Chapter 20

The mechanical thrum was deafening now, almost as loud as helicopter rotors…vrum, vrum, vrum. The sound demanded Joshua return to full consciousness.

He tried to get his eyes to zero in on whatever was causing the head-splitting sound. His eyes weren't fully cooperating, but they were giving him glimpses.

He struggled to process what he was seeing. His head was pounding because the visual snatches were coming at him like they were being hit with a strobe light.

He saw…

…a robotic arm suspended above his head.

…a bloody Sprigatito mask, peeled open, held by the arm.

…honed bits of metal inside the mask, like miniature but lethal knives in constant motion, spraying tiny drops of blood on his face.

Joshua's brain brought his sight completely back online, and he put it all together. He was lying on his back…on a hard metal surface - possibly a reclining chair - and he was looking at the inside of a robotic mask full of sharp, continually moving metal. Tnd the mask was coming straight toward his face.

He yelped and tried to get up. That's when he realized that he was bound to the chair. Steel bands were clamped around his wrists. A heavy leather strap was cinched tight around his chest.

The metal juggernaut started to descend toward his face. He did the only thing he could do. He brought every muscle he had into play and sent them all into motion. He squirmed and twisted and wriggled. He kicked his legs, and he jolted his body up-and-down and side-to-side. He knew, of course, that his efforts were going to fail. He wasn't strong enough to break free.

Then, above the relentless metal chirring, he heard a crack, a distinctive, pinging crack. He knew that sound. A bolt had given way. He felt his arm fall away from him as one of the chair's armrests detached. His gaze still on the slowly plunging mask, he jerked on his arm without much hope. To his astonishment, the metal clamp disengaged from his wrist. He had an arm free.

But that wasn't enough. The mask was closer now. It was moving slowly, but unalterably, lower and lower.

Sharp metal. Bloody face. Not a good combination.

Frantic, Joshua sent his fingers in search of something…anything…on the side of the chair that could help him get free. He ran his fingers over an expanse of metal, thrust them between sharp gaps. And then…

His fingers stopped on something flat and round, some kind of control button. He strained to see his hand, and he saw a quarter-sized green light. He didn't hesitate. He pushed the green button and, as he expected, the other wrist band uncoupled.

The mask was now just inches from Joshua's nose. It was so close that the burring of the rotating and constantly cycling metal was blowing his hair.

Feverish with the crucial need to move, he fumbled with the leather chest strap. Maybe because he got lucky, or maybe because necessity is the mother of getting the fuck out of there, Joshua managed to click the strap apart and slide off the chair. His escape couldn't have come any later. The blitzing metal grazed the side of his forehead as he turned downward.

He dropped to the floor. Metal-on-metal screeches told him the mask, or buzz saw, was grinding into the chair. Hot sparks seared the little hairs on Joshua's arms as he rolled away from the chair.

All of his muscles demanded a break. He flopped into a glob of exhaustion.

The continuing spray of sparks…and his understanding of his foe's strength…got Joshua back into motion. He tried to stand. But fiery pain in his leg sent him careening off-balance. He toppled backward into jabbing metal and sticky, crusty faux fur. He scuttled away from what was grabbing at him. His gaze shot around him wildly. He saw a litter of faded, matted-fur-covered animatronic Pokémon characters.

It's just costumes, Joshua told himself.

Again, he tried to stand. This time, ready for the pain, he made it. But as he wavered on his feet, he heard a peculiarly familiar hop-hop beat of snaps. Looking down, he watched the costume's midsection open.

He squawked and blundered backward. His hand whipped to his nose and mouth as the sick stench of rotting corpses hit him. No longer thinking about running because his brain was now overwhelmed by what he was seeing - and smelling - his stomach threatened to heave as he gazed at the mutilated remains of three men…and Ann.

Joshua gagged as he looked at poor Ann's body. It was severed in two. No, not severed. It looked like something had bit her in half at the waist. Her upper body lay back against one of the two men, and her lower body was draped across her exposed stomach and intestines. Joshua, his hand over his mouth, quickly shifted his gaze to her face. Her eyes and mouth were open wide in a rictus of pure terror.

"Oh, Ann," Joshua whispered.

He jerked his eyes away from her. When he did, he saw that the blood-stained faces of one of the men had been similarly chewed, all the way into the man's mushy, rotten brain.

Joshua quickly moved his gaze to the two other men. One was older, and one younger. He sucked in his breath. He recognized the younger man; it was Edgar, Ann's brother. The older guy looked like he'd been run through a meat grinder, while Edgar had a deep gash cut across his neck. The cut wasn't straight. It was curved, like the wound from…a pirate's hook.

