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The alarm on my watch began beeping, alerting me that the playhouse was just getting up for the morning. I must have managed to lightly drift off amidst the Curator’s violent assault on the door. A skill that took years to master. It must have given up, as I no longer heard it outside. I pressed my ear to the wall and listened. I didn’t hear any breathing or shuffling. I decided to take a chance. Slowly, I swung the door open and clicked on the flashlight. Nothing. I quickly crossed back to my pack and then smiled when I picked it up. I hadn’t noticed in the dark, but I had set my bag on top of one of the things I had been looking for; a coil of sturdy rope. I inspected it, and it looked solid with no damage, other than the ever-present layer of grime that the house caked everything with. I slung the rope over my shoulder and then rushed down the hallway. I needed to get back quickly.
When I had reached the safe room once again, I saw that my friends were currently at their first playroom time. I could hear them talking on the monitor as they stood in their usual corner.
“It’s okay; maybe he just went to go on a food run,” Ethan said
“Or maybe he finally got enough sense to go on without us,” Dan said, hopefully.
“I don’t think so,” Bea replied. “I think he’s set on getting us out. He told us he has a plan, remember? I think something is wrong….”
N O
“Joel! Thank goodness! I thought something happened to you.”
N O
“I’m glad to hear that. How are things out there?” Ethan asked.
P L A N
“What about it? You didn’t give us much to go on last time we talked.”
C A K E
Bea shuddered, “Ugh, what about it? Does it have to do with that?”
Y E S
“What do you need us to do?”
B E R E A D Y
“Be ready? Ready for what?”
R U N
“Well, that’s ominous.” Daniel chuckled. During their activity time, Bea and Ethan had been teaching him morse code so that he could keep up with the ‘conversations.’ “Be careful, Joel. We don’t need you dying trying to rescue us.”
Bea nodded. “If it comes down to your life or ours, you need to go.”
I was very thankful I could only respond in a word or two. If they knew the full details of what I was going to do, they would be adamant that I leave them instead. Luckily they wouldn’t know until the time came.
Suddenly, Larry approached my friends, something he hadn’t really done since Daniel had punched him in the face. I was immediately on alert, and I could tell they were too. This was clearly another ploy for him to attempt to get a strike on one of the three. He had only managed to do this one other time by framing Ethan to look like he had broken some crayons from the activity room. I was unsure how he had pulled it off without the birds noticing, but he knew this place better than we did. He obviously had plans of taking each of them out.
Daniel immediately stepped behind Bea and Ethan. He was Larry’s prime target and had three strikes. The risk of him interacting was too high.
“Talking to the lights again, huh?”
“What do you want, Larry?” Bea snapped.
“Who are you guys talking to anyways?”
“We aren’t talking with anyone. You would know that if you weren’t so insane.”
Larry shook his head. “look, you guys, we’re all going to be here for a while. Why don’t we just get off each other’s throats, eh?” He cracked a wicked grin at the comment. “It would make this whole ordeal a lot more tolerable. We humans gotta’ stick together living with all these little monsters.” He pointed to a puppet currently being scarfed down by its siblings for its third strike. The sound of tearing flesh was sickening.
“I’d rather end up like that than be around you any longer than I have to,” Ethan remarked.
“Careful now, Ethan, you might just. Love the scar on your arm, by the way; try to off yourself or something?” At the remark, Ethan pulled his jacket sleeve down over his wound. Larry grinned with delight. I noticed he was acting differently. His usual intense stare was gone and replaced with a nervous shifting glance. I traced his eyes and noticed he was looking at the clock every few moments. I leaned forward, and my heart raced as the sense of danger weighed heavy in my gut.
“How many strikes are you on, Larry?” Bea asked, “You’ve been here for a while now. Can’t imagine you’re too well off. Why don’t you leave us alone so that none of us get hurt?”
