Inanimate (16 page)

“
Why don’t you just open the door
and let me out, I’ll fin
d the ones that harmed my dad.”

“
The Eye”
halted his finger movements and
smiled at Connor

“
I’m sure you would kid. Now,
don’t get me wrong, I do not doubt your sincerity or your
determination. No, I would never dream of that. But realistically,
I couldn’t let you out. Well I mean I could, but there wouldn’t be
much point.”

“
Why?”
asked Connor stubbornly.

“
Dynamics my young friend!
If I let you out
now, they would be out looking for you by morning and they would
most probably catch you by lunchtime since you would be all alone
against many. Not only that, some of these people, these liars,
these murderers, they live in completely different areas; some in
the city, some in Staunton. It could take you days or longer to do
the job. They would definitely catch you by then.”

“
The Eye”
paused a moment before
continuing.

“
I would probably
have to give you bus
fare as well! Couldn’t have a boy your age hitch-hiking your way to
Staunton, there are a lot of bad people out there you know. No no
no, what you need are friends. Friends who can be invisible and
deadly at the same time.”

As if coming to his
realization
mid-sentence “The Eye” gestured towards Connor’s dolls as he
continued.

“
Friends who no-one would
suspect, who
are controllable and can blend into their surroundings...
You play quite a lot don’t you Connor?”

“
I used to.”

“
Well, I think you should
star
t
‘playing’ again. It’s time those toys got to live again Connor,
this time outside of that active imagination of yours.”

Connor
looked down at his dolls all
scattered along the floor (Dixie caused quite a mess when he
entered the room). “The Eye” slowly started flicking his fingers as
if he were pulling on invisible puppet strings. He created a silent
energy which pulled the dolls together. In unison they slid to one
point in the room, gracefully sitting up and facing Connor, ready
for “playtime”. Connor was bewildered. His little eyes sparkled
with interest. Unable to remove them from Basket’s round black eyes
he spoke softly.

“
But these
are just toys, what can they do?
And I don’t even know who’s to blame. How will I know who’s
responsible.”

Speaking equally as soft,
selling the
deal to the youngster “The Eye” replied.

“
The dolls will know. I will give
them the knowledge and they will seek out the bad people. I will
also grant them strength as well as knowledge. They will be crafty
and dangerous…but not invincible. No, that would make things too
easy.”

“
The Eye”
moved silently behind Connor and
placed his hands gently on the boy’s shoulders.

“
I
will transport them to an area of town
where they will divide and conquer. You will have the choice to
watch, or to control them individually, all with the power of a
device I will give you.”

Enthralled in the idea,
Connor
was
staring right through Basket. The thought of his dolls coming to
life to help him was intoxicating.

“
You
can do all that?” Connor finally
asked.

“
I
can do anything I want.”

Bringing himself back from his
fantasy, Connor
digested the idea. He didn’t want to ask too many questions
but he had to ask a couple to make sure he could trust this
man.

“
Hold on a
second
.”

Connor gently broke the man’s grip and
turned to face him.

“
Why
are you doing all this? What do you
have to gain?”

Stepping back a little
“
The Eye”
tilted his head, cocked one eye and looked down at
Connor.

“
I knew I would like you”
he
chuckled.
“Very good question, and since you asked, let me be blunt. There is
a clear injustice going on here. You’ve had a pretty rough life
son, first your mom got killed, then your dad’s abusive girlfriend,
then the one person you had left got taken away from you and it
seems no-one wants to do anything about it. Well, both my employer
and myself think that is wrong. And we want to help you do
something about it.”

“
Not that I’m
ungrate
ful,
but you keep referring to ‘your employer.’ That suggests there is
something to be gained from me, by your coming here. I was always
told demons were bad. If so then surely your intentions can’t be
good…”

“
The Eye”
interrupted.

“
So many questions young Connor.
Ok, yes there
is something to be gained from you. Entertainment. My
employer and I are not always good but then we are not always bad
either, it is all about perspective. I mean think about it.
Normally, watching innocent people die is no fun at all. I mean,
they didn’t deserve to die right? But revenge? Now that’s
different. The people you would be killing are not innocent; they
deserve to pay for what they did to your father. For instance, if
you asked a stranger on the street if some young man in a little
town should die, nine times out of ten the answer would be no. But
if you told them that young man helped kill a little boy’s father
then everything changes doesn’t it? And that’s all. That’s all we
want. But don’t worry. This isn’t one of those cartoon deals where
you trade me your soul for a shot at the big time. It’s pure
entertainment, with a little justice thrown in for good
measure”.

Connor
looked at the man before him, (the
man who was offering to help him kill for the sake of perverted
viewing) if he was being honest, he didn’t care what the man’s
reasons were, he wanted retribution for his father and it didn’t
matter how he got it or who got hurt in the process. Not wanting to
seem too eager Connor slowly nodded, releasing the word “Ok” from
his pursed lips. The man was ecstatic with Connor’s decision,
showing it through a beaming grin.

“
Ok” he
said. “Hold out your
hand.”

Connor
obeyed, stretching out his little arm
then opening out his palm. Taking Connor’s right hand “The Eye”
lifted it up and outstretched his index finger. A claw flicked out
from where the nail should be and it started to glow
red.

“
What’s that?” Connor asked
warily.

“
I’m going to give you a remote
controlling device
!”

