The Butcher's Traps

Chapter 3: Dispute

Jen lived outside of the city of Hurricane in a place known as Silver Reef. Named for a ghost town located alongside it, there were few houses built there, and they were spaced apart and located on empty roads. Charlie had thought of the house as being lonely even when she was a child. As much as she loved her aunt, she had been eager to leave for college and try to regain some form of socialization.

Now here she was again, alone and on a mission to deliver news that she was sure would come back to bite her. Charlie took a few moments to brace herself as she got out of her car and walked up to the front door. Jen's jeep was still in the driveway, so she knew that she was here and that there was no turning back. Awkwardly, she knocked on the door like a stranger instead of letting herself in, then tried faking a smile.

Jen was her father's sister and had been Charlie's caretaker from childhood up until she left the house. She had been good to her, but strict, teaching her to grow up faster than her parents probably would've and making sure she was self-reliant as young as she could be. Never had Charlie doubted that Jen loved her, but she had never felt like a true parent. Even now Charlie felt out of place at the house.

When Jen answered and saw her, her face broke into a warm smile. "Charlie! You didn't say you were coming by," she said and embraced her. They had talked on the phone that morning, during which Charlie gave her the most minimal of details and left it at her being safe. Jen drew back with a smile. "Come to check on the house, I suppose? Make sure it's still standing?"

"Funny you should mention that," Charlie said tensely. She hated seeing her aunt in such a good mood and knowing she was about to ruin it, but stalling would only make it worse. "Actually, I wanted to come tell you… There's been some damage at the house. The old house, I mean. A tree fell on it."

Jen sighed but didn't seem concerned. "Well, that was bound to happen. Some of those trees around it needed trimming years ago. How bad is it? Do I need to call a tree cutter?"

"It's a little worse than that…" Charlie watched as Jen's nonchalant look became a little more quizzical. "It was one of the bigger trees in the back and it fell full-force on the roof of the garage… And collapsed part of it and the floor underneath it," she rushed out. She watched as her aunt's eyes slowly widened. "But before you ask, it was just the garage. The rest of the house is fine." She didn't need to mention windows right now.

Jen dropped her head into her hand and covered her eyes in dismay. "I knew this was going to happen," she said wearily. "That house has been falling apart for years. I knew one of these days there was going to be something that we couldn't patch fix." She dropped her hand tiredly before managing a smile and gesturing Charlie inside. "Come on in. I'm going to have to call on the insurance."

This almost seemed like a positive step, but Charlie couldn't be too sure that this meant Jen was really planning to repair it. Especially when after thirty minutes of waiting she was still on hold with the company. Finally, Jen decided to take it into her own hands, got into her jeep with Charlie, and began to drive to their closest office, which would be in St. George.

But not before stopping at the house to get some pictures of the damage. Charlie followed her like she was walking on eggshells, waiting anxiously for the moment Jen would notice the changes in the house and realize she had been staying there. Much to her surprise, she didn't. She didn't go into the living room and see the new couch, and she hadn't even noticed the reasonably new paintjob on the house.

Jen was a woman on a mission: getting in, taking the pictures, and getting out. Charlie had never been more relieved. Though it was short lived, because as they drove to St. George, she knew she would have to find some way to broach the conversation. It was time to confess to where she had been staying, but she stayed silent as they headed into the office.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much help there either. The office was swamped with work from other homes and lots that have been damaged, so while Jen was eventually able to file a claim, there was no resolution before they left. They had gotten one step ahead but now it was just another waiting game. If only that made things less tense; it didn't.

They had gotten back to the house late enough that Jen insisted Charlie stay for dinner and as expected had offered for her to stay the night. Not wanting to upset her, Charlie agreed without question, and while her aunt prepped dinner she paced in the other room and mentally went over the words she would say.

Dinner was delicious, as she expected it to be. Though Charlie didn't have much of an appetite. Apparently, Jen didn't either because she was more interested in catching up.

"So, how have things been? How's school?" Jen asked. She had worked off all the frustrations of the house while cooking and was now in a better mood.

