A Small Glitch

Broken Hardware

"I want daddy! I want papa!" Annalise screamed as she was carried into Jolene's house.

"Quit hitting me!" Jolene snapped and dropped Annalise on the couch. "They are not your dads! They're just a bunch of freaks!" Annalise crawled away from her mother, sitting at the other end of the couch.

"They love me. You don't." Annalise stated.

"You'll forget about them the moment I...seriously, the battery's dead again?" Jolene huffed when she tried to turn on the television with a remote. "Why is it that every time you're near something it stops working!?" Jolene snapped, throwing the controller against the couch. Annalise said nothing and curled up. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Jolene went over to Annalise.

"Fuck you." Annalise said, eyes filled with defiance. They quickly filled with tears when Jolene slapped her across the face.

"You do not-" Jolene screamed when a gun went off and a bullet went through the wall next to her head.

"You do not hit children." Wilford stated as he blew smoke out of the barrel of his gun.

"I'm calling the police!" Jolene took out her phone and whimpered. "Dead..."

"Stache!" Annalise cheered, jumping off of the couch and running over to the madman.

"Annalise!" Jolene tried to grab Annalise's arm, but Wilford put a hand on her face and shoved her to the ground.

"I would love to fill your body with bullets." Wilford said as he scooped Annalise up into his arm. "But my friends want to have a word with you." He chuckled before stepping out.

"Get back here!" Jolene started to get up, but her television suddenly turning on scared her. The screen was a green static, the pieces slowly moving and forming into a hand.

" One, two, I'm coming for you ." A voice sang, the pitches changing as the words came out. " Three, four, you have peace no more. " Jolene stumbled back as the hand pushed through the screen, a clunky green ooze squeezing out with it. " Five, six, I'm not playing tricks. " Another hand started to come out as well. " Seven, eight, today's the date ." A head pushed through, the face looking down and only allowing Jolene to see the hair. " Nine, ten..." The head shot up, bright green eyes digging holes into Jolene's soul. " You'll pray to be dead!" Anti started laughing, his voice coming from all angles of the house. Surround sound, who knew it'd come back to haunt you?

"I knew it, I fucking knew it." Jolene whispered as Anti pulled himself out all the way. The ooze, which turned out to be a bunch of pixels, traveled up Anti's legs and wrapped their way down his arms. "I'm-" Jolene's threat was cut off by Anti flicking hand hands towards her. Two clumps of the pixels shot out and grabbed Jolene's wrists, holding them together as if they were handcuffs. Two more clumps got her ankles, making Jolene fall to her knees.

"This looks familiar." Anti sneered, the pixels traveling across his hand and forming a knife. "Oh yes, this is what I looked like when you took my daughter away." Anti put his foot on Jolene's chest and kicked her back, pressing it down as he stood over her. "Expect I was fucking crying my eyes out cause some fucking bitch decided that she wanted to be a mother again." Anti pressed down even harder. "I was begging, pleading, fucking praying that it was all some sick joke as my child was ripped from my arms by complete strangers." Jolene just groaned in pain as Anti spoke. Anti grabbed Jolene by the front of her shirt and yanked her to her feet. "Let me tell you something about parenthood." Anti slammed Jolene into a wall, smirking when he heard a light cracking and the woman gasped. "You can't go back and forth. You can't be one only when it's convenient for you. And even when you do choose to be one, you're fucking shit at it."