Chapter 6 Sleeping Beauty

"Targets sighted, you guys in position?" Barrel spoke into the 'confiscated' walkie-talkies.

"Roger that Barrel, how you guys holding up?" Shock's voice crackled from the receiver.

Barrel glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Marco, Violet, Gisele, and CJ were still up in the tree with him. All of them were staked out in one of the big trees of the property, waiting patiently for the rumored 'date night' of Marie's parents. Klondike was also positioned in a convenient bush to make sure that none of them made a break for it. Today was the practice run of the plan, if it held up today it would hold up after more surveillance could be made before the real run through happened.

"Yeah, we're fine. Remind me again why I'm up here while the rest of you head in?" Barrel questioned.

"Because we all know the kids can ditch Kevin in a heartbeat, you at least stand a chance of keeping them out of harm's way. What's the status on our targets?"

Barrel looked through the pair of dented junkyard binoculars at a big un-blinded window that showed one half of a foyer, "Targets heading for the door…. ready…. Now!"

Just as Marie's parents exited the house, Shock, Lock, and Kevin entered the side door. Diving behind the couch of the room, they waited until they heard the car drive away and the faint beeps from the code being entered by the nanny. The nightmares stayed there for about four minutes before they could hear the sounds of the TV in the kitchen turn on and the tell-tale sounds of someone foraging for food in the cabinets.

Preparing themselves, each of them donned a pair of cloth covers to be put over their shoes to keep from tracking dirt and footprints. Already they had pairs of leather gloves to prevent finger prints and were clothed in black outfits that Shock had made for such activities. Shock doubled checked that the walkie-talkie was all the way off before giving Lock the silent signal.

Carefully, Lock took the lead as he edged his way out from behind the couch and headed away from the noise. Shock took half a minute to case the room. The living room was furnished with stylish, expensive taste. Looking at the matching curtains and couch pillows, Shock felt the overwhelming sense of walking inside a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Kevin was doing exactly what Shock had told him to do, staying very quiet while listening in great detail to what the nanny might be doing.

Lock discovered the stairs, luck was with them. The stairs were covered in a very plush gray carpet, he could actually feel his feet sink into the fabric and watched as the carpet sprung back to erase his footstep. With a look over his shoulder he made sure that the others were watching before climbing the stairs at a steady and careful pace, if there had been any creaks the carpet muffled them. The stairs led up to a hallway going to the left and a loft large enough to occupy a grand piano to the right. After receiving the ok, Shock and Kevin followed.

Proceeding immediately to the left side of the hallway across the continuing plush carpet, the trio kept to the edges of the floor as they passed three doors and rounded a corner and to the first door on the left. Kevin stayed behind at the hallway corner to keep his ears on the kitchen below. The door was unlocked but it did make a slight creak as it was opened. Prepared for this, Lock took out a tube of clear oil from up his sleeve and applied it to the now slightly exposed hinges. Using the end of a cotton swab he was able to work the grease in and open the door enough to administer the rest of it, soon the entire door was able to open without so much as a squeak.

Fifteen minutes in and everything was going according to plan.

They kept the door open as they started to case the room. Shock's attention was immediately focused on Marie and the machines keeping her alive. While she had been living in the Mortal World during her banishment she had spent a lot of time volunteering at the local hospital. During that time she had learned her fair share of hospital tech. (Though she of course was never allowed to touch it herself.)

There were two main machines to in the room. One was the one keeping Marie alive by injecting food and vitamin supplements into her blood steam, easy enough to disconnect and remove from her body. The one she really had to worry about was the heart monitor that was carefully measuring her heart rate for any signs of change apart from the steady coma pattern of beats. Shock recognized this model, it was designed specifically so that should the patient undergo any dangerous heart rates associated with death, an alarm would sound to alert medical staff.

While Shock was preoccupied with the technical side of the mission, Lock evaluated the room. It looked like a little girl's nursery room, not a room for a coma patient of five years. How old did Shock mention she was? Fifteen? Marie herself lay in the center of a plush pink and white canopy bed, half tucked in, leaving her arms exposed for the needles that kept her alive. She had long straight black hair that had been tied with pink ribbon and pale skin with the tell-tale perfection of makeup; someone had even plucked her eyebrows and added a bit of color to her lips. Who would do something like that?

Lock turned his eyes to the photographs hanging on the wall. All of them depicted a little girl in fancy, sparkly dresses reviving awards and smiling charmingly. Turning to see those same awards and a few crowns taking up the shelves against the far wall it didn't take long to figure out that she had been a pageant girl. The shelf continued to catch his attention, not because of the awards, but the toys and stuffed animals that also shared the shelves. Upon closer inspection, he found out while the awards were spotless, the toys held a small film of dust over them. Some of those toys looked brand new, like they had never been played with at all. Catching sight of the open closet door he saw rows of beautiful dresses that had never been worn.

