Mangle was sitting at their desk in their office when they heard a knock at the door. It was the janitor, who had danced with It forever ago. “Dr. Mangle, sorry to bother you, it’s just...your subject...she’s rather inconsolable.”
They sat up from their work. The janitor was the only person they knew who called It “she” and they weren’t sure whether the girl was being serious or not when she used it. But if she was coming to them with a problem about It, then it must be serious. “What’s wrong? Is It all right?”
The janitor shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard the poor thing sobbing and when I walked in she was calling out for you. Thought you should know.”
Mangle stood up and got ready to leave. “Yes, you were quite right to do so. Thank you. Do you have any idea what happened?”
“None. She was just curled in a ball on her cot, crying out for you. Do you suppose something’s gone wrong inside her?”
Mangle tried to ignore the chill that possibility sent down their spine. “If we’re lucky, it’s nothing that serious. It has a very active mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few monsters sprang from that head.”
The janitor nodded, somewhat placated but nowhere close to relieved. “I just hope you can calm her, Doctor. She was frightened something awful.”
Mangle opened the door to It’s room, finding it sobbing on the cot, just as the janitor had described. “It? Hey, It, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
It looked up and hiccuped. “D-Doc…tor M-M-Mangle…”
Mangle sat on It’s bed and gave it a hug. “I’m here, It. What’s wrong? What happened?”
The three year old burst into tears again and stuttered, “M-M-Mi-ilbridge…”
“What about him, It? Talk to me.”
“H-he t-t-tried t-to k-k-k-kill me!” It cried out, clinging to Mangle with all it was worth. “Don’t let him k-kill me, Doctor. Please, please!”
Mangle’s heart sped up. “When did he try to kill you, It?”
“I-I had t-to go to th-the potty...and I took my p-pass, just like you told me to! And he came up to me and started y-yelling, a-and he sh-shoved me in-to the wall, and I couldn’t breathe, and...and…!” It gasped breaths in between syllables. “I-I r-ran as fa-st as I could back here. I-I’m wet, Doc. I didn’t mean to!”
“It, oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
The janitor’s breath hitched in the doorway, and Mangle’s eyes widened with the realization of what they just said. They looked up at the janitor with a desperate look that screamed please, don’t tell anyone. The janitor shook her head and left. I won’t tell if you won’t.
It sobbed into Mangle’s shirt. “I-I wish I was j-just d-d-dream-ing, Doc. B-but my head h-hurts t-too much for it to b-b-be…”
Mangle hushed it. “No, no, don’t try to speak, you’ll just work yourself up more. I won’t let Milbridge try and hurt you, all right? You believe me, don’t you, sweetheart?”
It nodded. “‘Mangle always keeps their promises’,” it recited.
“That’s right. And I promise he won’t hurt you again as long as I can help it. I’ll talk to Dr. James right away in the morning.”
“Doc-tor...I’m wet,” It moaned.
“That’s why I keep you in a Pull-up at night. In case you can’t make it in time, remember? A lot of the others are still in diapers most of the time. One wet Pull-up is no big deal.”
It nodded reluctantly. “I like it when you say ‘sweetheart’,” It admitted, ducking its head.
Mangle laughed. “I’ll have to keep it up, then. Let’s get you a fresh pull-up, sweetheart, you can sleep in my bed tonight in case Milbridge comes back.”
It looked up, scared. “B-but I’m n-not allowed to!”
“I’ll explain where you went tonight to Dr. James as well. I’m sure she’ll agree that we need to keep you safe.”
“O-okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Mangle helped It off the bed and did a quick change, and grabbed It’s bathroom pass as well, and headed back to their office and their room behind it, tucking It in bed. “I’m gonna be working for a little while longer, okay? Let me know if you need to go to the bathroom again.”
It nodded. “Thank you,” it whispered.
Mangle nodded and smiled. “Goodnight, sweetheart,” they murmured.
They went to work but found they couldn’t focus, their thoughts constantly drifting back to It and how Milbridge probably was trying to kill It, despite the evidence from It’s mouth pointing more to harm than murder. And yes, it was murder. The same way any child could be murdered. There were some things Mangle acknowledged simply couldn’t belong to an animal when it came to It, and harm was one. If anyone were to harm It, they were harming a child, pure and simple. And it made Mangle’s skin crawl.
They walked back into their room and curled up around It. “Doc? I thought you were going to work?”
“I can’t focus,” they admitted. “Not after what you told me. I’m too worried.”
“Sorry,” It said.
“Don’t you dare apologize, I needed to know,” Mangle said sternly. “Work and reports can wait. Milbridge can’t. The first thing tomorrow morning, I’m taking him to Dr. James. That sort of behavior will not be tolerated by any self-respecting human being here.”
It laughed. “Are you making jokes again?”
“I’m dead serious, It. No one will stand for Milbridge once they know what he did.”
“But I’m not…”
“You’re not what?” Mangle asked.
“I’m not human,” It said with sadness in its voice. “I feel like one, but I’m not one.”
Mangle didn’t know what to say. “You’re not human in the traditional sense, no. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for someone to kill you.”
It looked at Mangle. “You don’t believe that. Your eyes say you don’t.”
Mangle cursed It’s intuition. “It--”
“No, it’s okay. I know. Maybe someday you’ll change your mind. As long as I think I’m human, that’s what counts,” it smiled. “You taught me that.”
It fell asleep quickly, but Mangle was up half the night, contemplating these words of wisdom from such a strange, yet completely honest, and if they were forced to admit it, accurate source.
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