I could sense unease in his expression, but his insanity quickly gave him the confidence he needed to push back, “Oh, I’ll be fine, sweetheart. Like you said, I’ve been here a while. I know all of the ins and outs. You don’t.”
As soon as he finished the sentence, the birds by the doors began to wrangle everyone together to leave.
“Come on, you two. Let’s go.” Dan said, pulling them toward the door.
I felt a split second of relief, thinking that maybe Larry hadn’t gotten the opportunity to enact whatever scheme he had thought up. That went away as soon as I saw him retrieve an object from his back pocket. He had stuffed a shiny red ball from the ball pit inside. He trailed up behind Bea, Ethan, and Daniel, and I quickly began flashing the spotlight, hoping to alert them. As they looked over to acknowledge the flashing, Larry promptly reached up and dropped the ball into the hood of Ethan’s jacket. It was so light that he must not have felt it. My friends just looked up at the beam in confusion.
L A R R Y
The three turned to look at him, and he just grinned his horribly yellow teeth. “Better hurry along. You get a strike if you keep them waiting. But by all means, keep staring at the lights like a deer. I certainly don’t mind.”
Dan and Ethan kept their eyes on him as they continued forward, but Bea looked back toward the light.
H O-
I had barely finished the word ‘hood’ before they walked through the door frame. One of the birds stopped Ethan with its massive hand as they passed. His face went ghost white as he looked up at the towering being in horror. I prayed that Daniel wouldn’t make a move to stop it. The bird reached into his hood, retrieved the ball, and then shook its head before holding up two fingers. Everyone’s heart collectively sank as the bird patted him on forward. All of us except for Larry.
“Ethan!” He gasped with fake concern, “Don’t you know stealing is against the rules?”
Ethan held his gaze to the floor, but I could see the anger in his eyes.
“Shit…” I muttered. “Shit, shit, shit…”
The instant my friends lay down that night, I was out the door of the safe room. My window to act was only two days away, and now I didn’t even know if I would be able to wait that long. Both Ethan and Daniel were one strike within death, and Bea may have not been far behind. I still needed to find one last thing and set everything up, which meant that If I didn’t find it by tonight, I wasn’t going to have time. I didn’t bother with my usual careful pace down the dark tunnels of the basement; I hastily walked with little regard for sound.
“You should slow down, brother.” He called from a doorway as I passed by.
I didn’t respond.
“That thing might hear you. You’re no good to your friends dead.” He cackled from the chair in front of me.
I once again blew by without a word.
“I don’t get why you’re so worked up anyway. The one you care about isn’t in any danger. She’s only got one mark against her.”
At that, I turned to the wall he was leaning against to face him, “What are you implying?”
“Oh, come on. We both know all of this wouldn’t be worth it if your girlfriend wasn’t here with you. If it was just Ethan and Mr. Punch-a-lot, you would have taken his advice in a heartbeat and been out of here.”
“I would never leave any of my friends behind.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time. You left me and Rose behind.”
I winced at her name. “I didn’t leave you. You both left me.”
“That’s true. But can you blame us?”
I stared at the floor a moment before continuing forward. “No. I can’t.”
I entered a lobby-like room where He looked over the edge of a balcony. “You can’t keep trying to run, Joel. You tried that with the whole bus thing, and now look where you are. You’re more trapped than ever.”
“What do you think I’m doing by trying to get out of here?”
“Oh, please. Don’t act so self-righteous. You would have never even bothered if it weren’t for Andi; Who, by the way, you convinced to come down here.” I gritted my teeth and stopped dead in my tracks. “You’re really going to be mad? You know I’m right. You were content to be somewhere you didn’t have to worry about all those nasty complications from before. Somewhere where you got all the love and affection you needed. You finally found a place to run where you thought you could hide forever. But guess what, Joel? At the end of the day, you’re still you. And as long as that’s the case, you’ll keep dragging all of that filth right along with you. Me. Rose. Sarah. All of us.”
