(Author's note: This time around, I did not specify who wrote what. I figured by the POV's you could tell now. Plus, I got consent from JigsawtheWitch to not put names each new post. It's annoying anyway!)

PUPPETS'N'GUNS

Chapter 3 Ruined the Whole Thing

Slamming on her mental breaks, she froze just outside the door she had randomly chosen. She had thought she heard the grating sound of a door slide open. Screw that, she had heard a door opening. Looking around quickly, it was obvious none of the doors lining the hallway had been moved in the slightest.
So, it was a door inside one of the rooms. But, which one? "Oohh," she said, the sound of realization punctured with humorless laughter. Figures, she thought bitterly. Looking up and down the hallway, she still saw nothing. Apparently, the neanderthals had decided to stay away from her... or, had gotten killed. That thought was sufficient to make her smile. She sighed, her eyes rolling upwards and she fell bonelessly against the wall. She kept her head pressed against the cool wall for a moment before smacking off it repeatedly. "-smack- I'm -smack- stuck -smack- in -smack- this -smack- gods -smack- forsaken -smack- house -smack- and -smack- I -smack- cannot -smack- find -smack- ANYTHING! -smack-" Rolling her body, so the back of her head now pressed against the wall, she contemplated beating that side of her head, before a thought struck her. "Where's the kitchen?" she said, pushing herself to her feet and walking down the hallway. "I hope they have a working oven... or something with flame."

What the hell was that bitch rambling about? He thought with an angered expression over his glossy face. Talk talk talk. Talk out loud! I mean seriously. Shut the hell up. He was so sick of people being ungrateful to be alive! So sick of everything!

Eeek. Now he was starting to sound like his father. Okay, the point was, he suddenly felt an ingenious plan surface in his mind. So much, that he grinned, and when he grinned, the swirls on his cheeks grew tighter together and with such happiness in his heart the swirls felt as though they were running in hypnotizing circles. GOD! Being mean to people was going to be SO much fun! 3 3 3 He made fists with his little fabric hands and held his arms up as he ran back to the self-powered elevator-SHIT. The door opened. He froze by the shaft door and turned his head slowly towards it. He was exposed. Unable to hide, and running showed weakness.

A man with a dirty grey shirt and thick brown hair to his shoulders poked his big ugly head in, causing Billy's eye sockets to enlarge greatly and show the perfect circles of his red irises from below his prominent brow. The man looked entirely petrified. Billy looked pretty damn petrified too. He let go of the handle and just stood. Didn't say anything, didn't blink. Just kept gazing brown eyes focused on the puppet, standing fully up, on it's own, and looking at him. He probably thought he was ugly or something.

"...Hello." He said with his signature Jigsaw voice, but with slight awkwardness and drop in volume. The man rose a hand and shook it somewhat jerkily. Billy shot his eyes back and forth. "...Goodbye." He broke out of the statue-like position and hopped into the elevator. When he looked out the slits of the metal door, the man watched, without a move, as he slid slowly back down the elevator shaft.

Fuck.

The sound of gears grinding together squeakily caught her attention. She whipped her head around.
Because everything in this damn house seemed to be against her, she couldn't tell exactly where the squeaking originated. You're probably better off, anyway, idiot, she told herself. But, she was so tempted to follow the noise... Then, she mentally punched herself. Yes, because the last dozen times I went to follow a noise went so productively. Shaking her head -she decided that she was now officially mad- she crept down the hall towards the stairs. Lost in thought, she didn't notice she was at the bottom of the stairs until she ran into something solid and unyielding... ... And it wasn't the wall... Oh damn, what now? Her eyes widened in surprise as she gave the man a swiping glance. Pfft, so what? It's a guy... you've taken them on and won before... what's your problem now? She shook her head in denial at her thoughts. Her reaction wasn't because she ran into a man. It was because he wasn't one of the neanderthals from the room. "Oh, shit,"

A tall, thin sillohuette stood before her. The top of his head, by the light of the room behind him could be seen, and it was round and perfectly hairless. He breathed roughly and rapidly, and held to a contraption in the darkness with a strange thick object hanging off of it. His breathing continued, shallow and deep all at once. His chest could be seen slightly rising and falling.

