Mable: Sorry this chapter took so long- hectic holidays and all that. Enjoy! ^-^

The Butcher's Traps

Chapter 5: Investigation

Charlie woke slowly with a languid stretch before rolling over and catching sight of Mike's living room. The first thing that came to mind being, "Uh oh." Falling asleep had been unintentional but staying the entire night without asking if it was alright was totally out of the question. She sat up on the couch.

Sammy was awake and unfurled himself from the armchair once he heard her moving around. He greeted her with a relieved smile hiding a very anxious look. Charlie gave him an embarrassed smile.

"So much for worrying about where I was going to sleep," she lightly joked. She glanced to the clock on the wall and that amusement quickly dropped to surprise. She expected it to be six or seven at latest, but there it was pushing nine o'clock. Meaning she hadn't just slept on Mike's couch, she overslept on it. "Wait, I slept all night? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Her brother gave a dismissive wave and floated over to grab his drawing pad and pen. Charlie sat up in a scramble and shoved the blanket off, tussling her hair quickly before sliding her boots back on, trying to make herself look somewhat presentable. Especially since he could see the bathroom door was shut and knew that probably meant Mike was awake.

"I hope he doesn't think I did this on purpose," she muttered under her breath. Before she could continue, the drawing pad was laid in her lap. There was a rather long message written on it.

"Charlie, something happened last night. Three large creatures were walking around the apartment. It sounded like they were looking for a way inside. One was at the back door rubbing on it and scratching on the glass. I couldn't see what they were because of the curtains and they left before six. I'm very concerned."

Something about the word "scratches" deeply disturbed Charlie. Her mind immediately went to the scratching she had heard in the house even though she knew it had to be unrelated.

"You said creatures. You're sure it wasn't someone trying to break in?" she asked. He nodded with certainty and she was more unsettled. "You know yesterday Jessica told me that there's been animal attacks since the storm. Not minor attacks either, a couple of women were completely mauled. I don't want to jump to conclusions..." She started to trail off, but he got the point. "…Did you tell Mike yet?" He shook his head.

Taking the pad back, Sammy began to write something more down when the bathroom door opened and Mike came out. His hair was damp and upon seeing Charlie awake he shot her a smile.

"Look who's finally decided to join us. Any longer and I might've had to start checking for a pulse," he joked. "Morning, Charlie." She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Morning, but for the record I didn't plan on passing out like that… And apparently my alarm clock wasn't working," she said, shooting a glance over as Sammy. He was still writing down in his book and she looked back to Mike. "Did you hear anything weird last night? Like someone walking around outside?"

"…Now that you mention it, yeah, I heard some sort of banging last night. Didn't stop me from going right back to sleep. Why? What happened?" To answer him, Sammy simply held out his book to him. What he had Charlie read was at the top and Mike easily scanned over it. He went from confused to a firm faced and slightly disturbed.

"I don't know if you've heard about the recent animal attacks in town," Charlie started.

"Yeah, they're all over the news. Two women were killed and strewn halfway across Hurricane," Mike recited. "I think they said they think it's a pack of mountain lions. If mountain lions even form a pack."

"I'm under the impression that they don't know what it was. Yesterday it was bears," Charlie said. Now she was beginning to piece the two events together. Focusing on what Mike said, she picked up the remote and turned on the TV, changing it to the local news. It was currently broadcasting the weather but she left it on with the hope that eventually it would switch to news about the attacks.

Meanwhile, Mike continued to read into what Sammy had written more recently and recited it aloud.

"Because the noises wound down and stopped at five-thirty, plenty of time before sunrise and the six AM cut off, I'm more than certain it was animatronic in nature…" Mike said. Then his eyes widened at the next part, "Even though Circus Baby is still wandering the streets- What does he mean here? Isn't Circus Baby that mascot from the knockoff Freddy's? It's wandering the streets?" he asked in alarm.

"Not exactly. We don't actually know where Baby is, but I'd put my money on her being in that abandoned animatronics facility on the edge of town, Afton Robotics," Charlie explained. Though in hindsight, Baby did have sharp fingers that looked like claws and her actual claw could've done serious damage if fully utilized. "You think it's Baby?" she asked Sammy. He shook his head.