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and stared at the floor. I could tell he was standing behind me
He made a slightly pleased noise. “I see now. You think this makes up for all that. You think this will all somehow redeem you.” he laughed at the thought, “Alright, sure. Go ahead. Rescue your friends and see if all that guilt goes away. As a matter of fact, you may even find what you’re looking for down that hall and to your right.”
“You’re wrong about me.”
“Sure I am. Now off you go, hero.” he said as he wandered off into the dark corridor, I had come from, “Your princess awaits!”
I took a moment to recuperate before continuing. I entered the hall and came to an intersection. I looked both ways, then went left.
Thoughts swirled in my mind as I moved through the corridor. Thoughts that I didn’t like intruding. Those occurrences were getting worse by the day. Ever since He had shown up again the day before Andi returned, he had continued haunting me. The hallucinations first started a couple of months into our time at the house. I first saw him when I got up a bit earlier than everyone else one morning. I was walking to the bathroom when I noticed him peeking around the corner to the kitchen. It made my heart skip a beat, but I blinked, and then he was gone. I thought it was just my imagination running wild in the strange place until it happened a few more times.
Then he started talking to me.
At that point, I knew I was full-blown hallucinating. He would bring up things from memories we had together or feelings that I had confessed when I knew him. Things I was afraid of. Things I felt bad about… That went on for years, but as I got closer to Andi, it began to happen less and less. It stopped altogether after she and I kissed. I never told anyone because, frankly, I didn’t really want them to think I was losing it. Especially after Larry… On top of that, it wasn’t really a severe issue. All it did was serve as a painful reminder of past mistakes and regrets.
I entered a decaying room with colorful neon paint plastering its chipping walls. I clicked on my flashlight and was greeted by a nostalgic sight. A large bowling alley sprawled before me, the place once used for fun, now lay in utter ruins. I almost turned to leave, thinking it was a waste of time to scavenge the area, when I remembered something. When I was young, I was never too good at bowling. I would always run too close to the lane and slip on the grease-covered wood. I made my way to the far wall of the room and walked down the path to the service door in the back. I crossed through to the storage and held my breath as I looked around. A large white jug of something was beneath a shelf, and I slid it out. Mineral oil. I smiled in relief. It wasn’t what I expected, but it would have to work.
I stepped out of the room, oil in hand, and began to silently jog my way back to the playhouse. I couldn’t believe how lucky I had gotten. The odds of finding something like this were astronomically low. I had known it would be the most problematic ingredient to find due to the strange condition of its requirement. I needed something slick and slippery that wouldn’t dry up quickly. As I passed the lobby room again, I looked up at the balcony, and a strange realization suddenly hit me.
He had told me to go right if I wanted to find what I was looking for. Sure, I had gone left, but… what if… What if he had been counting on that?
I quickly dismissed the thought. It had to be a coincidence that I found the oil. If I thought about it any further, I might have to accept a terrifying truth.
My hallucination had just given me directions.
I got back to the playhouse and set to work immediately. While everyone was asleep was the best time to set everything up. I grabbed the wrench and headed back to the catwalk stairs that took me to the top of the structure. I hopped the railing and made my way over to the kitchen opening, where I climbed onto the metal scaffolding. Slowly and cautiously, I made my way over to the center of the table below. The room’s height was much more intimidating now that I was dangling over it, but I stowed away my fear. There was a lot more that I would have to be afraid of when the time came. This wasn’t about to be one of those things.
When I got to the spot I wanted, I reached the wrench underneath and began undoing the bolt of one of the beams that went over the top of the table. I took the thing out all the way before climbing to the other side of the grid and doing the same thing. I managed to worm the second bolt out until it came loose, and the rod began to tilt downward. From there, I hooked my feet around the pole behind me and twisted it free. The six-foot bar began to fall, but I managed to catch it. However, I dropped the wrench in the process, and it plummeted to the kitchen table with a loud clatter. Luckily, I no longer needed it. I quickly pulled the pole up and lay atop the bars in the same spot I had removed it from underneath. It was almost unnoticeable but perfectly unstable, exactly how I needed it.
