Nerves tend to work on their own without the brain's accord when a person is nervous, stressed, or in shock. Kind of like muscle spasms. Something as simple as an eye for finger twitch. For ten year old Charles Lee Ray, it seemed as if his entire body had been subjected to this. His pupils were dilated and his mouth quivered. The way his step mother looked at him moments before he dropped the hair dryer in the bathtub. There she was the woman who had been causing him pain, stole his father from him, and punished him relentlessly lying in the electrically charged water. Her eyes burned in her sockets and her mouth open in a scream of shock and terror.

The child just stood shivering in the doorway. What was he feeling? He had just killed someone….the ultimate evil. Regret? Guilt? Sadness? No, the young Ray wasn't feeling any of that.

He felt liberated, he felt a rush unlike anything before. More importantly, he felt powerful. So powerful that his body didn't know how the hell to respond. Was his body vibrating telling him that he should stop or was it demanding more?

Charles suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew who it was….his friend….the tall man.

"Good, little one, good….." he praised.

"W-what happens now?" Charles never looked up at him when he spoke.

"You come with me, my child. This is just the beginning." The tall man ushered him out of the bathroom.

"Where are we going?"

"Home….Chucky, my boy."

Charles smiled as the man took his hand in his.

No one had ever called him that before, and he rather liked it…..

The sun skipped across the sky as the day drove on, much like Osborne, Shauna, and the Ray family had been doing. All down the southern tip of California, far far away from the city of angels, or rather Shadowmen. The road trip had been full of the awkward silences, dispute over radio stations, and the occasional 'he's touching me/she's touching me' bit usually perpetrated by Glen and Glenda.

When their father wasn't snoozing, he was talking. Shauna's express train of questions finally stopped when Chucky began telling them things….a whole lot of things; a shootout, a toy store, an apartment, a single mother with a child, a fire, more gunshots, a foster home, a toy factory (Chucky shuddered oddly as he told this portion of his story), a machine of limbs, boiling plastic lava, a military school, a carnival, a fan, and then Tiffany. It didn't stop there; a trailer home, fresh victims and intent, a van, a wedding, a cemetery, betrayal, gunshots once more, Hollywood, a son and daughter, Jennifer Tilly, voodoo pregnancy, insanity, a hospital, an axe, years later, a second daughter, a family, a cripple….It didn't matter where it would start or end, a hefty body count was always present. Ozzy exhaled, one of disbelief and morbid fascination.

"That's fucked up….Charles, huh?" he used his real name. Chucky could only nod in agreement.

"I don't make the rules, I just play the game," he said, "Also for shit's sake, Ozzy, the shoulder of the road isn't supposed to be driven on!" He pointed out the obvious turbulence the car experienced as Ozzy turned back onto the densely populated road. Damn, second time this has happened.

"Yeah….right," the Acolyte yawned, "I'm fucking tired as shit. I've been driving all day and we don't even know where we're going. Can we stop somewhere?"

"We don't until I say so." Chucky shook his head. Tiffany, breaking her conversation with Shauna, put a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Chucky, maybe we should stop someplace, at least for the night. We've had a long day."

"Yeah, dad!" chimed in Glenda, "I'm getting car sick over here. I want out!" Glen and Lottie agreed. Chucky rolled his eyes.

"What the hell are we supposed to do? Come across a Holiday Inn and check into a room?" All heads in the car slowly shifted over to him, "Ugh! Fine. We're probably far enough anyway. It would be awhile before we're found again."

"I'm down," Ozzy announced, "But under a few conditions."

"Humor us then," Chucky smirked.

"No killing me or Shauna in our sleep…."
"Fuck!" Glenda pounded her fist on the seat. Shauna scowled at her. Over time the two had developed a rather intense dislike for each other for obvious reasons. With Shauna's anger and Glenda's psychosis, it was hard to tell which one was the bigger time bomb.

"And no depositing other people's sperm in each other while they sleep." Tiffany folded her arms, seeing how that was directly aimed at her. Ozzy had never seemed to let her off the hook when Chucky told them about the Jennifer Tilly episode. Needless to say it disturbed him greatly. Chucky even had a part in it and even he cringed a little when the topic was brought up.