But he did have a point about its timing and she had no doubt he knew exactly when they came and left due to his internal clock. Baby might've been the only animatronic that they knew was on the loose, but she knew that there was more animatronics in the fire from the pictures Sammy had shown her. One especially beasty one being a mess of wires with a Freddy face, not to mention Afton himself.

This was something that deserved thinking about, and Charlie found that sometimes six heads did better than one- or three in this case. "I think I might call the guys and see if we can meet up," she said. Sammy was a little less than thrilled about her going outside but knew that it was probably safe during the day, and so nodded and didn't put up a fight.

"Are we not going to address that there's a clown running loose in the city?" Mike asked incredulously. "Maybe someone should know about that."

"They do. My friend's dad is the police chief. He's been on a manhunt for her since she got out. I guess it's not something you can tell the public without eliciting panic," Charlie said. Mike, who looked only more unsettled now, watched blankly as she grabbed her jacket off the couch and went fishing for her cellphone.

Just to put the cherry on top, Sammy came up to him and pushed the drawing pad down in Mike's hands so he could write on it upside down. Bluntly writing out: "You should check your garbage cans."

"Thanks for the tip," Mike said flatly.

Charlie started to dial Jessica's number as she unlocked and stepped out the front door. Since Mike didn't seem to mind her staying over, he probably wouldn't mind letting her get changed in his bathroom. Then she could meet her friends somewhere and figure out where to go from there. Or that was the plan until she stepped out the front door and saw something out of place waiting right outside.

There, in the small patch of grass that was the front yard, was a large spot of disturbed earth. It looked like someone had dug up an uneven hole in the yard and then filled it right back in overnight.

Charlie didn't know what to make of it. It just seemed so random; it didn't even fit in with Sammy's retelling of the night. She leaned back in the door and called in, "Mike, you might want to see this."

Mike quirked a brow and came over to the door, stepped outside, and his eyes landed right on the big dark spot in the grass. Upon first look he didn't realize it was a digging spot because of how dark the soil was.

"Did someone set my lawn on fire?! What in the actual-… Wait, no. That's just dirt." Mike squinted at the upturned spot. "Hey, Stripes, did you hear anyone digging out here or anything like that?" He looked back to Sammy who seemed unsure before remembering the rustling at the end. That could've been digging, he decided, and he nodded. Mike tossed his hands in the air. "I don't even know what to make of that."

"This is weird. I can't think of any wild animal that would dig into the ground like that," Charlie said. "At least, not out of the ones we're thinking of. Could it be anything else?" The man shrugged.

"Maybe the landlord sent someone down here to look at the septic tank? Would've probably been around seven, so it would've been before I got up and after he said those things split," Mike said, grasping at straws. It seemed awfully ironic that these two events would like up, but they couldn't think of a way they would be linked. "It had to be something like that. I'll ask him later."

This seemed to be a good enough explanation. With Mike still outside, Charlie headed to her car to get the things she needed. She felt uncomfortable walking by the patch of dirt. There was nothing about it to hint that something was amiss, but the way it sat there like an unmarked grave seemed foreboding. She was much more comfortable once she got back inside.

She headed into the bathroom and called Jessica while getting undressed for a shower. Even though it was the weekend, she was already awake.

"Morning, Jess. What do you think about meeting up with the guys for a late breakfast or early lunch?" Charlie asked. Just the thought of a real meal after a day of little more than granola bars and trail mix were enough to make her stomach pang in hunger. Thankfully, Jessica was all for the idea.

"Sounds great! It has been forever since we've all been in one place. How about the Waffle Wagon?" Jessica asked. Charlie agreed. "Great! I'll call Marla and she can call everyone else. You could call John."

"That I could, and I will after my shower. See you in about… Thirty minutes?" The deal was struck and the call was ended.

After a quick shower, an equally quick change, and a glance in the mirror Charlie was ready to go. She was relieved to see that some of the telltales of exhaustion were gone from her face. He hair was still slightly damp but would dry quickly out under the sun. She finally felt a little better- though that could've been because she had enough distractions to keep her from thinking of the house, and the moment she did she made her call to John.

"Hello?"

"Morning. It's me," she greeted almost shyly. Only now realizing that she hadn't called or talked to him since she had left that voice mail.

"Hey, there you are! How's it going?" John greeted enthusiastically. He didn't even ask her why she hadn't called the day before, he just sounded so thrilled to hear from her. That alone felt so soothing.

