Playtime's Over

Chapter 3: Nightmarish Reality

Andy tossed and turned in bed, dreading the next day when he'd go to school. The weekend had gone by uneventfully. In the morning he had woken up to find that Ceceila was by the pool sunbathing and Jim (Mr. Jaques) was in the backyard playing golf with some friends. Andy decided to let Ceceila know that he didn't have a swimsuit and the moment he told her she felt so sorry for not asking. Immediately, she sent Maria to go pick him up a swimsuit in his size. When Maria was at the store she called Ceceila's cell phone to ask Andy which design he liked better. He ended up choosing the bathing suit with flames coming up from the bottom. It was black with red and orange flames—Andy liked it immediately when she brought it to him. The shorts weren't too long or too short. After he had changed he swam in the pool for a bit, floating on the different kinds of floaters they had there.

By the time he got bored of swimming and basically playing by himself, Ceceila offered to teach him how to ride a horse. She was planning on going to her friend's house, which was an even larger mansion with a much larger land space so they could afford horses and a reasonably sized barn to keep them in. Andy went with her and got to see the place and also got to ride, very slowly, on one of the black horses. It was smaller than the others because it was the youngest there, but it was very tame. Andy had to admit, after his years of being so lonely and isolated and afraid that Chucky would come back for him, he hadn't had fun at all. This day was the most fun he had had in so long. He had actually laughed fully and carefree. It was great!

Ceceila introduced him to several of her friends who got together at each other's mansions quite frequently and talked over some wine, had a picnic, or did something fun together. Ceceila also worked with one of them, but Andy wasn't sure exactly what she did for her career. Her friends were nice and each one had called him adorable, or cute, or some name like that. After the horse ride they had gone back to the house and arrived just before dinner. At dinner, Andy was actually more talkative. Cody was just picking at his plate while Ceceila bragged about how sweet and polite Andy was and how well he rode a horse for his first time. Andy could definitely tell Cody was becoming jealous and angry but he didn't lose his temper this time around.

Sunday passed by even more quickly. Ceceila invited both Andy and Cody to go to one of her friend's son's twelfth birthday party. Cody obviously didn't want to go—he said it'd be a kid's party, but Andy just wanted to go out and do something so he went. It wasn't much of a kid's party at all. There was cake and games, like Twister and tag, but prizes could be won as well. Andy actually won a Nintendo game by winning first place in a race. They all had partners and had to carry this "magical wizard's stick" across the yard without dropping it, using only one hand at first and then by the time it got down to Andy and another boy named Patrick they both had to carry it in their mouths and run to the finish line. Patrick dropped his so Andy automatically won.

In the back of his mind, Andy realized he was probably a very good runner due to being chased by a killer doll, but he didn't let that ruin his fun. The cake was good and it was very interesting to see how many cool presents the birthday boy, Danny, got; so many toys, video games, clothes, normal games, everything that a boy could imagine. Andy didn't want to be sucked into the joys of living with a wealthy family by thinking about all the toys he could get. Even with his mom, while they were just holding their heads above water, he still had enough toys to keep him happy. And his mom even told him that no matter how they were living they were still a family.

By the time he got home Sunday evening he was pretty exhausted. After being cooped up in an orphanage for so long, those few events over the weekend had drained him. He wasn't used to so much excitement. At dinner time, he was the one talking the most about the party and he tried a couple times to get Cody to join in, but he just didn't seem to care. He excused himself early from dinner and went upstairs, but Andy didn't mind. He stayed for dessert and then went up to bed.

Once he was in bed he started dreading school. What if he got picked on? What if it wasn't any fun? Bad memories about the last school at the Simpsons' came back and made him worry. Maybe he should pretend he was sick. No, he couldn't miss his first day. After all, he couldn't miss the entire school year; he had to go to the school sometime so he might as well just go the first day. That way he wouldn't miss anything. Andy closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping that school wouldn't be bad at all.