"Does fucking count?" asked Chucky, a bit too seriously. Ozzy glanced at him oddly, then to Tiffany who gave him a fake innocent wave back. And now, the image is burned in my head forever…..yay.

"What? No...wait...yes."

"It's cool though, I pull out."

"Dad, I love you with all my heart," Lottie said kindly, "But I really do not want to hear about the sexual escapades that you and mom share."

"Second that." Glen said.

"Third that." Glenda rose a hand.

"Just stop!" Ozzy shouted, "No one is putting any sperm in anyone while I'm here!"

"Are you sure about that?" Glenda purred, in his ear. Shauna swatted her away.

"Yes, we are," the skater girl hissed. Glenda eyed her evilly and folded her arms.

Convenience was on their side that night. They had managed to come across a Super 8 not too far within the outskirts of a small undisclosed Californian town. It wasn't a Marriott courtyard, but it also wasn't a Best Western, so it flew. There weren't a whole lot of cars out front. In fact the only vehicle in the lot belonged to the person managing the office during the late hours.

When Ozzy parked his car out by the rooms, Chucky was quick to leave the car. He returned minutes later just as everyone else was getting out, twirling a key ring on his middle finger smoothly.

"I checked us in," he handed a key to Ozzy, "You and Shauna get this room and we'll get this one." He kept a key to himself.

"Oh, thanks," Ozzy smiled before studying the key in his hand briefly, his mouth shifted into a frown then he looked down at Chucky.

"What? There a problem?" the doll asked.

"They're dead, aren't they?" deadpanned Ozzy, unamused. Chucky played dumb.

"Who, now?"

"The guy in the office, whoever it was, is dead, right? I'm going to walk in there and I'm going to find them face down in their own blood with a stab wound in the chest, aren't I?"

"Well…." Chucky shrugged, "I'm not saying that I killed anyone….but I'm also not saying that I didn't let let anyone live either."

Ozzy sighed and waved him off. He walked over and peaked through the doorway of the motel office. Immediately his face fell and again looked at Chucky in disappointment.

"Why do you do these things, Chucky?"

"You weren't entirely right," laughed Chucky, "I didn't stab him in the chest, I went for the groin. Lot's of blood there just waiting to bleed out."

"I didn't know that and I didn't need to know that…" sighed Ozzy, "You better have a plan for this."

"Course I do, I'm gonna dismember it in the bathtub."

"Cool! Can I help?" Glenda begged her father.

"Whatever, enjoy your little freakshow," Ozzy swung his messanger bag of cannabis over his shoulder, "I'm headed to my room, you know where to find me. You coming, Shauna?"

Shauna didn't say anything, she just followed her boyfriend to their room on the ground level. That left the Ray family alone with the stiff in the office.

"Well, it ain't gonna move itself," Chucky laughed.

Glenda was quick to rummage through the corpse's' pocket. Seconds later, she was holding up the deceased's wallet like a trophy. It only had six bucks on hand, but there was a teller machine just outside.

"Use the ATM and empty his account?" Glenda grinned upon producing a Visa debit card. Chucky nodded.

"Use the ATM and empty his account."

"Would you believe that I still think I might wake up soon?" Shauna was pacing around the room, something she did when she felt stressed. Better than the former alternative she had of putting holes in the wall. Ozzy just sat on the one queen sized bed and laid back, hands behind his head.

"That's a good mindset to be in right now," he joked. Shauna sat beside him.

"It's all true isn't it? Do you really think that you can...you know...end the world?" Ozzy glanced at the birthmark on his wrist.

"Actually, I don't. I summon a fucking snake god from another dimension that does it….that's what Chucky says."

"Doesn't that scare you? At all? Knowing that with a literal flick of the wrist, everyone dies? And that's another thing. You really seem to trust this 'Chucky' guy."

"I'm scared, Shauna," Ozzy wrapped an arm around her, "Believe me, I'm scared of the Shadow men, this whole 'acolyte' deal, and Chucky...but he's keeping us alive and he knows more than we do...isn't that enough?"