"Pretty good all things considered. I was wondering if you would like to meet me, Jess, and the others over at the Waffle Wagon? I'm not sure who all's coming, but there's at least two of us."

"I wouldn't miss it. Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good. I'm heading out right now, so I'll see you there," Charlie said. They exchanged goodbyes and the call was ended. Now she was starting to feel a little sorry that the main topic over breakfast was going to be the weird goings-on in town, but she would find a way to time it right. It wasn't a dire enough situation to go in stumbling over her words and frantically rousing them to action.

She came out to find Sammy in the armchair, watching the news intensely, and Mike talking to someone on the phone in the kitchen. She heard him say something about the dirt outside so she guessed it was the landlord. A quick glance towards the TV showed that the news was talking about an event in Cedar City, so still nothing about the animal attacks. She turned back to her brother.

"I'm going to go meet up with the guys. You'll be okay while I'm gone?" she asked.

Sammy gave her a perplexed look, as though questioning it. Something along the lines of, "Of course I will. When am I not?"

"Just double checking. I won't be gone too long, but don't be surprised if I end up staying the night somewhere else tonight. Even if that means staying in Jess' dorm." Sammy seemed much less enthused by this suggestion and Charlie gave him an assuring smile and a quick hug. "But I'll be back before I make any decisions, and I'll be careful while I'm out."

This pacified him enough that he didn't put up a fight. Instead, he nodded and hugged her back, then let her walk out the front door. His gaze returned to the TV to wait for some form of an answer.

The Waffle Wagon was about what Charlie had expected, an unassuming breakfast themed restaurant stuck beside a deli. From the construction site across the street, it looked like they would soon be getting more competition too. She had driven past this place a few times since she moved back to Hurricane but never felt much of a draw to stop by.

Upon stepping inside, she was hit by the smell of grilled meat and vanilla and was reminded again of how hungry she was. She got a corner booth large enough to fit everyone and ordered straight away, expecting to have a few minutes to herself. So, she was pleasantly surprised when Jessica appeared almost immediately afterwards. She was bright eyed and bushy tailed and dressed in something more fitting for a classy dinner than breakfast at a pancake house, typical Jessica.

Which only punctuated how strange Carltonwas acting when he arrived. He looked all out of sorts. Still smiled and greeted them, sat down, and looked at the menu, and it was only when they nearly had to drag a response out of him that Charlie realized he was uncharacteristically quiet. Normally one to steer the conversation, Carlton almost seemed hesitant to add to it.

Jessica noticed it too but got distracted when Marla arrived, and with Lamar and John coming in together shortly afterwards there wasn't any time to ask him what was wrong without putting him on the spot. Charlie decided to keep an eye on him as they continued catching up. Though it was a little hard when John slid into the booth beside her and rested an arm along the back of her seat. It was hard to stay focused after that.

So, for a little while, Charlie decided to just indulge in spending time with her friends. Doing so giving her plenty of time to finish her meal without such a serious topic hanging over the table. It had been ages since she had French toast, the last time being once when Aunt Jen made it. The thought made her a little somber but she recovered quickly. She was in good enough company to do that.

Good company whose help she still needed. Charlie eventually asked, "Everyone's heard about the animal attacks and those women who were killed?"

Everyone unanimously agreed, except Jessica who just groaned, and Carlton who tacked on a longer answer.

"I know all the details," Carlton suddenly revealed. Everyone looked to him with slight surprise. "Where they found them and what happened to them. Even that girl who died last night."

"There was another one last night?!" Charlie was shocked. He gave a quick nod. "Where was she…?"

"They found her out in that field beside the Maverik gas station. None of the cameras picked up anything. Guy inside the gas station said he thought he heard something but didn't see anything. They're still trying to figure out what killed her."

Charlie felt that sinking feeling return stronger than ever. That field was only about a street over from Mike's apartment; too close to be a coincidence. Though the reveal raised some questions.

"Wait a minute, didn't a bear kill her?" Lamar asked. "Or a mountain lion, or a pack of rabid coyotes? I thought they said the girls were attacked by wild animals. I don't think their exact cause of death matters."

"Well, in this case it does, because she didn't have a scratch on her," Carlton revealed to everyone's surprise. "…Okay, no, she did have some scratches on her, but none that would've killed her. She had a broken wrist, bruises, scrapes, cuts, but nothing that should've killed her."

