Poor Charlie was so frightened, she kept her eyes tightly closed and clung to Alastor like her life depended on it. He in turn, just chuckled, finding her fear adorable. His amusement was even furthered when he looked back to see that those thugs were still chasing him.
"They always think they can catch me." He thought smugly. "They're certainly a persistent bunch, I'll give them that."
Alastor was finally able to give them the slip when he leapt up a building and swung down into the shadows.
"He went this way!" One of their pursuers said pointing in the wrong direction. "Follow me!"
"After them! Don't let them escape!" Another said.
"Hey what do you think we should do to em when we catch em?" A third member asked.
"I say we hang the scrawny, red freak by his own scarf and hang the girl by that long pretty blond hair of hers!"
"Yeah and then we beat the shit out of em like they're piñatas!"
Their words made Charlie unconsciously cling tighter to Alastor out of terror. He only rolled his eyes at their foolish and barbaric nature, while patiently waiting for them to run by. Then as soon as they were out of sight, he dropped down from the shadows as graceful and precise as a cat.
"Persistent bunch, but not a very smart one." He laughed before carefully lowering Charlie down onto her feet. "Are you alright my dear?"
"I'm fine." She said. "Thank you for saving me back there."
"You're most welcome."
"But quick question, what happened back there?"
"Well correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that we were being pursued by a group of violent cretins."
"Yes I know that, but what I mean is who, or what were those things? What did they want? Why were they after us? They didn't really want to see me fall to my death, did they?"
"Indeed they did, and if you had survived the fall, then they would have torn you to bits."
Charlie shuddered.
"What is wrong with those people?!"
"Well for one thing they're not people. They're, as I mentioned earlier, objects. Toys to be exact. Sadistic toys who just love to cause pain and suffering for others. I mean I'll do the same thing, but at least I don't do it to innocents."
"I don't understand. You say they're toys but how can that be? They're alive. Toys don't have a life."
"Maybe not where you come from. But here, toys have as much life in them as you do. Here they're no different than people. Well the toys are technically supposed to be more amusing than people but shockingly, I find you much more entertaining than anything else here. You're innocence and naïveté is just so adorable."
Something about the way he spoke to her annoyed Charlie. She thought that he was making fun of her. Like all her peers at school. Half of her wanted to be very rude to him, the other half of her wanted to be polite and deferential. The polite half won. Making fun or not, he did save her life.
"Please, what is this place?" She asked him.
"It's here." He said simply.
"I can see that but what is here? Do you know?"
"Can't say for certain. In truth, no one really knows where it came from. One day she just found it and decided to just twist it into a world of their own."
"She?"
"Levana. The so-called ruler of this world. Now I know what you're thinking, who put her in charge? Are there free elections or something?" He chuckled.
"No. That's not exactly what I was thinking. I just wanted to know how this all came to be. How are the toys alive? How are you alive? How did you get here?"
"Same way you did. I walked across the bridge."
"So she didn't create you?"
"Her? Create? Ha!" He laughed. "The woman doesn't have a creative bone in her whole body. She doesn't have nearly enough inspiration or motivation. So she just changes or copies things that are already made."
"So are you like a clone of someone?"
"I should say not." He sounded almost offended at the notion. "I am one of a kind, no cheap knockoff or carbon copy. I would never stand for such a thing. Besides, could a mere clone or copy do this?"
To prove his point, he snapped his fingers and some radio swing music began to play from a corner somewhere, and he started to dance about. Charlie recognized the music as a type that was popular from the 1920's to the 1930's or 40's, and his dance steps were similar in style. He whirled, jigged, jived, and tap-danced like he was a professional performer for wild jazz club. A bit old fashioned for most people Charlie's age, but she thought he was wonderful. Though at some point, he got a little carried away and crashed into a fence, falling over.
"Oh!" Charlie screamed, rushing over to him.
"Did I scare you?" He asked sitting up and silencing the music.
"Oh no, I just thought you hurt yourself."
"Worry not, the only thing hurt is my pride. My, my, what a terribly embarrassing moment. Normally I'm not so very clumsy."
"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Charlie knelt down next to him. "Maybe I should take a look at you, just to be on the safe side?"
But he was the one taking a look at her. He had his head held back and was staring at her almost devotedly. Taking in all of her. Taking in how she looked and how she acted. It made her feel very awkward.