When he woke up around 7:30 in the morning he saw that someone had left out the school uniform he had to wear. It wasn't too bad, he guessed. It was black pants with a forest green tank top and a black jacket over it. Then there was a black tie to go with it. He found out that they didn't take the bus like everyone else, although he didn't know why he'd think they would. He and Cody were taken by Arthur, who escorted them in a very nice car with leather interior. Thankfully, it wasn't a limo. Andy would feel much too awkward. Unfortunately, he had to sit in the back with Cody since the driver was the only one supposed to sit in the front.

During the ride, Cody leaned over toward him. "Hey, just so you know we're not friends or brothers so don't go around telling people that, understand?"

Andy remained silent and just stared back out the window until they arrived at school. Cody was really beginning to get on his nerves. So far, Cody had been wrong about Ceceila and Jim not being there much. They were there the entire weekend and in fact, Ceceila had been making all these plans to do things with Andy and Cody during the week when they came home from school. As the driver let them out, Andy thanked him while Cody just hopped out and walked toward the school. Arthur smiled at Andy and tipped his head in response and Andy made his way toward the semi-large private school.

There were supervisors standing in front of the building for any new students so they could get their schedules. Once Andy got his he looked at it and noticed that English was his first class. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to find his class. It was just up on the second level right on the left. Being early, it gave him a chance to choose a seat. He decided the middle would be the best. Right as he sat down other students began filing in. He pretended to organize his books so that he wouldn't stare at the students coming in. He didn't want to seem strange. Once everyone was inside the teacher began the class and Andy found that he wasn't too far behind the other students, for being in an orphanage anyway. He hadn't really had the courage to speak to anyone so when lunch came around he just asked several boys if he could join them.

"Sure," one of them said, adjusting his glasses.

Andy thanked them and sat down, listening to them talk about the latest Nintendo games. He told them about the one he got and they seemed amazed—saying that one was really good. After lunch, he found that he didn't have a class with any of the boys so he waved goodbye and headed toward his class. As he walked up the stairs he heard laughter and saw a group of older boys throwing this nerdy-looking boy's backpack on the floor. One of the boys in the group was Cody. Although he wasn't doing anything to do the boy he was laughing with the other boys. Just as Andy thought—he was a bully.

Bullies didn't scare him. They were nothing compared to Chucky and the hell he went through when he was six and seven. Feeling determined, Andy walked over to the nerdy boy and offered him his hand.

"Thanks," the kid said, taking Andy's hand. "My name's Freddie."

"Andy," he smiled back.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" one of the boys asked, crossing his arms. "It appears you made a friend Freddie. I haven't seen you around here before."

"He's new," Cody said, smiling and staring at Andy.

Andy glanced over at Cody. "Do I know you?"

Cody's smile faltered and Andy stared back at the other boy in front of him. "Yes, I am new. My name's Andy."

"Well, Andy, I'm Matt. Perhaps you'd like to know that we don't tolerate it when others interfere with our business," the dark-haired boy smirked.

"Bullying people is a business?" Andy asked, sounding braver than he really felt.

Matt seemed to stare at him intensely. "It is here. And if you want to survive the year you might want to keep up on your studies."

The other boys laughed, including Cody, and Andy just turned around and faced Freddie.

"Come on, let's go."

Freddie nodded, grabbed his backpack and gave one last glance at the bullies before walking beside Andy.

"See you later, Freddie! New-kid!" Matt called from behind them.

With his back turned to the boys, Andy rolled his eyes. "Great. Just what I need: a bunch of jerks."

"It's not so bad, as long as you don't challenge them," Freddie said, adjusting his glasses. "If you're new, how come that Cody kid seemed to know you?"

"Unfortunately, we're foster brothers, but don't let him know I told you. Apparently, I'm to pretend we don't know each other while at school."

Freddie's eyes bugged out and he nodded his head. "I understand. Wow…so you live with the Jaques' huh? They're a really wealthy family. You're lucky!"