"How is that possible? They've got to have some idea what killed her. Are they just thinking its internal injuries and don't want to say anything until the autopsy comes out?" Jessica pried. Carlton seemed a little uneasy and she picked up on it, narrowing her gaze suspiciously. "You know all the details?"

Carlton's eyes darted around to the other patrons of the restaurant to make sure they weren't listening. Then he leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"When they found her, she had this sludge just pouring out of her mouth. It was this sort of thick, black, glue-looking stuff, and it smelled like plastic. Apparently, there was so much of it in her lungs that she weighed something like ten pounds more than what was on her driver's license."

"Carlton…" Marla said warily. She sounded unsure of whether this was a joke or not. From her face she looked like she wanted it to be one.

"I'm dead serious," the redhead said. Now it was clear why he was acting so strangely, and it was only punctuated by what he revealed next. "My folks got into it this morning. I guess a bunch of women suddenly getting killed by "animals" that nobody can find is a big deal," Carlton said sarcastically, even adding in the air quotes. "They were throwing around the words "Mandatory Curfew" a lot."

"Oh my gosh, this is just- this is horrible," Marla said. She sounded thoroughly shaken, but it was nothing compared to Charlie, who had grown silent as she pondered what this all meant.

That was when John noticed the unsettled look on her face. All he needed was one glimpse of it and knew something more was wrong. He turned to her fully and quietly asked, "What happened?"

"Sammy saw something last night," Charlie began. Apparently, she didn't keep her voice low enough as the others heard and looked towards her. She spoke directly to John, knowing they would listen. "Sammy said that around five in the morning he started hearing scratches and noises outside, like an animal searching around for a way in… But he doesn't think they were animals. He thinks they were animatronics."

"Animatronics? You mean like Baby?" John asked. Just the name seemed to make everyone more concerned, but Charlie shook her head.

"No. He said it didn't sound like Baby and I think he'd know since they were in the fire together. I slept through the whole thing but I know it happened. I found this strange patch of dirt outside that looked like someone dug a hole and filled it back up, and one of the things Sammy said was that he heard them digging in the dirt," she explained.

"Now that's weird. That's not anything I've heard," Carlton said with furrowed brows.

"It had to be connected somehow. Mike said its never happened before and it just seems too coincidental that the same thing scratching on the windows was also digging out the lawn."

"Wait, Mike?" John asked in confusion. "You don't mean Michael Afton, right?"

"I mean Schmidt. That's his real name," Charlie explained. "He was calling the landlord when I left to ask if it was something to do with the septic tank-."

"Wait a minute, why was Schmidt at your house?" Jessica asked in confusion, starting to catch on faster than the others.

Not wanting to give her the wrong idea, Charlie clarified, "He wasn't. I spent the night over at his apartment to be with Sammy." It was only the silence after she said this that made her consider that maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. The range of emotions varied from Jessica's disbelief to John's eyebrows shooting nearly into his hairline. "Okay, it sounds a lot worse than it is… Carlton, don't give me that look."

"No look," Carlton said. He turned away with that look still very much on his face. Everyone else seemed to process it slowly.

Finally, Jessica spoke, "…My dorm's not that small, Charlie. I've seen Sammy, I'm sure I can fit him in there." Charlie sent her an unamused look.

"You've seen the elusive Sammy? How did you manage that?" Marla asked, surprised.

"By complete accident yesterday afternoon, and he's not nearly as scary as Carlton made him out to be. He kind of looks like a big… What do they call those things, the monkeys with the white and brown bodies and the long legs- sock monkeys? He looks like a sock monkey." Jessica then turned back to Charlie. "You could've brought the sock monkey to my place, Charlie!"

"It's not that big of a deal! All that happened was that I fell asleep on his couch while he was at work and slept all night. Sammy was there the whole time battling the creatures of the night," Charlie explained. She looked to John whose brows were slowly lowering back down. "Trust me, I didn't plan on falling asleep there. It was a total accident."

"I trust you," John agreed. "…Can't say I trust Schmidt all that much. Especially now that I know his alias."

"I didn't take you as the jealous type," Charlie teased with a coy smile. It grew more assuring as she took his hand under the table and squeezed. Though then that smile began to fade. "But those things were still out there. I don't know if they targeted the apartment on purpose or if it was just coincidental, but either way they were too close…" She inhaled deeply and looked past to Carlton. "Carlton, you know more about these cases than any of us… Do you think they're animatronics?"

