find out.
"From what I can gather, he's haunted because he was made from a stolen coffin. One belonging to a child that died here in the park." Nancy answered, her voice a little shaky.
"Back when the park first opened... He went on a rollercoaster... He stood up and tried to get out before the ride had stopped... And..."
She made a slicing motion across her throat with one claw. Percy shivered.
"This still doesn't explain the curse, or why someone thought it was a good idea to make a dummy from a coffin." He whispered.
"That's the problem," Nancy replied solemnly, "his spirit is incomplete, and judging from the fact that there was clearly some wood left over from that coffin..."
Percy gasped.
"A-are you suggesting... There's two of them?..."
Both of them turned to the sleeping Slappy, stirring slightly whilst he dreamt.
A thousand questions raced through Percy's head. None of them could be answered, however, as the clouds had begun to darken as the sun sank behind them. He glanced at the clock - half past eight. His shift began at nine. Gasping, Percy grabbed Slappy and tossed him over his shoulder.
"I have to go" he exclaimed as he turned to leave the flat, giving one last glance at Nancy. As he did so, there was a tugging on his ear, and then-
Pain.
Yelling, Percy clutched his throbbing ear and dropped to the floor. Nancy stood up from her chair and ran over to see what happened. He felt something warm and wet on his hand and took it off of the wound to have a look. Staring back at him was his own reflection in a puddle of his own green blood.
"Percy! Look!" Nancy shouted, pointing out of the door. Slappy was shuffling away at top speed, arms dangling by his sides, his mouth clicking as he laughed. But as he looked across the corridor to watch as Slappy ran away, Percy noticed that outside his own flat was a little slip of red. Scrabbling to his feet, he made his way over to the paper that lay outside, still clutching his bleeding ear.
With trembling hands, he lifted the paper to his face. 'Mr Percy Pickett' was scrawled across it in deep green ink. Turning it over confirmed his fears. In more green ink were the words 'due to the display at the All-You-Can-Feast restaurant, I would like to have a word with you at 9. Yours sincerely, Jack Manson - HorrorLand CEO'...