I own nothing regarding the Child's Play franchise; plus, there will be a special Goosebumps cameo. So, proper credit goes to R.L. Stine as well.

Written for a Halloween Prompt, really taking place in the gap between Seed of Chucky and Curse of Chucky.

.x.

While Glen grows a little older, his mother allows him to collect rodents as pets. Among the seven mice, six gerbils, four hamsters and the chinchilla he's already assembled throughout his childhood, he's quite fond of his three rats in particular. They are smart enough to do small tricks and can be beckoned to him when he calls out their names.

Glenda though isn't allowed to have pets. Tiffany immediately decides this the day she discovers Buggs, their white rabbit, bloody and mangled stuffed inside the dryer during her second load of laundry. Glenda has neither the motivation nor the right sort of empathy that is suited for animal-person-companionship. She can never measure up to her brother in that area.

But when the midsummer heat hits the neighborhood hard months later and it brings a swarm of flies and crickets to seek shelter indoors, littering the living room and just becoming a downright nuisance around the breakfast table, Tiffany is blessed to have a child who does enjoy catching and slaughtering living filth.

"Mummy?" Glenda pipes up, tugging on the skirt of her new dress. "Is Daddy coming back for Christmas?"

Tiffany looks down right into the big, bright blue eyes of her precious little girl and pats her head. "Not this year, Doll Face. Daddy's away...on business. But he did send you two a holiday package. Go look."

Despite her very brief disappointment, Glenda shrieks with excitement and runs off for the large elm tree they have decorated in the far corner of the house.

Glen follows his sister, settling down upon the floor before the roaring fire while Tiffany calmly sits herself down on the sofa with a glass of red wine, waiting for the twins unwrap to that special gift directly sent here.

Glen glances up at her curiously. "Otou-san didn't send us anymore body parts of his that will grab me this time, did he?"

Tiffany disregards the thought. "I doubt it, Sweet Face. That was just a gag. You're father's funny like that. Go on, just see what's inside."

Glenda does the final ripping of the paper with a large pair of scissors in hand and turns over what happens to be a leather suitcase, brown and bulky. Unlatching the buckles with anticipation, she cocks her head. "It's a dummy."

"But I'm done with ventriloquism." That's when Glen leans in further, reaching out for a letter clipped onto the dummy's vest. "There's a card here, from Otou-san."

Tiffany peers closer, more intrigued. "So what's it say, Sweet Face?"

"The dummy's name is Slappy." Glen swiftly skims over Chucky's personal notes. "Apparently he's a wannabe copycat of Otou-san's work and Otou-san says he wasn't all that pleased after the first impression. We'll be the perfect family to keep Slappy in check and out of his hair."

On his cue, the dummy instantly snaps up to a sitting position, gasping for air, causing the twins to flinch away for a moment. Slappy tests the functioning of his eyebrows, then rolls his wooden head, inspecting them as they all continue to stare at him in wonder. "Hey, kids," he cackles dramatically, "wanna play?" Glen just opts to retreat and goes to sit by his mother, grabbing her hand.

In comparison, Glenda begins to crawl back towards the dummy, deliberately, slowly, lifting her hand up, her fingers clutching the scissors. She points the silver blades right between his eyes. "Sure, Slappy." Her rose pink lips spread into a wide smile, terrible and sweet. "You're it."

The dummy blinks his heavy lids once and gapes at Glenda as though he wasn't quite expecting such a turning-the-tables reaction.

Tiffany laughs.

"Oh, you don't play with my kids, Mister Slappy. They play with you."

At Henry Fuller's 13th birthday party bash, Glen and his friend Nancy are busy playing cards before Glenda soon comes up behind her brother, crying out, "Boo!" and she grabs his shoulders, shaking him.

Glen startles, puts his hand over his jumping heart, and Glenda merely giggles and dashes away again, cheering.

Nancy rolls her eyes, regarding Glen with pity. "Why does she always do that to you, Glen?"

Glen recovers his composure quickly and shrugs. "She's just having some fun. Pulling a prank. I am used to it by now."

"Well, I don't think it's that funny. You looked so scared."

"It doesn't bother me. Not really. It's just...Glenda being Glenda." Glen shakes his head, refocusing on his card in hand. "She's my twin." Nancy and Glenda don't like each other at all. But what else is new? None of the other children here necessarily like Glenda, but they are a set, two halves of one, so wherever he goes, everyone knows Glenda's going to be there too. Glenda likewise, just doesn't care what anybody thinks of her. "I know she'd never hurt me that badly."

Tiffany opens the servant door that leads to the basement, calling out for the twins, "What are you doing down there, kiddos?"

Both Glen and Glenda look up from their latest project—a miniature scale guillotine, built for Glenda's army of little G.I. Joe's—and in unison, they simply call back with, "Playing!"

Glen doesn't really care for his sister's preparation to execute innocent toy soldiers, but he can still admire her skilled way with a screw driver and envisioning the final product.

Scene I, act I:

They're sixteen.

For days now, Glen has privately worked up the courage to ask Roxanne Millers, one of the school's most popular girls, to the Annual Prom.

He hands her a single red rose. "My mother says one rose stands for only one love."

The hallway is full of students as it happens, and everyone around starts to laugh, pointing at him. Roxanne Millers? Tall and brunette and rich go on a date with the shy, socially-awkward Raggedy Andy redheaded nerd who rather spend lunch hour reading alone in the library than stay in the cafeteria with the rest of their classmates?

Nonsense. It's ridiculous. No one buys it.

