that skeletal puppet appeared up there, coming down slowly, without haste, with feet snapping, huge holes instead of eyes, holding tightly the bright jewel.
He came cool and calm, while Vanessa started to shake more than ever, pointing the gun at the creature.
The old man then explained what they saw:
"That's the craftsman ... My legacy ... Hidden,prohibited, but belonging to my family ...
I am Jonas Auro, heir of the artisan jewel ...
When I was young, I thought that this stone was nothing but a sculpture, like my ancestors wanted people to think.
When curiosity touched me, I decided to understand what was that item and that light, so I ended up running into a key to the beyond, into the unknown, and a door so I could bring the artisan in this world...
He is my servant, as he was for my oldest ancestors, and has made me all kinds of art, brought me wealth, but I believe the time has come to move beyond ... To feel like a scientist ...
Today, I will sacrifice all your group to see what happens, what the stone will be able to do if I feed it with blood ... ".
Before the madness of those words, Vanessa took aim at craftsman’s head and fired, but it was made of a stone too hard to be damaged, then she took aim at his chest and fired again.
That creature did not feel any pain, nor was with the marks of shots for a long time, it was like a dead man walking, a puppet alive, never tired, never in pain.
The group despaired and watched as the craftsman gave the statue to its owner, the old Jonas, staying at his side, ready to obey his orders.
Before the old man could say what he wanted, there was another shooting, but no one was injured.
When Jonas looked down, having felt a jolt in his hands, the sculpture was now pierced by the powerful shot.
He had never cared for the stone, which was the key to everything, and not believed that such an object would have some weakness, but in front of a firearm, the jewel was injured, perforated near the center, falling in pieces.
The stone was falling from the hands of Jonas, shattering and, on his side, the craftsman became disturbed, shuddered, swayed as the jewel fell completely.
The old Jonas could not expect, from one moment to another, to see the macabre treasure of his family go out of control, but it was happening.
Finally the craftsman fell with the body stretched, hitting the stone head on the floor, shattering the oval shell around it.
Jonas, confused and terrified like everyone present, began to give orders to his evil doll, ordering to get up, recover, like a machine controlled by voice command.
Unlike the bandits, now the group was beginning to feel relieved because they had their gun and the creature was there, face to the ground with a broken head.
Jonas men rushed and tried to raise the doll, but as they began to lift the body, it gave sign of movement.
Little by little it started to move, resting his hands and knees on the floor to get up and reveal a new horrendous face.
The crust over his head had ruptured and, underneath, it had a reddish face, as if covered with dried blood, eyes still as huge holes and a big mouth, open, toothless, just an abnormal opening "from ear to ear", if had ears.
Once stood, he took off the rest of the crust covering the red and large skull, round as a ball.
Then the arms seemed to weight, and something moved beneath the tight clothes he wore, coming from inside the chest to the arms.
For a moment, the doll's skin was like that of a human and, in the end, there was a break in his wrists, a loud crack.
Two metal structures came out of the wrists, covering the back side of the hands, screwing themselves to the doll.
Drops of blood fell of each screw that pierced his wrists.
In horror, everyone wondered if that doll, somehow had something human inside.
Once the wrists were wrapped in heavy iron, completely attached to his body, he raised his arms and his new equipment exposed two sharp blades.
The doll then began experimenting with his new "toy" and saw thar, by his will, the immense iron bracelets put out a number of different blades, each for a type of cut.
Jonas moved to enforce his orders on the creature, fearing that behavior:
"Artisan, I have not given you order to do this ...".
Taking advantage of the proximity, the doll stepped forward, plunged one of the blades in Jonas navel and rose the arm to the stomach.
Blood and flesh fell through the ground as the puppet declared to those present:
"At last... Freedom ... I'm not ... Any artisan ...I’m Red ...".
The name matched the color of that skull, mixed with white pieces, as exposed bone.
