Playtime's Over

Chapter 6: Captured

Foxrun Children's Orphanage 6:10 p.m.

Shalice pulled up to the orphanage and rushed out of her car. She knocked on the door several times before an older woman appeared.

"Can I help you?" she asked warily.

"Yes, I'm here to see Andy Barclay," Shalice said, out-of-breath.

"I'm sorry, but he's not here anymore."

"Where is he?" Shalice asked.

The woman shook her head. "Unless you're a family member I can't reveal that information."

Shalice opened her mouth to retort but the woman had already closed the door on her. Angrily, she marched back to her car and slammed it shut. She tried to calm herself down so that she could think calmly.

"Where would he have gone?" she asked. "No one would adopt him and he's just not allowed to leave after being a witness to a cri…of course! He's got to be at the police station."

Shalice turned her car to reverse and backed up, speeding toward the main police station. It was her only shot. Several minutes later she was rushing up to the door and inside. She went straight to the main desk.

"Excuse me, is a boy named Andy Barclay here?" she asked.

"Sorry, but unless you're related to him you can't see him," the officer replied.

"No, please! It's an emergency!" Shalice exclaimed.

"I said I'm sorry ma'am," the officer said sternly.

"What's going on Pete?"

Shalice turned to see a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She stared at Shalice neutrally.

"I'm here to see Andy Barclay," she said.

The woman stared at her suspiciously. "Are you a reporter?"

"Yes, but that's not why I'm here! Please!" she begged.

"Ma'am, come with me," the woman said, gesturing for her to follow.

Shalice didn't even hesitate as the woman took her in back toward an office. She followed her inside and the door was closed behind them. The woman sat down in her chair and gestured for her to sit down as well. Shalice noticed the name on the desk was Julie Goldstone.

"Why do you want to see Andy?" Julie asked.

"Because he's the only lead!" Shalice exclaimed, louder than she intended. "He's the only one who knows about the murders! He's the only who knows if…if…," Shalice took a deep breath to calm herself. "I just found out today at Guilford hospital that a detective was killed. My friend, Detective Moore, had told me he was going there earlier today."

Julie nodded. "I see. And you want to ask Andy if he knew who killed him, right?"

Shalice hesitated before nodding. "Yes, I did. So…was it him?"

Julie's eyes dimmed and slowly she nodded. "Yes, Detective Moore was murdered."

Shalice closed her eyes, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. For several minutes she sat in silence, but soon she glanced back up at Julie.

"Miss…"

"Sheldon; Shalice Sheldon," she answered.

"Miss Sheldon, I have a lot of work to do. I'm sorry about your friend, but I assure you we're doing everything we can to find out who's behind this. We have Andy here in custody where he'll be safe."

"So, he's here all night?"

"Yes, we have officers working 24/7, including me and my partner Dan. We watch over him, feed him, let him sleep, but most of all we keep him in sight. We've already questioned him so he doesn't need anyone else to do the same," Julie said softly.

"If Andy was here in your custody, and the murder happened earlier this morning, then he didn't do it, right?" Shalice asked quietly.

"So far Andy is not involved in that murder, miss. I'm really not allowed to give out any confidential information. I understand the detective was a close friend so that's all I can say," Julie said.

Shalice nodded silently. "I don't want to butt into your case at all, especially since I'm only a reporter, but…I think Andy's innocent, for what it's worth."

Julie stared at her and smiled softly. "I do too, actually. Dan's a little more doubtful, but I do. We will find out who's behind these murders and how Andy is involved or why he's been at every crime scene. It will take time though."

Shalice smiled sadly and nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

The seat moved back as Shalice stood up and headed back to the door. As she left, Julie sighed heavily and then went out to meet back with Dan. When she went in the back, however, Dan and Andy weren't there.

"Risa," Julie said, stopping her. "Where did Dan and Andy go?"

"Dan's having a lie-detector test done on him. They just left about a minute ago."

"Thanks!" Julie said, rushing away toward the end of the hall. She headed to the private door in the back and went through it.