"She's a doll," Lock thought to himself, looking back at the girl who had been sleeping for five years, "Even her being in a coma won't stop them from dressing her up."

Meanwhile, Kevin was in agony. About five minutes after he took his post, the nanny had called up a friend and began chatting away about whatever soap opera the two of them watched. If he had to put up listening to who was cheating on who for another minute he felt like his head would explode. Just when the nanny was about to give her honest opinion on whoever's girlfriend, the conversation took a turn.

"The boss? No he and the missus are out tonight… Please darling, the kid hasn't even flinched in years. Oh! I forgot to tell you didn't I? They're sending her away! Isn't that marvelous?...Yes, yes, some science lab says they can fix her. Bunch of baloney I say… Yep… The missus was against it at first, didn't want to lose her precious little dolly I guess. But I think the boss is tired of paying for the girl when he's got a little son on the way, what a cheapskate... You know it dear…Relived, when those lab coats get here tomorrow I'll finally be free of that pesky little chore. At least 'till the new kid's born… Maybe this is a good time for a vacation…"

Tomorrow! Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing, if they were taking Marie away tomorrow then they had to take her tonight or lose her. Being careful not to run down the hallway, Kevin backed himself into the open bedroom door. Lock scowled at him, he really wasn't supposed to leave his post but this couldn't wait. Kevin signaled that Lock should take his place on watch duty, earning another scowl. Tapping her shoulder in a way that wouldn't make her instinctively reach back and break his fingers, Kevin signaled to Shock that he had important information that had to be spoken.

In the quietest whisper he could manage he relayed all he had heard and watched as Shock's eyes widened.

"We can't do it now!" Shock whispered back, "I haven't figured out how to beat the heart monitor yet. If it doesn't have a heartbeat for thirty seconds it set off the alarm."

"Why thirty seconds?" Kevin asked.

"A heart doesn't usually skip to flat-lining. When a steady heart rate suddenly flat-lines, these machines are programmed to think that the sensor is being moved or fell off for up to thirty seconds, giving the nurse or doctor time to work without setting off the alarm."

Kevin couldn't help thinking that he had heard of something like this before… But where? His thinking was interrupted by Lock's arrival. Not bothering to signal, Lock gave his report.

"Time's up, the nanny just got a call from the dad, they're coming home. We've got about ten minutes," He whispered hurriedly.

"We're out of time!" Shock barely remembered to whisper.

Time…time. That's it! Kevin remembered where he had seen this before. He frantically searched the room but found no signs of a clock anywhere, what else could he use? The piano! It was a long shot but it would have to work.

"Fill him in, I've got an idea!" Kevin carefully hurried out the door and down the hallway.

Reaching the loft he began to check every shelf and cabinet in the room, praying that this was his lucky day.

It was.

Finding the treasure in the last cabinet, he carried it back to the bedroom. Lock had just been filled in and both he and Shock turned to stare at Kevin's strange find.

"Kevin, you're a genius," Shock whispered ecstatically.

"Are you sure this will work?" Lock asked suspiciously.

"Sure it will," Kevin couldn't fight off the grin splitting his face, "I saw this in a video game."

While Shock unhooked the needles from Marie's arms, Kevin took note of the heart rate. He set up the little device in his hands to match it and waited for Shock to attach the sensor. In less than half a minute, Shock was taping the sensor to the back of the device and Lock was scooping up Marie bridal style. In another minute they were down the hall and descending the stairs. Just as they ducked behind the couch they could hear the car pull up the driveway.

The front door opened, they opened the side door. The parents entered, they left. The front door closed, they closed the side door.

It was over.

The only evidence that they had been there at all sat in the middle of the recently vacated bed.

A metronome, a device invented to keep time while playing music, now bought time for the nightmares to escape. Ticking away its beat that had carefully been matched to Marie's heart, it stood alone with a heart sensor taped to its back. Ticking away, not knowing it was causing sighs and cheers of relief to some, but would soon be causing shrieks and screams of horror to others.

"TICK-tock, TICK-tock, TICK-tock, TICK-tock"

~~Page Break~~

"TICK-tock, TICK-tock, TICK-tock, TICK-tock"

The sound of the clock sitting on the shelf of the family room seemed to be the loudest thing in the room. Each family member had gathered around the long couch where Marie lay. Her perfectly white silk dress seemed so out of place against the comfortable, broken in fabric of the couch. True to her coma, she did not stir or flinch under the gazes of so many monsters; she simply remained as she had been for the past five years. After giving themselves a few minutes to calm down after returning to the car, they were ready to change her.

Removing the silver locket from around her neck, Shock knelt down and opened both of her dark eyes. She then opened the locket. The children watched in amazement as they saw the light of memories flow from the locket into Marie's eyes. Memories traveled, then ceased. For a moment, nothing happened. The moment after that, everything happened.

