Chapter 27: Chatting

Slappy

I woke up during the middle of the night, my eyes wide open, sitting up from the couch. I don't know why I woke up, but I did. I began to feel dread in me, the memories of me and Stine having great times during the great days we had with each other. It was in the form of a dream; a good dream.

In the dream, I was released out of my book for the first time. I was stunned when I found out that I was in the living room of his old home back in Columbus, Ohio after I was free from my own manuscript.

I was like a little kid, curious of what he had in his home. He had a lot of nick-knacks around his first home to where I wanted to see everything, wanting to get my wooden hands on them.

Of course, Stine wouldn't let me do anything like that. He was strict when it comes to his stuff, not wanting a simple finger print on any object of his living room. In fact, he gave me clear rules, making sure I agreed with them.

I did. At first rules were fine. It keeps parents' children out of trouble. I didn't seem like a big deal to me, anyway. I made sure to stay out of trouble.

He even told me about the job I have to do. A job to scare his bullies away from his home. He clearly didn't want to be around them. The look on his face told me what they'll do to him. When he'll talk about them, he'll be in the verge of crying. He manages to bring out every word about those idiots.

I was ticked off after every detail of what they'll do to him. He told me they'll make fun of him for his allergies for not being able to go outside. It was a time where he was still searching for the right meds to control them.

I never knew what it was until the one time he had to step outside to get the mail from the mailbox on the exact same day when I was out of my book. He'll be sneezing like crazy, almost sounding like a volcano ready to explode again.

I'm lucky to be a wooden puppet. I don't have to eat or suffer allergies like most humans would do in their normal lives.

Of course, I did my job. It was fun frightening those idiotic pests who'll wonder to our front yard or back yard. A lot of the times, I'll just spring out at them from one of the bushes or be sitting on a porch like some kind of Halloween prop, waiting eagerly for any of them to notice me, thinking that I wasn't...real.

"Of course, I am real!" I would exclaim in a frightening but eerie and chilling voice. The cruel people would scream their heads off, sputtering, pointing fingers at me as I'll get up and walk towards them. "What's the matter?" was the next thing I'll say to make them feel even more terrified. "Never seen someone like me? I'm pretty cute, huh?" There would be no answer from no one. "You don't think I'm cute? Well, do you know what I think of you guys?" A minute would pass with nothing from these jerks. "I think you people are a waste!" I'll cry out, my face twisting in anger. "Who do you think you are?! Making fun of my papa!"

Yes, it was right before I started calling him Stine.

However, the dream turned into a nightmare. It started off slow until it progressed. I was heavily scared when he came up to me with my book.

"No!" I let out a scream of terror, watching him open my book. "No! Stop! I didn't do anything!" The wind began to pick up, the lights going on and off. "Papa, stop!"

That was the part that made me wake up from it.

Now here I am, gripping the blanket. I don't know how I got it, but I'm guessing Stine gave it to me when I passed out on the couch.

Throwing the blanket over across to the other side of the living room furniture, getting off of it, fixing my gray trousers that matched my suit.

After getting them straightened out, I proceeded to the stairs. I wanna see if Stine is awake at this hour, but knowing the time, he'll probably not be.

There was one way to find out. Carefully, I made my way up to the second floor, climbing the steps like it was a mountain. I slipped, grunting in frustration because of my weakness. I have strength, but it's not enough for me to continue my way up.

I was too lazy to use my teleportation powers, so I can only do my best to not hiss in pain from the scars that are all over me.

Stine had a good point. I do need to get all fixed up. But who'll fix someone up like me? I'm not sure there's a woodworking shop or a doll hospital or some…

Wait. Did I mention doll? Ew, I hate that word. It's worse than dummy. Let's hope Stine doesn't take me to a...doll hospital.

Once I made it up the stairs, I let out a painful grunt, feeling like I was being torn apart again. I act so much, I thought about stopping, giving up.

"Come on, Slappy. You're a monster, not a human," I berated myself, placing my hands on the wall. "All you have to do is go to Stine to see if he's awake," I encouraged myself. Then added, "Unless he is awake, that is." Taking steady steps, my shoes made soft thud sounds on the floor. I wonder if both of these people are heavy sleepers, sleeping like solid rocks.

Reaching his room, I saw that the door was halfway open. Entering inside, I made my way to his large, king size bed.

When I reached it, I struggled to climb up onto the mattress, letting out a frustrated hiss. I hate being three feet tall.

I tumbled back onto the floor when my shoes slipped, landing hard on my wooden bottom. I let out a grunt, holding back my angry screams of annoyance.

A short snore came from Stine. Looks like he's in a deep sleep. Dammit. I wanted to ask him something. Like take me to see Hazel. I know I said that I'll do it when she gets back here, which I'm guessing that this place is her new home, but... I'm nervous to be honest. Sorry isn't my kind of word. Doing evil things and scaring people out their skin is something for me to enjoy.

Thinking about my previous actions from the past, I realize what I had done was... terrible. I began hearing Hazel screams of agony when I latched onto her arm with my teeth, forcing her to drop the key out of her hand, and rip me off of her.

I saw the terrified look on her face as she staggered back away from me before she took off running to the school, possibly to look for my creator for protection. He did a pretty good job of keeping her safe from me, I have to give him credit for it.

I don't know why I yelled out those words to her, saying that when I bite, I marked her. Was it because I was trying to scare her? Turns out it did. She's scared and brave and smart at the same time. Makes me feel impressed about her.

She started panicking, seeing me for the first time as I looked at her, and she didn't want anybody to notice. Maybe she's one of those shy types of people who are afraid to speak up when something is wrong? I'm not sure...