The hallway led down to a separate room where the lie-detector tests were taken place. She knew Dan had wanted to do that from the very beginning, but Julie didn't want to scare the child. The lie-detector could read signs of stress and since he had just left the house where his last foster family had been killed she didn't think it was such a good idea. Now though, Dan seemed to think it was alright. She opened the door that said keep out and stopped short when she saw Andy sitting in the chair looking up at Dan nervously.

"Dan what are you doing?" Julie demanded.

"Julie, before you say anything I got permission from the chief," Dan said, holding up his hand. "Now, Andy, do you understand how this works?"

Andy glanced over at Julie then back at Dan and nodded. "Yes."

"Good, I'll start asking you questions alright? Some of them will be the same from the last time."

Andy just nodded and Dan began while Julie watched anxiously. She was starting to feel bad from the boy. After meeting him and talking with him, she just couldn't believe this sweet, young boy could be a killer. He didn't have any temper at all, no motives and overall he just seemed scared all the time. Perhaps he was being framed by someone…but if so, why would he tell everyone his Good Guy doll did it? Maybe he had been threatened into saying that.

A while later, Dan had finished and was waiting for the test results back. Andy was sipping hot chocolate and sitting down in a comfortable chair. Julie walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Are you scared about that test?"

Andy shook his head. "No, I know that I told the truth. I'm just scared that no one will believe me, even if I pass the test."

Julie nodded and without thinking she reached a hand back to brush Andy's bangs away. He glanced over at her surprised but gave her a small smile. He really was adorable; too adorable. There was a chance he was just mentally ill and had a split personality, but his medical records showed nothing of the sort. The door opened and Dan stepped out of the room, finishing his discussion with the others inside. He approached the two of them and stared down at Andy.

"You passed the test," he said.

Andy nodded, feeling relieved. "Yeah, but that doesn't change anything. No one believes me."

"But this is good, Andy," Julie reassured him. "If you are innocent then this is proof. When asked if you killed anybody and you said no the lie-detector showed that was true."

"Yes, but when asked if my Good Guy doll came to life and started killing people I said yes and that was true too," Andy insisted. "No judge is going to believe that."

Dan's expression softened and he seated himself on Andy's other side. "Maybe not, but we don't have to include that in your case. We can use everything else about the murders, but nothing about a doll. Unless…unless there's a way to prove that you believe it was your doll," he said, his eyes dimming in thought.

"What do you mean, Dan?" Julie asked.

"Well, what if the killer is hiding behind a remote control doll? What if he sent the doll to Andy and programmed it to say horrible things to him?"

"That was mentioned the first time around when the case first started, I believe," Julie said. "But no malfunctions were found in the doll."

"Yes, but those who checked out the doll died," Dan said, snapping his fingers. "That's it! We can prove Andy's innocent by giving all the evidence that he didn't kill people. All we have to say is that Andy doesn't know who did it, but that this person is using him as a cover-up. So we don't have to prove who did it, we just have to prove Andy didn't do it."

Andy's eyes widened from disbelief. "You mean…I could actually win and get my name cleared?"

"It's a possibility, especially since there's not enough evidence against you to begin with. And now with the lie-detector test, we are starting to build up evidence to prove your innocence," Dan said, smiling at him. "But we're not there yet. You'll have the take the lie-detector test a couple more times just to prove to the courts it's not a glitch."

Andy nodded determined. "Okay."

Julie smiled at him and Dan gave him a nod, patting his head. "Don't worry kid."

"Thank you," Andy smiled sincerely, feeling happy for the first time since he had met Ceceila Jaques. "Thank you so much."

"No prob," Dan winked.

"Dan! Julie!" someone shouted, coming from down the hall. "We've got another murder!"

"Another murder?" Julie asked.

Andy glanced at her worriedly. "You aren't going to leave me are you?"

"Don't worry, there are cops here 24/7. We'll be back as soon as we can," Dan said, standing up.

Julie smiled and nodded toward Andy. "Just stay here and rest, alright? If you need anything Amy and Risa are around here somewhere."

"Okay," Andy said quietly, watching them turn and walk away.

Feeling a bit apprehensive, Andy leaned back in the chair hoping they would come back soon. He knew Chucky was out there looking for him and the longer he stayed in one place the more likely it was to be found.

Several hours later: 9:03 p.m.