Marie began to shake, her limbs twitching violently before going stiff. Eyes fluttered open and shut, before glassing over. Skin began to mold and shape into something new, it bubbled and finally faded away into pale colored wood. Two lines cut themselves from the tips of her lips to down beneath her chin.

Finally, it ended.

There lay Marie, completely transformed into a wooden puppet, and not moving an inch.

They waited, nothing happened. They waited some more, still nothing.

Shock checked her heart, no heart beat, perfectly normal. Lock checked her breathing, none, perfectly normal. Barrel got a small glass of water, she wouldn't drink, perfectly normal.

So why wasn't she doing anything?

Shock ended up sending the children to go to bed, when she was sure that they were, she and the others tried everything they could think of to get her to respond. But she didn't. They had a ray of hope when Lock lifter her by her back and her eyes opened, but they closed again as he set her back down. Just like a doll's eyes would do. They soon gave up.

Shock and Lock were too upset to sleep, so they offered to drive out of town before anyone realized she was gone. They took their disguises and started down a random highway, not going anywhere, just trying to get away from the reality that was lying on the couch. Kevin was exhausted, when he asked Barrel if he was going to go to sleep soon, his brother shook his head.

"Is something wrong?" Kevin asked.

Barrel shook his head again.

"It's just that…I could have known her for five years. To think that I should have, but didn't, it's… it's… scary. Who else were we supposed to meet? What else might have happened? If she had been there, would what happened to us, really have happened? What if… what if…" Barrel drawled off.

Kevin didn't know what to say, so after a minute he left.

Barrel alone was left with Marie, sitting cross legged on the floor with Klondike's head resting on his knee, watching the first of the 'What if's' he would encounter lie there. Without any indication that he or the world she had just entered existed at all.

~~Page Break~~

The next two days knew a silence like none the nightmares had ever experienced before. Lock, Shock, and Kevin fell into a routine of driving to the next location, eating, and sleeping. The kids kept all of their activities to a minimum noise level. Barrel spent his time at Marie's side, waiting.

As they were parked at a convenience store at the end of the second day, Barrel became increasingly worried. He didn't know how long Marie could last without food or water and whether or not she need it in the first place. As he sat in the nearest chair, he was devising ways of testing his theories while Lock and Marco were again working on the old radio.

"Ok, if my substitutes for radio tubes work, this should be the last modification," Lock informed Marco.

There was a twist of a screwdriver and suddenly the loudest and most vicious sound of static ever heard erupted from the speakers. Everyone physically jumped at the loudest sound they had heard in days. Lock dropped his tools to cover his ears along with Barrel and Marco. Klondike began to howl piteously from his recliner. Shock, Kevin, Gisele and CJ all ran in with their ears covered, trying to figure out where such an unholy sound came from.

"Shut it off! Shut it off!" Barrel screamed.

And suddenly the sound began to quiet, and then there was the sound of a tuning radio crossing different stations before settling on an instrumental jazz number. Everyone stared in amazement.

A slender white hand had reached from the couch to turn the dials; a head with glassy black eyes was turned to the radio and the appearance of the hand upon it. Marie didn't make another move, neither to return to her original position nor to surrender her arm to gravity and let it fall. Barrel, very carefully, took the hand that was left on the couch into his own hand.

"Marie, please Marie you have to listen. You're awake now Marie. You're free. Please say something, anything…please."

A long saxophone solo passed before they caught sight of a slight twitch of movement. Slowly, very slowly, Marie turned her head to meet Barrel's pleading gaze. A slow blink, then another, quicker one. Her mouth twitched, first opening then closing.

"F-f-fr…fre-e…free? Free?" Marie questioned.

Barrel was on the verge of tears by this point, "Yes. Free. You're free Marie."

Marie tested her left hand in Barrel's grip, flexing them before taking his had tightly. Next, she tested her left arm. Bending it slightly, she then but more effort into it, hauling herself up to a sitting position. Without any help from the stunned onlookers, she was able to swing her legs onto the floor. Never letting go of Barrel's hand, she pulled herself off the couch and nearly fell. Barrel was there to stop her, gently taking her right hand; he was able to lift her up until she steadied her feet.

Standing for the first time in five years, Marie looked directly into Barrel's eyes, "Free. I'm free!"

She wrapped Barrel in a spine-crushing hug and began to cry little tears of glass. It took everyone a while to clear their own tears away before they were any help at all to comfort Marie. All the while, the soothing sound of jazz enveloped the room, carrying away the silence and loneliness of years far, far away.

Author's Note:

This chapter was brought to you by the hours between 10 pm and 3am. God, you gotta love spring break. If you're wondering, that video game I got the metronome and the heart monitor thing from was Professor Layton: The Unwound Future. I apologize if I got any of that medical stuff wrong; I really just took an educated guess on all of that. Long live the writing bug! :D