Six Months Later
"Come on Alice, you're going to be late!" The woman running the foster care center called from downstairs. "The bus is leaving soon!"
"I'm coming!" Alice called back, and quickly scanned her school laptop monitor, a Macbook Pro. On the computer was an article detailing how a doll named Chucky was given to Andy Barclay in 1988, and was blamed for multiple murders. After checking Barclay's age in that year, Alice realized that Andy would be in his thirties by now, assuming he wasn't dead.
"Alice!" The caretaker yelled. "You need to go, now!"
"Alright, alright!" Alice grumbled, shutting her laptop and going downstairs, grabbing her sack lunch and exiting the building, just as the bus showed up. Pierce got on the bus and went all the way to the back, where she just sat there and tried to forget about why she was in this situation to begin with. Unfortunately, her mood did not improve, as all the other kids were too loud and obnoxious, and one kept throwing spitballs. After what felt like hours, the bus finally stopped, they had arrived at the local school.
"Now, in 1941, the United States came under attack from…" The teacher droned on, clearing boring Alice and everyone else in the room. Having had enough of listening about the history lesson, Alice took out her laptop and put her headphones in, and looked up Andy Barclay on the Internet, eventually finding the video that Barclay himself posted a week earlier. It was the fifth time she's watched it, but Alice kept revisiting, if not to post a comment, then to at least see if she's missed anything.
"Mister Barclay, I'm extremely busy." A man with white hair and a vest sighed, sitting in some type of office. "We're not running circus here, so could you please, get to the point?" The other man, presumably Andy, finished setting up his camera, and set down what appeared to be the head of Chucky, with half his face torn off. Andy pulled out a nail gun and shot the doll, causing it to howl in pain.
"That's very clever, Mister Barclay." The man said, beginning to lose patience. "That's very convincing."
"What? No!" Andy protested. "He's alive! Just look at him!" Andy shot the doll again, earning another scream of agony.
"You should get a job in the movies." Was the older man's only reply.
"I want to see Nica Pierce." Andy requested, much to the annoyance of the other man.
"Would you please show Mister Barclay out?" A guard went to lead Andy away, but he wouldn't leave.
"I'm telling you, she didn't do it!" Andy yelled, while another man in a white coat grabbed him by the arm and led him away. All the while, Chucky was laughing.
"ALICE PIERCE!" Alice nearly jumped out of her seat, as the teacher strolled over, pulling her headphones off. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"I was on my computer, what does it look like?" Alice asked, sarcastically, growing tired of the obvious questions.
"Well, maybe you can watch your videos and look at pictures more… in the office." The teacher ordered, pointing to the door. Alice groaned, it was the third time that week she had been sent. Slowly, Pierce got up and left the classroom, making her way to the principal's office. Once she finally got there, Alice walked into the open doorway, seeing her principal was speaking with a woman with blonde hair and a black cap.
"Should I wait outside?" Alice asked, making her presence known. The two older women turned around, seeing Pierce.
"Actually, no." Principal Cassidy replied. "We were just talking about you. Alice, meet your new foster parent."
"What?" Alice asked. "Your my new foster parent?"
"That's right." The other woman smiled. "My name's Kyle."
"She just filled out all the paperwork this morning at the center, and was going to pick you up after school." Cassidy continued. "But I think you two can leave early, for some bonding time." Kyle smiled, holding out her hand.
"Are you ready to go, Alice?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah." Alice agreed, taking the other woman's hand and leaving the school. Once they got in a black car, Alice decided to voice her suspicion. "Who are you really?"
"Trust me kid, you're gonna want to come with me." Kyle ignored her question, and opted to speak in a darker tone.
"Then where are we going?" Alice asked.
"To see an old friend." Kyle replied. "I'm assuming you've heard of Andy Barclay?"
"You know him?" Alice jumped up in her seat.
"I was his foster sister." Kyle explained. "We tangled with Chucky back in 1990, when we were in the same foster home. You know, that's why I filled out the papers to take you."
"What? Why?" Alice asked.
"Because foster care is a bit of a bitch." Kyle informed. "In Andy's case, no one, not even me, believed the doll was alive before it was too late."
"That can't be the only reason you're taking me to see Andy." Alice guessed, as the two stepped out of the car and walked to an airport.
"No." Kyle admitted. "The other reason is because Andy saw your comment on his video, telling him your entire story. He wants to help you." Kyle gave Alice a ticket, and together, the two of them boarded a plane that was heading for Chicago.
Roughly four hours later, the plane landed, and Alice and Kyle stepped out.
"How come Andy couldn't come get me?" Alice asked.
"He was… a bit busy." Kyle said mysteriously.
"Cut the shit." Alice suddenly exclaimed. "Did it have to do with Chucky?"
"Something like that." Kyle told her. "He's still trying to prove to Doctor Foley that Chucky is alive."
"Foley. So that was the man in the video." Alice mused. Kyle nodded.
"On the bright side, Andy said that he'd be here to meet us." Kyle told the girl. "After all, he's the one who's actually going to take care of you. I'm just here to pick you up."
