"How's the family doing, Adam?"
As the two crime scene investigators, fresh out of their coats, drove on toward their next destination, Steve the driver tried make small talk with his partner as they prepared for the long drive. Adam turned his head to reply to his somewhat annoying yet tolerable buddy. Perhaps he shouldn't have encouraged Steve with asking about his daughter's birthday.
"They're doing fine. Jenny started her first year at Mancini Middle school this year and Shemarre has a spelling bee next week. Kelly is tending to the house and our new Japanese-style garden. She wants us to take a trip to Japan for the summer, but that's half a year away."
Steve just nodded. "Wow, that sounds like a plan. I wish I can take a vacation, but the time isn't right. Ellie is taking up extra hours at the nursing home and the kids won't be too happy to be taken out of school at this time. I guess when the moment is ripe, I'll treat myself to a tropical paradise with a large martini in my hand and girls with large racks waiting on me."
Adam just laughed. "Damn, dude. You have quite an imagination. I hope you get your chance, seeing that you could really use it."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Before Adam could reply, a gargled cry escaped his partner's lips. Taken back by this unearthly sound, he glanced over to see the long-haired investigator clutching at his neck where a thin garrote wire, tinged vermillion with blood, was pressing into his flesh. Leaning over to relieve his friend of the offending weapon, the crime scene investigator with the shaven head felt the van swerve into oncoming traffic in the other lane. Horns blare as he felt the car make impact with a guardrail before tumbling over it to its side, sending shards of glass flying.
Shit! This is bad! What's going on? What happened to Steve? Are we facing oncoming traffic?
Cursing and wiping some blood from his eyes, Adam, his head pounding and feeling light, crawled out of the vehicle's now non-existent frontal window to the dark sky that was falling over them like a shroud as the remnants of the golden sunset started to recede on the horizon. He was able to pull his upper torso out of the trashed window when he saw a flash of movement from the side. The wounded man craned his aching neck to the side to catch a glimpse of what was moving around from his partner's side of the van.
Damn! Why can't I feel my legs? This ain't good for me.
Glimpsing movement once more, Adam assumed that Steve was fine and hadn't suffered what looked like a seizure , but what he sighted made his blood run cold.
Am I trippin' now? Did I hit my head so hard that I'm hallucinating walking dolls?
What appeared to be a Good Guy Doll, recognizable by his tacky overalls and full red hair covering his round head, had wriggled free from the side window past Steve's broken, limp, and bleeding body and was crawling away. Blinking his eyes several times, Adam tried to clear the vision, but the doll was still moving away from the vehicle. The seriously wounded law enforcement professional coughed profusely, capturing the doll's attention. It stopped in its tracks and turned to face him. A devious grin formed on its lips, its eyes bearing a look that screamed sinister.
"What are you looking? You never seen a walking talking Good Guy Doll before?" The talking doll, much to Adam's amazement and terror, rose and started toward him. As he neared the vehicle, he disclosed a large screwdriver with a black handle. As he stopped before the befuddled investigator who was in denial, the Good Guy's menacing blue eyes contradicting the purpose of the doll, it raised the screwdriver as if handling a butcher knife. "Well, you seen enough now. Tough luck, bucko!"
With that, he brought the weapon down onto the frozen investigator's right eye.
---
Damn it, where did it go?
Agitated by the Good Guy's unforeseen vanishing, Jeff started to run up and down the street right until the end of the cul-de-sac, trying to find the doll in order to quell his anxieties about the thing being linked to the gruesome murder. Unfortunately, there was not a single sign that the child's plaything was about or it even existed in the first place. With the Pierce twins watching him, one with curiosity, the other with concern, Jeffrey sat down on the edge of the pavement, his hands buried in his face.
Tell me I am dreaming all this. Tell me I am tripping from all the reefa Tyree provided us. I can't make sense of nothing!
This all seemed surreal that one supposed killer doll was causing him so much grief. He had heard from his mom that her cousin Andrew had an encounter with one of these dolls that came to life, but they both had dismissed it as hogwash. After all, Andy's mother ended up in a looney bin, rebutting any credibility the story had. Yet what had happened Andrew and his mom, who he had read her name as Karen Barclay?
