Inanimate

by Deryck Jason

  “Of course it’s me…” came Brian’s voice “…come on over and give me a hug.”

  Anne’s eyes squinted into the darkness ahead of her. She shook her head hard.

  “No! It’s not you Brian, I know it’s not!”

  Anne started to get to her feet. She forced confidence out of every pore she had; she needed this creature to know she was strong despite everything.

  “There’s only one dummy in this room!”

  Her quip, enforcing her strong will was about to be thrown in her face by a second voice.

  “Anne…”

  The voice changed into that of Anne’s mother, her thick Polish accent catching the pretty blonde off guard. The thought that accompanied the voice finally caused her to well up. Overwhelming grief surged through her body. She knew that the only way Dummy could imitate her mother’s voice was if he had met her. And she knew what that meant.

  “Mom?”

  Anne cried out through her first tears for as long as she could remember.

  “Yes sweetheart, it’s me. I was wrong about Brian. Go to him, give him a big hug.”

  Anne backed up sobbing, when she felt stone against her back she slumped to the cold concrete below her.

  Her head shook “No mom…not you. It’s not you it’s not!”

  “But it is me dear. I’m here with Brian. Come on, hug him, he misses you.”

  “No…”

  Anne protested weakly.

  “He wants you princess. He wants you so badly.”

  Anne sat; years of tears built up were flowing now. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to.

  “Anne! Do as your mother tells you!”

  The third voice turned her aching muscles to jelly. She flopped over into a limp fetal position on the stone floor. Her father’s stern command broke her spirit completely.

  “Who’s the dummy now?”

  Dummy’s croaky voice came with two separate chuckles, one from him and one from Connor. Anne could hardly anything through her own pain as Dummy crept from the shadows mocking her.

  “I wanted to laugh so bad there! That dummy comment you made really tickled me! You have no idea how bad I wanted to laugh!”

  Curled up, unwilling to help herself, all Anne wanted was a quick end so she could meet her parents and apologize for involving them in all of this.

  CHAPTER 52

  Slinking up a small staircase the figure unlocked and opened the door at the top. Now in the west wing of Hallcombes his first stop was close by. He approached the solid white door in the dim light and pushed it open hard. Caught off guard, a relaxing Tim spilt a warm cup of coffee he had been nursing all over his well-used white uniform. The immediate fright from being startled wore off quickly when Tim saw who it was.

  “Jesus Christ Frieda! Can’t you knock?”

  Frieda stared at him for a long moment, watching him try to clean himself up with a napkin from a fast food restaurant. Tim looked at the doctor and sighed.

  “I’m sorry doctor, I didn’t mean any disrespect. You just scared me that’s all.”

  Tim paused.

  “And now I need to wash this again. You’re here kinda early today.”

  Foregoing any kind of banter, Frieda simply said all he needed to.

  “I need the key to 101”

  Tim sighed heavily, he felt he had dealt with this already and he did not want to deal with it again.

  “Oh, not you too, go home doctor! I’m not giving you the key.”

  Tim turned away from Frieda and put his feet back up again. There was nothing much worth watching on his television but that didn’t matter. It took his mind off of his work and that was all he wanted. Frieda closed his eyes for a second. He was sure Tim wasn’t this rude to Doctor MacNamee when he asked for the key, in fact, when Frieda watched MacNamee kick the door, Tim was still more respectful.

  “I’m a doctor.”

  Frieda stated this quietly but firmly.

  “What was that?” Tim asked nonchalantly, not turning around.

  Suddenly, Frieda raised his voice and pulled out his revolver.

  “I’m a doctor!”

  Before Tim could turn around Frieda fired three shots into his stomach and chest. The bangs in such a small room gave Frieda a high-pitched whine in his ears which cancelled out the sounds of anything else. He yelled again and fired three more at Tim but he couldn’t hear is own voice. He could barely hear the last three gunshots and he certainly did not hear the empty clicking sound as he attempted to keep firing with a spent revolver. The ringing in his ears was inconsequential compared to the feeling he got when he took a life. A life he felt was worth taking as Tim had treated him so disrespectfully. In his mind, he was completely and utterly justified. He stared at the large bloody body of Tim the orderly and smiled. This was justice; great justice and he had completely forgotten why he was here.

