Hi, sorry to have made you wait so long ! I was changing my Internet server, so it was quite a mess the last weeks. Anyway, now I'm back and fully operational, so let's enjoy the next chapter. As I promised, this chapter is the beginning of the "freewheel" part of the story, for I won't follow the movie's line anymore and turn it to a survival-horror. Some anguish in this chapter, and more madness to come from Willy Wonka. I also added a bit of tenderness, to relieve some stress !
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"Will Violet remain a blueberry forever ?" asked Veruca.
"Yes," replied the candymaker. "Or no. Maybe. I don't know."
An evasive response... okay, no use to try again, he clearly didn't want to talk about that. They had left the Inventing Room to arrive in a large white hallway that seemed to have no end. They were all feeling more and more nervous. They felt that the issue of the Tour was close, and they dreaded what would happen then.
"What is exactly that special prize ?" asked Mike, suspicious.
"The best kind of prize is a surprise !" replied Wonka, cheerfully. "More exactly, it's something you'll never dare to imagine."
This didn't reassure them at all, oddly...
"Mr Wonka," asked Charlie, "do you remember the first candy you ate ?"
The chocolatier stopped, and his eyes seemed to look at nowhere. A rictus of pain drew on his lips, and he murmured an absent-minded "No..."
But in reality, he remembered this moment perfectly well. That was one of those events that changes your life forever. Not eating the candy, but what ensued:
"Candy !" screamed Dr Wilbur Wonka as he grabbed his son by the top of this torture device he wore around his head and that was supposed to be braces. They were in the dentist's office, and Dr Wonka had just finished cleaning his instruments when his son entered and he discovered this...
"I know you ate candy ! I can smell it. What did I tell you about candy, Willy ?"
"I didn't eat candy !"
"Don't lie to me, my son !"
On these words, the Doctor tightened his grip and smashed the boy's head against the operation bench. Little Willy screamed in pain and fear, but his father ignored it and continued:
"Candy is a waste of time !"
And he smashed again.
"It rots the teeth..."
He smashed again.
"And makes children fat and greedy !"
He smashed one last time and released the boy.
"Children," he murmured, "I hate children. They're no more than... rats."
He turned back, as if he was about to walk away, but he didn't. He just stayed here and murmured horrible things about children and how he hated them:
"All are little rats, unable to think by their own, unable to stay calm more than two seconds, always putting their greedy little hands on everything and sticking their tongue at the respectable adults. Worse, you try to scold them, and they hide behind Mommy, screaming against the nasty man, and suddenly, this little vermin becomes untouchable ! How in the world could one respect and love such despicable creatures ?"
While he was talking, Willy slowly stood on his feet and stared at his father's back, without expression on his face, nor in his eyes. He just thought that the Doctor could hate children, because children hated him. And Willy hated him even more. At this time, he didn't think of the consequences of his act, he just felt the urge to do it. He looked at the instruments displayed beside the operation bench, and picked up a pair of large scissors. Large enough. And sharp enough.
"Mr Wonka ? Mr Wonka ? Are you okay ?"
Wonka suddenly came back to the factory when he heard Charlie calling him. Keeping his dull eyes, he said in a mechanic tone:
"Please excuse me, I was having a flashback..."
"Do these..." asked Veruca, "do these flashbacks occur often ?"
"Increasingly... today..."
Then the chocolatier shook his head and returned to his "normal" aspect.
"Anyway, let's move, we have a Tour to finish ! Oh, that's the room I wanted to show you !"
The children looked at the circular metallic door that carried the mention Nut-Sorting Room. Well, this one doesn't sound so bad, does he ?
"Oh, that's a good thing," said Veruca in her aristocratic tone. She seemed to have completely forgotten where she was, now that she was talking about familiar subjects. "You see, my father is in the nut business himself, Mr Wonka, and..."
"Then you should like this room, little girl. Come in !"
He opened the door and entered the room, followed by the children. They arrived on a small bridge overhanging a quite unusual facility: the room was circular, smaller than the inventing room, and the walls were painted light blue. The floor was painted blue and white, in a double helix pattern that finished with a two-meters large hole in the middle of the room. It looked like a whirlpool. All around the room, against the walls, there were one hundred of small seats, with in front of each a tube that popped from the ceiling and another that popped from the ground. And on each of these seats, there was a...
"Squirrels !" screamed Veruca, filled with wonder.