"He's not exactly the good guy here, Ozzy," Shauna said. Her boyfriend laughed a little. Must….not make joke...about him being a good guy doll.

Ozzy reached over and grabbed his bag on the foot of the bed. The second he opened it, the unmistakable scent of cannabis decorated the small room. He took out a previously unopened plastic bag filled to the seal.

"Are..is that what I think it is?" Shauna stood up.

"Hey, I've been clean all day….I deserve this after the shit I've been through. You want to get in on this? Given our situation, we could use a little drift here." Shauna couldn't help but giggle. Classic Osborne at his finest.

"Maybe later," she answered, "I'm gonna make a phone call, tell my professors that I might be out for a few days. I'll be in the office, I think I left my phone at my dorm…."

"Sure thing," nodded Ozzy.

As Shauna was about to leave, her boyfriend quickly got up and wrapped his arms around her from behind, "Hey," he kissed her cheek, "Love you…." he said in a sing song voice. Shauna caressed his face.

"Don't I know it?" she harmlessly retorted as he let her go.

Seconds after she left, Chucky with his son and oldest daughter entered the room. They had just stored the manager's body in their own room next door, planning to go Tell Tale Heart on it with a fire axe later that night. Tiffany and Lottie were in that same room getting settled in.

"Dreadie! We're-hey, what is that?" Glenda pointed over to his open bag.

"It's the cure for Zika, what do you think it is? It's my weed." Ozzy had sat down again and took out rolling papers and filters, "I'm having a little smoke session right now."

"Ooooh," Chucky smirked, "Are we interrupting something?"

"Not at all….you can be here if you want….my room is your room, I guess." Ozzy shrugged. Chucky heaved himself up on the bed.

"I want to hit," he demanded.

"Dad, since when were you cool?" Glenda giggled, who now sat on the nightstand beside Ozzy.

"Um...usually I have people put in…." Ozzy hinted.

"I put my ten year old daughter through the mail in order to get you here and helped you save your girlfriend, I'd say I've already put in." Ozzy could read that somewhere in there was a hidden threat.

"Ok, I'll allow it."

"I'm also in," said Glenda, "What about you Glen?" she asked her brother.

"I...don't know. I've never…." Glen Ray, the most innocent person in his family.

"Bro, some ronins use weed to help them meditate. Pretty sure they also use it in tea." Glenda Ray, the bullshit breathing dragon.

"I don't know….Dad what do you think?" Chucky however was already rolling a joint alongside Ozzy. He awkwardly looked at his son.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize we were going to argue about this." In this scenario Chucky couldn't care less. You think that murder is the only illegal thing he teaches his kids? Glen gave a defeated sigh.

"What kind of shit you got, Dreadie?" Glenda asked.

"You guys are in luck. I'm actually about to try this new strain I picked up last week, super excited. Here, Chucky, check it." Ozzy opened the ziplock and held it over Chucky's mouth and nose like a gas mask.

"Damn, that's potent….what is that?"

"Child's play, it's called," answered Ozzy.

"Wait, wait! You're….you're telling me that you and Glen shared the same body!?" Glenda hung upside down over the end of the bed while Chucky was beside Ozzy, sitting with his legs crossed, which is actually pretty adorable to imagine considering his stubby doll legs.

"Yeah….I always thought of myself as his evil side back then...wait, hang on, there's a cloud in front of me," she blew at the air until the smoke, be it a small amount, faded away, "but yeah, two souls in one body, right? Constantly vying for control…."

"Oh my god, Glenda!" Ozzy laughed, " It's like he was Jekyll and you were his Hyde….or the Hulk! Damn, that's cool! Speaking of which, how does Glen look?"

Chucky, after ripping the joint and passing it to Ozzy, glanced to the floor where his son was lying. Glen was glancing up at the ceiling air vent like it was the monolith from A Space Odyssey. It must've felt that his eyelids felt like weights at this point, because that's what it looked like. Glenda poked in a couple of times.

"He looks demolished, Dreadie." The Acolyte shook his head.

"How'd that happen….he just took like two puffs."