Andy was fiddling with a deck of cards that one of the officers had given him. Dan and Julie still weren't back yet and there were only a few cops around. Risa had to leave for break and wouldn't be back until midnight and Amy had to leave on a call. The only officers there were Pete, Adam and Shawn. The three of them were busy. Pete was at the front desk and Adam and Shawn were at their desks. Andy was sitting at Dan's desk with the deck of cards just waiting for time to move faster.

"Alright boys," Shawn said, yawning as he stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't have fun without me."

"Will do," Adam grinned.

"Yeah, yeah," Pete called back to them.

Shawn left the room glancing at him. "Don't cause any trouble Andy."

Andy didn't respond; he hadn't caused trouble the whole time he had been there. Obviously some people still thought he was guilty in some way. Adam also stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to get some food, you want something Pete?" he called to him.

"Nah, I'm good," Pete called back.

Adam walked forward, glancing at Andy. "You'll be fine here, right? You won't try and run away? Shawn will be back from the bathroom any minute and Pete's right over there."

"I know," Andy said quietly.

Adam stared at him silently then nodded. "Good. I'll be back in a few."

Andy watched him leave and sighed heavily. A moment later Andy heard voices coming from the front. He assumed it was just Pete and Adam talking. Seconds later, the door to the back opened and a woman walked in.

"Yes, she said I could pick something up from her desk. I know where to find it. Call her if you don't believe me," she said.

"Nah, it's fine," Pete smiled. "Just be quick."

"Okay," she smiled back, heading toward the desk.

Pete glanced at Andy to make sure he was still there and then headed back to the front. The woman was heading over to a desk, but the moment Pete was gone she turned around to face Andy and walked toward him, smiling.

"Hi Andy," she said quietly.

Andy glanced up nervously. "Hi."

"There's no reason to be afraid," she said, smiling. "I'm Shalice Sheldon and I just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

"If you're not a cop then I shouldn't be talking with you," Andy said.

Shalice sighed and nodded. "I'm not a cop, I'm a reporter. But I didn't come here to interrogate you. I just wanted to meet you, that's all."

"Are you going to write an article on me?" Andy asked.

"Most likely, but it won't be anything bad," she reassured him. "So you're thirteen, right?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah, but I haven't gotten to celebrate my birthday in a while."

"Oh, that's sad," Shalice said. "How come?"

Andy hesitated then shrugged. Shalice realized he wasn't in the mood to talk, probably because the cops had already done enough questioning, just like Julie had said.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer. I just wanted to know if y—"

The lights above them suddenly turned off and the entire room became dark. Andy froze in his seat, blinking to get his eyes used to the dark.

"Looks like the power went out," Shalice said, moving around in the dark. "Andy?"

Andy was frozen to his seat, unable to move or speak. He heard Pete swear in the other room about the power failure and wondered where Shawn was. He wondered when Julie and Dan would get back, because he was certain the power failure wasn't a coincidence.

"Andy, are you there?" Shalice asked, concerned.

"We have to get out of here," Andy whispered.

He felt Shalice grab his arm. "What? Why?"

"He's here," Andy whispered harshly, feeling his throat constrict. "He's come for me."

"Who? The murderer?" Shalice asked, her voice a bit shaky.

"Yes," Andy whispered softly. "We have to get out of here, please! Is there any way?"

"Calm down, Andy, alright? Come on, follow me," she said, grabbing his hand and helping him through the dark.

They went out the door and into the hallway, where it was still just as dark. Shalice led him to the front desk.

"Hello? Officer? Are you there?" Shalice called out. "He probably went to go check on the power. If we could find where it is, we could turn it back on."

Andy was shaking in her grasp, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. Shalice began leading him through the darkness. "I know I saw signs to the basement somewhere over here when I came in. That should be where the power box is."

"I think…this is it," she said quietly. "Come one, Andy, it's alright."

Andy just followed her through the door. Shalice tightened her grip on his hand. "Be careful. These are stairs."

Andy felt for the railing and began descending the stairs with her help. They managed to get to the bottom without a problem and went through the only door there. Shalice felt around for a familiar box-shaped container. Her hands felt something cold and metal.

"I think I found it, Andy," she said, feeling for an opening. She opened it and felt around for a large lever. Grabbing onto something, she pulled it up.