From there, I scurried back along the scaffolds just in time for the clock on the wall to start laughing, and for one of the birds to come barging in to investigate. It looked at the wrench and bolts laying on the table, then up at the ceiling in pure confusion. Other than that, it didn’t seem to notice the loose pole or me. So far, so good.
After that, I went back to the saferoom to get some rest. It wasn’t much, but I knew I should at least get a little. The day went by normal with no occurrences, which was perfect. That just meant that they had to hold off one more day. Luckily Larry seemed to shy away from making any attacks so soon after already pulling one off.
T O M O R R O W
“Tomorrow?” Bea asked, trying to confirm my message.
Y E S
“Tomorrow during the cake thing?” Ethan added.
Y E S
“Okay. Are you sure about this, man?”
S I T E N D
“Sit end? What’s that supposed to mean?”
T A B L E
“Which side?” Ethan questioned, “By the door?”
Y E S.
Daniel sighed, “I hope you know what you’re doing, kid.”
That night I set to work on the second half of things. I had no scavenging to do, which meant I could purely focus on preparation. I began to go around the catwalk and clamp any extra spotlights to the railing facing inward toward the playhouse roof. I hoped that the Curator didn’t show up. At least, not before it was supposed to. I didn’t quite have enough lights, which required me to take a few from the scaffolding over the playhouse. Once they were all set up, I attached all of their cables together to the best of my knowledge, then turned it on. Sure enough, they all flooded the area with light. Another thing completed. I turned them back off and then grabbed the oil and stepped outside.
I had to empty my water bottle and fill it with oil to have an easier time carrying it. I then climbed onto the scaffolding over the kitchen once again. I poured the clear liquid over the metal bars near the pole I had removed, coating them in a slippery film, then ran my finger against the surface to test it. It proved thoroughly slick. Once I had covered it all perfectly, I headed back to the roof of the playhouse and triple-checked everything.
By the time I had finished, I had a couple of hours to spare. As the time got closer, my heart began to pound more and more. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I couldn’t believe that this was actually my plan. It didn’t matter now. It was too late either way. Best case scenario, it worked, and we all made it out with our lives. The worst-case was that we all died, which the grim truth was that that was most likely going to happen sooner or later.
With the time remaining, there was only one last thing to do. I tied my rope into the best lasso I could, then practiced using it on the computer chair. By the time the day started, I had gotten pretty good with the thing but not good enough. I was only going to have one shot, and I couldn’t afford to blow it. Even while I surveyed my friends, I continued practicing, only taking a break to fill them in on any details they might still need.
All the while, I could see Larry glaring at them in the background. I suddenly realized that in all of my planning, I hadn’t really factored him in at all. I didn’t think he would interfere with anything. There would already be so much chaos I don’t know if there was anything he could’ve added. But I hadn’t thought about what to do with him, and I knew why. It was because I already knew what I had to do, and somehow, despite everything Larry had done, I still felt terrible about it. A familiar feeling swelled in my throat, a feeling that I had gotten a year prior when I had to make the exact same decision.
“What are we going to do with him?” Daniel asked us.
We all sat in a circle in the living room with the bedroom door open so we could keep an eye on Larry. He was currently tied to the knob of the back bedroom door and staring at us with a blank expression.
“Throw him in the yellow room,” Jan said without hesitation. She sat clinging to Mark who’s neck was torn and bloody. “Let that damn thing have him.”
“Jan…” Claire started, “That’s… We can’t just… I know the man is evil, but that’s a bit much.”
Benjamin grunted. “Is it? He almost killed Mark, Claire. One of us. What if he had succeeded? We can’t keep him around anymore; he’s unstable.”
“He’s also one of us.” Andi chimed in. “I understand that we can’t exactly keep him around anymore but letting that monster take him… That’s not humane.”