"Hey!" Glen stirred and pointed up to the air vent cover, "The ceiling has gills!" Chucky, Glenda, and Ozzy all looked up at it extremely unamused. The bulb inches away really brought out the redness in all their eyes with its light.

The door opening was duly noted. Enter Shauna, back from her phone call and Tiffany with Lottie.

"Chucky we-" Tiffany suddenly stopped in her tracks, eyebrow raised, she raised her head and gave a whiff of the air. Well, actually she didn't need to. A layer of smoke the size of the Imperial Star Destroyer hugged the ceiling above them. Shauna casually walked in and sat beside Ozzy.

"It's all good at school," she told him, "Told them I went home for the weekend; family emergency." She took the nearly finished joint from her boyfriend's fingers, then performed an attractive french inhale, "Goddamn," she exhaled roughly, "Indica?"

"Sativa," smiled Ozzy, "Sleep through day and we play all through the late night."

"Chucky, what the hell are you doing?" Tiffany folded her arms. Glenda quickly sat up, while Chucky beckoned to his wife. Glen could only manage to turn his head in his mother's direction.

"Tiff, babe! C'mere!" he opened his arms as if expecting a hug, "I'm just here with my main man, Osmosis Jones." He pointed to Ozzy, who gave Tiffany a friendly wave.

"Hi, Mrs. Ray!" Tiffany just put her hands on her hips and frowned. Lottie gave Glen a light kick in his side.

"Glen, you ok?" she asked her brother. Glen answered the question by slowly raising his arm up and gave the two finger peace sign. Lottie patted him on the head and let him be.

"Chucky…." Tiffany continued to loom over her husband, arms folded, until he gave in.

"I know, I know what you're gonna say, but c'mon Tiff, they're sixteen! I mean, you started when you were fourteen, and those were cigarettes!" Tiffany had quit smoking entirely when they had children, but damn, back in the day she could puff like a locomotive, as Chucky recalls it.

"Taste for tobacco? I could get you a spliff," Ozzy offered innocently.

"I don't want a spliff, Ozzy," deadpanned Tiffany. Ozzy shrugged.

"It's still out there, it's an option."

"Don't be mad, mum," Glenda playfully hugged her mother, "I'm ok! I can even say the alphabet backwards! Um….uh…..Glen! Do the alphabet thing!" she hissed to her brother.

"Z, Y, X, W, V-" Glen gained back the ability to speak. He pronounced 'z' as 'zed', spoken like a true Brit.

"See! Totally ok!" Tiffany look unconvinced, but couldn't help laughing at it. Chucky suddenly pulled her into his lap.

"Relax, Tiff! Things are going our way now! We have the Acy-I mean Ozzy," he pointed to him, Ozzy flashed the evil eye sign, "The cult doesn't know where we are….at least not yet. And, and, you're gonna love this one," Chucky placed his head on Tiffany's shoulder, just beside her neck.

"And, what?" Tiffany still had her arms folded and tried to look opposing, but it really wasn't going her way. Her voice cracked as she tried holding back grins and the like.

"And I got a beautiful lady in my arms," Chucky kissed the base of her neck before working his way up to her cheek. Smooth as butter. Tiffany laughed and embraced him. If there were a studio audience, they be going 'aw'.

"Mom! Dad!" now, Glenda can add 'the mood' to the ever growing list of things she's killed, "I'm hungry!"

"It'll do that," nodded Ozzy, "I guess we could send someone to the vending machine downstairs."

"Fuck that, Dreadie, I want real food." Glenda shook her head, "Can you drive us somewhere?"

Glen raised a hand in suggestion.

"Not a sushi bar," Glenda said as if on cue. Glen booed as his hand fell.

"There was a town not far back, we'll see what they have there. You in too, Chucky?"

"Oh yeah, that'd be great…." hummed Chucky, "Let me just moisten my eye…."

The killer doll then slid his fingers around one of his blue eyes, the one on the side of his face where the scars had not been kind to. He twisted it around a couple of times before pulling it from the socket with a little pop. Like a gumball, he popped it in his mouth causally. He swirled it around for a little bit like a jawbreaker then paused. Chucky then spat it out in his hand, a line of spit connected from his lip to the eyeball. He then squeezed it back into its original socket. Once inside, he blinked a couple of times to reorient it.