I believe she has the fear of puppets, like me. It's not my fault for freaking her out. But I knew my mistake for what I had done to her. Now it may seem strange for me to know that she's been through a rough childhood for how smart I am, except it's not. Stine created me the way I am. None of his other creations are brainless and somewhat stupid. Not all of them talk, most likely to make different sounds to communicate.

I never wanted to see my allies again, betraying me like Stine did. He admits it was his own fault, leading me to be at rage of tears. I always thought evil things shouldn't cry until he said it was okay for me to feel the way I am right now.

Sadness.

Never in my evil times would I have this type of feeling in me. I felt drained; exhausted to where I wanted to lay on the floor.

Pushing myself up, I walked out of his room, avoiding the idea of sleeping in there. Plus, sleeping on the floor doesn't sound...comfortable, like a bed or couch.

I used my magic to close his door, thinking it'll be a good deed. I was written in a lot of books, being based around me. Only for some reason, I wouldn't be released, wondering what else is being free with me trapped inside my original manuscript now all burnt up from the match.

Was he trying to replace me? Well, he said he'll never replace me, explaining the reason why he created Hannah is because he wanted to be...more human.

It sounds ridiculous for him to say that. Obviously he is a human, but come to think of it, he meant that he wanted to be a human who's isn't a...freak for having monsters as his friends. I'm sure when he was a young kid, he never had real friends.

All humans who were children had something called imaginary friends. It's a normal thing for kids to have with parents having no problem.

Stine never told me about his parents nor his childhood. It was basically the same, getting picked on for not being to go outside. To me, it's the stupidest thing to tease someone like that. I may be a puppet, but I do know it is not right to do something horrible like those bullies did to him.

I stopped by Hannah's room, hearing soft snoring coming from the other side of her door, having me walk closer to it.

Without thinking twice, I teleported into her room. I saw she was fast asleep on her bed, a book laying next to her. I didn't care what the book was, all I care was for her to trust me. It wouldn't happen right away since I wanted her dead so she wouldn't see Zach nor her father.

Her room was dark, the moonlight streaking through the window, making shadows around the room.

Should I ask her to take me to the place where Hazel is at? Or does her father not let her drive?

Another soft yet gentle snore came through her. I bet she's a heavy sleeper, too. Best not to ask her at all. The only result I'll get is an angry yell to my ears.

The moonlight made my eyes flicker to it. It was very bright like the sun, hanging in the sky. It wasn't a full moon, it was a half moon.

As I walked over to the window, I saw some slim clouds brushing across the stars, twinkling like candles on a stick. Or more like birthday candles which you see on a cake to make a wish on them, seeing if it'll come true or not.

I wonder if I have a birthday… I thought to myself, placing my hands on the windowsill. Her bedroom faced the front yard of the house, the streets empty with no cars of any kind not passing by here. It's the middle of the night after all, and I bound that people are asleep at this time of night.

I closed my eyes, resting my chin on my fabric arms, going into deep thinking, wiping the things all around me. All I did was think, filling up my head with thoughts. Thoughts about what I did wrong. Is it wrong for me to go overboard with scares and pranks?

Can't believe I'm answering this, but yes, it was overboard. God! Why did do that!? It was so out of character for me! I was made to scare bullies away, not try and kill them by almost resulting them into a hospital! What kind of monster was I?!

Everything I have done to keep my creator safe and I blew it! I failed, failed horribly. He told me straight out the bat, explained to me what I had to do in order to keep him safe from those pests, reminding me of termites, those little bugs I disgusted most since they love the taste of wood, such as me.

I couldn't help myself then. My first reaction was to grab something from our very first kitchen from the very first home when I was first released from my book. I should've thought better than that, but what could I do? I saved Stine from those brutes who basically beaten him to the ground.

And you know what I got from him in return? Got yelled at. Yelled at from my best friend who I have always looked up to, and not in a literal sense.

It shocked me, even scaring me. Stine never yelled at me for anything. Everytime when I scare his so-called pests and enemies away, he'll reward me with something. Parents would give their kids a toy or some candy for their reward. The reward I'll get is to choose a board game or movie or TV show. I can't eat since I'm not...human.

What is it like to be a human? I wondered, opening my eyes open, the moon glimmering in my brown eyes, the reflection of myself looking right back at me.

I observed myself, definitely need to get repaired. I feel rubbish all thanks to those in the new manuscript who turned their backs on me.

Hey, it wasn't my fault for the hazel eyed girl to get away from me. It wasn't my fault for not being fast enough to get rid of my creator. It's wasn't my fault for Hannah getting free from the new manuscript.

I never knew I can feel pain when I was given my 'punishment'. The werewolf most likely gave me these hideous scars on my face while the others hit me, kicked me, and punched me. Fifi would actually sink her teeth into my fabric legs or arms.

Did I feel pain there? Of course! I'm made of wood, how couldn't I feel pain?!

The green liquid also started leaking out of my scars and when they finished with me. I struggled against Dr. Brewer's clone who can turn his limbs into vines hence from the nightmare I had the previous night and the ones from the Venus fly traps, adding in snaps from what would be their teeth for eating bugs.

I did manage to get free, but every time I try to get away from them, they'll end up finding me. It was then when I heard Stine's voice and, even though I never knew I'll say this, I screamed for him to let me out.

First of all, I was expecting him to ignore me like he had in the past, and I was heavily shocked when he saved me from his other creations who almost tore me apart.

I could've been turned into sawdust if it weren't for that geek. Yes, I called Stine a geek inside my head. I wanted to say it out loud, only I didn't want to wake Hannah up.

Hannah hates me to pieces ever since we saw each other face to face from the awkward silence, along with her friends and the one boy who she's close to.

Zach apparently wants to turn me into firewood in case I lay a finger on her, seemingly how much he cared for her, even though I don't know why he does . I don't understand why they're so close with each other, considering since I'm not into those kinds of things.