It took a few seconds for him to react. He didn't speak, he didn't move, but then as best as he could he darted off down the hallway, wheezing and sliding what now in the light turned out to be a pole on wheels with a medicine bag attached to his arm through a cord. He slid it across the wooden floor and ran away from her in panic. oo;;

Momentarily stunned, she just stood there. And watched. As he booked it in the opposite direction. "Well, I didn't expectthat." Still mildly surprised, she shrugged and followed him... though, at a more sedate pace. She wandered down the hallway, muttering curses under her breath. Though he had looked frail, he had gotten his ass out of there quickly enough. And, if that wasn't bad enough, he had seemingly vanished. There had been no irritating squeal of hinges... no frantically scuffling footsteps... no squeak of wheels against metal... abso fucking-lutely nothing. "Damn it!" she muttered venemously as she brushed several strands of hair from her eyes. (Heh... can anyone tell that I like using adjectives unnecessarily?) She walked to the end of the hall and stopped in her tracks. And smiled. An almost inaudible rustle of clothing and breathing was all she needed. Granted, she might misjudge from where the sound originated... but it was better than nothing, right? Right. She positioned herself so she could attempt to avoid any surprises... and reached for the handle.

Before the handle could be touched, it burst open and Jigsaw's eyes enlarged."AAAAAGH!" He shrieked uncontrollably.

"Oh, Jesus H. Christ!" She jumped back, her hand over her rapidly pounding heart.

It took a few moments for him to regain himself. His surprised face, with his bald head giving him the appearance of a frightened infant, returned to a stern expression. "Eh-Get out of my way!" He reached out and shoved her to the side, and continued nearly limping down the hardwood floor, the last of his energy was draining though. The steps felt in slow motion...

Once more, she was stunned into paralysis. "Wait just a damn moment," she said angrily, the surprise-induced paralysis wearing off relatively quickly. "What kind of sick-fuck joke is this?"

Jigsaw caught his breath and stopped the strain on his weak body, feeling as though his head was floating away. He heard the comment kind of as if it were far away, but of course, registered it all the same. He was hunched, with thin muscle and shoulder blades as visible shapes under his white shirt he had been bedridden in for some time now. He turned around a step at a time and breathed shallowly. "You just stay out of my way and play your little game." He replied, a little agitated. He turned back around, feeling every crack and pull in his bones. He truly did feel old. He couldn't move any further...

He really wanted to get the godamn hell out of there and show her who was in control, but he stumbled mindlessly to the side and held on to a pillar at the end of the stairs like a kid on a merry-go-round, his arms fully around it, his face against the cold metal. He felt defeated.

"Oh Jesus...I'm getting too old for this shit."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "My game? This was not my fucking game, I can assure you."
She was ready to continue her verbal tirade... but didn't. There was no way in hell that she could do that... not to him... at least not now... not when he looked the way he did. "Oh, damn me to all seven hells," she cursed, turning her head, as thoughts warred. She sighed in defeat and looked at him.

Despite her being a smartass, he was waiting impatiently for her to walk off and leave him alone but she never did. She just stood and soaked in on Jigsaw's poor defeselessness. He hid his face behind the pole and scoffed under his breath. "Damnit Billy..."

His muttered curse caught her attention and sufficently distracted her oddly-placed guilt.
"Wait... there's someone else in here besides you?"

He froze at the pole. It was not her comment that caught his ear, it was a faint crack in the side of the wall. Fury came into his eyes again. It really was not what he wanted to do...not at all. This was ruining the plan! "For God's sake.." he thought to himself.

He swiftly, with newly found strength due to his rage, turned around and his eyes shot past a doorframe, the bits of visible furniture in the room beyond it, and straight down to an elevator shaft that was conveniently all the way across the floor from him. It stood at the other end of the house, but he dragged himself and the medicine pole through the house, not once looking back to the girl. He was determined to reach that elevator shaft. He huffed and puffed and slapped his bare-feet across the chipped wood. The wheels of the pole would sometimes stop at the surfacing cracks, but he would shove it along and create a trail of detached splinters behind it.

He reached the shaft almost without breath again, but with his determined arm, he slammed open the intricately designed metal door and heard it clash with an ear-pitching clatter as it hit the side of the wall. He stuck his free arm in and yanked out the poor defenseless puppet body that had been hiding from within. Billy slid a little across the floor with his nose into the rug and then rose a little in pain.