"Ok, we can go now."

"Work all night on a drink of rum!"

"Daylight come and me wanna go home!"

"Stack bananas until the the morning come!"

"Daylight come and me wanna go home!"

While Ozzy and the twins had their chorus there, Shauna at the wheel took them through the town main streets following a successful raid on a California Pizza Kitchen. The feasting couldn't wait until they got back to the motel. In the car, Glen, Glenda, Ozzy, and Chucky had collectively gone through two of the five Margarita pies they had. Apparently living in the body of a doll didn't decrease the size of their appetites. Shauna shortly joined in the snacking before being followed by Lottie and Tiffany. Tiffany, no longer believing that she could control the situation, surrendered. Lottie was just pleased to see her family together like that; joking, laughing, loving. Even if it was brought on by a shady dude and his jock girlfriend, little moments like these counted. As for Chucky, he wasn't visible in the car.

"Daylight come and me wanna go home!" As the three 'singers' finished the song with laughter, Lottie rolled down the window next to her and stuck a Margarita slice, the last one of the box, out.

"It's the last one for now!" she called out.

"Much appreciated!" Chucky reached down from where he was lying on the roof of the car.

He had been up there since the return trip began for no apparent reason. The notorious slasher that is Chucky had a knack for doing reckless, but laughable things. A knack that he had carried over from his younger years to adulthood. If you're picturing this in your head, then Chucky's hair flowing behind him in the wind speed of twenty miles per hour is pretty majestic, is it not? The drive was quite peaceful. The many storefronts with blackened interiors, peopleless sidewalks, and dimming streetlights. The nights in the summer are always ones where you want to be awake. Mother nature always turning the thermostat of the globe to the most perfect setting and just leaving it be.

"Woah! Stop the car!" Chucky suddenly pounded on the roof. Shauna, sports star reflexes getting the better of her, slammed on the break. The car came to a stop, but Chucky sure as hell didn't. The moment the tires stopped, he flew off the car and directly face planted into a stop sign. He groaned as he comedically slide down the red octagon and onto his back.

"Still conscious!" He held his stitched thumb up to the car.

"What's the deal, Chucky?" Ozzy stood over him. Chucky pointed.

"Look! They have fountains!" Just next to where they had stopped, was a plaza. A gap between the buildings with a concrete flooring and a small section of chairs and tables. In the middle of it all, was a stone fountain. The head in the middle of the pool was a metal portrayal of bronze birds perching on the branches of a tree. The water flow was shut off during these late hours, but the pool beneath was full. Like the rest of the streets they had passed through, no one was in sight. Just the light of the streetlamps and the occasional squirrel or bird passing through. Ozzy glanced at it uninterested.

"Yeah, so?"

Chucky pulled himself up and rushed over to the fountain. He stood over the coin bottomed pool before belly flopping into the water. The doll breached the surface, his red hair now damp and straight hugged the back of his neck and shoulders.

"Free pool," he mused as he back stroked around. Ozzy snickered at Chucky's very much intact childish nature in his swimming. Shauna covered her mouth with a case of her own giggles. She and Chucky's wife and kids had followed them to the plaza.

"Water's fine, get your assess in here!" Chucky floated with his hands behind his head, plastic floats, remember? "Haha, look at this! I'm a boat!"

"A boat that's about to be sunk! Swan dive!" Glenda kicked off her shoes and climbed on the fountain brim and belly flopped directly onto her father. Chucky could be heard yelling out before Glenda crashed down. The father and daughter submerged with a splash only to remerge seconds later, laughing up a storm. Glenda was latched onto Chucky's back, pulling at his shoulders.

"Hey! C'mere!" Chucky reached around and pulled his daughter off him. Glenda squealed happily as he lifted her over his head and tossed her into the water.

"Cannonball!" Chucky didn't have a chance to celebrate when Glen suddenly splashed down beside him and tackled him, or rather attempted to. Glenda struck back again, hugging her father's side and trying to force him down.