She loved squirrels. She had always dreamt to have one, and here there were one hundred ! She was so enthusiastic at the sight of these cute rodents that her vigilance fell at zero. After all, squirrels can't be nasty and dangerous, can they ? She observed them working: a nut would come from the ceiling pipe, the squirrel would tap it with its tiny paw, then take the shell off with its teeth, and put the shelled nut in the ground pipe that would go... God knows where.
"Why squirrels ?" asked Mike. "Why not Oompa Loompas ?"
"Because squirrels are the only ones who can shell a nut without damaging it. Look how meticulous they are ! They tap the nuts with their paws to check if they're not rotten. Watch here ! This one seems to have found a rotten nut !"
They watched the squirrel in question tapping the nut attentively, and tossing it behind him. The rotten nut rolled to the center of the room and disappeared in the hole.
"You see, there's no mistake possible. Once the rotten nut is detected, it's immediately thrown down the garbage chute !"
Waw, thought Veruca. These squirrels were exceptionally well trained. They were unique. She had to have one ! She looked at Willy Wonka and offered him her silliest smile.
"Mr Wonka," she said, "I want a squirrel ! A trained squirrel like yours ! My father will pay you after the Tour !"
"But they're not for sale. You can't have one."
The silly smile disappeared immediately, replaced by an expression of profound anger and indignation. He had said no ! No-one could say no to her, not even a crazy candyman ! And she would show him !
"Fine," she screamed, "then I'll get one myself !"
And on these words, she passed under the protection barrier and used the narrow ladder to descend to the squirrels' level. The noise of their work stopped abruptly. Two hundred eyes stared at the intruder, waiting for the right moment to attack. Over them, Wonka and the three boys were watching the scene. The children were tensed by the suspense. What would happen to her ? They didn't know, but they just hoped it would end up well. But considering what had happened to Augustus and Violet, there were little chance for Veruca to remain safe. The chocolatier just watched the scene, with this mysterious smile on his face. The boys knew he should've done something, but at this point, they didn't even mind his attitude. They understood that he was insane, that was all. Mike bent his head back to whisper to Alex who was behind:
"Maybe we should do something, no ?"
"Just wait and see," replied the Kazakh. "Beside, I think it's fair for this brat to be handled a little... roughly."
Mike didn't see anything to answer. What Aleksey said was cruel, but fair.
Below, Veruca approached a squirrel, smiled at it, and declared:
"You're the one I want !"
She raised her arms, trying to catch the rodent, but it ran free and triggered an incredible mess: all the squirrels of the room got panicked and started running around, squeaking and gathering around the little girl's feet. Veruca was very worried: squirrels don't behave like that, normally. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what she had done to trigger this, neither how to stop it. It really scared her, because it was actually the first time a situation ran out of her control. She was used to control everything, from her servant's work to her father's mood, but here, it was the anarchy, a situation that she couldn't bear with. A squirrel jumped on her skirt, and she pushed it away in a defensive reflex. In her head, she could see the word DANGER flickering in large red letters, she could hear the voices of Augustus and Violet saying:
"You see, you failed too. Whatever we try, he always finds a way to catch us by surprise. At this rythm, we'll never make it out alive..."
No ! It couldn't end like that ! It had to be a bad dream, how could it happen to her ? Yes, it was a bad dream, because in reality, her father would never have left her, alone and defenceless. Unless... unless he was tired of her endless tantrums and saw here an opportunity to get rid of her. Oh, no, this idea was the climax of horror !
"Mr Wonka," she whined, "what's going on ?"
"Well, those squirrels hate to be disturbed, and they go nuts quite easily."
Another squirrel jumped on the poor girl's skirt, and another one on her torso, and soon, she found herself overwhelmed with rodents. In vain attempts to take them off her, she tripped and fell on her back.
"Mr Wonka !" she yelled. "Make them stop !"
But he didn't answer and once again, the children were hypnotized by the horror happening under their eyes. Twenty-five squirrels went for her right arm and pinned it down. The other arm followed, then the legs, until she was completely paralyzed, her four limbs stretched at max and restrained by the incredible strength of dozens of furious rodents. She felt as if she was bound on a medieval torture table, like the ones she saw in museums. As she tried to chase this gloomy image away, she felt a pressure on her chest and looked to see a squirrel standing on her. The small animal put its front paws on her forehead and tapped three times.
"What are they doing to her ?" asked Charlie. He was horrified by the situation and wanted so bad to help her, but whatever he had in mind, his body just refused to move.
"They check her," replied the chocolatier with glee, "to see if she's not rotten."