"Jeff, what's up?"
Glancing up from his palms, Jeffrey noticed his mom and Toni appear on either side of him. The dark-haired girl, her chocolate-colored eyes softened in concern, placed a hand on arm while his mother kneeled beside him, a frown that wasn't a part of her resting bitch face. Behind the trio, the Pierce twins viewed them as if they were in a soap opera. It was as if the chaos that surrounded them wasn't penetrating their little bubble. No one paid any attention to the cop cars, ambulances, or residents and possible witnesses being interrogated by cops as nosy neighbors came to see what had transpired.
"Hey, what's up with you two?"
Amelia Barclay scoffed as she crossed her arms. "The question is what is up with you? I was speaking to Miss Mendez and she confirmed that you were not anywhere near the Pierce's when shit hit the fan so why are you behaving so apprehensively? You are going to make the cops think you are associated with the reverend's murder. "
Jeff Barclay, hesitant to bring up his hypothesis that his neighbor's doll was somehow linked to the slaying of Reverend Smith, took a breath before speaking.
"Alright, something has been eating at my mind ever since that day we received the creepyass doll, but I'll tell you what it is only if you promise not to look at me like I'm on Dots."
Toni and Amelia exchanged intrigued glances before nodding at the Barclay boy. Mina and Nina pretended to be preoccupied chatting, but Jeffrey knew that they were eavesdropping on his conversation. He didn't have the luxury of being annoyed or worried about the girls' reaction as he had possible critical info that could lead to the real culprit.
"Fair enough, do go on."
As Jeff explained to the two females about seeing the doll in the most peculiar places, including his dream where it sported scars similar to Frankenstein's monster , prior to the crime. He insisted that there could be a connection. As expected, his mom and Toni both shared worried glances before the former spoke.
"Honey, you had a long and stressful day. Go inside and wash up. A little bit of rest will do you good.
"I think the girls are calling me." Antonia Mendez turned to leave. "I'll see you around, Barclay. "
Staring after the scene-looking chick with a look of anguish, Jeff finally turned to face his mom.
"I thought you were supposed to have my back, not make me look like an idiot."
A playful smirked played across Amelia's lips."I'm sorry, did I embarrass you in front of your girlfriend?"
Mina and Nina, who had witnessed the whole scene, burst into fits of giggles."Oooh, he has a girlfriend!"
Jeff was fuming at this indignation. "First of all, she isn't my girlfriend. She's just my classmate. Secondly, how come you enjoy seeing me suffer like some sadistic witch?" He then remembered the girls and turned to address them. "Don't you girls have anything more productive to do than to intrude on my conversation with my mom?"
Before either girl could speak, their mom hurried over and led them away from the chaotic rabble. As soon as the girls left, Amelia turned to her son and placed her right arm on his shoulder, looking him into his eyes.
"You realize how absurd your story sounds? If the cops heard that, you'd have your ass thrown into a nuthouse like my Aunt Karen. You remember how people, especially the cops, treated her after she was released? I'll sooner walk down Jeddah only in lingerie than live to see that pan out for my son. As your mother, it is my duty to keep you out of trouble."
"But mom!" Jeff pleaded for her to listen despite knowing that it was a lost cause. "I am not bluffing. I promise you I wasn't tripping. Perhaps Mina or Nina-"
"I didn't do nothing, officer! Why you gotta rough me up like that?"
As he was cut off by Tyree's objections, the teen and his mom both turned to see the rude officer from earlier as well as his partner, who had a blonde temple shave, hold the teen against the police car as they tried to put cuffs on him. Jeff's other friends, Mike and Jimmy, stared in horror as Tyree was manhandled by the cops. In fact, this caught the attention of the rest of the neighborhood as everyone paused what they were doing to watch the cops rough up the large set teen.
"Officers, what's going on? Can you tell me why you are being aggressive on the poor boy? Is he a suspect in the case?"
Officer Ramirez and his partner, his bronze badge on his uniform read Swann, glanced up at Miss Barclay as she and Jeffrey hurried over.
"Ma'am, we found this bag in his pockets." Officer Ramirez held up a Ziploc container filled with green vegetation. Jeff's heart nearly skipped a beat as he recognized it as the hashish they had blazed earlier. Why did he still have it on him? "Besides, this isn't hard to find on someone with sagging shorts."