"It's gonna take more than that!" Chucky laughed as he twisted about, death rolling like a crocodile. Dunking his laughing children in and out of the water.

"Yeah, it is! Lottie get over here!" Glenda waved to her younger sister.

"Bring it!" Chucky challenged her. Lottie cracked her fingers with a confident hum.

"Hahaha, you won't see me coming, dad!" She, after a small running start, Lottie was able to jump over the fountain brim and dive into the water. Her splash was noticeably smaller and softer, judges would probably have given it a solid seven. She didn't resurface though. The water couldn't hide her mischievous smirk. With Glen and Glenda distracting their dad above the surface, Lottie remained below. She darted to her father's legs and hugged them together.

"Ah!" Chucky lost balance and fell. As he sat vulnerable and struggling, his kids apprehended him, and by that I mean that they all fought against him in the most adorable way.

Ozzy and Shauna just watched them go at it by the sideline. Jumping out of the way of any splashes that came their way. Ozzy eventually got hit in the most noble way possible; jumping in front of his girlfriend to shield her. Tiffany stood close by the fountain. She had a hand over her mouth, but her smile was too long for her hand to conceal. Funny thing though is that she wasn't trying to hold back laughter….

"3, 2, 1! You're out!" called Glenda.

"Ok, ok, you all win!" Chucky laughed before embracing his children close. Their laughter both maniacal and childish slowly died down, but their amused smiles remained. They all sighed as they ceased their splashing. Ozzy sat his bag down then began slipping off his shoes. He was able to catch Shauna looking at him weirdly as he stepped into the fountain. Being obviously taller than the family of dolls, the water only reached his knees, that is until he sat down, careful to not get his dreads wet.

"You do realize that I am not letting you in bed with those wet clothes, right?" Shauna looked down at him.

"Not a problem, there's that fat heater in our room, we'll just put them on there for the night, besides," Ozzy motioned to his girlfriend to move closer to him, "It's not like we got to bed with anything on."

"Mmmmm, that's what I'm talking about." Unfortunately Glenda heard that and hummed dreamily to herself. Glen and Lottie just awkwardly shifted away from her.

"Scoot over," and Shauna slid into the shallow pool besides Ozzy, who put his head on her shoulder.

"That's my girl," he whispered to her. Chucky shook his head at the two.

"And then there was one…." he waded over to where Tiffany stood just outside the fountain with her arms folded.

"No," she shook her head, "No, not going in. Uh-uh."

"C'mon, Tiff, please?" Did Chucky just attempt to muster up puppy eyes? Would that be horrifying or cute?

"Nope," Tiffany was persistent.

"Show some love, c'mon."

"Chucky, no."

"Please?"

"No, stop it."

"Mom, you should." Lottie was suddenly next to Chucky, trying to mimic his begging stare and doing a far better job.

"I'm perfectly fine with staying here." Tiffany was final.

"Oh ok," Chucky shrugged, "I guess that means you don't want this spectacular diamond ring I found just now…."

"Huh?" No, Tiffany, don't do it. You're smarter than this.

"Yeah, it's right here," Chucky held out his hand. Tiffany leaned in to get a closer look.

"Where-AH!" She cried out when her husband suddenly stood up and bear hugged her. He then fell back onto his back into the water. Tiffany was crying out the entire time. Ozzy and Shauna chorused in their own version of 'dayum'.

"Hahahaha!" Chucky came up laughing while Tiffany had to contend with her now running make up. With no hope of saving it, she just wiped it all away with her white sleeve. It didn't matter, she was still beautiful without it.

"Not funny, Chucky," she grumbled, wringing out her hair.

"Oh good, so you'll stay?"

"Don't have much of choice now….but at least you were right about the water being nice."

"When have I ever been wrong about something?"

Tiffany opened her mouth to talk.

"Wait, don't answer that." Chucky covered her mouth.

This earned laughter from all around, even from Shauna, who hadn't done a whole lot since she had left her dorm. Ozzy's laughter was the last one to die down. One of his signature trademarks, long drawn out snickers, maybe from the herb.

"Who are you, Ozzy?" Chucky suddenly asked him. Ozzy tilted his head.