I have no idea what love is nor how to feel it. It's probably because I'm a wooden puppet who never felt any spark in my life. Besides, I'm an evil being. I was made to be this way, even though I went too far from my job.

Sighing, I pushed myself away from her bedroom window, wanting to get out of her room quickly to avoid making any noise besides my depressed breathing I keep letting out from my non-existing lungs.

The floor let out a creaking, groaning in pain like I was hurting it. I instantly stopped, frozen in place, waiting for her to wake up and see me, preparing my ears for her to scream for me to get out of her room. Hannah was right about her own room. It wasn't girly like most girls' bedrooms who'll paint their walls with brightly lit colors, streaming the room with different types of decorations. Her room, in this case, is more likely to fit with her personality.

After waiting for what seemed like hours, I continued my way towards her door, teleporting to the other side of it.

I stood there for a second, not sure what to do next. I looked up at the ceiling, seeing a rope that is too high for me to reach.

"I wonder what's in there..." I murmured in thought, gazing at it. I jumped with a raised hand, getting ready to grab the rope. I only jumped a few inches, unable to touch the high rope that is above me. Part of me told me I should wait another day for someone to get it for me, another part said to me that I should get back to bed. "Okay, one more try..." With a grunt, I made another jump, missed, falling onto the floor. I gasped when my sore body met with the floor, the scars increasing the pain.

I pounded my fists onto the floor in anger. Getting up, I brushed my suit down, smoothing it. I never wore anything else besides what I'm wearing now.

When the suit is completely smoothed out, I decided to explore the study. All I did was sat on Stine's large, leather chair for his return when my book got knocked down, discovering the lock being broken. I'm not sure if it was broken before or it was broken after my book got thrown to the ground.

Entering into the study room, my eyes glazed around. It was the same as always when I escaped from my manuscript for the second time. I glanced at the bookcase, not seeing the new one on there. Stine must've hidden somewhere in this house of his, fearing I'll end up opening it.

I'm never gonna see my allies and I don't care for them. They can suffer while I can be free from a place that I call hell.

Going over to his large desk, I placed my hands on the leather chair of his, hoisting myself up onto it. The chair felt very comfortable from being made of leather, making me wonder how much it cost for him to get this type of chair.

I was about to close my eyes to think about the good things that me and my creator had when I saw someone coming into the room.

With a quick reaction, I grabbed a hold of a pen, throwing across at the figure.

"Hey!" the voice exclaimed. "Slappy, stop that!" the voice demanded, sounding like a female. The lights flashed on, blinding my eyes for a second. "What are you doing up?" It was Hannah, her hand on the lights witch, right near the door.

"I was going to ask you the same question," I replied, regaining my eyesight. "What are you doing up?" I threw the question back at her.

"I heard footsteps," she explained, taking her hands off the light switch. "At first I thought it was dad until it was..." She directed her finger at me. "...you in here," she told me. "You're not causing any trouble...are you?" she asked with a suspicious look.

"No!" I quickly proclaimed. "I was minding my own business!" I answered, glaring right at her.

Hannah placed a finger onto her lips. "Hush. Do you want dad to wake up?" she spoke in a whisper. "He's a heavy sleeper from time to time, but sometimes he can wake to anything." Her eyes narrowed. "You're lucky he's in a deep sleep now," she said with a seductive tone, caring for her father, unlike me. "Besides, since you're not causing any trouble, what are you doing up anyway?"

"I told you, minding my own business," I responded with a care-to-less face. "I was in your room..." I had to admit.

Her eyes widen. "You were in my room?!" she cried out, feeling invaded by her privacy, and quickly covered her mouth, most likely not wanting to wake Stine up. "You were in my room?" she released in shock. "Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders, avoiding her glaring eyes. "...I don't know..." I mumbled. "I felt like it, I guess..."

"You invaded my privacy!" she fumed with tight fists at her sides.

"Oh, I'm sorry for going into your room without your permission," I snipped, blazing my eyes right back into hers. "I was looking out your bedroom window," I told her, explaining the reason why I was there.

Her eyes narrowed even more. "You could've waited until tomorrow."

"Why bother?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "You hate me like my stupid ass friends in the new book. I don't blame you for feeling the way your feeling now since your a girl," I offended.

"I don't hate you." My head lifted up to see her face softened up a bit with confusion. I opened my mouth to speak when she stopped me. "I don't hate you, Slappy," she spoke with some compassion.

"You..." I uncrossed my arms. "...don't hate me?" Now my eyes began to narrow with paranoia. "Or did you say that to make me feel better?"

"No," she shook her head. "I don't hate you. The only thing I'm having trouble with you is trust." She sighed. "Dad said I should give you a second chance, so I am."

"Gee thanks," I spoke with no meaning behind it. "Go away now," I shooed, motioning for to leave me alone.

She gave me one last look. Then she headed out of the study room, heading back towards her room. When she was gone from my sight, I used my magic to shut the lights off, the room being filled with darkness of depression. The feeling inside me... the one thing I thought I would never feel. I used to be so gleeful when I scare the bullies and brats away... I never had any kind of guilt when doing it to them, considering it was my job...

My job... I miss it already... I miss scaring the daylights of people... I miss seeing them run like...cowards...making me laugh my head off...

Now, being sad, really sad, the feeling of pure evil seemed to...disappear from me. More likely to die off.

Being in this state, my eyes began to brim with green liquid. I fought it back into me, refusing to start bawling during this time of night. I don't want to wake Hannah nor Stine, even though he told me it was okay to cry.

Never in my evil years would I get this type of emotion. A lot of the times I would feel pleased about myself, about my ego. I'm popular for God's sake, and no other monster has it but me. I've been written in many books based on me, but the only book I came out and got trapped inside is Night Of The Living Dummy.