"Why are you looking at me that way?" She asked him. "Please stop, it's creepy."
"Oh! How rude of me! My sincerest apologies!" For a brief second, he dropped his confident demeanor and became flustered. "I didn't mean to stare, it was just a moment of my mind going off into space. Ha-ha!"
He stood up fast, Charlie did so at a more average speed.
"Anyway, you don't have to check my body for injuries." Alastor said brushing himself off. "Nothing can hurt me."
"What do you mean nothing can hurt you?" Charlie asked him.
"I mean I can't feel pain, therefore nothing can hurt me. Except fire."
"Well last I checked, fire can hurt everyone."
"You don't understand my dear, fire hurts us here in a particular way. We're not made of flesh like you. Those who were tinkered or copied by Levana are either have cloth and stitches for skin like me, or wax. Here, take a look."
He rolled up his sleeve to show her the countless stitches on his arm.
"That's funny." She said puzzled. "Stitches aside, it looks like regular flesh."
"But it's not. She has a very special kind of fabric and wax that gives off a very convincing illusion of flesh. But it doesn't feel and if we catch fire it's either a melt fest or a huge flammable disaster."
Charlie thought that this had to be a joke or something. A magic trick, a gimmick, a bit. This was a theme park after all and Alastor was probably just an employee trying to sell the attraction. What else could possibly explain all these weird costumes? Not to mention Alastor's impressive dancing.
"Right." She said playing along.
"Now I have a few questions for you." Alastor said. "What in the world were you doing walking on a rope wire, when you clearly struggle with balance?"
"Well...I...I don't know how to tell you this without sounding completely crazy, but I was following a talking owl."
Charlie expected him to look at her like she had just escaped from the psychiatric ward. But he did no such thing.
"Oh you must mean Louis." He said. "Quite the mysterious bird he is, but very friendly."
"Wait a minute, you actually believe me about a talking owl?"
"Of course. He's one of my most dear companions."
Charlie let out a sigh of relief.
"Of course." She thought. "The owl wasn't really talking. It was probably a robot or animatronic thing, you could almost always find one of those in a theme park. Thank God, for a moment I thought I was losing my head."
"Are you alright?" Alastor said. "You act as if you have spent ten minutes holding your breath."
"I'm fine." She assured him. "I just keep forgetting that this place is just a little area for fun and make believe. Everything is just so realistic."
For a moment, Alastor looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped and looked around. Charlie followed his gaze, it was directed at something that was watching them from a distance. A black thing with red eyes. She squinted, it was a bat. Now she had seen many bars before but something about that one seemed awfully suspicious. Then again, bats were always rather creepy looking.
"Charlie would you like to join me at my home for a cup of tea or coffee?" Alastor asked. "You look as though you could use something hot to drink."
"No thank you, I really should be getting back. Vaggie is probably getting worried about me, and now that I think about it, I should consider going home now."
"Wise decision." He told her. "But should you ever return, please come by my humble abode for that hot drink. My associates like to serve it with boysenberries and sponge cake. I myself find all sugary substances disgusting but something tells me that you have a sweet tooth."
"I do." She confirmed with a small smile. "Maybe I will come by for a visit. Where can I find your house?"
"Just look for Louis and he'll show you the way."
The bat then dropped from its perch and glided away.
"I have to go now." Alastor said as he watched the bat leave. "But I hope to see you again under better circumstances."
"Me too."
He ran off into the shadows. Charlie watched him skeptically with a few questions forming in her head. Just who was he really? Why was he staring at her so intently earlier? And what was with that scarf covering the lower half of his face? What was he hiding under there?
He was probably the strangest person she had ever met, and when you have a friend like Angel or neighbors like Blitzo and Husk, that's saying something. There was nothing at all normal about him and it was clear from their first meeting that he went way beyond the term different. His actions were very unorthodox and off-putting, something about him made her feel slightly disturbed. Yet at the same time, she kind of liked him. He was so spontaneous and interesting as well as sketchy and unnerving.
"How can you like someone who gives you the creeps?" She wondered. "Still I should probably avoid being left alone with this him, as much as possible. Just until I know how far down he fell from the crazy train."
With that in mind, Charlie headed down one route and tried to find her way back to Levana's estate. However during the entire walk, she remained unaware that the owl called Louis was following her from a distance.