The squirrel emitted a small squeak.
"Woops," said Wonka, "looks like she is. She's a bad nut."
"Aren't bad nuts thrown down the garbage chute ?" asked Mike.
"Precisely."
With a perfect timing, the rodents passed under the girl and started rolling her to the big hole, in the center of the room. She screamed, struggled and kicked, but there was nothing to do. She saw the hole approaching like an inevitable fate.
"And the garbage chute," asked Charlie, "where does it lead ?"
"To the furnace, of course !"
Charlie's eyes widened and his face grew white when he imagined this lovely girl being roasted alive.
"We've got to help her !" he shouted.
"Sorry, I'm really not eager to face the wrath of one hundred squirrels. Don't be so sad, boy, you barely knew her anyway..."
Meanwhile, Mike set his hero-mode active and turned round to grab Aleksey by the arm.
"Alex," he screamed, "we must do..."
He stopped abruptly when he realized that there was no-one behind him. He was holding the arm of the black coat, but there was no-one in this coat. The Kazakh had disappeared.
Veruca was now very close to the garbage chute, and she had lost almost all hope. But at the very moment when her feet were right over the hole, a strong cracking was heard and a black leather tail appeared around the girl's ankles and violently pulled her over the top of the chute. It went too fast for the children to realize it: Veruca was about to fall in the chute, and the second after, she was lying safe in the opposite corner of the room, far from the hole, and she had the tail of a long combat whip winded around her ankles. Aleksey was standing right beside her and was holding the handle of the whip. He had no coat on, and his sleeveless top revealed his completely hairless naked arms. On his left shoulder, he had a tatoo representing the now familiar logo of the black snake in the red circle. The Kazakh released the girl and then swung his three meters long whip around, to scare the squirrels away. Meanwhile, Charlie and Mike jumped over the barrier and ran to Veruca. They knelt down in front of the girl and asked her if she was okay. Her eyes had grown twice their size, she was panting like a dog and her hands were trembling heavily. She was in shock. When the boys approached, she hugged them tight, buried her face in their arms, and let all her tears go out. Charlie didn't know what to do to comfort the crying girl, and by instinct, he did what his mother used to do when he felt sad himself: he put a hand on the back of her head and gently caressed her hair. Beside them, the cracking of the whip became unbearable, but it ended when all the squirrels had disappeared through the air vents on the walls.
"You'll take care of her ?" whispered Mike to Charlie.
The boy nodded and Mike got up to approach the Kazakh. Aleksey was kneeling down a few meters away, his whip on the ground beside him. He was exhausted, and his heavy breathings sounded like the siren of an old locomotive. His skin had taken a light red shade, but he did not sweat at all.
"You okay ?" asked Mike.
"Gimme a few seconds..."
The young genius took a look around the room, which had become quite oppressive since the noisy rodents were gone. They were alone, and it was too large, too empty, too silent. Wait a minute... they were alone ? He looked at the bridge where they were a few minutes before, and realized it was true: they were alone, because Wonka had gone. No sign of him anywhere. He'd just vanished.
"Damn !" he said, "he disappeared. Wonka disappeared."
"I thought so," replied Aleksey.
Mike turned round to see that the Kazakh was now standing up, fully rested, and his skin had taken back its original pale complexion. Mike thought that was strange, it was as if he had chilled out. He took back his whip and started to roll it up. Charlie and Veruca joined them. The little girl seemed to feel much better now, although they were all in shock.
"I was waiting for this moment," continued Aleksey as he hung his weapon on his belt, "ever since the beginning of this damn Tour, but I sincerely hoped that it wouldn't happen. Well, it did."
"So it was all a trap," said Mike, "as we suspected. Wonka set this up to get us one by one."
"Wh-wh-why would he do that ?" asked Charlie. "I can't believe that this is happening. He's too nice to be a kidnapper !"
"Deception is always hard to cope, boy," said Alex, "but we have evidences: the candies you tasted were rotten with drugs, and Mike discovered that he makes ice-cream out of dangerous chemicals. We preferred not to tell you to keep you cool, but now, it's sure that we're in danger here. I don't know why the drugs, the traps, and all, I don't know his agenda but I don't want to. I just know he's insane and dangerous."
Charlie searched his pocket and took the razorblade. He examined it and remembered his father's advices.
"We've been warned," he said. "Our parents warned us against him, but we didn't listen. We wanted chocolate too much and we didn't listen."
Mike took his tazer gun and replied:
"Yeah, and now we're in trouble. I thought I could see it coming, but I overestimated myself, this time."