"You get out of here right now! GET! GET! GET YOU FILTHY SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Billy's ego immediately dropped and he stumbled to his feet. Jigsaw repeatedly kicked him towards the front door, his black mohair becomming more and more tangled.

"Daddy," Billy said with his face into the doormat.
"I SAID GET OUT!" Jigsaw nearly tore a spare key from his pocket and ripped the door open. Billy solemnly carried on outside, and Jigsaw followed him. He slammed the door and caused the house to shake, leaving the girl standing alone by the stairs.

She blew out a breath of air in slight annoyance.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Then her eyes widened.
Jigsaw had freaked out.
He had freaked out... on a puppet.
A puppet that spoke.
With words.
"Jesus Christ in an Easter parade," she mumbled, allowing herself to fall backwards against the wall. Now, sometimes people went a little... nuttier than a fruitcake... during stressing times - but, Jigsaw. Jigsaw!
No... he didn't look like he was capable of doing a lot right now... but, he also didn't look like he had jumped aboard the insane train. Nor did it seem possible that he could reach that tone of voice that the puppet had had.
Which left one thing.
That puppet was fucking alive.
Or something like that.
"This is certainly new."

Jigsaw continued down the porch steps, his fist clenching Billy's bowtie and dragging him along. Billy tried to regain his balance, but he was moving too fast for his legs to manage and by the time they reached the curb, Jigsaw let go, sending Billy flying. He stayed tough and stood up, staring up to his father.

The nerve of him. All he wanted to do was have a little fun!

"Billy." Billy folded his arms.
"What."
"Don't you 'what' me."
"Seriouslyyyy. What?" He asked stubbornly.
"I told you to stay in your room."
"Well I didn't wanna stay in my room! What're you gonna do about it!"
"I'm gonna ground you for YEARS; that's what I'm gonna do about it." Billy didn't respond. "I'm dissapointed in you, Billy." He continued on. Billy looked up angrily to a view of Jigsaw, his brow low, but then averted his eyes to the medicine poll and snickered a little.
"What! What!"
"Your medicine." They pause again. A car drives by. A few birds chirp.
"Oh. Yeah, me having cancer and on the verge of death is hilarious. NOW GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM!"
"FUCK YOUUUUU!" Jigsaw suddenly shot out and grabbed Billy by the face.
"Shhhh-hhh. If you don't keep your voice down somebody's gonna hear us."
"I think you oughta just call it a day, Daddy."
"What!"
"Well they obviously know you were in there. I-i-it doesn't look like a very good game this time around..."
"Stay out of my business-"
"And the weather doesn't look very good either- the hostages are kinda testy today."
"SHUT UP!"
"Just a conjecture..." Billy trails on.

Once the realization that the puppet was... some form of animate... had settled, she was able to think - moderately - rationally again. She was debating whether to stay put and see if Jigsaw would return to watch his game... or if she should just continue her search through the house - when her thoughts were interrupted by a voice screaming, "FUCK YOUUUUU!" It sounded like the puppet. Curious - "What would make the puppet scream that of all words?" - she walked toward the door from which the pair had left. She heard - Jigsaw? - hush the - puppet? - and mutter something that she couldn't quite catch. The puppet must have said something because she heard Jigsaw growl, "What!" They were arguing over something... what exactly they were arguing about was another subject.
She was just about to walk down another hallway and hope that something killed her - she was caught between laughing hysterically and... some other emotion... and she didn't think she could last long without making some sort of noise. But, as random as her thoughts were... she realized that... Jigsaw - in his anger... haste... whatever - had not locked the door. o.O Just as she eased it open, she heard Jigsaw - again - shouting, "SHUT UP!" The puppet muttered something about, "Just a conjecture..." and she couldn't resist drawing their attention to the fact that they had forgotten something so simple as locking the door. "Are you going to let him talk to you like that, Jigsaw?"

The two halted and simulaniously turned their heads up to the girl at the porch. Billy looked back to Jigsaw.
"I told you it wouldn't work."
"You ruined the entire thing-"
"What're you gonna do now, hm?" Jigsaw stared in anger to the paint-chipped wooden face and it's expectant expression. His eyes were wide and revealed his red irises, but he could tell he was still in a mischievious sort of mood.
"Go hide in the bushes." Jigsaw muttered. Billy dashed off, and left Jigsaw standing helpless on the sidewalk.