“Andi’s right. You all know I hate the guy more than anyone here, but I don’t think it’s right to let him go out that way.” Daniel added.
“Yeah, you do hate him. So why are you all of a sudden so calm about this, Daniel?” Jan asked with venom in her voice.
“Because I’m done being angry about it. Hell, it’s probably what drove him this far in the first place. But the man clearly isn’t himself anymore, and lashing out at him isn’t going to change that. Let’s just do what we need to do and move on from this.”
Claire scoffed, “Move on from this? Jeeze, you’re all acting like this is a normal Tuesday for us. We’re condemning a man to death right now. Don’t you think we need to be a little less impulsive about this?”
“He should have thought about that before he acted impulsively and tried to condemn one of us to death,” Ben said.
“Am I really alone in this? Grace? Bea?”
Grace pursed her lips, “I don’t… I think that…”
“Claire and Andi are right.” Bea cut in, saving Grace from her stumbling. “We can’t give him to that thing.”
“Well then, what do you all suggest?” Ben asked.
Bea turned to the sunroom windows. “We could send him into the hills-“
“No.”
We all turned in surprise to Frank. The man hadn’t spoken in over a year. We had all almost forgotten what he even sounded like.
He continued. “You guys don’t know. You’ve never been far enough out. That day that Hillary died… I felt something. You would only understand if you felt it too. Those hills aren’t right. That fate isn’t humane.”
We all looked at the man in silence. Frank hardly talked since the first day we arrived; something we could tell was a new development after his encounter with the hills. If he was speaking up to say something only now, there was a reason. We all believed him without hesitation.
“Okay. So, our only options are to continue holding the guy prisoner or throw him to the beast. We all know we can’t do one of those things, which leaves only one option.” Noted Ben.
“But…” Everyone looked to Ethan, “Why are those the only two options?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the thing downstairs always comes up here eventually to leave the baskets. But until then, it’s just down there somewhere. And I mean, Ben’s radio said the exit is below us. Don’t you guys think that means this place is a lot bigger than we know?”
“What are you implying, kid?” asked Daniel.
“I’m saying we don’t have to toss him into the yellow room and sic that thing on him. We can just leave him in there to fend for himself. If the creature is gone, he’ll be able to slip downstairs and live away from us. That way, we don’t have to outright kill him.” Ethan fidgeted with his hands, “We just kind of… you know… let that happen naturally.”
Jan shook her head, “No way. If we do that, he could just come back for us next time we open the door.”
“No, he couldn’t. We only open the door once every week. That’s when the monster comes up as well. He would have to go deeper down, or he would get caught.”
“I don’t know.” Ben said, stroking his beard, “It seems like it’s still a risk.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Andi said.
“Me too.” Added Claire.
“I’m with Ben. I don’t think it’s safe,” Jan said.
I looked across the room to Mark, who hadn’t really looked up the entire meeting. I could tell he was thinking something.
“What about you, Mark?” I asked. He glanced at me, and I continued. “I feel like you and Dan should get the final say on this. After all, you were the one he attacked, and he clearly has it out for Dan.”
Mark swallowed a gulp that obviously pained him before speaking in a raspy voice, “Daniel is right. That’s not Larry anymore. The guy was a jerk to begin with, but I think we need to acknowledge that we never treated him the best. I would go crazy too if I were trapped in the same place for three years with people that hated me.” Everyone shifted their glances to the floor. “We can’t be angry about it anymore. What’s done is done. All we can do is show a little mercy to him. I agree with Ethan.”
Mark looked to Dan to get his opinion as well. Daniel said nothing in return. Just shook his head in agreement.
“Then it’s settled,” Claire said.
All was silent for a long time before Bea spoke.
“How are we going to tell him?”
“I’ll do it,” Dan grunted. “He hates me anyway.”
“When are we doing this?”
We all exchanged glances with one another before looking to Daniel for that answer as well. “We may as well get it over with. No point in drawing things out.”