This last thought finally galvanized Joshua. He turned away from the putrefying cadavers, and he limped past the still-sparking mask and chair. He staggered toward the door.

At the room's threshold, he paused. All the way up and down the main hallway, the lights were surging on and off, on and off. The rhythm wasn't even, though. It was chaotic, as if the lights were being manipulated by someone too enraged to stay in control. Joshua squinted to see through the disorienting flashes of light and dark. It was hard to know for sure, but the hallway appeared to be empty.

He reeled into the hall, his feet fumbling as if he'd never properly learned to walk. He zig-zagged his way toward the lobby. If he could get there, he could get out of the building. Out of the building meant salvation.

He tried to pick up the pace. His feet shuffled faster.

Just a few feet from the lobby now.

From behind him, a crash boomed after him. A roar joined the crash. They partnered in their pursuit.

Joshua didn't bother to look back. He called on every ounce of strength he had, and he stepped on the gas. Managing to break into a jerky gallop, he spilled into the lobby. He threw himself toward the double doors.

But when he hit the doors, they wouldn't open. They were locked.

A new sound joined the crashing and roaring. No, not a sound. A voice. A singing voice.

"Dum dum diddly da…"

The lights were now going totally bonkers. They were winking in and out so fast that it was impossible for Joshua to see what was coming toward him.

But something was. Something big, and something fast.

Joshua summoned the last bit of his perseverance. He pounded on the heavy metal doors.

Sensing rather than seeing that his time had run out, he looked to his left. He screamed and fell into a total eclipse of any light he'd ever seen or hoped to see.

Outside Ava's window, the sun was a deep red ball hovering just above the hills in the distance. Soon it would slip out of sight. The ball looked like a big drop of blood, like the sky was hurt and needed a bandage.

Ava, who was currently sitting on her bed next to Aunt Marla, knew the sky wasn't hurt. She was hurt. She hugged her Finizen plush tighter than she ever had, but it still wasn't tight enough. She was hurt in a way that a bandage could help. A bandage couldn't fix the stuffed-up nose and stinging eyes that hours of crying had left her with. And it couldn't fix the fact that the happiness she'd been feeling ever since she'd been united with her friends at Spriggy's had been ripped away. Her happiness was gone. That was why she kept hugging the Finizen plush tighter and tighter. Hanging on to something familiar, something she loved…and who loved her…was the only thing that could stop her tears. Maybe. She hoped. But it hadn't worked yet.

Aunt Marla watched her niece cuddling the Finizen plush closer, putting her face in its gray-blue fur. "Ava, sweetheart," she said. "I'm sorry."

Ava let go of the Finizen plush with one arm, and she pulled a blanket up over herself and the plush. Even through the blanket, she could feel her aunt's presence right next to her.

"Let me make it up to you." Aunt Marla said. "I'll order us some dinner for tonight."

Ava sniffed again. She didn't care. She only waited there as she listened to the sounds of her aunt getting up from the bed, and walking out of her room, the tap-tap-tap of the high heels she always wore retreated from her door. She could also hear the pitter-patter of her little Deino trailing behind her.

Aunt Marla glanced over her shoulder at Ava's now-closed door. She gave it a long, forlorn look. She didn't understand why Ava was so miserable. She thought about it as she strode back into her nephew's tattered living room, if it could even be called a living room. She couldn't understand how anyone could possibly live in such squalor. She sure couldn't. But she could tolerate it, for now.

She had to keep her eyes on the end goal. That was why she was here pretending to help. But she was only helping herself…to Ava.

It wasn't fair. How could the world be so cruel to have her own baby be taken away from her before it could even be born? But that didn't matter now. Once she had custody of Ava, she would be one step closer to experiencing the one thing she had always desired: motherhood. How Ava had ended up with her brother was beyond Marla. For one thing, he was barely scraping by to take care of himself, let alone Ava. For another, he was an idiot. He never should have gotten Ava. She should have been with her. She would be a good replacement for her own baby.

Curling her lip at the sofa's sagging cushions, she plopped onto one of them, wriggling to try to create a comfortable position. The Deino hopped up onto her side, curling up into a comfortable position. Marla stroked the Deino's black fur for a few minutes before she reached in her pocket for her phone, fishing around her deep pockets until she finally pulled it out.