Veruca looked at the boys' weapons and said in a worried tone:
"You mean your parents warned you and gave you a self-defence item ?"
"Well, yeah," replied the genius, "what's the matter ?"
The girl didn't answer. She felt a ball growing in her throat, and the tears were coming back.
"My father did nothing of this !" she cried. "He just let me in, helpless ! I bet he did it on purpose, to get rid of me ! He doesn't love me because I'm a brat !"
Charlie wanted to go comfort her again, but instead, Aleksey put his hands on her shoulders and said:
"Calm down, girl, you're not alone. Your dear father doesn't pay me for nothing."
The crying stopped in an instant.
"What ?" she asked.
"Just, who are you in reality ?" asked Mike.
"Well, I guess the masquerade is over now."
On these words, Alex put his hands on his face and rubbed it for a few seconds. When he stopped and put his hands off, the children couldn't help but stop breathing in astonishment. The make-up was gone. The contacts were gone. He was showing them his real face: he had no eyebrows, no eyelashes, and his eyes were gleaming yellow, with thin vertical pupils. He spoke, and a long, thin and forked tongue popped out of his mouth as he spoke:
"That'sssssssss a good thhhhhing. I wasssss getting tired of thisss make-up."
For a few seconds, none of the children dared to speak, when Mike finally screamed:
"You are the Snake !"
Meanwhile, in the hotel:
"I know," declared Mr Salt.
"What ?" asked Mr Teavee.
"I know that the Snake is in there, because I let him in."
"I don't understand."
All the parents were gathered around Mr Salt and listened in awe:
"You know that I run an important business, which benefits reach several millions per years. And today, it is very important for a successful businessman like me to have a few friends from the NORAs."
"The NORAs ?"
"The Non-Officially Recognized Activities. I guess you know what I mean."
"The mafia ?"
"In simple words, yes. It's not very honest, but it's the only way to make business quietly, today. Anyway, the people of this milieu use to have their dirty work done by bounty hunters, and more than once they offered to find me one if needed. Because I try to be as honest as possible, I declined the offer, but here came this Golden Ticket contest. When I found the Ticket for Veruca, I discovered the rules of this Tour, especially the one that didn't allow any adult to come inside the Factory. You know what happened..."
"Of course," replied Mrs Beauregard, "your parental instinct detected the potential danger of the situation..."
"That's it. And as giving her a self-defence item wouldn't be enough to reassure me, I decided to call back my friends in Eastern Europe and asked for a competent person who would be young enough to enter the Factory. And they found me the best of the best: the Snake, from Kazakhstan, who was at only thirteen years old better than older and more experienced bounty hunters. Only after I discovered that he was the same guy who, two years ago, committed all these murders in California, but my friends assured me that he was reliable, so I kept him."
"So you mean that..."
"I love my daughter, and I wanted the best for her safety. That's why I hired this bounty hunter to assure her personal protection during this Tour."
Meanwhile, in the Nut-Sorting Room:
Aleksey had just finished his speech, like Mr Salt.
"So," asked Veruca, "you were hired as my... bodyguard ?"
"In short, yes. My mission was purely and simply to make sure that you'd finish the Tour and go back to your father safe and harmless. For a payment of eighty thousands Sterling pounds, I thought it was a fair trade for an easy job. And now, here we are in that..."
Veruca didn't listen to the end, for she was overwhelmed with a feeling of joy that seemed quite odd in their situation: Daddy loved her ! And this was the proof, he was so worried about her safety that he didn't hesitate to hire one of these mercenaries or whatever they call themselves, to protect her ! Maybe she didn't deserve to have parents like that... if she made it out alive, the first thing she'd do would be to ask for their forgiveness, and never throw a tantrum again ! Promised !
Mike was staring at the Snake, his inhuman yellow eyes, his reptile tongue... it was surrealistic.
"So," he asked, "all those stories I heard about the Serpentiform Human... it was all true ?"
"Yeah. Half a human, half a snake, better than both species. At least, that's how I was designed."
"Designed ?"
"Don't ask. You wouldn't understand, it's just too weird."
"It doesn't make sense. You can't be a bounty hunter so young ! You're only thirteen !"
"Mike, have you ever been to Russia ? Have you ever been to Chechnya, or Kazakhstan ? Because I lived in all those countries, countries where law is a joke. Countries where the only way out of misery is to work for the mafia, even if you're very young. It's a need of money that made me become a bounty hunter."