"I… Yeah. You know what? Yeah, I do, because I know it's not an animal," Carlton admitted, returning to previous seriousness. "They're targeting girls who are all about the same age and all live close to each other or were somehow right in that area. There's no way these are animal attacks." This sent an uneasy silence over the table as everyone realized he was right.

"So, what do we do?" John asked. "Do we go to Clay and tell him about what happened at Schmidt's?"

"I don't know if we could without bringing up Sammy," Charlie said. "Even if we did, what could we say? Clay's not stupid. If we're seeing connections to these possibly being animatronic attacks then so is he."

"For starters we're all going to have to be more careful," Jessica said firmly. She crossed her arms and lowered her eyes in thought. "No going out at night- even if it's early, locking our doors and windows, and Charlie, if you hear anything like that again or Sammy does, you've got to call the police and get them to see them."

"Hey, you know, you should get a camera," Lamar chimed in. Marla furrowed her brows but he quickly explained. "The cops around here don't tend to do anything unless they have direct evidence. If you can get even a single picture of one of these things, they won't be able to write you off." While it was a good idea, something he said got Charlie to thinking.

"Direct evidence… Maybe there's something the cops missed?" Charlie looked back to Carlton again and asked, "So, you know where the other crime scenes were?"

Less than thirty minutes later, after finishing up at the restaurant and leaving, they drove out to the park where the first victim had been found. The crime scene had already been cleaned up and the only sign it had ever been there was from leftover police tape in the bushes. It made sense considering that they weren't treating this like a murder, but it also meant that finding evidence was going to be harder.

"Charlie, come take a look at this," John called from further down the tree line. She headed over and found him looking at something on the ground. "Is this what you saw outside of Schmidt's apartment?"

There was a large patch of dirt on the ground that looked almost identical to the one outside of Schmidt's apartment. Save that it looked a little bigger around and more faded. Charlie nodded stiffly.

"Yeah, it looks just like it. Almost looks like something was buried there… Should we try to dig it up?"

"We can try. Let me check my truck, I've got some tools in the back that we can use," John offered. He went to go check, but before he got back there came another call.

"Guys, I found something!" Marla called. They hurried over to where she was, standing beside a thick, gnarled tree a little ways into the thicket. The dirt around its base was still soggy with broken pieces of tree bark dropped on it. There on the tree was what looked like a faint claw mark, though it was hard to see when all the bark had been shucked off. "It… Kind of looks like a bear. They're known to mark trees."

"I don't know. Something about this seems weird. This is pretty low on the tree for a bear," Jessica explained. She looked over the damaged tree. "Now I'm not a bear expert, but I'm pretty sure that they stretch up on the tree to mark it, and it looks like…" She traced the grooves with her fingers; the claw mark moved horizontally. "It scraped it from this way. From beside the tree."

"So… Translate. What does that mean?" Carlton asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Not yet at least, but I know it was standing here, I know it scratched like this, and that means… It probably isn't a bear," Jessica concluded. "But it's not enough to round up the cops for."

Marla and Carlton both nodded in understanding as Lamar jotted down their finding in a notebook. Charlie eyed the markings on the wood for a moment longer before John came up beside her and offered her a masonry trowel. Hers looked much newer than the one he wielded, probably recently bought as a replacement. It would be a hard dig with such small tools but was than wasting time driving to buy one.

The upturned earth was packed in as they tried to dig it up. Not nearly as soft as the patch outside of Mike's apartment had looked, but she supposed looks could be deceiving. Eventually the others came over to watch as they slowly dug up the filled hole with baited breaths. Everyone, Charlie included, had a deep fear that there would be a body hiding underneath but nobody said it.

It was when they had made a hole almost a foot deep that they started to suspect there wasn't anything buried there. John was the one to point this out first, "I don't think there's anything down there."

"I guess not," Charlie said hesitantly as she crouched beside the hole. In hindsight, it didn't make much sense for animatronics to bury something any further than this. Or bury anything at all if she really thought about it, and the footprints in the dirt made her wonder if it had been the cops who filled it up. "…Maybe this is something else? It could be like the tree; it could be a marker."

"Let's hope not if there's one of these sitting outside Schmidt's place," John said as he stood. He offered Charlie a hand to help her up. "There might be something deeper, but we're not going to find it without either three decent shovels or one moderately functional backhoe, and I'm not looking for a scuffle with the parks department."