A generator sounded before the lights began flickering and soon they came on. Shalice grinned, staring down at Andy, but Andy wasn't staring at her. His eyes were on the ground and he was pale.

"Andy what's wrong?" Shalice asked. She turned to where he was looking and let out a scream. The officer who had let her in was lying on the floor covered in blood with a pen sticking out of his throat.

"Oh my God…Oh my God, what do we do?" Shalice whispered frantically.

"We have to get out of here or he'll find us!" Andy exclaimed, tugging on her hand. "Come on!"

Shalice was surprised when Andy led her back up the stairs quickly. He was looking for the nearest exit. A sound nearby caused them both to turn and Andy stood rigid, staring at the elevator. It was moving down.

"Well that's weird," she muttered. "Andy? Andy what's the matter?"

Andy had backed away shaking his head, looking more frightened than Shalice could've imagined.

"It's Chucky," he whispered. "He's coming."

Shalice's heart stopped abruptly. She could tell Andy was being serious and someone was coming up in the elevator.

"Run!" She yelled.

She dashed behind Andy in her high heels and led him down the hall and through the double doors. The elevator door opened just as the double doors closed behind them. A small figure walked out holding a very sharp object.

Shalice ran with Andy through many other hallways and finally came to a door. She fumbled with her keys and unlocked it, then she pushed Andy inside the office.

"Listen you stay in here, the door will be locked, all right? And there are no windows," she said quickly.

"Wait, don't leave me," Andy said desperately.

She saw the fear in his eyes and bent down, "Andy? Listen to me I won't be able to protect you without a weapon and some backup. I'm going to call Julie and Dan. I promise I'll come back for you, just don't make any sounds and hide," she smiled and placed her hand on his face before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back."

She closed the door and locked it, leaving a frightened Andy behind the door. She knew she shouldn't leave him alone but she'd be defenseless without some kind of weapon. Quickly she stuck the keys in her pocket and ran down the hallway turning left and went in another hallway. Out of nowhere something came flying at her and stabbed her right in her leg.

"Ahhh!" She fell to the ground and saw a piece of bottle glass jabbed into her leg. Stumbling she ran as fast as she could down the hallway, blood was dripping from her leg but she didn't stop to do anything about it. She reached her office and shut the door quickly. She limped over to her desk and picked up the phone. Just as she was about to dial Julie's number the dial tone was cut off. She tried again and again and finally put the phone down.

"He cut the power lines…" she whispered, fear clearly rising in her voice.

She needed help. Quickly, she sat at her desk and opened her e-mail account. She went to compose and quickly looked up Julie's name to get her e-mail.

"Come on, hurry!" She whispered.

Finally it appeared and she started typing a message.

'Julie! It's Shalice. I'm still at the office. I found Andy Barclay running in the parking structure and he said someone was going to kill him. I talked to him and he told me that Charles Lee Ray used some voodoo magic to survive his death, but he ended up getting put in his Good Guy doll. Even though I'm starting to sound crazy for believing him, if you could just see the look on his face. I talked to him for a while and then I noticed someone was coming up the elevator. Julie, no one but me had the elevator key tonight, everyone else is at home. He chased us down some hallways and I locked Andy in Susan's office. But that's not all he told me.'

A sudden crash close by made her lift her head.

'He told me this girl named Kyle was an eyewitness for a killing done by the doll and even seeing the doll for herself. She should be around in an orphanage in this state. She has blonde hair, brown eyes and is much older than Andy, probably early-mid 20s. She might even have her own place, but you've got to find her.'

She clicked send and slowly took the piece of glass out of her leg, trying not to scream. She grabbed a gun out of her desk and loaded it.

Andy was sitting underneath a desk quietly. He heard a crash of some sort but didn't want to move, or even breathe. He wanted to make sure that Shalice was okay, but he was too afraid to leave the room. He didn't want Chucky to kill her, though. Slowly and quietly he got up and tip-toed to the door, pressing his ear against it. Just then the doorknob jiggled. Andy jumped back and stumbled onto the floor. He saw a shadow underneath the door and suddenly he heard a key being inserted into the door.

"Please," Andy whispered, "Please just leave me alone."