Dummy... Thinking about the word made me hate myself. For the first time ever, I called myself one for being the...dummy who disobeyed my creator's orders of almost sending his former bullies to the ER, rather than scaring them off like I used to do.

These days I promise not to scare anyone again. I actually don't trust myself. What if Stine gave me my job back to protect him and his daughter? I'll just end up using a sharp weapon or something to use against the cruel people.

"Why did I do it? How could I let my scares and pranks get out of hand? Did my anger went off when I saw Stine getting beat up me made do it?" I tucked my knees up, folding my arms on the top of them, adding my head with it, my face looking down.

I stayed like that for awhile when I heard someone out in the hallway. I assumed it was Hannah, hearing her footsteps outside to the staircase. Only they stopped, retracting back to the study.

"Slappy? What are you doing up?" It was a new voice.

I picked my head up. "Stine?"

The lights switched on and this time, I closed my eyes right before he did it. When I opened them, I saw his hair, which is messed up from sleep, the night clothes were twisted, having him fix it to straightened out. His glasses weren't on his face properly.

"Your glasses are crooked," I stated, pointing right at them.

He chuckled. "I see," he lightly responded, adjusting them. "I was going downstairs to get some water," he told me, explaining. "When I didn't see you on the couch, I thought you'll be in one of the guestrooms." He chuckled again. "I wasn't assuming you'll be in my study." He frowned. "Why are you here, anyway?" he asked with a small tilt to his head.

"I don't know..." I merely shrugged shoulders. "I'm guessing I was here to...think of what I had done in the past. You know..." I looked at him. "For all the bad things I have caused. I know you said it was your fault for locking me up three times, but..." I flicked a lint off my trousers. "...the monster invasion is my fault. It's my fault for also hurting Hazel and trying to kill your daughter," I almost said with...some care in my tone of voice. "However," I continued. "I'm not sure how Hazel would react when I'm...ready to apologize to her."

"I'm not sure how she'll react," Stine spoke with full sympathy. "I do know is that she isn't cold hearted. She's a sweet, young lady. I see her like another daughter to me," he smiled. "Even so for you as my own son. You'll make a great big brother despite since you're only three feet tall." He slightly frown. "I was told by Hannah that the last place Hazel lived at was at her god family's home who treated her badly. They'll give her such a hard time, giving her..."

"Bruises?" I guessed without thinking twice.

Stine's eyes gave away a surprise look. "How did you know that?"

I dropped my arms to my sides, keeping my knees right where they are. "You wrote me in the way for me to be smart."

He blinked behind his glasses. "Oh," he realized. "I know I wrote to you in a way for you to be smart, but I never knew I written you to be that smart," he expressed out with a light vibe from him.

"Mm." I didn't return the same manner with a dead set look on my face. Instead, I stood up on the chair, almost falling off in the process as I carefully climb up onto his desk, sitting upon it like a throne from those kingdom movies. "You may think something like that, except it's true. You just didn't realize it when you wrote me," I somewhat conducted, tapping my wooden fingers against his wooden desk. "I used to sit on your desk all the time when you wrote a new Goosebumps story," I recalled the memories. "I'll even help you come up with good story plots for your new books."

"Oh yeah...!" Stine had to think about it for a moment. "I remember now. There was one time where I was trying to come up with a new story when you suggested I should write a book about an evil mask," he recalled the event. "But unfortunately...those books were already written, seeing since I wrote sooo many scary Goosebumps stories."

"Yeah, until you trapped me into a book when my scares and pranks went out of hand," I grumbled with crossed arms. "It's my fault for going too far with anything."

"And it's my fault for turning my back on you," Stine blamed with a nod of his head. "Basically, we're saying it's both our fault in different ways, huh?" he said.

"I guess..." I agreed, swaying my legs back and forth while they dangled from the edge of the desk.

Seeming to catch my glum mood, he spoke again. "You wanna watch another scary movie?" he asked with a small grin.

"We'll end up waking Hannah from her sleep," I remarked.

"It'll be fine. Besides, scary movies always cheered you up. If she does wake up, we can invite her to come and watch the movie with us."

"Yeah..." Using my powers, I teleported off the large desk. "Whoa..." I saw the walls spin.

"You okay?" Stine asked with general concern, seeing me place my hands on my face.

"I'm fine." The spinning of the room faded. "I'm fine, just fine," I muttered with somewhat annoyance inside of me.

"I should get you fixed up," he observed my marks and scratches, the concern from him not going away. "You...want me to carry you downstairs?" he offered.

I shook my head. "No..." I answered.

"Are you..."

"Yes! I'm sure!" I shouted out, getting more annoyed at his 'father' instincts. "I told you, I'm fine! Why can't you get it?!" I blared.

"Okay, okay. I was only asking, that's all." He raised his hands to show he has no rejection to the subject. "My daughter will tell me when she isn't feeling good and she let me take care of her like every normal day."

"Yep, seems like you had a swell time," I responded to his story in a sarcastic way.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Just because you don't care for my daughter doesn't mean I can't," he told me.

"I didn't say that, I said that you had a swell time taking care of her," I corrected. "Oh, what's the use? She told me she doesn't hate me, but can't gain any trust from me. At all." Stine gave me a confused look so I explained. "She woke up to find me here in your study, wondering what I was doing up with me asking her the same question. And from what she told me, she said that you told her to give me a second chance."

"I did." Stine nodded his head. "She may not trust you yet, but she's willing to give you another chance. So far, you haven't done any damage."

"I can't since I don't know how to without causing trouble," I almost muttered and almost clearly for him to hear me.

"You'll figure it out how to real soon." He gestured hi hand for him to follow. "Let's watch another scary movie."

