Anne was not surprised of the deteriorating condition of the building. Once the two closed the double doors, everything was dark and reeked of age. Anne's flashlight aimed to the stairway. "Just on the second floor, now," Jack said calmly. Anne was very aware that the building was more than just empty. Her eyes lay onto Jack. He led the way. She was obligated to follow.
Jack unlocked the door to room 208. Once Anne entered, she was amazed by the books that surrounded the small apartment. Even a stack of books had built a bed. "So, uh, why were you so determined to bring me here?" As Anne asked, inspecting the torn papers on the floor, Jack placed his holsters next to the kitchen. His eyes fixed to her. The gunslinger knew well she was to be there for a while.
Jack sat onto his "bed." The girl felt discomfort. "You're the first person I've seen in years," Jack started. "That pyramid thing you saw back at the hospital… I was worried you would come across him. When I saw you fighting those monsters, I knew I had to get you out, you know?" Anne reluctantly placed her backpack onto the floor. She sat down next to it, and curled herself up. "So, what you're saying," Anne yawned while starting her sentence, "is that you are afraid that the Pyramid Head dude is going to get me, so you wanted me to stick with you?"
"I saw your automobile and got worried. I guess that's all I can say from there."
"Dude. I'm capable of taking care of myself."
"You seemed to have a hard time fighting those monsters…"
"I literally almost shit my pants. I've never seen monsters in person!"
Jack gave a laugh. The gunslinger stood from his book bed. "We can talk more in the morning. You seem really exhausted." The man offered his bed to the young woman. Anne placed her backpack under her head. "I'm good. The floor is always as comfortable." Jack suddenly worried due to the mold that surrounded the cracks and edges. "The books would be better," he argued. The woman grumpily stood her little spot, and plopped herself on the no-good books. Once Anne closed her eyes, Jack proceeded to grab a new stack, to make comfort for himself.
Jack was suddenly woken up by instinct. The windows allowed a bright ray on light to show through the cracks. The man jumped from the "bed." His eyes set to the young girl, who was turning the knob to the door. Her backpack and broken bottle was equipped. To Jack's surprise, she didn't touch any of his weapons. "Where are you going?" Jack said in a rather harsh tone.
"I'm leaving. Thanks for letting me rest."
"You can't leave."
"Why the hell not?"
"Remember the 'rules' that I told you about?"
Anne turned her head. Her eyes were fixed to the man. "Look, I'm getting the hell out of here whether you want me to or not." Anne left the door open as she made her way down the dark hall. Jack quickly grabbed his gear. The man ran towards the girl, but only caused her to run faster. Anne proceeded to hit the stairway, and instead of running down, she made a leap over the railing, and landed onto the small garden. Jack, still on the third floor, proceeded to do the same. Anne kicked the front doors open. She ran around the gates, as Jack still chased her. "Anne! You don't understand!" Jack yelled in between breaths. Anne listened, but she didn't believe him. The girl cut through to Jack's Inn, and suddenly took a jump into her car. She started the ignition. Once she locked the windows, Jack finally made it. He banged his hands onto the glass. "The town won't let you leave! Believe me!" Jack yelled, out of breath.
"You can't find a way out!"
"Anne! You can't leave!"
"Don't try! You'll die!"
When Anne moved the car to reverse, she suddenly witnessed the glass of her window shattering. Her head turned. Blood covered some of it, but it wasn't hers. Jack was already on the ground. His coughs brought her into a panic. A monster, similar to the ones on the rooftop nurses, approached the window with a shank. Anne's only action was to pull the keys out of the ignition. The woman then crawled to the passenger side. She opened the door, and jumped out. The nurse made its way to her. Anne moved to a fighting stance. The woman grabbed the arm with the shank, straightened it, suddenly threw a chop, then moved the chop to the nurse's neck, suddenly snapping it. Once the nurse fell to the floor, Anne then kicked it a few times, screaming in the process, to make sure it was dead.
Anne ran to the driver's side, where Jack was gagging. "Oh my God, Dude," Anne suddenly called. She helped him to his knees, but he only leaned forward and towered the woman. Anne crawled from under him. She lifted the jacket up to spot the wound. She then reached into her backpack. "You're going to be alright, Dude. I got this." Anne cleaned the wound, and was relieved it was nowhere fatal. She helped the man to his feet. She wrapped an arm around to keep his balance. While trying to avoid the monsters that surrounded the area, Anne made her way back to the apartment building.
Jack was awakened with a constant cough. His eyes were focused to the girl. "Good thing you're awake now! The whole place is infested with those monsters!" Anne called in relief. She placed her hand onto the gunslinger's forehead. "Just glad you're alive. If they get in, I'll use those guns you got," Anne added. The man leaned back. "You didn't try to leave."
"Am I going to leave a fallen man behind?"
Anne ruffled the man's hair. "Well, here's the weird thing. I grew up in an area that had men raping women and killing them, or selling them. Not very fun."
"Doesn't sound like it. It happened to you?"
"Nah. Luckily for me, I was able to get a little hints and pointers on how to get a man to the ground and his neck snapped. I would have done that to you if you reached me."
Jack smirked.
"Good thing I just got stabbed then."
