35.
"Kill Mabel Henderson," Braun says, "Find an interesting way to do it please, I'd like to see how creative you can be."
"No." Tom won't do it. He's had enough.
"Still you resist me when you know that I have the answers you seek. Well I am not going to beg you. You know what I ask of you, and so you know what you must do to retain my favour."
"Enough of this bullshit!" he steps forward, though wary to stay out of reach of anymore shocks, "What have you done to my father," he looks over at the dog and it looks back, sadly.
"Mabel's waiting," he doesn't answer, "Do as I say… and I might let the two of you free. She won't really die… I'll just bring her back."
She won't die… this is all Tom can cling to as he breaks into Mabel's home (though it is hard to break into a home with unlocked doors) and looks around. A fresh pie sits on the window sill… it smells beautiful.
Tom looks from the pie to the oven and almost hates himself for the thought that springs to mind.
He knocks the pie from its perch and it splats on the grass, ruined. Then he reaches behind the oven and pulls the gas pipe out. He can only hear it hissing out if he stays very still and listens very hard… Mabel would never know it was there.
He gets out of the house and finds Mabel chatting with the postman. He tells her that he thinks he saw a bird knock her pie over.
"Oh fiddlesticks!" she cries, "I'll just have to run over and bake another." She runs over to her house.
Tom walks slowly up to Betty and she says with glee, "Did you do it?"
Just at that moment the Henderson home is engulfed in flame and smoke, the windows shatter and a scream can be heard from within, short but torturous.
Betty jumps and laughs with glee, clapping, "Oh my, wow! That was splendid," her voice has slipped into Braun's again… it's happening more and more.
"Bring her back," Tom mutters.
"Not right now," she answers, girly… for the moment, "I want to have some more fun first. Appliances certainly can be dangerous, can't they?" he slips back into his real voice, "You are most resourceful and you certainly do get results. You have exceeded expectations. And now we come to the last task that I have for you. Succeed and you shall be granted whatever you wish."
Tom can only glare, "I hate you."
"These are your decisions boy… and besides I don't recall asking about your feelings on the matter. If it has not been made perfectly clear to you, I am in control here. I dictate your actions and the actions of those around you. You will continue to do exactly as I say, or you will find yourself suffering from a sudden and inexplicable aneurism." He slips back into the girly voice, "And that's if I'm feeling generous. For now though you will become the pint-sized slasher. You will kill everyone in Tranquility Lane and you will do this because I say so… then I'll bring them back and we'll start the game again, with a different round." Back to his true voice, "Behind the abandoned house, in the dog house, are a knife and mask. You will use them to terrorise the residents of this quaint little street."
"What the hell is the pint-sized slasher?"
"A figure of myth, born of old campfire stories. You will make him a reality. The residents will know you and fear you. When they have all been eliminated, return to me."
Tom turns away, but doesn't leave.
"You're conflicted… but then you've already committed one murder," he stares over at the flaming wreck of the house, "What's a few more… if it makes you decision any easier know this: the longer you stall, or resist me, the more bored I'll become… and once I'm bored who knows what I'll do to your currently canine father."
Tom blinks back tears at the thought of this creature hurting his father… and he forces himself to walk towards the abandoned house. He finds the dog kennel and the knife and mask inside.
The mask is truly disturbing, a clown face, grinning wide with bleach white teeth, a big round nose and a silly clown hat. It sends shivers down his spine and he almost tosses it aside, right then and there… but he hears Doc barking and whining and knows that if he doesn't do this, his father will be hurt.
He dons the mask, grips the knife and heads for the Rockwells. Janet is on her own, sobbing at the kitchen table.
The backdoor swings wide and she looks up. She sees Tom in the outfit and screams, "The Pint-Sized Slasher! Get away!" she jumps from the table and runs, Tom close behind. He chases her up the stairs and she tries to slam her bedroom door closed to keep him out, but he hits it before she can and she falls to the ground. She scurries to the corner and cowers, her arms covering her, sobbing and gasping as Tom advances, gripping the knife, and, to her, leering down, enjoying the moment before the kill.
But Tom can't even raise the knife. He tries but he simply can't. It falls to the floor.
He takes the mask off and throws it across the room. He looks down at the whimpering woman. She can sense something is different. She peeks through her arms and sees a boy with conflicted and regretful eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, before turning and running.
There's only one other option. The failsafe. He knows he won't have much time, but he has to try.
He waits at the door for a moment, preparing himself… then he flings it open and runs as fast as he can, his shoes pounding the asphalt, his heart thumping in his chest and his lungs processing air faster than they should. He doesn't look anywhere, only focuses forward, not wanting to slow for anything.
He can hear Betty whistling that incessant tune. She hasn't noticed-
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Yes she has. He can hear her running after him, and barking and someone else.
"GET BACK YOU MONSTER!"
Tom makes it to the door of the abandoned house and turns to see what's going on.
