The Puppeteer's Assistant

Chapter 1: How we met

The world out here is such a peculiar place. You just never know what you'll get your hands tangled up in. Some choices you make can lead to consequences you would have never expected. In the end your life starts to get tangled into a big knot;

Like mine..

Vanessa took a long stroll into the graveyard where she normally goes to hang around. The atmosphere was much quieter than usual, since it was late in the evening and much colder this time of season. During this time however, was when she would come to pay the respects of her dead grandfather.

He was a writer, so fascinating when he was once alive. She looked up to the man her whole life and hoped to be as brave, kind, and humble like he was when she grows up. Most importantly; she wanted to achieve his imagination and creativity; something that really drew her close to him. Now she's close to the early twenties- missing him very dearly. And yet, she still feels as though she hasn't done enough.

Soon enough Vanessa arrived infront of his grave and placed down infront of it a bouquet of red roses, his favorite. She lit a few candles around the grave and sat there for awhile, gazing down at the display infront of her. As a few tears came out of her eye ducts; a light breeze came through and the flames went out. Voices were heard nearby and she stood up quickly to look around.

To her surprise; she found a small group of men kicking up dirt and destroying some graves with a sledgehammer. Vanessa took quick notice of this and immediately took action. She runs up to them and starts to testify.

"Hey!! Stop doing that or you'll disrupt they're peace!!" She yells. The three men look at each other and then back at her letting out a burst of laughter. "Stop? Now who the hell do you think you are telling us what to do, huh?" The leader asks. He snaps his fingers and points his long finger in her face. "Get her."

The two other men grab Vanessa and hold her down while the leader grabbed his whip to beat her with. He gave her a few hits and cackled as she screamed and cried out in pain. Just when he was going to give her another blow, a pair of strings wrapped around his wrist to stop him from going any farther. "Wh-what-??" The next thing he knew was that he was dragged into the bushes yelling out for help. When the screaming faded, the two other boys went to take a look and they too, got pulled back into the bushes. Vanessa took this time out to get up and run.

"I-I've got to get out of here..!" She says taking her usual shortcut. To her disappointment however, she got caught in a big crowd of people who flooded into the palace of the castle in town; where she was shoved into the dance hall with lots of people getting drunk and dancing their cares peacefully. Vanessa groans "Great," she says under her breath as she searched for the exit. That was, until she found herself tripping into the arms of a man on the dancefloor.

Vanessa gazed into the man's eyes and took in all of his features. His skin was a light greyish complexion while his eyes were green with envy. The man wore a nice white suite with a top hat he wore ontop of his head. Just when she was about to speak, he placed his finger on her lips and hushed her softly with a gentle smile "May I please have this dance..?" He asks, holding her close in his arms. Vanessa looked down shamefully "I.. Don't know how to dance.." "Then follow my lead," And then the two started to waltz. As Vanessa stared into his eyes she realized she was consistently stepping on his feet on accident.

"My, what a clumsy dancer you are!" He laughs. Vanessa's face heated up in embarrassment. "Sorry.." She apologizes quietly. "No worries, your alright. In fact, this isn't bad for someone who is dancing for the first time." The man admits kindly. "Thanks but.. Who are you?"

"Just.. Call me the "Puppeteer", that's the title I stand by if you don't mind." Puppeteer twirled her in a circle lightly and dipped her, standing in the limelight holding her in place. "And your Vanessa from my understanding, hm?"

"Wait.. How did you know my name..?" Vanessa questions. The Puppeteer sighs "There's a lot you don't know about me.. Yet." He helps her back to her feet gently and started to slow dance with her. Everyone was gone, and it was just the two of them dancing in complete silence.

"I know all about you, Vanessa. I can see right through you. Your alone, aren't you? You have no one to love or to love you back, but I can give you that if you become my assistant."

"Assistant? I'm perplexed."

"As you should be. My business I do is top secret. You and me are no different and I'm sure you and I can learn a thing or two from each other. I already envy you, so what do you say? Want to be my assistant?"

Vanessa backed away slightly and thought on it while the puppeteer had his hand out for her to take. She hesitated for a moment, but then took hold of it; finding themselves in his home.

"Well then, let's get started.. Shall we?"