We watched as Daniel walked into the bedroom and knelt next to Larry. He began speaking, and we all just stared. We saw Larry’s face morph from insane amusement to pure dread as he looked past Dan to us in disbelief. He began to squirm in protest as Daniel lifted him from the ground and led him out.
“Ethan, Joel, can you give me a hand?” He asked.
“You’re all monsters!” Larry cried, “You’re the evil ones! Not this house!”
“Pipe down,” Daniel told him. “You’re going out there one way or another. If you want it to be waiting for you right when we open that door, then so be it.”
Larry bared his teeth like a dog and twisted his face into that of pure rage but said nothing.
Ethan and I slid the pantry quietly to the side and then turned to Daniel, who nodded. I placed my hand on the black doorknob and swung it open. The stench of mildew flooded the air and filled the kitchen. Daniel loosened the ropes on Larry’s hands so that he could worm them out with enough effort, then unceremoniously pushed him forward into the room.
We didn’t want to make a big scene out of it. As soon as he was through, I began to shut the door behind him. Through the crack, I caught one last glimpse of Larry’s crazed expression. His eye twitched, and his jaw was clenched, A look of pure betrayal.
A look that stuck with me every day since.
There was no saving Larry, and I knew that.
When the day was done and my friends lay down to rest, I made rounds around the playhouse one last time, ensuring everything was in order for the next night. I even crawled out on the scaffolding again to re-oil the bars. I needed to make sure they were extra slick. After that, I went into the hallways to scavenge objects to practice lassoing, then did so all night.
When the Clock woke everyone up, my heart began pounding like a war drum. ‘This is insane,’ my conscience screamed; ‘This isn’t going to work.’ I shoved the thought out of my head and continued practicing.
Breakfast, activities, playhouse.
I talked with my friends one last time and made sure they were ready. I could tell they were just as anxious as me, if not more. This plan would also be dangerous for them, but I had done and would do anything I could to make sure they all made it out safe. I had already informed them of the library shelf they would need to run to, and all was set. Now all I had to do was wait.
Storytime, activities, playhouse.
Soon. So soon now. Only an hour left. ‘You’re going to die,’ I told myself. ‘This is the end.’ I just thought about my friends instead. Imagined what would happen if I failed. Thought of Daniel and Ethan getting their last strikes while Bea watched in horror. Imagined her alone with Larry… I threw my lasso one last time, hooking the chair perfectly and pulling the rope taut. I saw one of the birds clap their hands on the screen, and the entire playhouse stood at attention. My friends all looked at each other with concern. Ethan took Bea’s trembling hand, and Bea took Daniels. As they filed toward the kitchen, I slung the rope over my shoulder and headed for the door.
Here we go.
I climbed to the top of the playhouse and looked over the kitchen walls. I could see that Bea and Daniel had secured a spot by the door, but one of the puppets had managed to worm its way into the next seat, forcing Ethan further down the table. A slight complication, but ultimately not too bad. I didn’t think the short distance mattered. I was more concerned that it put him directly across from Larry. Once I had confirmed that everyone was in place, I waited until the meat carts were rolled in. Once they were in the oven, I started a stopwatch on my watch. Ten minutes. When the time was up, I headed across the catwalk to the doorway I had seen on my first trip through the area. I peered into the dark, consuming void and prayed that my target was actually nearby. My legs were shaking, and my breath was uneasy, but I knew what I had to do.
“Hey!” I screamed with all of my might, “Hey, it’s me! Come on, you stupid thing! Come get me!”
I waited for a second. But heard nothing.
“I’m over here! It’s Joel!”
Another pause, this time for a solid minute. My chest began to tighten. How was it not coming? It needed to come. I couldn’t pull this off without it. I raised my hands to my mouth to call again and then-
TINK TINK!
“J-Joooeeel?”