"Well you go to this school so your family must be wealthy too, right?" Andy asked.

"No, not really. I got here mostly on scholarships, but my parents aren't doing too bad. I think that's one of the reasons why those boys bully me is because they think I don't belong here. Their families are incredibly rich, as are you," Freddie said, smiling at him.

Andy just shrugged. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter much to me. Hey, I have to go to the bathroom before I go to my class."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Freddie asked.

"Sure," Andy said, giving him a small smile.

Freddie waved to him and Andy walked into the closest boys' bathroom. Sighing heavily, he went into one of the stalls and went to the bathroom. He got out and washed his hands, feeling a bit uncertain about this new school. A squeak to his left made him turn around. Andy saw that one of the stall doors was moving a bit, as if someone had pushed on it.

"Hello?" Andy called out, feeling incredibly stupid and paranoid. It was probably just some other kid in there, or maybe the stall door just hadn't been shut properly.

Just because of his past, Andy was a very cautious person. Even after six years of finally not seeing another dead body, he was still making sure he was careful. Shrugging, Andy walked over to the towel rack and pulled on a piece to dry his hands. He turned toward the door and suddenly the trashcan flew out in front of door, tipping over with trash falling over. Andy jumped, startled by the loud thud it made. Taking several deep breaths he tried to calm his racing heartbeat.

"Honestly, Andy, you need to stop freaking yourself out over nothing," he muttered.

Approaching the can, he bent down to pick it up when suddenly a flash caught his eye. Before he could blink, the trash can was lifted off the floor and thrown right at him. He managed to put his arms out in front of him just before it collided with him, but the force of it pushed him backward. He stumbled and fell, scraping his arm on the floor. Andy groaned loudly, pushing the can off of him and slowly sitting up while rubbing his sore arm.

A loud, high-pitched laugh caused Andy's blood to freeze. He knew that laugh. Very slowly, Andy lifted up his head with wide, fearful eyes. His eyes locked onto Chucky standing in front of the door holding a pocketknife. Andy's mouth was partially open and he was beginning to tremble. His eyes were wide and his heart was beating furiously. It couldn't be real. It had been six years, why now? It wasn't happening again…not when he was finally getting his life back together and starting over. Chucky couldn't be back.

"Hello sport," Chucky grinned, tapping the knife on the side of his leg. "Did you miss me?"

Andy didn't answer. He was too frozen with fear to even move let alone speak.

"What's the matter, Andy? I thought you'd be happy to see me," Chucky said, lifting his arms as if in question.

Andy's eyes were hooked to the familiar, malicious face—the abnormally plastic blue eyes that were so much more alive than the last time. Andy could scarcely breathe now. He couldn't even bring himself to scream, not that it would help. He swallowed thickly trying to think of a way out. Chucky wouldn't kill him, obviously since he needed his body, but if Chucky took over his body now he'd not only be able to kill his new foster parents, but Cody as well, and try to take all of the money. He knew Chucky well enough to know that if there was money involved he'd find a way to get it. He didn't need money as a doll, but if he succeeded in taking over Andy's body he would need it.

"Thought you wouldn't see me again, didn't you?" Chucky asked, taking a step forward. "I told you it's not over. Not until I get your body."

Andy breathed in shakily through his nose, his hands trembling terribly as he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. Chucky came closer and closer, a sadistic grin on his dollish face. Andy cowered backward, scooting back until he hit the wall. There was no where he could run. Chucky wouldn't kill him, but he'd hurt him if he had to. Andy's eyes glanced down at the trashcan then back up at Chucky who was approaching the trashcan. With fluid movement, Andy struck his leg out and kicked the trashcan hard. It rolled so fast that Chucky only had time to say: "What the—" before it collided with him, throwing him across the bathroom and hitting the wall by the door. The trashcan then rolled and stopped right in front of the door.