"Really now?" Amelia Barclay frowned. "You are in the early stages of investigating a murder of a beloved member of our community and you get sidetracked by some medicinal plant found on a young black kid's shorts?"
"May I indicate that you need a permit for this?" Officer Ramirez shot back. He turned to Tyree, who was being held against the azure cop car by Swann, and addressed him. "Young man, do you have a permit for medicinal marijuana?"
The panic-stricken "Uh huh."
"Where is it?"
Suddenly, both officer's radios crackled and Ramirez took his to respond. After listening in on the crackling voice for a few minutes, he turned and nodded at Officer Swann.
"We have a 10-39 on Brandy."
Within moments, the two lawmen hopped into their squad car and zipped away, sirens blaring, forgetting about Tyree. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the cops followed suit. Jeffrey, his friends, and his mom shared looks of curiosity at the police's grand exit.
"What was that about?" Mike asked.
James grinned. "Beats me, but at least they forgot about Tyree there."
Amelia then patted Jeff's back. "Well, now that's settled, I really think you should get inside. You need some rest after that adventure you had today."
Yeah, no kidding.
---
As the investigator twitched in his final death throe, Chucky stuck up his middle finger as a last taunt to the dying man. The doll made his way to distance himself from the crash site to avoid the slowing traffic as spectators tried to get a view of the disfigured vehicle. He knew that he had to make his way back to the Pierce house so he could commence on a vindictive massacre of not only one family but the families of two certain individuals who had been involved in the misery of the man who had once been Charles Lee Ray, also known as the Lakeshore Stranger. However, before he could vacate the sight of the crime, he had to tie up all loose ends.
"How unsightly. I can't just leave that eyesore in the middle of the street. I'm sure PublicWorks will thank me for doing them a favor, assuming they ain't ungrateful little shits."
Once he finished muttering to himself, the Good Guy doll disclosed some matches from his overalls and prepared to strike one to conjure up a flame, but then realized something else. He would need a conduit if he wanted a flame strong enough to turn the evidence into ash. He searched his immediate vicinity with his wicked blue eyes until his eyes came upon a cracked bottle of 1792 Bourbon, possibly thrown from the wrecked crime van. Scurrying over like a large rat, Chucky scooped the bottle up in his hands.
This isn't much, but it will do. After all, I only require an itty bitty dumpster fire!
His hands working quickly and efficiently, the serial killer popped the cap off, lit a match, and made a makeshift molotov cocktail.
"Here goes nothing. Let's hope I have a throw like Yu Darvish."
With a grunt, the doll hurled the flaming cocktail toward the van. His blue eyes narrowed in sadistic pleasure as he observed the flames eat up the twisted metal. Soon, the smell of burning oil, metal, and flesh reached the doll's nose. Surprisingly, despite being made of plastic, he still possessed the same senses he had as a human.
"That's a burning pile of shit for ya! Nothing like the smell of burning bodies and gasoline in the night. Speaking of which, we may be in for a bit of fireworks."
As Chucky turned and waddled toward the hedge growth on the side of the street, a bright flash lit the vicinity like it was morning before a loud boom resounded. A devious sneer was now plastered on the doll's ugly face. It had went down as he had predicted.
That will give them something to think about. Burn, baby, burn!
It wasn't long until a couple of police vehicles, sirens blaring as their lights flashed a myriad of colors, roared down the fairly open streets. Lucky for Chucky, the pedestrians and motorists were preoccupied with the horrendous scene to spot him. However, his luck didn't last long. As the lead police car passed by, the driver happened to glance through the rear view mirror and spot him. The moment the car swerved and completed a U-turn, Charles Lee Ray knew that the gig was up.
Dammit! Damn it all! How could I have been so careless? I guess a game of cat and mouse won't kill me.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3hYhSi9Wk
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As the killer doll's eyes locked with the cop's, he knew that the game was up. It was kill or be killed. Taking the initiative, Chucky dive into the bushes in the first move of the hunt.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITQII4yRl2
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tx9ucgBJH
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEW5uR8g9Y3
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qngzVXGHG