I ran my hand down my face. "Why not?" I finally agreed. "One more movie and then maybe I'll feel better despite the marks and scars all over me..." I began walking right past him, knowing he'll stick behind me in case I fall over or something, getting me annoyed of him watching over me like I was a child with the flu or a bad stomach bug.

The more he was keeping his eye on me, the more irritated I've become. So I decided to say something. "Stop following me…" I rasped with undelight fullness. "I can get to the stairs to the living room myself." I glanced behind my shoulder to see him stop in his tracks. "You're worried about me, aren't ya?" I said with a raised brow.

Stine sucked in breath, raking his fingers across his messy hair. "Uh..."

"I thought so," I stated, not giving him a chance to say anything else since I know what he's gonna say anyway. Plus, not wanting to keep on repeating it to him, I teleported into the living.

I don't want to be watched over like a little kid. I sat on the couch, crossing my arms in front of me.

"Geez..." I muttered. "He isn't gonna stop, is he? Just because he sees me as his own 'son' doesn't mean he has to keep me safe. I'm a monster for crying out loud!" With that, I waited for him without a care in the world.

Stine

After receiving the interruption from my creation, he quickly got away from me by using his teleportation skills, having me stand at the upstairs hallway for more than twenty minutes. I don't know what his deal is. Apparently, he's tired of me keeping an eye out for him like Hannah was when I did the same with her. How can I not, though? I let Hannah have her freedom, but I'm not as protective as before all thanks to the monsters. I keep my eyes on her from time to time, unlike every second of everyday until she got tired of it.

My hope is to make sure that me and him to have any more full, blown out fights like was had in the past. My anger doesn't cause him to have fear around me when I yell at him like when me and Hannah have our arguments where she'll tell me to calm down, not wanting to lose more of my temper… like it did when I almost put her back in her manuscript for her to never see Zach again in fear for him to find out who I was when I went with the name of Shivers when me and her first moved here in Madison, Delaware a few years ago back in twenty-ten; five years ago.

Throughout my sudden anger, I wasn't watching where I was going when I tripped over the lamp cord, having her scream in terror.

When Zach called the police on me, I had to lie, saying my daughter moved to London with her 'mother' and 'new husband', and the scream was from surround sound.

But then the boy heard footsteps coming from Hannah's room and of course, he started up the stairs, calling for her.

Luckily for me at least, the cops hauled him out the door with me just...smirking and waving at him as he was being taken away out of my house.

It was the first time someone called the police on me for 'child abuse' with the incidence happened several months ago, sounding like I was...hurting my own daughter.

I may started off as a sinister man who hates people, realizing it wasn't anybody's fault. It was my fault; my own fault. I used to hate the world, hate the people I live around in each place of the U.S. of every state me and my daughter move to, and we'll only live in those state for a short time, and the only way to make sure people don't know about my secret is to keep moving from one area to another.

It annoyed Hannah every time I say we're moving again after we settle into our new home. Now we won't have to do it anymore since it's our last time moving, deciding Madison, Delaware is the perfect place to live in after so many years of moving, simply because Hannah got tired of it, making up my mind for us to stay here.

Also, Zach's her boyfriend. I can't say no to that despite not being able to have one ever since I never leave her out of my sight, making sure she's safe from my overprotectiveness I once had with her.

Things changed after being like that; letting her...free to explore the world. I probably will take her to get driving lessons. I remember she'll beg me to take her to one, wanting to get her own car, her own driver's license.

My answer was always no, explaining to her there are drivers who don't follow the road signs unlike other drivers who pay attention to those types of things.

I'm still surprised when she told me and the boys that she drove a random car. Without a license! Then of course when she had to jump out of it to avoid the werewolf.

Good thing it didn't bite her... I taught her all about my monsters I've created, both their strengths and weaknesses. Gladly, she knew what's the werewolf weakness is: Silver. All werewolves dislike silver, making them feel burning sensation on their skin, having their fur sizzle from the 'heat' giving off from any type of silver they've come across.

Impressingly, she made a silver necklace by using silver chains which guys wear on their jeans to make them look 'cooler'.

When Slappy accused Hannah for being my favorite, I was...down; upset to be more exact... My soul literal broke into tiny pieces... like a broken glass... He believed since Hannah is my 'favorite', I had to 'replace' him for her.

The thing is, I would never replace him. Never. I tried to rewrite him back into the real world like I did with my daughter, only... I'll fail... Each book about him would have a different monster release... two of them not being very helpful to me the way I wrote them, being friendly towards the ones I call enemies... the one who's obsessed with Slappy, wanting to release him... the one that looks like Slappy, except he looks so similar to him, I forced myself to lock him away. That, and he reminds me of Slappy. The one who's his brother wasn't...friendly... He was cruel, demanding where his younger brother is, the hate rising in his chest... I remember it so clearly... He was angry and full of green envy when he wasn't released from the first book that Slappy was in, wanting to kill his brother. I had to lock him up before he could do...any harm to him... And of course there were other books based on Slappy, except he will not come out of the books unlike the first book.

There is a story I wrote where it has to do with puppets. Marionettes actually. They have something to do with the story because when I opened the book, they were released. But guess what? They too, took their scares way too far, almost hurting the bullies, including the other people who never bothered me. I had no other choice. I put them back in the book.

I'm not sure why different dummies, puppets, and dolls would come out of the new Slappy books. He only came out of the first one, even though he was barely in the first book.

To me, it didn't matter the first time. But after so many fails of trying to bring him back, I...gave up... The only creation I can, and only rewrite into the world for a second time, is Hannah...

Someday I'll tell Slappy about this. As for right now, I can't. He's angry at me and has trust issues. He's like Hazel in away. Something they have in common.

Trust issues.

