Break the Rules!

His game

The kid pushed open the glass door that lead outside. There weren't many people out yet, the sun was barely going down, but on the other side of the street Maran could see the first trick-or-treaters.

The kid didn't stop running, until they were three streets away. They looked around cautiously. Did he follow them? Did they have a chance to make it somewhere safe, maybe even go to the police?

The kid walked around a bit, turning a corner here and there, looking for a bigger mass of people. But the kid had never been around here before, and as they suddenly stood at a dead end, they sighed and turned around. The kid ran into someone.

Without looking up, the apologized and wanted to walk past whoever the person was, but they didn't make it far. With a tight grip he pulled the kid back at their hurt shoulder. Now the kid finally looked up and directly locked eyes with the purple guy.

"Hello kid", he said. His voice was quiet and angry. Maran looked down again and mumbled:"Shit"

"Shit indeed, Maran", he declared. As he said their name, the kid looked back up, startled.

"You know-", they started, but William interrupted them harshly, saying:"Of course I fucking know. But that's not what you need to be concerned about right now."

He let go of their shoulder again. A wide smile slowly appeared on his lips, dark and sinister. "Run", he said, and Maran did.

A few streets later, the kid stumbled and fell to the ground. The street was dusty, and the kid's pants tore and the skin on their knees did as well. Tears ran down their dusty face, leaving light streaks across their face. Moments later, someone picked them up.

"Kid is that Make-up or are you hurt?", a warm voice asked them. They looked up and saw an officer.

"Is that a costume?", they whispered breathlessly. The man shook his head.

"Now tell me what happened", he softly demanded, helping the kid stand up.

Before Maran could get a chance to answer, they heard a voice behind them, then fast steps.

"Maran are you ok?", William called. At first his voice sounded worried, but it was so cold, that there was no doubt that it was an act. The kid straightened, their first impulse was to run away. But their knees were still shaking, and the officer had to hold them upright.

"Are you the girl's father?", the man asked.

The purple guy looked at him for a moment, then said:"I'm their uncle. Sorry for any inconvenience, we were just playing catch."

With that he picked Maran up again. The kids body tensed as he did so, a strangled cry crossing their lips. They tried to be quiet, they knew he'd just make it worse if they got him into trouble.

"Do you want me to get you a ride to the hospital?", the policeman asked, as even more tears ran down the kids cheeks.

They shook their head and said:"No thank you, we've got bandages at home." Maran barely managed to say that, they didn't want to go back, they didn't want to die.

William nodded and then turned around. He turned two corners and then they suddenly stood in front of the glass door again, that Maran came out of a bit earlier. As the white door closed behind them, the kid started to cry.

The purple guy seemed confused and placed them on the sofa. In all the time he'd been threatening them, the kid never broke down. They screamed and whined and shed a few tears, out of pain. They didn't cry because they were scared, they cried because they were hurt. Up until now.

The kid buried their head into their arms, they didn't want to see him, they didn't want him to see them.

With a strong shove, William pushed the kid to the side. They hit their arms at the wooden frame of the sofa. "Now you cry?", William yelled,"First you fuck up and then you cry! This is your own fault."

The kid sobbed, one strangled sentence leaving their mouth:"Leave me alone."

William looked at them in surprise, then started to laugh. With a strong pull, he grabbed the kid by the chin and pulled them towards him. He locked his eyes with theirs.

His expression was cold as he yelled:"You don't get to decide what happens. You're mine to do with as I want."

Satisfied, he looked into the kids eyes as their last bit of hope seemed to shatter. Their eyes turned cold for a moment, then the kid blinked away tears. William could read the kids face like an open book. They found something new to hold on to, and they thought they found something out about him.

"I'm sorry", they said gently. Williams hand slipped from the kids chin to their throat. Their voice sounded a bit cut off as they continued:"I'm sorry that you got hurt. I'm sorry for whatever happened. I'm sorry."

The purple guy shoved them back, the kid hissed in pain as they hit their shoulder again.

"You're always good for something new huh kid?", he said," might take a while to get bored of you. But if you continue to do and say stupid things, no matter how true or fitting you see them to be, I might lose a toy early."

Marans breathing was steady, they felt oddly calm as they said:"I'm not ready to die."

"No one ever is", William replied. The kid nodded.

A thing that the man keeps noticing about his prey was, that they never hid what they felt. If they were scared, angry, sad, they always showed it. The kid didn't act as if everything was alright, they just seemed to accept it. They never hid that they were scared of him, and William thought that honesty to be brave.

"Not everyone can do that, you know?", he asked. A smile was on his lips, this time it wasn't just angry and cold. This time, he almost seemed sad.

"What do you mean?", the kid asked quietly.

"No one I've played with has ever been honest. They'd lie and hide their emotions to make me think they weren't bothered, they hoped they could make me lose interest and leave them alone. I thought you'd be the same, I've never met anyone who just accepted their feelings, like you and Chris do."

"Chris?", Maran asked carefully.

"Chris was a cry baby. He was scared of almost everything. And he got bullied for that, mainly by his brother and his friends. But my Baby never acted though. He'd just take the fear as it was and cry it away.", the man answered. He seemed so sad, but also oddly calm. He had loved his kids, Maran just knew it.

The kid opened their mouth to reply, as William turned towards them. The smile was replaced by his dark grin and he said:"Now we'll play my game."