"We can check the field beside the gas station once the police let up. Until then… What now?" she asked him, then looked to her friends for answers. They seemed just as torn as she was, save Lamar who was back to writing down their findings in his notebook.

"Well, the way I see it, we have two routes we can take," Jessica said. "We can look up the girls and see if they share anything in common, see if they were targeted or if it was a coincidence, and we can research and see if anything like this has happened before."

"Yeah, it's like that movie where the bat man wakes up every twenty years, goes on a killing spree eating people, and then goes back to sleep at the next new moon or something… Which, now that I'm thinking about it, is starting to look like a real possibility," Carlton remarked. He got an unamused look from Marla and flashed her his first smirk of the day. "Remember, the girl who screams loudest always dies first."

"Then I'd be watching out if I were you," Marla retorted and poked him in the side. Didn't stifle that smug look, and it didn't fade until he looked at Jessica and saw her eyeing him.

"Oh no, what's that look mean?" he asked cautiously. As though he already knew what she was going to ask.

"Usually it means: "Why don't you go ask your dad for more info, because I know you'll come up with a good enough excuse to get it", but it could really mean anything," Jessica clarified.

Carlton was unamused. "Because I'm not tiptoeing around the house enough as it is. I hit the wrong chord and they start fighting again, and I'd say we've got one fight left before they start talking divorce," he vented. She looked a little sympathetic, they all did, but didn't budge. "I'll do it. Just give me a little time to figure it out. I'll get something by tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan. The rest of us could head to the library and see what we can find there. They have a pretty dense section on the history of Hurricane."

"You guys go ahead. We'll catch up later," John suddenly suggested. Charlie was surprised by the offer, but the others didn't seem too concerned by it. It wasn't until they were heading back to the cars- John had drove her there- that he explained himself. "I thought maybe you could use a few minutes to chill out. You started fiddling with your sleeves."

"Again? Gah…" Charlie barely noticed her nervous ticks but John noticing them was downright embarrassing. "I'm just a little tense."

"I know," John said with a lightly amused smile. "I think they've got this covered for now. Do you want to hang out for a little while?"

She knew she wasn't going to be great company with these findings fresh in her mind, but after everyone's reaction to her staying over at Mike's she felt like she owed it to John to make the attempt, so she agreed.

They drove to the reservoir just south of the city. It was the perfect day for it; the clear blue sky reflected off the water and the people at the campsite gave the illusion of safety. It felt miles away from the town even though it was barely outside of it, and they walked along the edge of the water over sand and stones, talking about whatever came to mind that didn't involve the attacks, the house, or Aunt Jen.

She found herself fighting distracting thoughts but kept it together for the most part. The highlight being when they made it to cliffs of stone and climbed to the top to sit on the edge, letting their legs dangle to the water below and their hands conjoin. During this they were silent, staring out at the water together and just embracing the view. It was the closest she got to a true escape.

It was in moments like this that Charlie felt an intense longing. She didn't know for what.

At the end of their would-be date, John offered again for her to bring Sammy and come stay at his place. She told him she would think about it and assured him that tonight she would have a better plan for where she was going to go, even if it meant leaving Sammy at Schmidt's.

By that afternoon, she was back at Schmidt's apartment and too busy refocusing her efforts on rewiring Ella. She had her spread out on the dining room table like it was an operating table and was working with thick gloves and a slew of tools, including wire clippers and three differently sized pliers. It felt good to get back to work.

Not much had come out about the attacks since the park visit that morning. The library didn't have any clues for them to find, Carlton hadn't gotten back to them yet, and the news had been on all day without one word on the attacks. Mike had been watching it while he waited to leave for work, already in uniform but starting at a later shift. Long story short, everything had been quiet.

She was currently trying to judge whether to strip or try to replace an old wire that led to what looked like a corroded voice box when her phone rang. She set everything aside and answered quickly. "Hello?"

"Hey there, Charlie."

She tensed up at the somber voice on the line. "Oh, uh… Hey, Aunt Jen."

"I was just… Calling to make sure you're alright and that you're safe." Jen sounded awkward, like she was the one walking on eggshells this time, or like she really didn't know what to say.

"I am. I've just been staying with a friend," Charlie answered honestly.