Red took the jonas remains and threw at the door, preventing the immediate departure of those present.
It was very strong and the voice seemed to come from inside him, since he spoke without moving his huge mouth.
"I will not hurt you now... I just want to talk ... Be heard after being a puppet for SO LONG, especially being controlled by that old one, who did not deserve to have the name he had ...".
Since it was better to stay there and obey the orders, all were to listen to what the creature had to tell.
Red, for many centuries was, as he put it, "a wandering spirit trying to haunt the next, have fun, invade the human world and make a little mess," but turned out to be more than that as it honed skills in haunting the houses and people, so that scares were increasing and the commitment too.
For years he had fun, almost like a sport, seeing how many haunted were led to madness or death.
Red became known even among other haunts and horrors.
Once he decided to haunt the Auro family, but after trying, they decided to fight back.
The Auro were not like the others who died or fled the house, they searched all the way to fight the haunt, until, with hidden knowledge, captured the evil and enslaved him by making use of a jewel that would be his chain, attached to the will of the Auro.
Red became the artisan, a servant who was doing all kinds of art and worked for the family.
Years and years, Auro became rich, married, lived for centuries, until life changed directions, causing many branches of the family to be lost and the jewel stay in the possession of a young Jonas Auro.
Unfortunately, the last family member had a weak mind, wanted to specialize on the darkest side of the jewel and artisan, trying to expand their capacity.
In the end, now Jonas was just a bunch of leftover meat thrown against a door and the artisan almost returned to be the old Red.
Ending his brief explanation, he went to the door to remove the remains of Jonas, causing everyone to tremble and run in the opposite corner of the room.
Red threw the remains in the opposite corner, then finished his story by saying:
"Now that I'm free, ready to see the world, I have a little game for us ... Yes, for us all ...
I know where the old Jonas kept the house key and I'm sure it is not in the rests of his body.
I’ll open the door for you to search for it, but I will count to ten and go out too... But I'm going for the hunt ...
Whenever I find someone, I'm cutting, striking, slashing... Having fun, as I did with the old Jonas, but with more ... Creativity!
If you can get the key, you are free and can leave the happy as hopping rabbits, including in group! "
Desperate, Linda responded to the proposal:
"Why is that? You know how horrible it is for someone to be enclosed, then why do it? And if we don’t want to participate in this madness?".
Red thought for a few seconds, then explained:
"This is my purpose from the beginning ... I want to go back to being who I was, a ghost, a phenomenon, but now I am here... Stuck in this new body I know little about and without my original freedom.
If you find the key, I go out with you and continue to play with the outside world, but if you don’t want to participate
, I’ll end everybody now, grab the key and walk away alone ...
Being what I am is complicated ... It is difficult to have a quality fun. You understand, right? ".
No one answered, just ran through the door, listening to the slow count of the creature, starting the macabre game.
The cultists and the youth mingled despair, running in the opposite direction of that room, through the room of the large table and returning to the hall where they stopped a second to think the best direction to look for the key or hide.
One of the four cultists of Jonas mentioned, then, that they knew a point in the house where the doll has never been. Being the only secret passage known, as Jonas should have many.
United by despair, they all went to the other end of the hall, opening a door to a small room with tool shelves and gardening products, earth, empty vases, all very well organized.
Beyond the small room, past a beautiful door made of glass, colored glass, they reached into a giant greenhouse.
The family Auro, for years, had this hobby with plants, cultivating and creating the most varied species.
Even with all the beauty, no one could stop to admire, and continued running through the corridors of trees and plants until they came under what appeared to be a cherry tree on a platform, as many of the plants there.
One of the cultists bent down and pressed the bottom in the base of the stand of the plant, then all moved on hidden rails, revealing a ladder to a type of hideout.
All of them went down, finding some luxurious sofas, shelves with books and a stereo.
It was a place used to rest, to get away from the outside world.
Red, still as a craftsman, never had means to visit that space, then could
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