As he said these words, he could hear a voice deep inside his head screaming: Liar ! Liar ! Well, he'd better tell lies, because the reality was worse, even worse.
"But," asked Mike, "what about those murders in California ? It was you, you can't deny that, I recognized you as soon as I saw those eyes. So why ?"
The Snake grimaced and said:
"I prefer not to talk about that. This story belongs to the past."
"Let's go," whined Veruca. "I have enough of this. Snake, do your job and bring me back home."
"I'm afraid it won't be so easy, my dear."
"Why ?"
"The traps. Ever wondered why Wonka left us alone like that ? No ? Okay: I think he doesn't dare to catch us all by force, that's why he set up all those traps. As long as we were not reacting, when Augustus and Violet disappeared, he could still pretend that the Tour was going normal. He thought he was controlling us, but when we finally reacted to save Veruca, we showed him that we discovered his plan, that's why he disappeared: because the whole building is gigantic, labyrinthic, and certainly full of vicious traps, and he knows we can't find the way out by ourselves. He got us, guys. We are in his web."
It's at this very moment that they all began to understand the horror and despair of their situation: they were maybe all warned. They were maybe armed to defend themselves. One was maybe the heir of a huge corporation, one was maybe a mastermind, or one was maybe a cold-blooded mercenary who's used to fighting and danger. But they were all children. They were only four children alone in an infernal factory controlled by a sadistic madman. Even the Snake, in the depth of his reptilian predator's instinct, could sense the fear.
"So what are we gonna do ?" asked Charlie.
"My dear boy, the first thing to do when a contract doesn't occur as planned is..."
Alex took a small black object from his belt. A cell phone.
"To refer to the hierarchy," he concluded.
He dialed a number, and a few seconds passed before his correspondent answered:
"Mr Salt, here..."
"This is Snake."
He heard several worried voices. The other parents, of course. Then, Mr Salt replied:
"Snake, you're on loudspeaker now, everyone can hear you. What's happening ?"
"This Tour was all a trap ! He tried to kidnap us. We managed to escape him, but now we're trapped in the middle of this Factory."
"How's my daughter doing ?"
The poor man sounded panicked.
"Fine. She's safe. But we have two casualties."
"Excuse me ?"
"Augustus Gloop and Violet Beauregard. They've been abducted and we have no clue on where they are."
He heard the two mothers yelling their children's name behind, and Mr Salt asked:
"Do you think they could be... dead ?"
This question was hard to answer, but he had to. And he had to tell what he really thought, from his point of view of professional. He took a deep breath and said:
"Most probably."
The screams, again. Then, he heard a sobbing female voice talking to him:
"Snake, this is Violet's mother. Do you think she still has a chance ?"
"Honestly, yes. But don't count too much on it."
"Can you find her ?"
"I'd try."
Mr Salt took back the phone:
"Snake, I triple the price if you take our children safely out of that building."
"Thanks, I will do it."
"And if you find the two missing children, I..."
"I'll do this for free, Mr Salt."
"Well, thank you. And I do mean it, Snake. Can I talk to her ?"
"Of course."
Aleksey handed the phone to Veruca. She took it in her still trembling hand.
"Daddy ?... Yes, I'm fine. Daddy, I'm so sorry, it's all my... Okay... Oh, Daddy, I'm so scared ! I wanna go back home, hide under a blanket, drink hot tea and watch cartoons. And I miss you so much... Yes, I will. I love you, Daddy."
She then passed the phone to Charlie to let him talk with his father, and approached Aleksey:
"Daddy said I should trust you, because you'll do everything for me. That's right ?"
The Snake looked at her and noticed that her eyes were red and wet, and she was sniffing heavily. The edge of tears. They were all in that status, except him, of course, because snakes don't cry. Just for this, he wanted so bad to be human again. But he couldn't. A curse is a curse. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and said:
"You're my little cash box, now. There's nothing I wouldn't do to protect two hundred thousand pounds."
She greeted this remark with a shy smile. The joke had taken off some of her stress.
"It's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but... thanks, anyway."
He gingerly tapped her shoulder, and walked away. He climbed on the bridge, and slipped his coat back on. Then, he took a cigarillo from his pocket and started smoking. Smoking was like his alternative to crying. Takes off the tension and keeps his mind cool as water. As far as he remembered, he's been smoking ever since he became... what he was.
Meanwhile, Charlie and Veruca were still in the middle of the room. The boy approached the girl, and she noticed he was really crying.