Roxanne looks at him, moderately disgusted and embarrassed by the mere thought of him even speaking to her in public like this. She shuts her locker hard and shoves the rose back into his chest, urging him to take a step away from her.

"Are you kidding me with this? Beat it, bookworm!"

And it sure doesn't take long for the rumors to spread from there. Everyone hears about it.

Cut. Flash forward.

The high school girls' bathroom right after third period ends. A classic setting for any violent horror segment.

Glenda corners Roxanne Millers in, locking the door from the inside. They glare at each other. Roxanne carelessly throws the first insult, making a snide comment about Glenda's evident knack for stalking; and soon they're scuffling. Glenda pins this walking cliché mean girl prom queen to the tile, straddling her, fiery waves swaying back and forth wildly with the motion. She unsheathes her pink-hilted pocketknife from her left boot and taunts Roxanne with it, bringing the cool blade up to her throat, and lightly dragging it across her skin. "Try anything stupid, and I'll make sure this pretty face of yours no longer appeals to all your devoted football stars. You'll just become a mess of blood and tears."

Quickly realizing her mistake of rubbing Glenda Leah Rae the wrong way, Roxanne grows completely submissive and whimpers. "Why are doing you this to me?"

"No one says no to my brother," Glenda warns her outright, pressing the edge of the knife a little deeper into the girl's cheek. "Got that?"

Roxanne starts to tremble, but nods her head anyway. "Okay. Okay. I'll—I'll tell Gary that— that I—I changed my mind. I'll say yes! Just—just don't hurt me. Please!"

"It's Glen."

"Right. Glen. I'll tell Glen—that I—I want to go with him! I'll go to Prom with your brother if you let me go. Just let me go."

"Great!" At this point, Glenda's mood changes entirely. Murderous to cheerful, just like a flip of an invisible switch. She returns to her original state, chuckling with all the cuteness and girlish charm she has to spare. "The three of us can go together!" She straightens herself then, smoothing out her pink skirt and black leather jacket, while leaving Roxanne there to watch her go, utterly bewildered.

It's early when Glenda breezes by his little rental home, waiting for him to open the porch door in all her dangerous and beautiful ginger glory. His sister was the only girl alive who could make pink the new black, presenting a 'Barbie Doll gone psycho rebel' kind of persona.

They're nineteen, finally living apart, away from their mother for the first time and going about their own business. Glen has been trying a regular college out for size, and for the meantime, Glenda's a big traveler these days appearntly, heading out on the road doing whatever she pleases. She never calls to visit him beforehand, but Glen knows he must come to expect her to show herself again eventually. That habit runs in the family. Her company becomes a priority. She's literally the other half of his soul after all, which means he doesn't have the right wires connected in his brain to hate her for it.

"Glen!" She beams at him, nearly out of breath. She pulls him in for a swift hug before saying, "Help me."

"With what?"

"This." She turns, tugging on something. It's a large black bag, the kind of bag that people usually use to stuff with leaves in the fall. But Glenda isn't here to deliver leaves. The cargo has a very distinctive shape. "Come on. Grab the legs. Come on, heave. The fucker's heavy."

Glen complies, a little reluctantly, though they can't ignore the body and just abandon it outside for the whole world to see. At least he's kept a pretty low profile and a clean reputation in these parts so far...

Once they're inside and safe from any other prying eyes, they let the body fall to the floor. Glen can't but to help frowning down at the victim's cold stiff hand slipping out of the opening. "What happened this time, Glenda?"

"Caught him in bed with another tramp. A blonde with too much makeup. It was enough to make me sick. We'll bury him under the willow tree in the back along with the other four. The blonde's still in the van. So is Slappy. Had to bring him with."

"You have a van?"

"I do now." Glenda emphasizes. "Slappy hotwired for me. So, you wanna go hang at the beach with us?"

"It's four in the morning."

"Which is the best time to dig a grave by the sea."

"I thought you said you would cut the killing, sis."

"No...," Glenda drawls, crossing her arms at him. "I said I'd cut back on the killing. Birds gotta fly, brother. Fish gotta swim, and dollies like me gotta kill."

He shakes his head. "You sound like Otou-san."

"Yeah? You sound like Mum...well, sometimes, when she's not losing her cool on some other bitch."

"Have you spoken to her recently? She hasn't phoned me recently."

"No," Glenda says again, smiling. "I suppose she wouldn't. Since we left the nest, she's had time to find other projects to work on. I think lately she's been busy shipping Daddy Dearest across the country to...you know, visit old friends." The gleam in those big blue eyes is all too impish. Then she glances towards the window, currently judging the sun's position over the horizon. "Now are we going diggin' or not?"

Glen huffs in defeat, but he nods, going to his shed for a shovel.

A year later, Nica Peirce stares at her niece from across the visitor's table, who's come by the ward today unexpectedly, saying how badly she wanted to see her. Though that's not what really surprises Nica. It's the young woman who arrives with Alice who unsettles her most. She has a pretty face, one that is almost too flawless to be real; she's like a mannequin in live human form. Freckles, big blue eyes, long lashes, manicured nails, curly red hair that falls in perfect ringlets and rosy lips. The whole package.

Nica blinks, wondering what the hell was going on. Where is Alice's grandmother? Is she aware of this meeting? Who is this girl? Who in their right mind happily drives a child to a mental institution of all places on a free Tuesday afternoon just because the child said so?

"Hi, I'm Glenda," the mystery girl says finally, smirking shrewdly. "Wanna play?"

Alice starts to laugh. Meanly, mischievously. "Time to meet my little girl, Nica."

And that's when realization hits.

Nika screams.

.x.