Andy jumped up and ran to the door. A hand lashed out and grabbed his ankle causing him trip and fall down. Andy knocked his head on the trashcan and he turned on his side as Chucky was now standing over him with the knife pointed in his face.

"Now listen, you little shit," Chucky seethed, glaring menacingly at him, "I've been trapped in this body long enough! Do you know how long I've been fucking trapped in this piece of plastic shit!"

Andy could only stare up at him with fear as Chucky kept him trapped on the floor.

"The last time you gave me so much fucking trouble I was fucking trapped in this body permanently!" he continued, bringing the knife closer to Andy's face. "I've got another chance and I'm not letting some little shit like you fuck up my chances at getting a real body!"

Chucky reached out and held the knife at Andy's throat while his other hand was placed on his forehead. Chucky's large, plastic blue eyes narrowed pleasurably as he sneered in Andy's face.

The door was suddenly pushed up against Andy's back. Andy winced and Chucky's head snapped up and glared at the door.

"Goddamn it!" he hissed, taking the knife away from Andy's throat. "This isn't over you little shit! I'm going to get you next time!"

Chucky then scurried away into one of the stalls and lifted himself up into the ventilation duct, which Andy hasn't noticed was open in the first place. That was how Chucky got into the bathroom. He heard voices from behind the door and slowly picked himself up along with the trashcan. A couple boys entered the bathroom a second later.

"Hey, what's the big idea, locking the bathroom?" one of the boys with red hair exclaimed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Andy said quickly. "I tripped."

The one with brown hair rose his eyebrows but the red-haired boy examined him.

"Yeah, uh, you got a scrape on the side of your face."

Andy instinctively reached up and felt the swollen bump from when Chucky had grabbed his ankle and caused him to fall. He glanced in the mirror realizing it was too noticeable to hide from his foster parents.

"That looks painful," the brown-haired boy said. "Maybe you should go get a band-aid at the nurse's office."

"Thanks," Andy said, picking up his backpack. "I will."

He walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the nurse's office. With Chucky somewhere in the school he didn't want to take chances that he could follow him to his new house. He wasn't sure how Chucky found out which school he had just been placed in, let alone what state he was in. Unfortunately, it was what made Chucky such a clever bad guy when he was alive and as a doll. As he reached the nurse's office, he faked an ill expression. The nurse was just finishing up with another kid, a young girl, before she turned her eyes on him.

"Oh dear, what happened?" she asked, walking over to him.

"I fainted," Andy lied.

The nurse looked very concerned and nodded. "Alright. Come in so I can clean the cut and put a band-aid on it."

Andy followed her into the small room and was silent as she worked on him. It didn't take long and once she was done Andy glanced up at him.

"I still feel dizzy," he said.

The nurse sighed in concern. "Okay, we'll have to call your parents then. What are their names?"

"Mr. And Mrs. Jaques."

The nurse blinked and stared at him in surprise. It only lasted for a few seconds as she nodded and fished out a card to dial a number. Andy lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't believe it…just when he had convinced himself everything was going to be alright and he would never see Chucky again, Chucky shows up right at school ready to take over his soul and steal his body. Would his nightmare ever end?

"Andy?"

He sat up, hearing the nurse's voice. "Yeah?"

"Your mom is coming to pick you up right now."

Andy's eyebrows furrowed. It took him a few seconds to realize she meant Mrs. Jaques. He nodded and lay back down. The nurse told him to rest until she arrived so that's exactly what he did. When Ceceila arrived and rushed into the room, Andy got up slowly and approached her. He was pulled into a very tight embrace and soon he was led out of the school and into the car. On the way to the house, Ceceila kept asking him question like has he ever fainted before, how is he feeling and others like that. Andy answered her truthfully and just told he was tired. He had never fainted before—it didn't count when a killer doll knocked him out. They finally arrived at the house and Arthur helped him out of the car.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, sweetie?" Ceceila asked, feeling his forehead.

Andy shook his head. "No…but, I have something to tell you."

Ceceila glanced down at him curiously. "Sure, honey, what is it?"