  In his periphery he noticed the keys dangling from Tim’s belt and suddenly it occurred to him why he was here. He turned to the steel cabinet by the door and looked through for the key to “101” but it wasn’t there. He had an excellent guess as to where they were. Unfazed by what he had just done he put a hand into Tim’s pants pocket and found nothing. Luckily for Frieda, Tim was sitting on a swivel chair when he killed him so it was easy to turn him around and check his other pocket. There they were; gold colored, dangly. Frieda squeezed them in his hand for a moment before slipping them into his coat pocket and heading out the door.

  CHAPTER 53

  MacNamee was struggling to fight off the smaller dummy. It stood above his knee, it was no easy feat and he was slowly being whittled down. Jacobs had managed to fight off Basket but had taken another clawing in the process. He was losing blood but losing it slowly, the claw marks were not very deep but they were draining him. He was not determined he was not finished yet however; he was not going out right now.

  “Matthew!”

  MacNamee had grabbed a table leg from the makeshift fire the dolls built and was using it as a bat to defend himself from the small dummy. He called out but Matthew was still on the ground pretending he was still winded. He did not want to help, he wanted to stay there and hope he was left alone.

  “You fucking pussy! Get up and give me a hand!”

  “Why do you need a hand” the dummy quipped “you’ve already got a leg!”

  The small dummy kept trying to attack but MacNamee kept swiping, keeping him at bay.

  “Matthew!”

  He didn’t want to help but he looked down and suddenly he realized there was almost no-one left. Anne was dead for all he knew and that left three. Jacobs and Oates did not look good so that only left one still standing besides him. He had to act, or it would be him versus the dolls and he would be greatly outnumbered. He spotted the pistol he dropped right beside him and decided to go for it.

  “Aarrgghh!”

  With a cry designed to psyche himself up he scrambled to his feet, picked up the gun and charged. As the smaller dummy turned in surprise MacNamee struck it on the head with the wood, knocking the well-suited villain to the floor. Matthew pounced on top, shoved the pistol in its mouth and squeezed the trigger. After the dummy’s head exploded Matthew turned to MacNamee with a goofy smile. MacNamee was in no mood for celebration as Basket was closing in on Jacobs again.

  “Help Anne!”

  As Matthew scampered off MacNamee tackled Basket, trying his best to pin down the devil clown. Jacobs was stubborn but struggling. The more he exerted himself, the faster he was weakening. As he watched the doctor struggle with the colorful beast his vision started to go blurry. He watched as MacNamee stole a look at him and he saw the fear in his eyes. It was clear from the doctor’s expression that Jacobs did not look good. MacNamee had to help him. Firmly and swiftly he grabbed the clown, rose to his feet and threw him way across the room in a desperate attempt to have some time to help Jacobs. He just hoped it would be enough.

  Dummy’s partial skull was slightly illuminated by
the light from the staircase. He chattered his jaws in anticipation for the kill.

  “Don’t worry about your parents; they’re safe in here with me. You’ll be with them soon.”

  Matthew bounded down the stairs just as Dummy held her by the hair and was about to chomp down on her face. The first bullet snapped his arm, the second fractured his jaw. The proceeding barrage of bullets broke up the hideously fixed smile and glassy eyes that had taken too many victims. Dummy lay on the ground in pieces; his limbs were still trying to move. One arm was trying to drag his torso towards the shooter but Matthew coolly kicked it across the room, out of site. Quickly he kicked some other shards of the once monstrous being away from the cowering Anne and embraced her. “Anne, you’re alright!”

  Anne looked up at him tenderly. She did not have any strong feelings for him, she was just so happy to see a friendly face. She continued sobbing as Matthew helped her to her feet and held her.

  “They’re dead.”

  “Who?” Brian asked gently.

  “My parents…that…dummy…”

  “I’m sorry Anne but don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

  Anne closed her eyes but a dull thud and some spluttering forced her to open them. Right in front of her face was Betsy. She had jumped on Matthew’s back, and crushed his throat with her solid hands.

  “Hello”

  The doll’s ominous greeting pushed a flight response back into Anne as she pushed him forward, away from her and ran up the staircase as fast as her bruised body would go.