Anne laughed. Jack felt more comfortable to know she was just starting to lighten. The woman gave a stretch. Jack took a look to realize she had organized some of the books. The man laughed to himself. He was more relieved to know he was no longer alone. He lightened even more to realize that the girl reminded him of his mother- stubborn, foul-mouthed, yet clever and caring.
Not long after, Jack got up. The wound was evident in feeling. It didn't bother him too much, however. The gunslinger grabbed his weapons. "Where you going?" Anne asked. Her eyes didn't turn to him. She was still in the process of organizing books. "I always do a search around the town. Would you like to come with?" The man's demeanor was more than polite. Anne turned around with her butt still planted. Her eyes focused to him. "I don't see why not," she said with an evil grin. Anne picked up the shank she stole.
The duo entered the bowling alley. Anne explored the bowling area as Jack explored the lounge. Both seemed confused by the artifacts they have picked up. Anne found a doll next to the pins. Upon inspection, her finger was suddenly pricked. "God damn!" She called. Upon further inspection, she pulled out a needle. The odd part was the needle was placed inside backwards, with the string attached to where the end was placed inside the doll. Anne sucked the blood from her dirt-filled hands. Jack approached the young girl, displaying a couple bobby pins and a porcelain doll head. The duo exchanged confusion. Anne then approached the shoe counter. There was only one pair of shoes placed in the racks. Once the girl pulled one out, a small glass eye fell to the floor. Fortunately, it did not break, and to Anne's pointing, it matched the doll head. The duo made their way to the restroom doors. Anne suddenly jumped and screamed when she noticed a small head speeding across the mirrors, but didn't show on the other side. Jack disregarded it. He approached a urinal. "Look what I found?" Jack then pointed, much to Anne's approval.
A doll's arm was sticking out of the drain.
"You're picking that up?"
"Clearly these parts must lead to something,"
"Okay. So I found a doll with a needle sticking out but backwards. You found a doll head, I found a doll eye, despite both heads are intact, and now an arm. Clearly there's at least another doll in this bowling alley."
"Maybe that's why we saw the apparition?"
"Good thinking Jack."
Anne moved her way to the middle of the bathroom. She crossed her arms. "Let's return these doll parts." With that, Anne walked out of the restroom. With Jack behind her, the girl suddenly began to inspect each inch of the bowling alley. Once she walked into the lounge, she saw a note located on the lounge table. Anne picked it up to read.
"Happy birthday!
I can't believe you're already nine years old! You're growing up! I hope you like those dolls I got you! They're antiques, so I would like you to take very good care of them. I love you, sweet Granddaughter."
Anne's butt was firmly planted to the table. Jack inspected other parts of the room to find any clues. "Well, these dolls are from the little girl's Grandma, that's for sure," Anne remarked. Jack approached the young woman. Once his eyes planted onto the piece of paper, a sudden racket rang in the duo's ears. Jack and Anne suddenly made their way to the bowling area. At the end of the middle lane, Anne spotted three stands located with the pins. She wrapped one around the fully-built doll. Jack was checking the counter for other clues. Once he stepped towards the shoe rack, he heard a creak. "You hear that?" He called to Anne. She had already made her way back to the walk-in. Jack bent down. He grabbed onto the rug, and pulled it back. "There's a trap door here!" He called. Curious, the girl had handed the man her flashlight. He had started climbing down the stairs, allowing Anne to follow.
Jack aimed the flashlight through the dark basement and felt water wrap around his boots. It was rather flooded, and had been allowing the components to float. Anne had her arm wrapped around the man's. Jack quietly approached an indeterminable object when he suddenly saw a shadow pass the light. Anne gave a small shriek. The man then wrapped his arms around the woman, facing her towards the object itself. His left hand covered her mouth, as his right held the flashlight. As soon as they approached the object, it appeared to be the two dolls with missing parts, and the boxes from which they came from. Anne began to reassemble the parts together, as Jack placed the stands and reconnected dolls inside. However, once he did, he realized none matched the style of the boxes. "I get it!" Anne suddenly called from next to him. She pulled the dolls back out. "You see the stands? One has an item. Like this one has a glistening shoe and this one has an apple," Anne started. "The blond doll is Cinderella. She is assembled with the shoe." Once Jack suddenly remembered the books he read, he reached for the doll with short, black hair. "And this one is Snow White!" He called, and placed the doll with the stand with the apple. Once he made his way to the third doll, and picked it up, it rattled. Jack ignored it and assembled the Little Mermaid doll with the trinket stand. Jack placed the three boxes together, as each side had magnets. The duo was suddenly surprised once the rattling Little Mermaid doll's mouth opened. Jack reached his hand inside the opening of the box. His finger pulled a key from the mouth.
The key was labeled, "Lakeside Amusement Park, Employee."
Once Anne turned around, she suddenly screamed and dropped the flashlight. Jack reached down to grab it when Anne suddenly wrapped her arms around his chest. Jack moved the flashlight up to see a body.
The neck was wrapped with a cord.
It looked aged and rotted.
However, it had numbers.
Jack made a mental note of the combination, to which he pulled out of his journal and suddenly wrote down once the duo quickly left the bowling alley.
Following from here, Anne must be scarred for life.
I'll make a picture of her sitting in the corner and rethinking EVERYTHING.