"That's good. Just be careful going out at night." Apparently, Jen knew about the attacks, but she sounded less like she was concerned and more like she was trying to advance the conversation. She knew Charlie well enough to know she wouldn't be running around at night.

"I will."

"You know if you need somewhere to go you can always come home."

"I know, Aunt Jen. Thanks." She paused a long moment. "…And I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too... Sometime when you're ready, we can sit down and talk through some things."

"That sounds good. I love you, Aunt Jen."

"I love you too, Charlie."

The whole conversation felt so painfully awkward and yet such a relief. All the guilt about the fight with Aunt Jen was gone, even though she knew this didn't mean they were finished with the house. She was still prepared to argue her case for the house, but at least this meant the silence was over. Charlie just hoped the silence wasn't only over to try and sway her on the house.

She felt like someone else was in the room and looked to the kitchen door to see that Sammy was floating there. He must've overheard the conversation, or at least heard her say Jen's name.

"That was Aunt Jen, she wants to patch things up. No word on the house though," Charlie explained. She put her glove and safety glasses back on, already preparing to return to her work on Ella. Sammy drifted over beside her and she noticed his smile was slightly disturbed, perhaps out of worry. "I'll go see her tomorrow and see if I can get through to her. Not sure what I'm going to do tonight yet."

"You can just crash here if you want," Mike suddenly chimed in. Charlie hadn't even realized he was there or listening in on them. "I'm leaving soon and I'm getting back late, so no big deal."

"Thanks, but we might be looking at the long haul. I can't just live on your couch," Charlie said with an amused smile. "As tempting as it is."

Mike shrugged noncommittally. "Your choice, I'm just putting it out there." He grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and headed back out into the living room. "Just don't leave the doll here if you go."

"Which one?" Charlie asked back jokingly. This got a more honest smile out of Sammy and he slid in closer to look down at Ella. She pointed in at the wire she had been working on. "Save or clip?" He gave a low ringing hum before tapping on the roll of electrical tape: save. She took his advice and continued to work.

…

Mike had gotten home an hour later than he usually did and it showed on his face. He came in, tossed his hat on the back of the armchair, and dropped into it while fixing his hair in an almost agitated fashion. Charlie looked to be asleep on the couch while Sammy was sitting on the floor with an almost distant look on his face. He acknowledged Mike when he came in but now his glowing eyes seemed to be scanning the windows.

Charlie unexpectedly rolled over to face him. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"Godawful. Some kids snuck in and I had to chase them all over the mall. It wasn't until I lied and said I could arrest them that I got them out of there," Mike vented. He gave a frustrated huff and sunk further into the armchair. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was awake. I'm just having a little trouble sleeping."

Mike nodded and looked back towards Sammy to see that he was still acting strangely. He nodded towards the Puppet, "What's up with him?"

"He's worried about those things coming back. Honestly, we both are," Charlie admitted. She looked down at her brother and wished she could ease him, but efforts to do so earlier had failed. The only way he could feel secure was if he continued to stare down the windows like someone was about to break in, listening for even the slightest sound outside. She turned back over. "I going to try to get some sleep while I can."

"Sure. Night, Charlie," Mike said as he looked towards the TV. He considered offering her his bed even though he really didn't want to give it up but decided not to with the defense that it would be too weird. He slouched further against the chair and watched the muted screen with glazed eyes, putting off getting back up for as long as he could.

Sammy noticed that Mike was starting to drift and normally would've roused him and nudged him towards his room, trying to show his appreciation for his care of Charlie by returning the concern, but having Mike close made him feel safer. Having everyone in one room made it easier to watch them and know that they were safe.

He was so on edge that he could rip up the carpet, or at least start blaring music before it was necessary. The Puppet forced himself to keep calm and keep listening as midnight crept in. Occasionally he heard a noise; wind rustling leaves, a creak somewhere in the apartment, a thump- or was it a car passing, a clink- or maybe Mike's keys as he shifted in his chair, but none of the noises lasted.

As one o'clock arrived, Sammy finally began to ease just a little bit. All the noises outside seemed to fade away and he was lulled into a sense of security. It was an hour after midnight and nothing was here. Maybe it really had been wild animals. Maybe they had moved on. Sammy leaned back against the couch.

Then sat up rigidly when he felt a familiar pulse inside his head. He only had a moment to consider what it meant before the silence was broken by the sound of shattering glass.

He hadn't even heard them come up. They had already been there.