  CHAPTER 54

  Dawn had broken and Frieda walked towards the light. The large window at the end of the long west wing hallway was pushing sunlight closer to him as he walked. He was still a while away from reaching it but the corridor certainly was lighter than it was when he entered the security office. Frieda took his time walking up the corridor. A chorus of shouts and wails from woken, deranged patients accompanied him while he reloaded but he barely heard them. His hearing was only just returning. Frieda looked through the glass to Connor’s room. He watched the boy: he looked asleep. This angered Frieda. He expected Connor to be awake after the shots; he wanted the boy to see this coming. It didn’t matter, he conceded, he was going to die either way.

  “Frieda!”

  The voice, instantly recognizable to the young doctor made him stop and turn. Doctor Crass stood only fifteen feet away; his body language was that of a pleading man.

  “Frieda what are you doing? What did Tim do to you?”

  “He got in my way!”

  Frieda spoke confidently. Killing Tim gave him power he never knew he had up until then.

  “I need to do this Doctor Crass! And you can’t stop me!”

  “I’m not here to stop you” Crass protested “I’m simply here to make you think about what you’re doing. Don’t you see, if you do this, Connor will win. He wanted to get inside your head; he wanted to make you feel worthless. This is all a game to him. If you go ahead and do what you’re thinking about doing you give him all the power. You hand him the win.”

  Frieda put his head down. Despite everything he still found it hard to face Crass, especially now.

  “You don’t understand what it’s like to be me. No-one listens, no one cares. I have no wife, no friends, no future. No hope. I’ve had enough of it.”

  “You’re right doctor; I don’t understand. So why don’t you tell me. Come on, let’s get out of here, we’ll get breakfast. We’ll talk.”

  Frieda lifted his head, his mood changed.

  “You want to go for breakfast with me?”

  “Of course Doctor, come on. There’s a great little diner by my place, they serve the best pancakes. We can talk about everything.”

  Frieda’s hand went limp, the gun dropped to his side. He looked back into Connor’s room and sighed. He almost made a terrible mistake. His mood lightened up from Crass’s words. He had been longing to hear them all this time. It was all he wanted. All he needed. He walked to Crass with almost a spring in his step, he was elated. He stood toe to toe with his boss and the mentor he had always wanted and teared up.

  “You have no idea how long I have been waiting to hear those words”

  Crass forced a smile as Frieda put an arm around him and started crying on his shoulder.

  “I mean it Doctor; things are going to be different from now on.”

  Frieda spoke in between sniffles.

  “I’ve been waiting years for you to say those words Doctor Crass.”

  Crass felt the barrel of a revolver press into his side.

  “And now that I’ve heard them I finally realize what a lying son of a bitch you really are. You have no idea how happy this makes me.”

  “Frieda wait…”

  One, two, three. Crass was one the ground as good as dead. Four, Five, Six. Doctor Crass’s face was unrecognizable. He was most certainly dead.

  Frieda dried his eyes, reloaded and turned back to Connor’s room.

  CHAPTER 55

  “Doctor MacNamee?” Anne called out

  “I’m in here! In the office! Hurry!”

  Anne limply ran through the main room. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Jacobs slumped up against the wall, covered in blood. Without thinking, she stopped in the doorway and gestured at Jacobs.

  “Is he dead?”

  MacNamee didn’t answer right away; instead he motioned for her to come in with his gun.

  “That damn clown is still out there!”

  Anne ran in and instantly spotted Oates lying on the floor, strangled with the power cord from the desk lamp. Anne looked at the Sheriff’s body, stunned despite already having witnessed so much death.

  “Betsy”

  MacNamee whispered to her while Jessica cuddled into him.

  “But Betsy was down…”

  “Jacobs is gone too. Where’s Matthew?”

  MacNamee cut her off; he was trying to work out a plan in his head.

  Anne shook her head: “It was Betsy who killed him”

  “So it’s just the two of them left then. And the two of us.”

  “Let’s just leave”

  Anne had to say it; her episode in the basement had changed her more than blowing off Tony’s head ever did. She was willing to leave.

  “After all this?”