With that he
moved the red hot claw to
Connor’s palm and started emblazing something onto it. Connor tried
his hardest not to cry out with the pain. Swallowing hard enough to
squeeze out tears he took the agony silently. When “The Eye” was
finished he let Connor’s hand go. Resisting the urge to recoil in
pain the boy looked down at his seared flesh. Glowing an un-natural
red before fading to black was an intricate drawing of a human eye,
complete with a small red pupil. Connor didn’t wipe his face this
time; instead he looked straight into the eyes of the man before
him.

“
What do I do with this?”
he
asked,
with mission only in mind.

“
You close your eyes, and you
squeeze it. Then, you have the power to control your little friends
individually, or simply watch the carnage unfold before you. Now,
watch closely” instructed “The Eye”.

He
waved his right hand around like a skilled
illusionist then waved it across Connor’s face. Once he took his
hand away the dolls were all gone, leaving only the two of them in
the room. Connor noticed how quiet the room went and turned to see
an empty spot where Dixie once stood. Connor turned to “The Eye”
excitedly but the man simply smiled, cool as could be, looking
right into Connor he uttered only the simplest of
explanations:

“
It
has begun.”

C
HAPTER 19

A stray dog
sniffed around in a small
alleyway, savoring the aromas of the humans’ garbage. Perhaps some
meat was in a bag, but all the dog could do was sniff, the dumpster
was too high for her. Suddenly, the dog froze, the air had changed.
In an instant the dog went from curious and excited to petrified.
Something had just arrived inside the dumpster, something evil, and
the dog could sense it. Holding still in its place, the dog
listened closely. A rustle from inside was enough to send the pooch
running off, yapping into the night to anybody who would listen.
Nimbly a hand reached up, taking the lip of the dumpster tight and
pulling itself out. In the murky darkness the figure dropped to the
tarmac with hardly a noise, landing sweetly it was illuminated only
by a solitary streetlight. As the yellow glow from the light washed
over the figure it was like he was being born. Stretching back his
arms as if rousing from some previously eternal slumber, Basket
surveyed the horizon ahead of him. As he stood looking out across
the virtually empty parking lot, just outside of the alley, other
figures dropped behind him. Silent, as he was, Bear landed gently
on the ground. As Basket turned to meet him, Bear’s once black eyes
flashed red and claws flicked out from his furry paws. A menacing
grin was shared between the two. They were enjoying having life.
Clumsily, two small ventriloquist dummies broke the silence by
landing hard on the ground. As they got up in unison and looked at
one another they start scrapping like impudent children. Betsy and
the larger ventriloquist dummy stepped out from the shadows behind
the dumpster. Dummy-the largest of the three-glared at the two
smaller ones; its head jerked from side to side giving them both
angry looks. The two smaller ones quieted down instantly. The
larger dummy then looked up at Basket; and with a twist of his
head, nodded respectfully. Basket nodded back then looked at Betsy.
The well-dressed porcelain doll just looked back at him, life was
void in her vacant stare but Basket knew she was fully aware of her
surroundings. The last of the additions to the group were a small
unit of six army men and Connor’s toy Labrador. The soldiers fell
in beside the dummies and stood ready for action. Dog slinked in
gently; he seemed the most passive of the bunch. Basket stared
right at him. Dog, unable to meet eyes with the clown, lowered his
head to avoid the stare. As Basket’s gaze became more intense, the
strangest thing happened (even for this particularly strange
evening). As if wrestling with some kind of split personality, Dog
instantly changed from passive to rabid, his eyes bulged and
changed color as he snarled furiously. With Dog’s head violently
shaking, Basket simply grinned that evil grin at him and, as quick
as he changed he changed back into a totally passive creature.
Looking closely at the group before him Basket’s eyes passed from
face to face, looking closely at their uniquely devilish
expressions. Well, all except for Dog, but Basket was now fully
aware how quickly that could change. An overwhelming surge of
laughter gripped the clown. Half trying to fight it he sounded like
he was choking a little; his stomach tightened and relaxed as he
tried to hold it in. Finally, unwilling to hold it in any longer he
rolled back his head and let out the most frenzied laugh the town
of Staunton had ever heard. Trying to compose himself he sniffed up
the last of his guffaws and, with his arm he gestured to the rest
of the toys, as if to say “after you”, aiming towards the parking
lot leading into town. The street lamps painted shadows all over as
the group fanned out across the lot, heading in different
directions. As they disappeared, Basket let out one more blood
curdling laugh.

“
Did you hear
that?”

Amanda
was so startled she almost dropped
the popcorn out her hand…but not quite. As Kyle stared at the TV,
he didn’t even bother to turn round to answer his girlfriend, who
was munching in the kitchenette behind him.

“
Probably the microwave. Do
you
have
something in?”

Taking the question as an insult Amanda
spluttered kernels in offense.

“
You
know you snack as much as I do
Kyle!”

Unperturbed
, Kyle responded.

“
Do you
have something in?”

Fixing her stare squarely
on
the back
of his head Amanda was forced to answer.

“
This time, yes I do, my
popcorn’s dish is almost empty so I’m making more.”

Kyle simply
raised his eyebrows, knowing she
could not see him.

“
For $10,000, which country
was formerly known as Siam?”

The voice of the television game
show host provided a much appreciated distraction for Kyle,
who
quietly
hated his life.

“
India!”

Amanda blurted out
while her chubby
hands removed the popcorn bag and dominated it.

The kitchenette
was deliberately
designed in such a way so that Amanda and Kyle could still watched
television while making snacks.