"It's going good. I have a new assignment I'm working. I'm supposed to be building a basic animatronic model, but I'm going to try and aim for a fully functional prototype."

"You really are your father's daughter," Jen said with a wistful smile. She didn't sound displeased though, which was a relief considering that originally she hadn't been keen on her niece's choice in major. "You'll have to let me see it when you're finished. Oh, and how is Jessica? You told her you were staying, right?"

"Oh… Yeah, I did. Sort of. I told her that there was a chance I'd be spending the night, so she's not going to wait up. She's studying Forensics but I don't think she's narrowed down a major yet. She's in between now."

"That's wonderful! She was always such a bright girl. I'm not sure if she'll find much work in town, but a job like that could take her anywhere," Jen said encouragingly. "I'm so glad you two reconnected."

"I am too. It really changed my life." There were those eggshells again, now evolved into thin ice that she was tiptoeing across. Jen thought she was living with Jessica, she wasn't. Jen thought she stopped by the house and saw the damage like that, she didn't. Charlie was going to have to correct all of this, but she still couldn't. She just kept pushing it off.

They talked about other things. Eventually they had gotten off the topic of Charlie's life and onto Jen's anecdotes, and by time dinner was over they had progressed into talking about other storms they had seen or heard of. Charlie tried to strengthen her resolve as she did the dishes, but by time she back with Aunt Jen in the living room she lost her nerve again.

The evening drones on and Charlie was already growing tired from the lack of sleep the night before. Not having much to distract her anyway, she decided to make it an early night. It would even give her a little extra time to call and check in on Sammy from the safety of her bedroom.

"I think I'm going to head to bed. I'm heading to the university early tomorrow to make up for missing my classes today," Charlie said. Jen looked up from the book she had been reading- she wasn't too fond of television, so she had retreated into her book for the last ten minutes- and gave an assuring smile.

"Sounds good. I might be heading to bed myself soon. Sleep tight, Charlie," she said. Charlie headed out of the living room towards her old bedroom.

"It's fine. I'll just tell Jen tomorrow about what's going on," she reassured herself, only to stop outside the door suddenly. "…But what if she talks to the insurance company before I tell her and decides on something drastic? Like just… Giving up the property?" After a moment, she shook her head. "No, that's insane. Even if someone does call that quickly, which they won't, she wouldn't decide on that so quickly. Jen doesn't like the house but she has money invested in it… But enough to get over how much she hates it?"

Charlie continued fighting with herself as she crept towards her old bedroom. It wasn't until she opened the door and stared inside at the room she spent most of her life in that she suddenly decided. Within moments, she was striding back into the living room.

"Uh… Aunt Jen? I wanted to ask you… What do you think we're going to do with the house? We're going to use the insurance to pay for the repairs, right?" Charlie tentatively asked. Jen took a deep breath before setting her book aside with a sigh.

"Honestly, Charlie, I don't know what to do with the house. Just being there today brought up… Unpleasant memories, and that's how it's going to be every time we go there. For the last few years, I stopped showing the house because of its condition. Nobody would by it when it was just lived in, I doubt we would've gotten offers once it fell into disrepair… But now looking at that damage, I think it's time to just let go and move on. I can sign the house over to the realtor company and they can sell it themselves."

"What? No, we can't do that!" Charlie protested. "I know that the house has a lot of emotional baggage attached, but it's still a part of us. It's still my home, I don't want to give that up. I can get a job to help pay for the repairs that the insurance doesn't cover. It's just money!"

"I'm not going to stand by and let you sink your future into that house, Charlie," Jen said more firmly. "I know you are attached to it. It's your childhood home, nothing can change that, but it's not worth going through the pain of the repairs. I already have to pay monthly just to keep the lights on when nobody's living there."

"Well… I'm not paying board fees anymore. I could pay for the electricity and anything else. If you just let me, I'm sure I could get at least five hundred dollars together by the end of the week," Charlie promised. She already tried to think of ways to scrape the money together- sell the TV, have the yard sale, get a job, two if she had to- but her heart sunk as Jen insistently shook her head.