"Well…I just…I don't like going to school because it reminds me of when I was taken away from my mom. I think…I think I just got really upset and that's how I fainted."

"Oh, honey," Ceceila said, bending down and rubbing his cheek gently. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Andy shrugged. "You were being so nice to pay for school for me that I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"You're such an angel!" she said, pulling him into a hug. "Now don't you worry, sweetie. You don't have to go to that school if you don't like. We can always pay tutors to teach you here at home, if that would make you feel better."

Andy's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Seeing the excitement and relief in his eyes made her smile. "Of course. I'll talk to my friend Mary, her daughter is home-schooled and they have a great tutor, alright?"

"Thank you so much!" Andy said, hugging her back.

"Aww," Ceceila cooed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Now you get upstairs and go rest. I'll see you at dinner."

Andy nodded and immediately made his way up to his room. He felt so relieved now that he didn't have to go back to school. If Chucky didn't know where he lived then he was safe, at least temporarily. Chucky was too good at finding out any information he needed. Andy had to make sure that he didn't go away from the house much at all in case Chucky ever saw him roaming around and followed him. He didn't want Chucky to kill his new family—they were the best foster family he had ever had. Not to mention they were extremely wealthy and Chucky would certainly want to steal all their money.

At least now he had more a chance to think of a way to escape Chucky once again. He didn't want to leave his new home, but if he stayed his foster family would be in danger. Andy lay down, thinking hard. If he decided not to stay then he'd go back to the orphanage, but…would he be safe there? Sure, his foster family would be safe, but Andy had the feeling that Chucky knew about the orphanage.

He gasped aloud as a thought occurred to him. "That was probably how he figured out what school I was in. I hope he didn't hurt anyone there to find out that information," Andy whispered to himself.

Getting up from the bed, since he didn't feel tired, he decided he'd write in his journal again. He took out his journal, the one that no one had seen before; not even the doctors or staff at the orphanage. When the doctor that had diagnosed him with depression told him to write a journal about his feelings and memories, Andy began two journals. He had told the doctor he lost the first journal so he was given another one. One of them, he gave to the doctor which did have details about some of the murders he witnessed and how he was so sad that he couldn't see his mom, but nothing about a killer doll. His real journal, the one he kept hidden in his belongings, contained all of his memories, even the few before Chucky showed up. He explained in detail about the things Chucky said to him at six and how he told him that his name was Charles Lee Ray. It had everything—all the details of every single murder he witnessed and all the things Chucky said to him…everything. He even wrote the nightmares he had about the murders and about dying. The last entry had been from a few days ago when he wrote about how much fun he was having with his new foster family and what a beautiful mansion they had.

The journal did have some good memories in it, like good times at the orphanage, meeting Ariel, and other things, but mostly it was incredibly dark. If anyone just looked at Andy they wouldn't believe his past would be so dark, but it was. Andy sat back in his bed and opened the journal, taking out the pen he had kept from the orphanage.

August 20th,

I've been so happy so far in this huge house with my new foster family Mr. And Mrs. Jaques. Just when I thought my life was looking up and I could start over, Chucky shows up again. He came at my school and cornered me in the boys' bathroom. I was so scared I couldn't even breathe. I thought maybe it wasn't real…like I was having a nightmare or something, but it was real. He made me trip and fall and now I have this scrape on my face. He kept swearing at me, calling me a little shit again and saying the f-word so many times. He's really angry this time. He doesn't want to be trapped in the doll again and now that he has another chance to get me I know he'll do anything to get me. He'll even kill my new foster family. They're not safe with me around. What should I do? If I tell them I don't want to stay, Mrs. Jaques will be so sad. And I do love it here…but I don't want them to die! I don't want anyone to die! Why do people have to keep putting Chucky back together? Why can't they just leave me alone! Why do they have to see if what I said is true? I hate people! I hate that they bring him to life again and make my nightmare come true again. What if he wins this time? I don't know if I'll die when he takes over my soul, or if my soul will get trapped in the body of the doll. Either way he'll get me and my life will be over. I wish I could see my mom, even if it's just one last time. I don't want to die without seeing her.