But before she could punch in the number to order takeout, she heard the sound of the doorbell ring from outside the front door. Wondering who could be visiting at such a time like this, Marla picked up her Deino and placed it in her arms. Then she stood up and made her way to the front door. Maybe Josh forgot something, she thought. That wouldn't be a shocker.

She opened the door, preparing to scold Joshua for expecting her to cool her jets in their first meeting. But once she looked out onto the porch, she didn't see any sign of her nephew anywhere.

"Hey, down here." a voice called from below.

Marla looked down to see a little girl with tousled blonde hair standing in front of the doorway. The girl had a serious expression on her face, her eyes fixed on Marla with such an intense look of contempt, like a Braviary using Laser Focus.

"Uh, can I help you?" Marla asked, confused.

"Can I speak to Ava?" the blonde girl replied.

Marla took a closer look at the girl, squinting her eyes and taking in the sparkles emanating from her body. The girl also seemed to be transparent, like Marla could see straight through her body. She began to question whether or not she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing. Was she just hallucinating?

"Uh, sorry…but I don't feel comfortable with you talking to Ava," Marla said, unnerved, "please leave."

The girl's eyes narrowed in apparent anger, clearly put off by not being allowed to speak to Ava. But Marla stood firm. She saw no reason to allow this mysterious girl to just walk up to Joshua's house and expect to be let inside.

And then…something happened to the girl.

Marla felt herself take a few steps back, watching the girl take a few steps toward her. The girl's figure seemed to warp…she seemed to change shape right before her. The girl started to grow taller, her arms and legs taking on a thicker shape, articulated like she was a giant doll. Her right eye rolled back into her head, fading into a pitch black orb with a tiny blue pinprick of light in the center. Her left eye disappeared entirely, a mass of wires in its place.

Before Marla could register what she was seeing in front of her now, she suddenly felt an extreme amount of pressure around her throat. Her arms started flailing wildly, and her Deino scrambled out of her grasp, running away and hiding behind the sofa.

Through Marla's blurry vision, she could just barely see what was choking her.

Half in shadow and half in the blood red smear of the dusk light coming through the living room window, a giant Quaxly stood in the doorway, staring at Marla with its one black eye. Its hands were wrapped tightly around her neck. Marla's arms and legs kicked and flailed about as she struggled to free herself from the overcoming feeling of strangulation.

Then, there was a loud sickening snap. Marla's neck was now in an awkward position, a tiny piece of bone bulging from under the skin. Her eyes were wide open in a state of shock, almost bugging out of their sockets.

Lifeless.

The Quaxly tossed the lifeless Marla onto the floor, a loud bang echoing through the living room.

The little Deino ran up to Marla's body and sniffed it, running around it with concern. Then the giant Quaxly grabbed it by the tail and opened its beak wide, lowering the Deino's head into its mouth before closing down on it, crunching and chomping on it, as though the Irate Pokémon were nothing more than a slice of bread. After swallowing the Deino into itself, the Quaxly pulled out a severed, bloody tail, and tossed it to the floor with a sickening wet splat.

Still under her blanket, still hugging the Finizen plush, and crying even harder than now, Ava went rigid when a big thud shook the house so hard that her bed joggled beneath her. She shoved back the blanket and sat up.

"What was that?" she whispered to the Finizen plush.

The plush had no answer, but it was there for support when Ava got out of bed and hurried to her door. Laying her ear against the painted wood, she listened. She heard nothing, not one sound met her eardrum.

Since she had burrowed under the covers, the red ball in the sky had disappeared. Now just a red sheen outlined the top of the hills Ava could see in the distance through her window. Night would be here very soon.

"Aunt Marla?" Ava called. She didn't really want Aunt Marla, but she didn't feel right about ignoring the big bang.

The only response she got was more silence. She frowned. She looked back toward her bed. Maybe she should just get back under the covers and go to sleep. She looked at the door again. No, she had to know what had made that big sound.

She reached for the doorknob, but then she hesitated. She backtracked to her desk so she could grab her drawing pad and some pencils. She also took a couple Pokémon cards with her. She always felt better when she had her pad and pencils and cards in the pocket of her overalls, so she stuffed both into place.

A bit more confident, she returned to her door and opened it, peeking out into the hallway. Then, hesitantly, she walked down the hall toward the kitchen. It was empty. So, she looked toward the living room, where…

"Ducky?" Ava's happiness came back to her.

The animatronic Quaxly separated itself from a blobby shadow near the end of the sofa. As soon as it did, Ava could see she wasn't looking at Ducky. This Quaxly looked like Ducky in every way, except for one obvious difference. His faux fur wasn't white; it was yellow. The yellow was almost the color of the shirt Ava was still wearing with the maroon overalls she'd put on that morning.