They both have issues with trusting people. I know they'll both come around. Hazel wouldn't take long to start trusting me and her friends. Other people? I'm not sure about it. Slappy would take a lot longer to start giving trust to me, and basically the kids who helped me trap him and all of the monsters into the new manuscript, much to his anger.

Walking down the stairs, I saw him sitting on the couch, arms crossed over his chest with an angry impression with lowered eyebrows. It's the only way to read his feelings since he has a smile stuck on his face.

Entering into the living room, I approached him with caution before saying to him. I don't want him to start snapping out at me.

I then sat down on the couch, resting my elbow on the arm of the furniture, placing my hand on my forehead.

"I thought we're gonna watch a movie," Slappy spoke, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh, um..." I replied, taking my hand away from me. "You can pick one; I don't mind," I shrugged without a care.

Slappy got off the couch with carefulness, going over to where the DVDs are. He pulled one out. "How about this one?" he asked, holding it out in front of him.

I gestured him to come forward. He rolled his with slight annoyance, walking up to me, handing me the DVD box.

Looking at it, I almost rolled my eyes. "The Shining?" I gritted, most likely with annoyance inside of me.

Slappy took the notice from me, having him raise one eyebrow. "Is there something wrong about it...?"

I shook my head. "No, there's nothing wrong about it. It's just..." Slappy waited for me to finish. "I don't like any of the movies based on Steve King's books," I truthfully shared with him. "I sold a lot more books then him." A proud smile formed on my face. "It looks like I beat the author, too," I put out.

"So...in other words... you don't want to watch the movie?" he inquired. He was about to take it away from me when I gripped it in my hand.

"We'll watch it. I mean, unless you changed your mind..." I waited for him to say something, gripping the DVD box.

"Let's watch it," he answered. "I'll put it in, too." He took the DVD and took the disc out, going over to the TV, setting it up. I watched carefully, making sure he's doing it right. He pressed the open/close button from the DVD player. The disc drive opened up, resulting in him getting hit on the nose. "Ow," he slipped out.

"You okay there?" I asked from behind him.

"Yes, Stine, I'm fine," he told me, not caring about my concern for him. He muttered something under his breath, and I might of heard what he said.

"What did you say? Speak up," I ordered lightly, avoiding to get yelled at from my creation.

Slappy let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his nose like it still hurt. "You want to know what I said?" he responded back to me, his wooden brows lowering like he was challenging me or something.

I arched a brow. "Yes...?"

"You really wanna know what I said?" he questioned on.

"Yes!" I pressed out. "Tell me what you said, and it better not be a bad word," I warned, jabbing a finger right at him. "Better not be a swear word." I also gave him my warning look, too.

"Fine, I said I'm annoyed about your concern," he told me with lots of spare. "It ticks me off! I keep on telling you... I am not a child!"

When he yelled, it didn't frightened me. Not even his harsh glare would keep me away from him. Besides, nothing scares me at all. It's basically because I used to be sinister and anti-social with other people, refusing to go anywhere with anybody, knowing what they'll do next.

Not anymore. Since I'm dating Zach's aunt, she's been taking me out on dates, having me go to hangouts with her friends back in the days of high school like I never did when I was a teenager, sad as it seems, and from time to time, she'll come over to my house or I'll surprise her by dropping myself to her house, with flowers in my hands.

Thinking about her made me smile.

"Why are smiling like that?" Slappy questioned, seeming to be weirded out from my 'odd' behavior, breaking me away from my love in my head.

"O-Oh, um..." I stuttered with nervousness, rubbing the back of my neck. "I was smiling, knowing our relationship would heal at any time of any day."

Slappy quirked a brow. "Uh huh…" he deadpanned. I can tell he doesn't believe me. I can't tell him about Lorraine, the woman I'm with, fearing how he'll react.

Thinking about it now, I have to tell her about Slappy. Except I fear she'll leave me like my ex did years ago when I found out she cheated on me. I know Lorraine would not leave me, knowing she's a very understanding person who'd always listened to my stories when I was a kid, from a very young age to an adult that I am now.

To me, it felt crazy thinking about Lorraine breaking up with me. Whenever I start to feel angry or, in some cases, irritated, she would be the only one to calm me down in case I ever had a fit with something, even if something is small.

I hadn't returned the favor, making me feel some guilt inside of me. Knowing her, she doesn't mind. She's not the type of person who gets angry... Or does she? I know in all bets that she'll be frightened when she discovers him since I wasn't sure if she saw him in person. Unless she did, though...

Waiting for Slappy to put the disc in, I saw he was having trouble with it. He kept flipping the disc, figuring out how to place it within the DVD player. So I told him. "The one with the picture goes up, Slappy."

"Oh," he simply returned. "...Wasn't sure about it..." He put the disc on the slot, pressing the open/close button. "Now what?" he turned to me and asked. "Do we sit through the previews and trailers for other movies again?"

"No," I answered, taking the remote into my hand. "We don't have to sit through all the previews and trailers. I can skip those until we get to the main menu." To demonstrate, I pressed my thumb on the skip button, skipping all the boring stuff. Slappy had his arms crossed, tapping his formal shoe. "It doesn't take long," I couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't reply or anything. All he did was tapped his shoe. "There," I announced, "we're at the main menu. Just let me go to settings..." Going there, I checked the settings for the movie, such as the length of the screen, language, and anything else to see what needs to be fixed. "Settings are good," I reported with a genual nod.

"Whatever, can we start the movie?" Slappy proclaimed impatiently. "I don't care what the settings are."

I pressed play, placing the remote on my lap. "Aren't ya going to sit with me?" I asked.

"Nope," he decline with a shake of his head. "I'll sit right here," he stated, plopping himself onto the floor with some teenage attitude. "I don't want you touching me..."