"I won't let you do that. Charlie, we've been through this. Look at you, you're going to school, you have friends, and someday you will move far away from here. How would you buy a new house if you're stuck supporting this one? Something like this is just going to hold you back." Her face grew softer. "Once you have a house of your own it will be just as much home as this one was, if not more. I promise you."

"Aunt Jen," Charlie said seriously and without any hesitation. "I've been living in the house."

"…What?" Jen's brows furrowed in surprised confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I haven't been living with Jess. Jess has been living in the dorms at the university. I've been living in the house since I went back to visit it months ago… The whole reason I've been cleaning up isn't to sell it or just to get closure, it's because I want to live there," Charlie confessed. Jen looked utterly shocked at the reveal and her niece felt guilty, averting her gaze off to the floor. "I'm sorry, Aunt Jen. I know I shouldn't have lied to you, but I was afraid of what you would do when you found out."

It certainly was a heavy reveal. Not only did Charlie confess to lying to her and going behind her back into the house, along with orchestrating a narrative for months about it, but she was inadvertently revealing that she was there during the storm as well. She wouldn't deny it, she would just wait for a response. Her aunt still staring with wide eyes and no expression.

Jen broke the long silence with finality. "I'm selling the house."

Charlie's eyes shot up from the ground. "What? No, wait! Aunt Jen, please!"

"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind," Jen said firmly. She closed her book and set it aside. "I won't have you get sucked back into that life, Charlie. I made a promise to your father and I plan to stick by it."

"You can't! I love that house! That's my home!" Charlie exclaimed in alarm. "I know I lied and that was terrible. I went against your wishes and betrayed your trust, but please, Aunt Jen, please think about this!"

"This isn't a punishment, Charlie. I'm doing this for your own good."

"…For my own good?" Suddenly a bitterness welled up in Charlie that she didn't realize existed. "For my own good, is… is that what you call leaving me in the dark for years about what happened at the pizzeria, or where Mom went? Encouraging me to grow up quick but then not trusting me to make any of my own decisions? Was that for my good or yours?"

Jen was almost as surprised by the outburst as she was by the previous reveal, though she recovered enough to defend herself. "I did what I could to keep you safe, Charlie." That's what caused her to snap.

"All these years, I have felt completely isolatedfrom everyone!" Charlie yelled. "You took me out of school, you took me away from my friends, and then you didn't even have the guts to tell me that the reason you were hiding me was because the man who kidnapped Sammy was still out there! Or that he was Dad's business partner- he had been in our house! Sammy and I played with his children!"

"I didn't want you to be held back by it, Charlie!" Jen yelled back, finally raising her voice. "I didn't want you to get so stuck in the past that you couldn't move on! That was exactly what happened to your father. He couldn't get over losing Sammy and it ruined his life, and I won't let that happen to you!"

"And I'm tired of being punished because of the bad choices Dad made!" Charlie cried. "Why can't you trust me when I tell you what I want?! Why is it never enough?!"

"Charlie, that is enough! I'm not fighting with you about this!"

"No, it is not enough! That house is the last thing I have of my old life! It's my home, not Dad's! He's the one that chose to leave, I didn't! But if you sell that house- if you don't even give me the choice- then I will! I will never step in this house again!" The fight cut off to silence, Charlie panting from her yelling, Jen's shock returning. In that moment Charlie finished, "I'm leaving in the morning. I won't be back."

She turned and stormed out of the living room. Jen called after her and even followed a short way, but then let her niece retreat to her old bedroom. Once inside, Charlie slammed the door shut and fell against it.

All at once a wave of regret rushed over her. She couldn't believe the things she said or the ultimatum she had given, and knew she had to be out of line. Jen loved her, she was trying to protect her, she wanted what was best for her, but years of suppressed anger burst out. All the frustration Charlie had towards her father and this situation spilled out in one messy display, and now she lost her chance to reason with Jen.