"What do you mean? You know me already…"

"No," Chucky rephrased, "Like what do you do? Where are from? You got a family? You know, that jazz." His family all eyed Ozzy in interest. Guess they wanted to know too.

"Well, I'm just a freelance artist just looking to get noticed or something, I guess."

Ozzy reached over and took his sketchbook out from his bag, carefully hovering it over the water. He offered it to Chucky, who accepted. The slasher flipped through the pages. Occasionally he would give an impressed whistle at some of them. He'd also let Tiffany and his kids get a few looks.

"All these are yours?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, not too many are commissions from my site, so I just free draw whenever. Maybe post them up on Ebay here and there."

"Oh damn, I like this one," Chucky had flipped to the page with the Giger Serpent in its penciled glory. Ozzy had never gotten around to color it, but it was Giger, it's supposed to be grey and black anyway.

"That one," Ozzy nodded, "Yeah, I drew that one time I went with Shauna's science class to the aquarium, mind you that I was super, super baked at the time. And there was an exhibit with sea snakes, that and I had binged the Alien series the previous night…so, yeah, Giger sea snake." Chucky snapped his fingers.

"Oh right, Alien. I remember when it came out. Remember that, Tiffany? How we played hooky from school, snuck into the theater and saw it?" Tiffany chuckled at the memory.

"Yes I do. We were eleven or twelve at the time. I think that may have been our first movie date."

"You two have known each other that long?" Shauna gasped. Tiffany nodded.

"Thirty nine years and counting, and he's made everyday worth living for me. Who would've thought? From sneaking into R rated movies to having three beautiful children?"

She glanced at Glen, Glenda, and Lottie lovingly. The kids just blushed and put on their best 'oh stop it you' faces.

"And to loitering in fountains with a stoner and his girlfriend?" Ozzy finished. Everyone laughed this up, first at what had been said then at the situation itself. Five killer dolls just chilling causally with two people they had just met in a fountain. Was the laughter and smiles because of that or that they were just happy to be able to share this delinquency together? Tomorrow those five dolls could turn on those two people, but no thoughts were given to that.

"Chucky, personal question here?" Ozzy sort of raised his hand from the water, making a sloshing noise to get his attention.

"Fire away." Chucky mimicked a gun going off with his hand.

"Back when in the warehouse, when I met you, you said that this thing between you and the shadow men is personal. What do you mean by that?"

At this moment, Chucky felt his fist clench beneath the water. Not according to his own command, but out of reflex. A reflex of anger. But he was quick to boil down. His family gave him concerned looks seeing his brow viciously furrow. Ozzy and Shauna paused in confusion.

"It's a long, long story," Tiffany took Chucky's hand in her own as he began, "So, I guess the best way is from the start...Do you think I'm a good man, Ozzy?" Ozzy scoffed at first, thinking it a joke, but Chucky expected a straight answer.

"To be honest, and I feel weird saying this, but yes and no. I mean….you hurt people, you're a murderer. All those stories you told me and what you have done. You're not exactly a good person. You're a psychopath. But right now, I'm seeing you here with me and your family; laughing and dicking around, so you're clearly capable of emotion and judgement. I mean, you must have been a good man at one point in your life."

"No," Chucky looked down, "I was never a good man, but I was a good boy, a good friend, and a good son…."

Ozzy and Shauna leaned in towards him while Glen, Glenda, and Lottie huddled around each other. They had heard this before, and it's always just as hard to hear it again.

"Damn, it seems like another lifetime….what was there to say? I loved life. My father said that I was born with just the 'natural drive to make the world a better place', and it sure as fuck felt that way….but if you're looking for the short answer version; it all comes down to the Cult….and Burton," Chucky audibly growled when he said that name, "Ivan Burton…."

"Is he a shadow man too?" Ozzy wondered.