"You think we can make it out ?" he asked.
"Snake seems to know what he's doing. He will find us a way out."
"Maybe, but... how could it go wrong like that ?"
And there, a miracle happened: Charlie didn't expect it at all, but Veruca gave him a hug. First surprised, he let himself go, buried his face in her fur coat and smelled her sweet perfume. An immense feeling of peace settled in his heart. Veruca also enjoyed it, because it gave her some importance: as the oldest, she was like their big sister, and it was her duty to comfort them if they felt bad. Especially Charlie, for he was so sweet, and shy, the exact opposite of her. And this attracted her. She was discovering the joy of helping others. Veruca the Brat was officially dead. That's crazy how people can change after a near-death experience.
After a few seconds, they separated and headed to the bridge. They climbed the ladder and joined the rest of the group.
"We'd better leave this room," said Veruca, "it makes me nervous."
And as they headed to the white hallway, the young girl realized she didn't like nuts and squirrels as much as she used to...
Meanwhile, in a further part of the Factory, Willy Wonka was standing still in the middle of his Great Glass Elevator, staring absent-mindedly at the dim lights of the elevator pit that reflected on his pale, expressionless face that evoked a wax doll. From time to time, a red neon sign would pop up in front of him, indicating the floor he was passing through: Basement 5... Basement 6...
The kids had got him. He didn't expect them to react so quickly. It was all the falt of this rich brat... he should have expected from someone so important to bring in a bodyguard, but no. This... Aleksey was suspect, since the beginning, but he hadn't twitched. He had never seen anything coming, and now the children were running free in his factory, and led by a trained fighter. The plan was so well thought of, how could it turn so wrong ? Nevermind. The Factory was way bigger than they could imagine, and a hundred times more boobytrapped than the Cube. They stood no chance, and once he got them all, he would take his revenge on them, beginning by the girl, for having tried to fool him. He would work on her for hours, making her bitterly regret up to the first day of her pathetic life. And then it would be the others' turn. One per day, or maybe more. He had all his time. After all, if the parents tried to break into the Factory to save their kids, he would just have to move away. He had several other facilities ready to replace this building, in all Europe and beyond. No-one would find him. Ever.
As his eyes remained expressionless, lost in his deepest thoughts, his lips started moving by themselves, and a slow whispering voice, far from his usual childish tone, came out of his throat and started singing, improvising word per word:
Six kids walking in a Factory,
Tic-Tac-Toe...
One kid ran to his fate,
And ended up in chocolate !
Tic-Tac-Toe...
Five kids walking in a Factory,
Tic-Tac-Toe...
One kid wanted to win a bet,
How horrible was her fate !
Tic-Tac-Toe...
Four kids walking in a Factory,
Tic-Tac-Toe...
They thought they were smarter,
They managed to protect her.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
Four kids lost in a Factory,
Tic-Tac-Toe...
I shall give them a chance,
I will enjoy to make them dance,
Until they lose balance,
All is a matter of patience.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
Can you hear this ?
Tic-Tac-Toe...
It's a sound you can't miss.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
There is no way out.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
And your time is out.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
Six kids came in this Factory,
With their wonderful smiles,
Joy will now leave their eyes,
Six kids will die in this Factory.
Tic-Tac-Toe...
And suddenly, the elevator stopped with a Ping ! and it's doors opened. The chocolatier was now in front of a rusty iron gate so inhospitable that it looked like the entrance of Hell itself. Over that door, there was a red neon sign that summed up in two words all the horror one could find beyond these gates: Basement 13.
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Now it will definitely turn wrong. I have some precisions to give: Alex, Jessy, Hartigan Smith and the town of Cooper Riverside mentioned before are part of an amateur novel I wrote (and I will translate in English someday) called Chronicles of a Serpentiform Human. It's a fantastic story about how wrong vigilantism can turn, and it focuses on Aleksey's adventures in California, two years before he enters the Chocolate Factory. This story is kind of a crossover between CATCF and my personal creation. The Serpentiform Human has also been created for that novel. As explained before, it's a creature that has human appearance and intelligence, but many physical, physiological and instinctive abilities of a snake, such as hyperdevelopped senses, total lack of body and facial hair, forked tongue, "cold" mind, and many others. Alex will give better details in the following chapters. By the way, he's the only existing Serpentiform Human.
I hope you like it so far. Oh, and the song Tic-Tac-Toe is mine too. In the next chapter, the kids will experience the side effects of the drugs they consumed. See you there !