Charlie slid to the floor and sat there with her head in her hands. "What now? What am I supposed to do now?" she asked herself. Nothing, she realized. There was nothing she could do. It was all over.

For a long time, Charlie sat there on the floor with silent thoughts and a sour twisting in her stomach. Part of her wanted to go back out and apologize to Jen, but the other still felt betrayed and wouldn't budge from this spot. She felt angry, hurt, and alone. So alone in this bedroom, just like she had been as a child. She could remember long nights sitting in here and feeling like something was missing.

Maybe it had been Sammy. The thought of him suddenly reminded her that she hadn't called him yet and she got out her phone to do so. She was able to remember Mike's number, which was a relief as she left the paper that had it in her bad which was still in her car. She dialed it up and waited for an answer, hoping for something to save her from this painful situation.

Thankfully, Mike answered like he always did, "Hello, hello?" Someday she would have to ask why he did that.

"Hey, it's me," Charlie said, forcing a cheery tone and hoping it didn't sound fake. "Just calling to check in. How's Sammy holding up?"

"I take back what I said earlier. I earned every cent of that fifty bucks," Mike said matter-of-factly.

Charlie gave a sympathetic hiss and asked, "That bad?"

"It wouldn't be if he didn't keep jumping me all over the house. You would think he would stop after it stopped getting a rise out of me, but no. He just started switching up places. I've got this cabinet beside my fridge- What? What are you- Hey, would you- Be careful with that!" Then a more distant call of. "You break it, you buy it, Stripes."

She only had a moment to question this before she heard shuffling on the phone and then a chiming on the other side. Obviously, Sammy had stolen it and was now nearly trilling with excitement to hear his sister. At least one of them was in a good mode, it seemed to immediately loosen up the tightness in her chest to hear him.

"You could've probably done that with a little more tact," she teased.

Sammy gave a dismissive noise and chimed again. The only reason she could tell he was questioning her was through its tone, but she knew what he was asking.

"I talked to Aunt Jen. Things… Went about as well as expected. I don't know what's going to happen." Sammy was silent and Charlie jumped to add, "But it's okay! It'll be okay, we'll figure something out. I'm going to be staying here tonight."

Sammy was relieved to hear that, but it was hard not to hear something else in Charlie's voice. There must've been a fight from the melancholy undertone she was trying to hide. He wished he could do more but trapped on this side of the phone he had no way to comfort her. He was barely able to communicate with her without his hand signals. Ringing would have to suffice.

"I'm going to head to school tomorrow, but as soon as I finish classes I'll come by and we'll figure out where we're going to stay. At this point it might just be worth closing the garage door, considering the workshop a lost cause, and going on business as usual. At least we'll be home," Charlie offered. Unless something else collapsed. "Just go a little easier on Mike, okay? I'm pretty much stuck here all night."

The Puppet gave an agreeing sort of chime before stretching his arm out and offering the phone back to Mike. The man took it back with an unenthused look and raised it to his ear.

"So, what's the plan?"

"I'll be back tomorrow to figure it out. If you could just keep him tonight like planned, I'd really appreciate it. I told him to ease up."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that'll help," Mike said sarcastically. He paused a moment before clarifying, "I'll keep an eye on him. I've got to admit, I prefer him squeezing into my furniture over him trying to squeeze into my office and kill me. He's not a killer, I'll give you that." He watched as Sammy turned to look at him and watched with that intense gaze. "Hold on, he's giving me that look again."

Charlie chuckled a little and assured, "It'll be fine. Thanks again for this, Mike. I'm… Really glad he's not over here." She brushed back her hair tiredly with a sigh.

"I'm taking it things didn't go so well?" he asked sympathetically. He got a vague 'not exactly' in return. "Sorry to hear that, kid. Let her cool down for the night and try again in the morning. Might have better luck."

"Let's hope. Talk to you tomorrow." With that they hung up and Charlie was back to being alone in this bedroom.

She finally got up from the floor and moved to her closet to look and see if she had left any night clothes behind when she moved out. Unfortunately, the only clothes left were ones she had grown out of but had too much of an attachment with to throw away. Which meant she was going to be sleeping in what she was wearing unless she was willing to risk seeing Jen to go get her bag, which felt too uncomfortable right now.