She leaned against the doorframe, waiting as they traded a few more insults.
She cleared her throat after the puppet skulked off into the bushes. "Perhaps it would be beneficial if you were to come back inside." she suggested carefully in Jigsaw's direction. "And," she added. "I may not have a torch... but, I can lend you a lighter."

Billy stared from the brush with his fabric hands trying to hold back the leaves that kept getting in the way. Jigsaw looked determined- the hand with the pole clutched it tightly.

Jigsaw had regained himself.

"Oh no, I don't think that would be a good idea." He smiled at her casually. "Go on. If you'd like to leave right now, I'm obviously in no condition to stop you. Of course, if you wish to inform everyone else still in the house, consider yourself a murderer. Funny the way the roles are reversed." She seemed a little dumbfounded and struck at an odd note with this comment, but Jigsaw continued. "You're a smart girl. The both of us know what kind of insignificant creatures you were trapped with before this little event. I thought I'd teach them a little lesson; wake them up; stop their pollutants from reaching the minds of the great, like you and I. It's your choice, really."

She raised an eyebrow at his comment. She held up a finger and opened her mouth... then thought better of it. Oh, hot damn, she thought, smiling ruefully.
"Excuse me," she said, knowing her voice came out slightly strangled. Turning her face away, she let go. She managed to choke her hysteria into silence, but was unable to stop her shoulders from shaking. Finally, she was able to turn back.
"No, um... I think you misunderstood my intentions. I only asked you back inside because I didn't think that you would thank me for asking something... personal." As she said that, she hoped that he had caught her eye jerking movements toward the house... and understood that what she wanted to ask would probably get him landed in a police station if someone overheard it. She continued, anyway.
"And, I don't want to leave." her eyes narrowed. "There's a certain reason I'm here... and I'm not leaving until I... well, earn the privilege to leave." She sighed in frustration, hoping that he picked up on the nuances she'd tried to add... without saying them outright. But... There was something she couldn't blunt. "And, hon... what in the seven bloody hells makes you think that I'd want to warn them!" She gave him a funny look... he did his research... he ought to have known that she didn't give a damn what happened to them. Then, as an after-thought, she added, "Oh, by my last count... it's down by three in there." Something else struck her, too.
Damn it... why can't I think of things in one string of thought instead of adding on to each previous thought? "Hold on a moment, there. We all know that the sole purpose for placing people in this house is so they can learn to appreciate life... or die." He nodded in affirmation when she paused expectantly. "And... you just confirmed that neither you nor I want their ignorance and stupidity to spread like the disease it is."
She didn't wait long enough for him to show any acknowledgement. "So, would you care explaining why the fuck I had to be confined with them... when it seems that you and I are on the same level here?"

He took a moment to consider that.

"Well then. That's a very easy question to answer, Sarah. You and I are not at the same level. Yes, you're a very smart girl who has made a mistake, and so've the other members of the house regardless of their stupidity. Of anyone who survives, I pressume their new appreciation will teach them a little bit about not wasting space and being of meaning to the world around us. That is why you're here. Once my victims learn to appreciate their life instead of waste it away, their worth won't be such a question. You, Sarah, are intellegent and witty, but still serve no meaning."

She didn't suppress the laughter this time. "Well, I appreciate that you don't mince words, Jigsaw. That is the most blunt way I have heard anyone call me useless." She flashed him a genuine smile. Then she turned her head, grimacing.
Ow. Smiles hurt. Sighing, she reached behind her and took hold of the door.
"Well, if you would be so kind to lock me back in here... I still have a lesson to learn." A frown crossed her face briefly. "Though, before you do... I'd wanted to ask you; I have not found a single tape-recorder since the one in the wall. Hence, I can't exactly try my hand at surviving a trap if I can't find it. Would you mind throwing me a hint to go on, please?"

"No." He said bluntly. She snorted.
"I love you, too," she said sarcastically, taking a step backwards and closing the door.

Billy continued to brush the leaves away from his view. After some dialogue and a brief state of Jigsaw just standing there, grinning mildly towards the door, he walked up and dissapeared from view, and then came strolling back around the side swinging the keys around his finger. For the first time in a while, he looked kind of happy.

"Billy." He said. He pulled him by the back of his suit jacket from the bushes and dangled him in the air. His red mary-janes tapped together with limp legs.
"Yes?"
"Help me on the subway." Billy solluted him and they were off.