"More than that, he's their leader, the Deacon of the Cult….and he was the Lakeshore Strangler before I was," Chucky's face dropped here as he squeezed Tiffany's hand for more comfort, "When I was around Lottie's age, a little bit after my dad died, bone marrow cancer by the way I had nothing to do with it, I was left with my step mom and god damn; there's bitches, then there's crazy bitches, then finally there's her. We lost money and we had to move away. Tiffany was the only good thing that happened to me there. Wherever we were, it wasn't the life that I had come to love. It didn't matter where I was; school, home, I was always getting a bruise somewhere on me. Then the cutting started, not by my own hands of course, I have my step mom and a couple kids who had it out for me of school to thank for that. Then one day, I met Ivan Burton."

"He could've killed me right there and then, but I think he saw right through me. Saw the little vulnerable kid I was; trying to be goody goody to the world in hopes it would do the same for me or maybe because he saw a little bit of himself in me." Ozzy saw where Chucky was going.

"He….made you a killer, didn't he?"

"I asked him if he could make it all go away," Chucky explained, "my stepmother, people who might want to hurt me. I asked him if he could help me just make all the hate go away. He told me he couldn't, but I can….starting with my stepmother. And holy shit, it felt good, so good. I think that was the one time in her life when she looked at me seriously. I've just seen so many people hurt me and I decided that I wanted to hurt them back really, really badly. And I haven't stopped since that day….and I probably never will."

"And Burton?"

"He took me in, showed me everything; how to kill and get away with it, got me into Damballa voodoo….everything. I had a father who loved me again. Then things started to get a little 'fucky'. Ivan started to get way into the Damballa religion. He started reading into it more and before long he built a church, the Order of the Serpent. He wanted me to be a part of it….fuck, the things that man made me do and what he did to me. The last few years I was with him were torture and I think that was his intention. Burton drained everything out of me and just filled me back up with nothing but hate. Everything I look at I just want to kill…."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say he crossed some lines. Lines that should never ever be crossed…." You know something must be horrifying if even a slasher has standards against it, "I ran and went out on my own, got a voodoo instructor, and the Lakeshore had a new strangler. I was killing on my own for my own purpose. Years later he finds us in California living as the Tillys. Tiffany and the kids ditched their human bodies and fled with me. Then we find out he's looking for someone called the Acolyte of Damballa. That's why we came for you Ozzy, if we do the whole doomsday prophecy before Burton and the Cult does, then we can finally get rid of him, plus it would be the murder of a lifetime. Before I left him he said that he would wipe out my entire bloodline. My wife and kids are in danger as long as he is alive."

"Why not just find him and do it yourself?" Shauna asked.

"I…." Chucky couldn't find the words to express it, "I….don't want my kids to grow up fatherless." My god, Chucky the killer doll feels fear after all.

"You know that it doesn't have to be like this," Ozzy offered, "Do you really want me dead that bad?" Chucky exhaled.

"Ozzy, I honestly don't think I can answer that right now." His family gasped. Not the answer that Ozzy and Shauna were looking for, but it would do for the moment, "You're a good kid, and part of me (be it a small one) is sorry that you had to be dragged into all this." Not gonna lie, Chucky being nice is actually kinda fucking spooky.

"Ha, I actually never thanked you for saving my life the last few times….so thanks, Chucky."

"Naw, naw, don't remind me. It's fine." Chucky laughed, got up, and stretched his back, "Well, good midnight swim session, I'm think I'm about ready to head back, any of you too?" His answer came when everyone stood up in the water and climbed out of the fountain.

"Hey Dreadie," Glenda called as she wrung out her hair, "Maybe when we get back to the motel you can draw me like one of your French girls."

"Maybe later, Glenda," Ozzy said awkwardly, trying to wave her off. Shauna just continued to seethe at the oldest Ray daughter.

"No Glenda," Lottie nudged her sister, "The world is not yet ready for erotic art of you." You know something, she was right.

"There must be something here that can tell us where they went!" a Shadow man yelled to his comrade as they rummaged through Shauna's dorm during the late hours. The fire escape had served as their entrance. The police had already come and gathered the remains of the deceased ones, but they were not concerned for that.

"Hey," one of them was looking beneath her bed, "What about this?" He had discovered Shauna's phone, which she had left in the haste of leaving.

And just for shits and hoots, she had recently downloaded the 'find my iphone app'.