The key was turned and he saw the door unlock, "Please, please stop," Andy whimpered louder. "Leave me alone!"

He suddenly decided that if he yelled loud enough, maybe Shalice would be able to hear him.

The doorknob was slowly being turned.

"Help! Stop it!" He sobbed. "Leave me alone! Don't hurt me! I promise you can have my soul, just pleas stop!"

He couldn't help but cry out for help, he was trapped in the room alone without a weapon and now Chucky had come to get him. Quickly Andy scrambled to a standing position and ran towards the back of the room. He missed the small garbage can in front of him and tripped over it, sending him crashing on the floor.

"Ow!" He hissed. A cut was thoroughly imprinted in his arm from scraping up against the desk, but he didn't have any time to worry. The door opened and Andy grabbed the first thing he saw, which was a chair. A figure wobbled in, her long black hair now a mess with a bleeding leg.

"Andy?" She asked hoarsely.

Immediately Andy dropped the chair and ran towards her, "Shalice!"

She smiled, "Are you all right?"

He nodded. She then noticed his cut.

"You're bleeding!"

"It's okay, I just cut myself," Andy said. "We have to get out of here or Chucky will get us."

He surely didn't want another dead body to add to the pile Chucky already had.

"It's all right Andy, I e-mailed Julie so she should be getting it soon. Now come on," she smiled.

Andy nodded. Before he could take a step or even blink he saw something silver and sharp lift up behind Shalice.

"Shalice, look out!" He screamed.

It all happened too fast. Shalice was startled when Andy suddenly screamed out and even more startled when she was pushed aside. A blood-curdling scream erupted from Andy when the dagger sliced a huge, deep cut across his chest. He could feel the warm blood seeping to the floor. Andy backed away and held a hand to his chest, which was now covered in blood.

"Andy!" Shalice screamed.

He could barely hear her because he was too shocked to realize what happened. He heard another familiar voice nearby.

"Shit!"

"Leave him alone!"

Suddenly Andy found Shalice in front of him holding her arms out to protect him. Her eyes were wide with shock as she saw the Good Guy doll standing there holding a sharp dagger which was now dripping with Andy's blood. Chucky sneered at her and began advancing towards them.

"No! Shalice…pl..ease…run!" Andy gasped with pain. "He won't kill me, just get out of here."

Shalice could only shake her head. Andy tried to push her away but she wouldn't budge.

"Shalice, please! I don't want him to kill you!" Andy screamed.

Chucky walked towards them until he was only a meter away from Shalice, who was still guarding Andy, although she looked terrified.

"How very brave of you Mrs. Burlain," Chucky's cold voice finally spoke.

With one quick slice he slashed across her stomach. Shalice screamed with pain and collapsed on the floor. The blood spilled out over the floor mixing with Andy's blood. Chucky raised the dagger to slice her once more to make sure she was dead but Andy jumped on him.

"No! Stop it! Don't!"

Andy grabbed the knife after pushing over a startled Chucky and threw the knife across the room up high and it slammed into the wall, blade first. Now the knife was too high for Chucky to reach. He only looked up amused and stared back at Andy who was still clutching his chest and taking deep, ragged breaths. The cut wasn't deep enough to do any damage besides some eternal skin damage, but the shock of being cut so fast and deep and the amount of pain that went with it, overwhelmed him. And of course he panicked. Chucky smiled at Andy and reached over to Shalice's body and grabbed her gun out of her holster attached to her jeans. Andy looked fearfully down at Shalice and then at the gun that Chucky clicked back to reload.

"Let's go Andy, you and I have a date and the time is running out," Chucky grinned.

Andy hesitated. He wasn't sure if Shalice was truly dead, she could just be knocked out and injured, but how was he to help her? He really hoped she would survive, not only because she was kind to him and tried to help him, but that she also was an eyewitness that could help prove his innocence. He didn't want Chucky to do anything else to her so maybe the best decision was to just follow him. Shalice did say that she had e-mailed her friend to the police should be arriving soon.

The sudden sound of something clicking made Andy jump. Chucky was now pointing the pistol right towards him. However, Andy knew that Chucky couldn't kill him because he needed him.