"That's okay," I respected. "Hazel doesn't like to be touched, either. Maybe while she's at the hospital, mental hospital, to be exact, she'll learn how to get used to physical contact. I'm not sure she'll get used to it right away whenever she gets home," I told him, cleaning my glasses, getting the specks of dust off the lenses.

"When will she be home?" The question came out of his mouth, having me pause at what I was doing.

I placed my glasses back on my face, pushing them up, looking down with my eyes. "I'm not sure..." I shrugged my shoulders. "She's being kept an eye on for suicidal watch..." I looked up to see a shocked look on my creation's face. "Slappy? Are you alright? You look..."

"Y-Yeah, I am." He picked at his laces on one of his formal shoes. "Why did she do that?" The look never left his face, his brows way up on his forehead. It didn't change his scratched up appearance he holds now.

Again, I shrugged. "Probably she's tired of not being able to...be happy," I simply guessed. "I'm sure about you, but everyone else wants to see her...smile... The last treatment she took did do well... Then... they stopped working."

"Hazel's a brat, that's why her last treatment stopped working."

"Slappy!" I scolded, sending him mad eyes.

He flinched at the tone I gave him. "Sorry," he mumbled, loud enough for me to hear him. "I...shouldn't have said that." He got up from the floor, making his way to the couch. With some struggling, he pulled himself onto the furniture at the other end, far from me.

Frowning, I reached over, grabbing him, lifting him up.

"Hey-! What are you-" he started to protest. "Put me down!" he commanded orderly.

Ignoring him, all I did was place him next to me. "I want you to get used to being touched, too."

"By grabbing me!?" he angrily blazed with a hard, terrifying glare. "I don't want to be touched by you or any other human on this planet!" he snarled.

"All I did was put you next to me." I raised both my hands to show him what I meant. "See?" I said. "I don't have your hands on you. And don't shout," I added, glancing at the stairs and back at him. "I don't want Hannah waking up."

"I don't want Hannah to waking up," Slappy mocked disrespecting my wish. "Hannah, Hannah, Hannah, that's all you care about!" he yelled in a loud voice.

"Shh, quiet," I shushed, trying to calm him down. "I care about everyone."

"Sure, you do." He rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"I do," I insisted, keeping it down. "I used to not care for anybody else other than my daughter... but I changed big time after the monster invasion in this town."

"Great for you," he spoke with lots of sarcasm. "You know, it was fun when it's only you and me before she came into the picture," he said.

"Sounds like you're green with envy..." I confirmed.

"I'm not green, stupid," Slappy spitted.

"No, green with envy means you're jealous," I explained with a short chuckle. "It's also okay to feel that way, too."

"Hmph," he huffed, looking straight at the movie. "Will Hannah get 'green with envy' when she sees you with me?"

I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch. "I don't think so… She's not the type to be jealous."

"She's a type of person to hate me," Slappy remarked.

"Slappy, she does not hate you. She just needs to get adjusted by you," I said for the hundredth time.

He let out a scoff. "Yeah, right."

"She-" I was about to argue when I heard my daughter upstairs.

"Dad? Is everything okay down there? What are you doing anyway?" She made her way down the stairs as she asked. When she got to the living room, her eyes landed on Slappy who looked right back at her. "You look creepy with all those marks on you," she commented, though she showed nothing to him.

"Thanks," he snarked.

Hannah turned to me. "Why are you up?" she asked.

"Why are you up?" I repeated the same question.

"I heard you and Slappy bickering," she told me, gesturing her head towards the top of the stairs. "I was already awake when I woke up from him," she pointed at Slappy, who returned a cold look. "So...why are you two bickering?" she questioned, playing with her bed hair.

"We weren't bickering, we were arguing," he corrected matter of factly, the cold look not lifting away from him.

"It's the same thing," I said, leaning towards him, speaking into his ear. All he did was shove me away, scooting away from me. "Ow..." God, he's so strong, his shoving gives me pain, having me rub my cheek.

At least he didn't punch me.

I looked over at Hannah. "You should go back to bed, sweetheart," I advised.

"Can't," was all she gave me.

"Well, why don't you join us?" I looked over at Slappy. "Can she?" I requested.

Avoiding to argue away from me, he teleported to the love sofa in front of the living room window. "At least I won't have to be near you and Hannah," he conceded, laying down, his eyes on the movie.

"Just ignore him," I advised her when she came over and sat down next to me. "He'll adjust to you sooner or later."

"It's not gonna happen!" Slappy proclaimed, turning his body, his face now directed at couch wall. He didn't pay any attention to the movie. As for myself, I wasn't paying attention to it, either. Neither was Hannah. She kept her angry expression on him, like she wanted to chop him up as if he was some sort of tree. "Also, why bother?" he added in. "Hannah's too nice to everyone simply because you-" He faced us, mostly at me, with a dark look. "-made her the way she is now! You're a horrible father, Stine! You're a horrible friend to me!" Hannah and I watched with wide eyes of shock and surprised. He jumped off the love sofa, snatching up one of the pictures off the walls with his magic. The picture of me and him... way before my daughter came into existence. "You shouldn't ever put me back on a shelf for me to rot in hell! You were my best friend! I called you papa! But nooo!" He rolled his eyes, raising the picture over his head. "You have to be so selfish! You only care about her, all because she's not made out of wood or anything!" Both of us saw green tears emerging in his eyes. "I... wish I wasn't around anymore!"

To show his point, he threw the picture at the wall with all his might. Hannah let out a scream when it hit the wall, glass shattering everywhere onto the floor.

I looked towards Hannah, who wore a terrified look, paralyzed with fear... not being able to move... My brows lowered at him. I got up from the couch, marching towards Slappy.

"Hey!" I grabbed a hold of his arm when he let out a protest, dragging him into the dining room.

"Sit down," I sternly ordered, directing my finger on one of the chairs. I was expecting him to argue with me, but instead he did what he was told. "You shouldn't have said what you shouted," I began to scold him with authority.