Dithers must have seen Tom and has leapt at Betty, tackling her to the ground. She's hitting her while Betty tries to shove her off, but she can't muster the concentration because Doc is growling and pulling on her leg with his teeth, tugging and biting hard, her grey blood staining his muzzle.
She gives a hard shove and Dithers is thrown back. She gets to her feet and looks up into Tom's eyes, "Save us!" she says, "Please!"
Doc howls and whines as Betty kicks him away. She's now flickering not just in voice but in appearance, flickering from the small girl to a tall old man and back, over and over. He turns on Dithers whom charges forward and wraps her bony fingers around his neck as he slips back into Betty. Betty places her hands on Dithers' face and Tom can hear the electricity coursing through her as she screams.
He opens the door and slams it behind him.
The front room is just like all the others, with the stairs in front and the hallway on the right, leading into the kitchen, but the room is in complete disarray. There is a desk on the left, an upturned couch with a garden gnome sitting on top, a side table with a cinderblock on top and a coffee table with a glass pitcher and radio on top of it. On the right, next to the door, is a small table with a glass bottle on top.
Tom approaches the gnome, which leers at him. He decides that he hates it and goes to swat it aside. His hand hits it but it doesn't budge. It does, however, emit a sound: a musical note.
Tom frowns. There isn't much time to think so he tries to put himself into overdrive. He moves around touching the objects until he find that the gnome, the cinderblock, the glass pitcher, the radio and the glass bottle all emit sounds. There's something familiar about the notes they play.
Then he notices something. Betty is still struggling outside, either fighting Dithers or Doc… but she isn't whistling. He starts to remember the tune and then fiddles around with the objects until he mimics Betty's tune with them.
All of a sudden the whole building shudders and all of the as before immoveable objects topple over… except for the cinderblock.
On the bare far right wall a computer terminal suddenly shimmers into view, along with a monitor and keyboard. Tom makes his way over and starts tapping into the system. He find the section 'Auxiliary Command Terminal.' Tom doesn't remember much computer jargon, but this one sounds like he might be heading in the right direction. He enters the folder and finds no sign of anything called a failsafe, but instead finds an option, 'Access 'Chinese Invasion' Program''. He finds a file that explains the particulars of the program himself. The house shakes again and he has a feeling that Betty is about to tear her way in.
He scans the information and determines that, according to it, only the subjects have been immersed for a significant amount of time (over two years) would be terminated by the bug in the program. In theory he and his father would be safe. And Braun, of course, the administrator of the entire system. In fact he would be trapped, being unable to leave unless the actual activator of the failsafe allows it. Tom relishes the idea of leaving him in here forever, trapped.
He activates the failsafe and suddenly something changes in the air. The house stops shaking and he can hear gunfire.
He steps outside to see what seems to be a Chinese Communist Firing Squad (according to the pictures in the books in the vault) marching through the street and shooting down the residents. They run and scream before finally falling, riddled with bullets. The firing squad ignores Tom. He can see Braun, still Betty, screaming with anger in the middle of the playground. He starts towards her.
She spots him and charges at him. He prepares himself for an electric shock but she bounces off of him. She's shorter than him now… he's back to his full height. He touches his face and feels the face of a young man, not a young boy. He's returned to his real self… Braun's power has wavered.
Doc is still a dog though, and he is sitting on his haunches by a door that seems to have appeared in the middle of the playground.
Betty continues to beat her tiny little fists against his stomach, "YOU! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" Tom grabs her wrists and then shoves her back. She falls on her back and flickers into her true self: Braun. He crawls to his feet but Tom steps forward and knocks him back down.
"Don't you dare touch me!" he cries, "I will tear you apart and put you back together a monster."
"Don't you get it Braun," Tom answers, "It's over. You've got no power left over us. Over anything." He kicks the old man back down and places his boot on his neck, "You made them suffer so much, for your own sick amusement. I imagined over and over what it might feel like to wrap my fingers around your neck… but now I've got a much better idea. I'm going to leave you here. Forever. Alone and trapped." He steps off of Braun's neck and walks towards the doorway. He hears a scrambling behind him and turns to see the elderly scientist fall to his knees at Tom's feet, "KILL ME! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! I CAN'T TAKE THAT TORTURE!"
Tom doesn't turn, only says, "You've been dishing it for centuries… it's time you got some back."
He doesn't see as Braun pulls a small knife from his pocket, something not much more than a letter opener. He rises silently, glaring at Tom's back.
Tom doesn't know he's about to be stabbed in the back until Doc suddenly growls and leaps forward, catching Braun's arms in his mouth and jerking hard. Braun lets out a shriek and drops the knife as Tom turns, eyes wide, and realises what happened. He steps forward and delivers one swift, hard punch to the nose and Braun topples back, unconscious.
Tom and the dog turn back to the door. They look at each other.
"Let's get out of this place," he says to Doc, whom responds with a bark.
He opens the door, revealing a white light, and the two step into it and are enveloped…