"Now you little shit!" He yelled and then the gun turned and was pointed towards Shalice, "Or she gets a bullet to the head."

That made up Andy's mind immediately. He wasn't sure if Chucky was even aware that if Shalice survived she could help him be taken off the charges, but he surely didn't want to mess things up. If Shalice was alive she was already injured enough, but he had to make sure that Chucky wasn't going to hurt her.

"Please, don't hurt anyone else," Andy whimpered.

Chucky turned back towards him but the gun was still pointed at Shalice. "Then get moving," he ordered.

XXXXXX

Guilford Police Station 10:43 p.m.

"Damnit! How the hell did this happen?" Dan shouted, slamming his fist down. "Andy's gone and Pete and Shawn have been killed!"

"Calm down, Dan," Julie said, trying to soothe him. Dan had been close with both of them so it was difficult for him to handle it.

"That little shit! I can't believe I actually thought he was innocent!" Dan exclaimed.

"Dan, stop it! You don't know that he killed them!" Julie snapped angrily, glaring at him. "Maybe this is what everyone does: they blame him even when they weren't there."

Dan unclenched his fists, cooling down only slightly. "I'd like to believe he's innocent, but…"

"Julie, Dan?" Amy called to them. "A woman was found in one of the offices and she's still alive. They're taking her to the hospital right now."

"She could've seen something," Julie said, glancing at Dan who nodded.

"Which hospital?" Dan asked.

"Guilford Hospital," Amy responded.

Dan nodded and headed right out the door with Julie following. They both got into the car and Dan drove away fast, heading toward the hospital. They reached the hospital within twenty minutes, but the woman had just been taken in. For several hours they waited and waited, Dan becoming more impatient by the minute. Finally a doctor came out of the room and Dan walked up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, how's she doing?"

"She alright. She's been stabilized but her wounds need time to heal," he said.

"Would it be alright if we went in to see her?" Julie asked.

"Well, I suppose. She's doing alright, but please don't stress her out. She needs to rest."

"Of course doctor," Julie nodded.

Dan immediately headed for the door and opened it. Julie gasped when she recognized the woman from before, the reporter. She approached the bed beside Dan to see her torso was all bandaged up and there were IVs in her arm.

"Shalice?" Julie asked.

Shalice's eyes opened wearily and she glanced over at her. "Julie Goldstone?" she asked as her voice cracked.

Julie nodded. "Are you feeling alright to talk?"

Shalice nodded and sat up very slowly. "Please…please save Andy," she whispered.

Dan and Julie exchanged surprised glances.

"Do you know where he is?" Dan asked.

Shalice shook her head. "No, but he's got him."

"Who?" Julie asked.

"The killer," Shalice choked out. "He slashed at me and…and Andy tried to protect me," she said, beginning to sob. "And I couldn't…I couldn't protect him."

"Oh shit," Dan said, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, I'll call the chief right away and ask for back-up to help search for Andy and question anyone who might have been near the police station at the time of the murders."

Julie nodded. "I'll be right there."

Dan nodded and left quickly, taking out his walky-talky. Julie sighed heavily and slumped down at the end of the bed.

"So you saw the killer huh?" Julie asked.

Shalice shook her head sadly, sniffling. "No…he's using the Good Guy doll to scare Andy. So Andy wasn't lying about that. The killer somehow programmed the doll to walk, talk and even hold weapons. It was the doll that slashed me with a knife, and Andy too."

"He slashed Andy? Wait, so the killer is using a doll to use Andy?"

"Yes…I don't know how," she choked out. "I don't know how but he's got Andy now. I think he uses the doll so that his fingerprints don't get anywhere, I don't know."

Julie's eyes dimmed and she bit her lip angrily. She shouldn't have left Andy. That was why he asked if they were leaving; Andy knew he was in danger even at the police station. The poor boy…he was innocent. And no matter what, Julie would make sure Andy's name was cleared and that the real killer was caught. No child deserved that fate. She only hoped Andy would live to see the day when he wouldn't be thought of as a killer.

"Thank you for telling me Shalice. You rest up now. You will have to at some point testify on tape for us."

Shalice nodded. "I know, I will."

Julie then got up and gave her a small, sad smile before she walked out.