Not to mention that she didn't know how she was even going to sleep. She was wide awake and wired, not sure if lying down in bed would do anything more than have her tossing and turning. Even if sleep would be quick means of escape… Of course, there was another escape route she considered.

Sitting on the foot of the bed with her phone in her hand, she remembered John's offer from earlier. All she had to do was call and he would probably come by. They could meet up outside and he could assure her it was all going to be okay and even if it wasn't, the tingling warmth would convince her it was. Maybe she could even take up that offer to sleep on his couch. Probably not, but it was an option, a choice that she was given and that she could make without any noticeable consequences.

She convinced herself and quickly dialed up John's number. Then she waited as it rang, and rang, and by the third and fourth rings her hopes were dashed. It seemed a little early for him to be in bed, though she knew he had a part-time job now and typically got up early. Or he was just in the shower, in which case she was starting to second guess calling back. Eventually the prompt came for her to leave a message.

"Hey, John! It's me, Charlie. I'm just at Jen's right now. I'm staying the night tonight, but I won't be tomorrow so maybe we can meet up and do something. I just… Didn't want you to worry! Its just been a long day with things, insurance things, you wouldn't be interested. So, umm, good night and I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

Charlie ended the message and immediately cringed. "That was embarrassing. I've got to stop rambling when I leave messages," she said to herself. She slid off her jacket and boots, leaned over to turn off the light, and crawled up the bed to lay down. She stared at the ceiling through the dim light. "If I'm still awake in fifteen minutes, I'll try to call again," she decided.

She closed her eyes and tried to pretend it was a normal night.

Heavy footsteps in wet dirt. A low groan while it trudged through the darkness. Then a figure appeared in its line of sight, lit up like it was glowing in infrared.

A panicked woman was crawling out of the bushes and staggering to her feet. Leaves and sticks were stuck in her brunette hair, mud caked onto her knees and front from being dragged, and she was missing a shoe. She limped out before spotting the onlooker and screaming. She made a run from it towards a road in the distance. A low groan echoed through its hollow frame before it began to pursue.

It towered over the woman and yet kept up well. As she was slowed by the bushes and tree roots, it broke straight through everything, tearing through them with swipes of its unseen limbs. She looked back with eyes filled with terror just as she broke the tree line, then turned ahead just in time to see a large hole in the ground.

Something sharp and glistening circled the top of the hole. She didn't have enough time to dodge as she spotted it right before her leg fell in. There came a bloodcurdling shriek.

Sammy woke from the nightmare and found that it was he who was screaming. A metallic yell that only barely resembled a human's, one that he cut off as quickly as he could, but the fear didn't go with it. In his mind he could still see the images of that woman who had been running through the woods. It had felt so real; she had looked so much like Charlie.

It took a second for the Puppet to remember where he was, folded up on Mike's couch with the throw blanket that had been covering him half hanging off. Though getting his bearings didn't exactly make him feel any better. It wasn't like he could seek out Charlie and assure himself that the much too real dream was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. He should've known this would happen without her.

His pity party was cut off by the sound of rapid footsteps and he only had a moment to shield his face with his arms before Mike came running out of the bedroom.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed. Blue eyes wide, dark hair tussled, and looking like he was half-prepared to run for his life. Except then he saw the striped one pulled in on himself, still shaking and trying desperately to hide the state of his mask from the man. Mike had an idea of what was going on. It still didn't make much sense, but he figured it out. "What happened? Did you have a nightmare or something?"

Just in case, Mike checked the clock to make sure it wasn't any hour on the dot just in case he reached the Puppet's trigger time and was about to get chased around. This wasn't the case, and Sammy turned his head further away with a strange dialing noise that he couldn't make sense of. Now realizing that there was no threat, Mike stood there unsure of what to do.