"You're not going to come with?" Alice frowned.
"Nah, I got my own shit to take care of." Kyle responded, just as they approached Andy, leaning against his black truck. "Just remember, every time someone leaves you, it just makes you stronger, because it reminds you that the only person you can count on is yourself." Kyle hugged Pierce, and then walked away, speaking with Andy for a moment, but left soon.
"So, you're Alice Pierce?" Andy asked. Alice nodded. "Well, get in. There's something you need to see."
"Aside from Chucky's head on a spike?" Alice asked, entering the passenger's seat. "I saw the video, remember?"
"Good point." Andy decided, starting up the engine. "In that case, tell me again everything that happened with Chucky."
"My family and I showed up to Aunty Nica's house, we had just heard that my grandma died." Alice began her story. "I found a doll in the bathroom, and he called himself Chucky. At first, I thought he was my friend, even after he killed Mommy and Daddy, and I thought Aunty Nica killed them. Shortly after Nica was sent to an asylum, Chucky found me at my other grandma's house. He wanted to play a game called 'hide the soul', and began muttering something while my eyes were closed."
"Jesus." Andy murmured. "What happened after?"
"I opened my eyes, and Chucky asked why it didn't work. I turned around and saw my grandma with a plastic bag over her head, and that's when I realized he killed my family, not Aunty Nica." Alice continued. "I ran out, and was put into foster care. I've spent the last few months trying to learn everything about him."
"That's good." Andy surmised. "Now, what all do you know about Chucky?"
"He was known as Charles Lee Ray, the Lakeshore Strangler." Alice began, without missing a beat. "He was gunned down in a toy store in '88, but transferred his soul into a Good Guy doll. You received Chucky as a present from your mother, and was terrorized by him on three separate occasions. After your third encounter, Chucky was thrown into an amusement park fan, but he somehow came back and caused some deaths at Niagara Falls, causing the police to dig up his grave. Whatever happened afterward, there were reports of a series of murders in Hollywood, right around the time the movie Chucky Goes Psycho was being filmed."
"God damn, you are good." Andy's eyes widened, impressed by the girl's knowledge. "And, here's our stop." Andy parked his truck in a parking lot and entered a gun store, with Alice following close behind.
"What are we doing here?" Alice asked, noticing no one was at the counter.
"This is where I work." Andy explained, climbing the stairs. "Six months ago, Chucky came to me in a package. Guess he wanted to finish what he started in 1998."
"Don't you mean '88?" Alice asked, confused.
"No, he needed me then." Andy clarified. "He needed to transfer his soul into my body. That's what he was muttering when you had your eyes closed, and that's what the 'hide the soul' bullshit is."
"But, why would he need to transfer his soul?" Alice asked. "He's already in a doll."
"Yes, but the more time he spends in that doll body, the more human he becomes." Andy answered. "He wanted my body so he wouldn't spend the rest of his life as a ginger midget." Finally, Andy opened a door upstairs, revealing an apartment. On a table was Chucky's head, attached to a slab of wood, and half his face was blown off.
"Hey Andy, did you bring a new playmate over?" Chucky cackled, but then his one eye narrowed, seeing who was with him. "Alice? What're you doing here?"
"Now that you mention it, I'd like some answers." Alice declared, sitting down at the table. "Why did you want my body?"
"Well, in truth, I'd wanted to use you so I could kill Andy." Chucky grinned a wicked smile, and Alice noticed at least one of his teeth was missing.
"Why'd you go after my family?" Alice demanded.
"Your bitch grandmother never did tell you about me, huh?" Chucky sneered. "I wanted Sarah, but she decided to be a fucking whore and go off with Daniel. Even after I killed him, she still wouldn't go for me! So I had to send her a message, through her daughter!"
"You did that to my Aunty Nica?" Alice asked, feeling sick. "That's why you went after us? Over a grudge against my grandma?"
"She wasn't yours to begin with." Andy told the doll, with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"Fuck you!" Chucky yelled. "Fuck you both!"
"You first." Alice growled, fighting back tears and seeing Andy take out some knuckle dusters from his jacket. "Wait!"
"What?" Andy asked.
"I want to do it." Alice took the knuckle duster and repeatedly hit Chucky in the face, eventually losing track of how many times Chucky moaned in agony.
"You think… that this is over?" Chucky asked, spitting out blood. "It hasn't even begun! I still have Tiff, and I've discovered how to split my soul into multiple dolls at once!"
"Shut up!" Alice yelled, delivering one final uppercut that knocked Chucky out. "Great, now what?"
"Well, if what he said was true, then you need to train and prepare for the next time he shows up." Andy announced getting up and pulling out a pistol. "Ever wanted to fire a gun?"
Over the next few months, Andy and Alice worked on their shooting together, slowly mastering their marksmanship at the range. Chucky was trying to mess with them, as always, but was quickly shut up when Andy or Alice knocked him out with Andy's assortment of tools. Within a year, Alice had nearly perfect aim, and Andy decided it was time to branch out and teach Alice how to fight, if they ever found themselves in a tight situation, or a brawl.