A yellow Ducky.

"Wow!" Ava said. She no longer cared about the miserable hours she'd just gone through. Her eyes stopped stinging. She could breathe through her nose again.

"Who are-?" She stopped mid-sentence when a little blonde-haired girl, the same color as the big robotic Quaxly's fur, magically came out of the robot. She seemed to just phase through the animatronic, like she was a ghost.

"Not Ducky," she said.

Ava stared in awe at the little girl. She looked just like an ordinary girl, but not exactly. Her body was transparent, sparkling, and glowing. Ava thought she looked the way an angel might look.

Ava gave the fairy-tale-like girl a big smile. "You came for me?" she asked.

The girl nodded. "Everyone's waiting for you. It's time to go play."

Ava squealed and clapped her hands. The blonde girl gave her a smile, and then walked backwards. Her body seemed to dissolve into a shimmer that went back into the yellow Ducky. The big Quaxly gestured at Ava to follow him as he took a giant step toward the front door of the house.

Ava looked down at her Finizen plush. She didn't want to risk losing it while she was playing with the others, so she set the plush on the kitchen table. As she did, her gaze caught a glimpse of light blue in the living room.

She turned. On the floor, jutting out from behind the end of the sofa, the hem of Aunt Marla's pants was visible. Her aunt's feet, still in her high heels, stuck out of the pants. Beside her, Ava could see the little Deino's dark-blue tail sticking out. The Deino seemed to be lying in a pool of something red. Ketchup, maybe? But then, who would spill ketchup behind the sofa?

"Silly Aunt Marla," the yellow Ducky said. The animatronic spoke in the little girl's voice. "She fell asleep."

Ava started to ask herself why her aunt and her Deino would sleep on the floor, in spilled ketchup. But what if it wasn't ketchup? What if it was actually blood? Ava shrugged. She didn't care what her aunt did. With that, she turned and followed the yellow Ducky out the front door, closing it behind her.

The yellow Ducky trudged stiffly off the little porch. Ava paused as she listened to his heavy footsteps.

All the sun's red was gone. It was full-on night now. A third of the moon was hovering over the concrete-sided stream across the street, and the moonlight made the Quaxly's fur seem like it was about to catch fire. It looked really cool.

Ava gazed up and down the street. "How do we get to Spriggy's?" she asked the yellow Ducky.

The yellow Ducky cocked his head in response. His one black eye blinked shut and then opened again in a slow-motion wink. The teeth in his beak flashed in the moonlight as he gave Ava a wide smile. The smile was more jack-o'-lantern than warm and friendly, but the yellow Ducky couldn't help that. Ava knew the animatronics couldn't move and make expressions like normal kids. That was okay.

Ava had never ridden in a taxi before, so she felt a fizz of excitement when she opened the shiny yellow back door and got into it. Taking a seat, she grinned at the fun, old country music playing on the radio. She looked at the back of the driver's head.

All she could see around the driver's headrest was long beige-colored hair sticking out from under a dirty baseball cap that looked like it had been worn for thousands and thousands of days. The hair, and the cap, were bobbing to the twangy music. Ava shifted her gaze to the rearview mirror, and she saw crinkly faded-blue eyes looking back at her. The driver turned his head, and Ava noticed a toothpick sticking out between his lips stretched into a friendly smile. The driver faced the front again and said, "Hello, I'm Arven. Where would you like to go, little lady?"

As Ava opened her mouth to answer the question, the other backseat door opened. The taxi settled low, really low, as the yellow Ducky squeezed himself in through the door and managed to sit next to Ava.

"What the hell?!" Arven the driver spun around in his seat, jerking so much that he hit his head on the roof of the taxi. He spit out his toothpick and let out a shriek.

Ava smiled, but she didn't blame Arven for his reaction. She knew adults didn't understand.

Arven's mouth hung open as he stared at the yellow Ducky, who gave him one of his big grins. Arven then turned around farther to look at Ava. She smiled at him sweetly.

Arven shook his head, then faced the front of the taxi again. "Not cool, man," he said. "Not cool."

Ava disagreed. She thought riding in a taxi with the yellow Ducky was very cool.

Muttering something Ava couldn't make out, Arven took in a loud breath. Then he put the car in gear.

"We want to go to the old Spriggy's Pizzeria, please," Ava said.

Arven eyed her in his rearview mirror. He shook his head. "Why do I always get the weirdos?" he asked out loud.