Sammy felt more than a little irritated at Mike's prolonged waiting in the room, but any static rising in his chest was abruptly stifled when he asked, "Want me to stay up with you for a few minutes?" Sammy nodded against his better judgement, desperate to not be alone. Mike came over and sat on the other side of the couch. The room fell painfully quiet.

Mike was looking to break that silence. First by turning on the TV, until he realized that the remote was currently on the end table on the other side of the Puppet. After some consideration, he decided it wasn't worth getting as there would be nothing but infomercials on at this hour. He turned his focus back on the animatronic, now kneeling on the couch with his face still hidden behind his arms.

"Want to talk about it?" Mike asked. Only once asked did he remember that he couldn't talk about it. "Wait… Forget that. I'm still half asleep."

After that, the man was quite fine with returning to the silence, but then the animatronic shifted. It lowered its striped arms down and sat there hunched over for a long moment thinking, then reached for the drawing pad that had been brought with it. It opened it to a back page and pulled out its pencil to begin.

Mike's curiosity was piqued at the idea of it drawing its dream- though also a little uneasy. He could see himself walking into a situation where he saw a sketch of himself being brutally murdered. He didn't even know how he would handle seeing a picture of himself sleeping, other than not sleep ever again. He was brought out of these thoughts by Sammy stretching out his arm and nudging him with the book. It was too quick for it to have sketched anything and Mike looked at it intrigued.

Instead of a picture, there was a single line. "It was about Charlie. She was attacked."

The last thing he expected was an actual dialogue. "By what?" he asked. He noticed Sammy make a shrugging motion out of the corner of his eye. He guessed it wasn't important. "You're just worried about her. Not surprising, you two seem close," Mike said. He handed back the book. "Which of you is older?"

Sammy took the book, scribbled down, and handed it back. "We're twins."

"Right. She might've said that." He handed the book back again and settled back into the couch a little more. He stared at the blackened TV like there was going to be something on there and tried to ignore how tired he felt now that his adrenaline wore off. A quick glance over showed that the Puppet was now staring down at the book, not writing anything, hunched like it too was tired. A sharp contrast to earlier.

Earlier it had seemed so full of life- in an undead, inhuman way- but now was just a wind-up doll that was slowly running down. Or something like that, Mike wasn't too focused this late at night. Sammy felt the same way, but that's how it always was after midnight. These late hours made him feel unsafe. Something about that nightmare had seemed wrong somehow.

Unable to keep watching this, Mike sighed and leaned forwards to grab the blanket off the floor. "She's going to be fine. You're just a little homesick, that's all," he said. He draped the throw blanket over the animatronic's shoulders and tucked it around. "There you go. Just cocoon yourself in there in case you fall off the couch next time."

As he started to move back, Sammy's arm suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist. The adrenaline began to flow immediately as Mike's heartrate could feel his pulse through his arm and tried to assure him by chiming quietly. He gently slid his hand up to wrap his arm around Mike's and used his other hand to write to write down another message, all while looking directly at Mike.

"He's either going to kill me now or he's getting way too friendly," Mike decided. The book was pushed to him and he looked down to read what was written.

"Please stay with me?"

That answered that as unsettled as he felt by this whole situation, there was something strangely sad about it. It just seemed pitiful how it asked him to stay even though he wasn't anything to it. He wanted to blame Charlie for filling his head with all those assurances about Sammy, because all they made Mike feel guilty. He caved and sat down alongside him.

"Yeah, sure, I will. Just don't expect me to pull an all-nighter," he said. Sammy perked a little and loosened his grip enough that Mike could grab the remote. "But if I'm going to be out here, I'm putting the TV on."

It was like a weight was lifted just to not be alone. Mike might've not been Charlie- Sammy knew any chance of physical affection was limited and released his arm quickly- but he was an assuring presence. A familiar face to remind him that Freddy's was over, everything was okay, and that it was just a normal night. Sammy could live with this.

But in the back of his mind, something still felt wrong. He couldn't explain it; the closest thing would be the feeling of being watched. It hadn't gone away even as the dream faded further from his mind.

He hoped it was gone by tomorrow.

Mable: Watch where you step, folks.