"You're not the boss of me!" he growled, turning his attention away from me like a stubborn child would do to their parent or guardian.

"I'm an adult and it's my house." I crossed my arms over my chest. "You need to stop with the behavior or else I'll put you back in the manuscript with all the monsters in it," I stated.

"No!" A terrified look came upon his face, his brows way up on his head. "Anything but that!" he protested, putting his hands in front of him. "Please, Stine," he pleaded. "Don't put me back in hell of paper and ink. I...was upset for what you said to Hannah."

My face softened up. "What did I say to make you feel the way you are now?"

"You know, how I can 'adjust' to her," he quoted with his fingers. "Stine, she can't even adjust to me. How is this going to work?" he questioned.

"It takes time," I told him. "All you have to do is prove to Hannah and Hazel, whenever she gets home, to show that they can trust you."

"The same with the kid next door?" he included, referring to Zach.

"Even Champ and my girlfriend," I added.

"Girlfriend?" he spoke in an unbelievable tone.

"Um..." My face turned red. Oh boy, better say this carefully. "I'll tell you who she is another time," I decided, thinking it was the best thing to do. "Besides." I let out a yawn. "I need my shut eye before I go to work."

Slappy got up from the chair. "I'm not tired..." Except a yawn escaped from his mouth. "Okay, maybe a little tired," he confessed.

I let out a short, small laugh. "Even evil things can be tired." Frowning I tilted my head. "Are you sure you don't want to get fixed up...? I mean, you'll feel a lot better if you-"

He cast a sharp look. "I said I'm fine!"

"Well..." I started. "Alright, alright," I gave up. "You can tell me when you want to get fixed up. Your choice, and your choice only," I told him.

"Sure," he decided to agree to the option I gave him. "I'm going to bed." With that, he walked out of the dining room. "Uh... Goodnight...Hannah," I heard him say, doing his best to sound...friendly.

I waited for her to reply. It took a little bit for her to say, "Night, Slappy." She then added, "Please, don't come into my room without my permission." I wasn't so sure, but I can't tell if she said it nicely. Knowing her, she's very kind and lovable, so in my guess, she probably didn't want to start getting onto his bad side, like I have from time to time.

I made my way back to the living room, seeing Hannah laying down on the couch, eyes on the movie.

"Do you want to finish the movie before you go back to bed?" I asked, making my way over to her.

"Why not?" she answered, sitting up.

"I can restart the movie for ya," I offered as I sat down next to her. The movie was already halfway to being over, which I thought was a pretty good idea for me to just start the movie all over again. To be honest, I haven't been paying any attention to it when I was chatting with Slappy. I'm not sure if he was paying any attention to the movie, either. "Do you want me to start the movie at the beginning?" I said, awaiting for her to speak.

"I have seen this movie a bunch of times, dad," she spoke with a smile. "I have seen all the horror movies that you and me watched. No need to start at the beginning," she declined.

I nodded. "Alright." I sat down as me and her finished watching the movie. When it was over, I took the DVD out, placing it back in its box, putting it away where the other DVDs are at. "You know, Hannah, I wasn't sure if you told Slappy goodnight in a nice way." The look she gave me was a baffled one. "I'm only saying," I said, hoping to get the look off her face. "It sounds like you were nice, but knowing how you didn't like him being out of the manuscript, it seemed like you were pretty much ticked off."

"I was ticked off; angry for you doing such a thing," she replied slowly. "Like you said, it'll take me time to adjust to him. I did say what I said nicely, avoiding to get on his bad side...like you have when we argue with each other..." Drumming her fingers on the couch, she seemed to be in deep thoughts. It was as if she was thinking about something. "What would happen if he doesn't...change?" she finally spoke with question. "I know you want to reform him and all that, but the thing is..." Letting out a sigh, she gazed up at me with a sad look. "...I don't believe it. He hurt you and Hazel, and it doesn't seem like he feels bad about what he did."

I sat down, bringing her close to me. "I know it's hard to believe..." I understood. "But he'll change someday. So far he didn't do anything stupid," I chuckled, wanting to see a smile from her.

She gave me a tiny smile, adding with a shake of her head. "Yeah... he didn't," she simply agreed, shrugging her shoulders.

"If he keeps it that way, I'll keep him out of the new manuscript for a long, long time. Maybe he'll be a great sibling for you and-" I immediately stopped myself, and she seemed to notice.

"And?" Hannah tilted her head with curiosity.

I was silent, the only sound I'm hearing right now. No way I'm gonna tell my plan yet. It'll have to wait, and I want to keep it as a surprise, too.

"Dad?" Snapping out of my trance, she got my attention. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was thinking," I assured her. "About Slappy." Still not going to tell her about my plan... Besides, it wouldn't be a surprise when I do tell her about it, right? "Why don't you go back to sleep?" I suggested, looking at the clock. "I don't want you sleeping in school."

"I don't want that to happen." Agreeing with me, she stood up. "Goodnight, dad. Again." With a hug, she made her way upstairs, proceeding to her room.

Hearing her bedroom door closed, I too, went to my room. Knowing how tired both me and her will be tomorrow, I made coffee before going back to my bedroom for the next day, which apparently, is today. It's literally two in the morning; the sun not being up, the town being surrounded by stars in the night sky.

I laid down, removing my glasses in the process, my vision becoming a blur without their relyment. Everything I look at looks like a smudge or something, having me squint my eyes a few times to know what I'm staring at. I also have to wear them when I read a book or a newspaper.

My eyelids felt like boulders, forcing them down towards my bottom lids of my eyes.

Deciding to let them win, I shut my eyes, wanting to get more sleep in before my alarm goes off, awaiting to start the job I love of all time.