  MacNamee was stunned; there was no way he was going to leave.

  “Think of the child! We’ve no hope now!”

  “And then what? They’ll come after us; they’ll come after her. This isn’t over until one side loses.”

  Anne sighed. He was right and she knew it.

  “Ok so what then?”

  MacNamee let Jessica go and stood up. He and Greta wanted to have kids. Jessica reminded him of her and the hopes they shared together. He would end this, if only for her sake.

  CHAPTER 56

  Frieda stared down at the sleeping child and he had no problem with pulling the trigger, but he wanted to wait. He wanted to savor this. This was the first time in his life he had stood up to anyone or anything and he wanted to milk it all he could. He watched the boy’s chest move up and down in rhythm. He derived a pleasure from this he never thought he would have.

  “What are you waiting for?”

  A silky voice from behind startled him, causing him to change his aim towards it.

  “Don’t try to stop me! I’ll shoot you too I swear!”

  “The Eye” took a little step forward and smiled. “Yes, I believe you would.”

  “I’m warning you, don’t come any closer!”

  “You mean, like this?”

  “The Eye” stepped forward and Frieda pulled the trigger. “The Eye” slapped a hand to his chest as if mortally wounded and then chuckled. He moved his hand into Frieda’s view and played with the bullet in between his fingers. The doctor stood; eyes wide, mouth agape. The demon’s eyes flashed red as he spoke.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not here to stop you, if I were, you’d be dead already.”

/>   “What are you here for then?”

  Suddenly Frieda did not feel as powerful with his gun anymore.

  “To observe” “The Eye” said, waving his hand over the boy, still unaware of what was going on in the room. Somehow Frieda implicitly trusted the man in front of him so he turned and put the gun back on Connor. As he watched Connor lie there, a thick plume of condensation blew past his face. He recognized the plume along with the breathing from his apartment and he certainly remembered the face that went with it. Even though he trusted the man inside the room he did not turn around. He did not trust the beast.

  “Don’t mind him” “The Eye” said “He’s with me”

  “He wanted to kill me, you know?”

  Frieda was referring to Connor as he talked, trying to justify his actions. Suddenly, the act of shooting a child in his bed did not seem to make as much sense now there was an audience.

  “I know” “The Eye replied casually.

  “He will too…if I let him.”

  “I know that too.”

  Frieda closed his eyes and held the gun tight.

  CHAPTER 57

  MacNamee closed the office door with Jessica inside. The girl moved to the window and peered through, curious as to what was going on outside. Under the conscious direction of the sleeping boy, Basket made his move. With a manic chuckle Basket bounded effortlessly from desk to desk, taking his time to attack, allowing Connor the time to enjoy himself. Colorful yet grotesque, Basket spotted Jessica at the window and smiled. He liked children. Jessica smiled back. She liked clowns.

  “Here he comes!”

  MacNamee and Anne were pressed against the wall with their guns poised. Round after round they fired. Some hit, most missed. The ones that hit were only slight, doing little damage. With a colossal leap, the clown landed right in front of MacNamee, catching both of them off guard. Anne, armed with Jacobs’ shotgun got a round off, forcing the full spread on the clown but because she was caught off balance, the recoil sent the gun towards her head again. This time the barrel was driven straight into her face, putting her back on the ground, bleeding again. Another hole in Basket’s body, but he was still going strong. The pistol in MacNamee’s hands was not doing much to change that. Basket used a powerful backhand to slap the pistol from MacNamee’s hands and then leaped on him, clawing at his face and chest. Jumping off of him he pulled MacNamee down onto the floor and kicked him in the ribs in an over-the-top comedy fashion. Beaten badly, MacNamee opened his eyes just in time to watch Basket sink his teeth into Anne’s head. After biting off a large chunk of her skull he swallowed, licked his lips and moved towards the doctor. Basket flipped him onto his back and looked deep into his eyes, dripping Anne’s blood all over him. MacNamee saw Connor’s eyes staring back at him, not the clowns. He saw a child’s eyes where a monster should have been. He saw innocence when he should have seen a monstrosity. It was at that moment when he realized he could do nothing but accept his fate. He closed his eyes just as the clown’s mouth opened and the world shut itself off to him.