My blood iced over, and my hair stood on end. I knew The Curator could talk, and it wasn’t the first time I had heard it say my name. It was, however, the first time I had heard its choked, excited voice not squealing. It was almost human. Almost.
I forced my wobbly legs to move and turned back to the playhouse, breaking into a silent sprint. I slowed as I reached the edge of the kitchen and looked back. No sign of the thing, but I knew it was there. Watching me. I looked down at the table where my friends had just finished their food. The birds were just finalizing the frosting on their twisted red velvet cake near the oven. Silently, I grabbed hold of the scaffolding and began to crawl my way across, avoiding the oiled bars. From the darkness, I doubted anyone would notice me. I was much smaller than The Curator was. That’s why I had to remove an extra bar, after all. I climbed to my spot above the table, took the rope from my shoulder, then looked back toward the darkness. Still no sign of the thing from downstairs.
The birds walked the cake over to the table and placed it directly below me. The soft flesh bed gave me some confidence that I might not break my legs. One of the birds began cutting the top layer and placing it onto the colored plastic plates, while other birds passed them out to each individual. My friends got theirs and immediately slid their dishes to the puppet next to them. However, Larry did something unexpected.
“Oh no, it looks like you gave your only piece away!” He lifted his plate and held it out to Ethan, “Here you go. You can have mine.” The birds around Ethan clasped their hands together and tilted their heads in adoration. Ethan just stared forward, uncertain of what to do.
“That’s okay.” He said, feeling the unyielding eyes of the birds on his neck, “You can keep it.”
“Are you rejecting my gift?” Larry asked with shock. The birds perked up, and if my blood could run any colder, I’m sure it would have. This would be Ethan’s last strike if he didn’t play along.
Suddenly, I saw something move in my peripheral. I looked up to see the light glinting off of two perfectly round spheres that watched me from the dark. A long, bumpy limb slowly reached out and grabbed onto the bars.
“N-No.” Ethan hesitated, “Um, Thank you, Larry.”
The Curator pulled itself closer, and I could now make out its patchy skin and clenched teeth. If it had lips, I knew that it would be smiling. I raised the rope and got ready. My heart began aching in my chest from how hard it was beating.
Bea and Daniel watched Ethan as he reached out for the cake. The tension was palpable as they anticipated Larry’s next move. I’m glad I was already occupied, or I might have called down to him to stop him.
I watched the creature before me as it crawled closer. I saw it suddenly falter as it reached the oiled bars. It looked at them for a moment to investigate but didn’t seem fazed and just continued forward at a slower pace. I figured it would still be able to move despite the oil. That wasn’t its primary purpose.
Ethan grabbed onto the rim of the plate with both hands and prepared to take it, and that’s when it happened. Larry tilted the dish down against the fingers of Ethan’s bad arm, stretching the raw tendon. Ethan yelped in surprise and recoiled, grabbing his arm out of instinct. At the same time, Larry let go of the cake, and it fell to the table with a splat.
“Hey!” Larry yelled, “You did that on purpose!”
“W-What? No!”
It was too late to protest, however. The birds all held up three fingers, and all of the puppets went silent.
Daniel stood from his chair, ready to intervene.
Bea looked around frantically, probably wondering where on earth I was.
The Curator reached both of its arms forward, one to grab the next rung, and the other to grab me.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
The beast before me grabbed the unstable bar, causing it to slip from the scaffolding. It fell to the table below with a thunderous clatter, and the birds paused their execution to look up. All of them began to point at us and wildly flail their arms. The Curator tried to catch itself on an oiled bar with the hand meant for me, but it barely managed to do so and slipped slightly into the hole. I couldn’t believe it had worked. There was only one thing missing. It wasn’t going to fall on its own. I threw the lasso out, and it looped perfectly around the Curator’s neck. Without hesitation, I leaped from the bars and held tight to the rope. It went taut, and the jolt caused The Curator’s hands to slip effortlessly from the oil-covered scaffolds.
Together, we plummeted to the table far, far below.