Andy stopped the entry there realizing tears were welling in his eyes. He closed the journal and stared at it, feeling his fear consume him again. The door to his room suddenly opened and Andy jumped, stuffing his journal beneath his clothes as Cody entered. He saw Andy take his hands away from his belongings and look up. Cody crossed his arms, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"So, I hear you fainted at school today."

"Who'd you hear that from?" Andy asked.

"Ceceila. She's been boo-hooing about you ever since I got home. She also says that you're going to be home-schooled now. Poor little Andy faints once and he gets to be home-schooled," Cody said angrily. "You know I asked her if I could be home-schooled a year ago and she said no. She told me I'd just spend the day playing video games. Well, I guess I know who the favorite of the family is, don't I?"

"It's not my fault," Andy said, feeling angry that Cody would barge in his room making accusations. He had enough to worry about with Chucky, he didn't need this. "You know, she would treat you better if you treated her better. All you do is walk around with this bad look upon your face and treat everyone badly then you complain about how others treat you. Maybe if you actually did your homework she would have let you been home-schooled," Andy said, raising his voice as he got up off the bed. "And maybe if you weren't such a fucking asshole you'd have a much better time here!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Cody was staring at him with a new expression—shock. Andy couldn't believe what he had said…he had just used the f-word for the very first time in his life. He was angry, hurt and scared; his life was in danger as were the lives of others because of Chucky. No longer did he care about bullies, school, being adopted…life was just too important to waste away. Having been six years old when heard the f-word and the word bitch for the first time was bound to have an influence on him eventually. It was probably because of the rest of the pent-up frustration and fear inside of him that made him crack. Never before though had he ever sworn like Chucky did.

Andy just stared at Cody, not believing what he had just said to him. Just then, Ceceila walked into the room noticing them.

"There you are boys. Time for dinner," she said, glancing at Cody then at Andy. "Andy, sweetie, are you feeling better?"

Andy swallowed and glanced up at her and nodded. "Yeah, fine."

"Well, glad to see you boys are making an effort to talk to one another. Don't be late for dinner," she said, as she walked away, waving.

Andy turned back to Cody who had another unreadable expression, but a grim one.

"So…Ceceila's little angel really isn't an angel at all is he?"

"You don't know anything about me! You don't know the hell I've been through!" Andy exclaimed.

"You? Don't even talk about your supposed harsh life in front of me! I've had it worse I'm sure!" Cody exclaimed angrily. "You don't know what it's like to have parents who didn't want you so they put you up for adoption when you're five! You don't know what it's like to go through so many foster families who treat you like shit because you're not their real son! You don't know what it's like when you try to find a place to call home and realize that you'll never have that! And then when you do find a place to call home you're so full of anger and hatred that you screw everything up!"

Andy was taken back by the sincere hurt in Cody's voice. He could tell the boy had definitely been through a lot. It was hard to tell that Cody could be a nice boy when he put on such a cold front. Realizing that Cody had actually opened up to him, when he probably had never opened up to anyone, Andy stood speechless. He just stared at him as Cody glared back at him.

"So don't tell me your pathetic cry-baby stories!" he finished as he walked out of the room.

Andy stood in the silence of the room, holding back tears. "You…you don't know what it's like to have someone try to kill you."

It was almost a whispered plea, as if he wanted Cody to hear him. Cody was already too far away to have heard him. Again, Andy felt so alone. He couldn't tell anyone about Chucky…he would either be looked at as crazy again like Mrs. Simpson after she found Mr. Simpson dead, or he'd die. Either way, his hope had completely crashed and burned right in front of him. Very slowly, he trudged out of his room and down the stairs to face dinner. There was no other option—he'd have to leave.

TO BE CONTINUED…