The dance of the mannequins.

Chapter-1:Ran Away

Victor stood there, staring at the glass window of Louis Philippe, staring at the mannequins wearing the blue blazer upon a brown branded shirt. Something about the mannequins always obsessed victor. It was all in his thoughts, in his dreams. It all started when he was small, when he had no responsibilities.

Victor was standing in front of the showroom around four in the evening when he heard someone call him.
He looked back to see his friend running down the street with a bag in his hand.

"You got an off so soon?" Victor asked.
"Its Saturday buddy" he smiled and replied Victor.

Victor and Gary walked down the street of a big apartment which was housing thousands of little homes. Gary put his bag on the couch and fell flat in the sofa.

"Still searching?" he asked Victor.
"Yup, no one is ready to hire a psycho"
"What the hell Victor. Did you say about your past even to him?" Gary questioned.
"Yup" Victor answered it slyly.

Victor was now sweating badly, the mannequins always obsessed him.

"Did you really see those things happen Victor?" Gary asked.
"Yes. Dont you believe me?"
"I do but..."
"But what Gary?" asked Victor.
"I think you must consult a psychologist now"

Victor got up and left angrily from the living room. Gary didnt know what to do. He had his face cupped. He knew that he shouldn't have said such a thing to Victor. Gary was now confused. He didnt know what to do. He just fell asleep on the sofa.

Tears fell down the shower. Victor kept crying. He had seen it happen in front of him, but no one believed him. He tried to forget it, but the past always tortured him. He kept weeping, the cold water washing his bare body down to his toes. The feeling would be refreshing but not for Victor at that moment. His body was now numb, numb because he was in a pain, which was haunting him for ages.

It had been nineteen years since Victor had left his home after the life changing experience he had had. Victor didnt know what to be done at the time he had seen everything. He was confused, but he was afraid. So he ran away, away from his parents, far from home. He traveled north, to Canada, to get rid of the devils that he thought were chasing him. He found Gary, a poor boy, who also ran away from his home, and became friends. He shared everything that he saw to Gary, and Gary was the only one who believed in whatever Victor used to say.

The water stopped. Victor grabbed the towel and came out of the bathroom. He saw himself in the mirror. A lean man with long uncut hair tangled here and there. He had a beard which was not taken care of. He had dark circles, the result of insomnia. Victor, though in depression, never took drugs or alcohol.

Victor saw himself wearing a blank white mask. He couldnt believe it. He knew that it was an illusion and he had to get out of it, but it seemed so seemingly true that Victor slowly lifted his hands towards the mirror. He touched the image of him, and the blank white mask went away, vanished, and disappeared into pieces. Victor always hated the mask, any blank white mask. He was about to slap a young boy wearing the Vendetta mask last year on the 31st of October. The boy got terrified of Victor, but Gary took control of him.

"What were you doing?" Gary asked.
"The white mask" Victor replied.
"Victor! " Gary gave him an angry stare and continued," Why?"
"The demons are behind me" he replied.
"Its been nineteen years Victor. Just let it go" Gary said.
"I can't " Victor had tears in his eyes.
"I can understand" Gary pulled Victor home.

Gary got up to the dream of the past year happenings. He found himself in his bed draped to the nice wool quilt that he had brought in the second hand market. Gary was poor, but he was able to buy food for three times a day and for two people. Gary was around 28 and Victor 29, but it always looked the opposite for a third person. Gary was always the elder brother in the house. He was the only one who took care of Victor.

Victor found Gary in the train that he was traveling in the night of the incident. Gary was always hardworking. He met Victor in the train, who was sitting on the edge of the train with his legs hanging out of the door. Victor was in tears and Gary could hear him cry.

"Look after yourself bud" Gary said to Victor, but Victor kept weeping.
"I just wanted to warn you that falling from this height will definitely kill you."

Gary was about to leave when Victor turned towards him and saw him with his weeping eyes.

"Will you take care of me?" asked Victor, whose eyes were red by crying. Gary wasn't able to look away. He had no choice except accepting him. Since then Gary was always beside Victor, taking care of him and listening to all the stories that Victor used to tell.

Gary was happy and he smiled when he saw his friend on the sofa sleeping peacefully. He never thought of betraying his friend, and was always happy to get such a loyal friend as Victor.

Gary never thought of marriage. He had a sole responsibility of looking after Victor and he was doing it whole heartedly, without expecting anything in return from Victor.

Victor also helped Gary from the childhood in whatever way he could. Sometimes Victor also joined work with Gary. They worked together, ate together, and shared everything. Gary and Victor, though they had fought a lot, always managed to get back together in no time. Their friendship had no boundaries and no limits. They had known each other for nineteen years and all that Gary wanted Victor to do was to get a job and get settled. Gary and Victor had done only a little schooling in their life, but they knew more about the world. Both learnt reading the newspaper from their previous masters, brought books, learnt what they could and in no time Gary started workin in a beer company and Victor became jobless.

Victor's main concentration was towards history. He always wanted to become an archaeologist but his past always limited him. No company was ready to hire him, everyone rejected him, he had no choice but to stay home and look after it.

Victor did it. He cooked, cleaned and washed plates daily. He was like a servant in his own home. Gary always pitied him. But Victor was never free. He always kept himself busy with books, books on archeology and history. Something about Victor always fascinated Gary, Victor's dedication towards books.

Its a new day bud Gary opened the curtains as he was wearing his bath robe.
Victor opened his eyes to the morning sun. He got up, saluted Gary and went in to brush his teeth. After his daily morning routine, Victor made coffee. Gary was now in his office outfit ready to sell the beers and Victor was ready to wash the dishes. Little did Gary and Victor know that that morning was going to change their entire life.