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“Happy Birthday!!!” The children shouted. The boy on the other end losing his tears, gave a smile as he donned the mask of a yellow bear. The ones before him wore similar masks, those of a similar bear, rabbit, chicken, and fox. The one out of place wore that of a painted marionette.
The noises of the room began to quiet; a strange atmosphere filled the air. Light filled the room, each of the children disappeared, their masks falling to the floor below. The child behind the marionette saw her father’s face, she saw the birthday party she never got to have, she saw her mother, her favorite toys. Soon she began to cry, she began to sob, she began to scream. Everything she lost, what she thought she’d never get to see again, what was taken from her.
The world around her began to spin, sounds, smells, lights, screams, everything moving and twisting, her body feeling like she was falling. As soon as it began, it stopped. She steadied herself and began to slowly open her eyes. The sight before her sent chills down her spine, made her stomach turn.
“No... no... This can’t... I can’t be back! NO!” She spoke in a quiet shaking voice soon growing to a frustrated yell. She was staring at her reflection, looking past she could see a party, children laughing, having fun. Her bracelet was beeping, yelling for someone, anyone to notice she was gone. She knew what would happen... She knew she wouldn’t be saved...
She whipped around and began to run, but as if blocked by some powerful force she was knocked down. She saw the headlights coming fast, she tried to stand and run but was frozen in place. She tried to yell, to get anyone’s attention, but her screams were drowned out by the heavy rain coming down.
Just like clockwork, he soon arrived and grabbed her arm, pulling her behind the building. He brandished the knife; the same one she remembered. His face illuminated by the headlights, her memory cleared. She would remember him this time. As soon as the knife came down, she prepared to feel the burning pain once again, but... nothing... She was back in the room... The masks of the other children on the floor around her.
“Why didn’t it work...? It was supposed to free them all... It was... supposed to fix everything,” She sat watching the others rise. Just like balloons they soared into the air, to their “Happiest Day” or that was what she had planned.
It looked like it worked... It should have... “I played the games... I gave them gifts... life... I just wanted to protect them!” She cried into the now empty room, knowing each child would likely suffer the same thing she did. Reliving their worst nightmares after a taste of happiness. She hoped with her whole being that if anything, the one who wouldn’t be free, was her.
“Was it worth it... Was it even worth trying to fix anything? I thought if I fixed him... If I gave him the party he never had, that it could save them... I don’t care if I’m here, if they move on...” She sat, her knees into her chest, eyes full of tears. “The answer should’ve been the pieces put together... but it wasn’t-“ Her thoughts were cut short as a wave of something dark flooded the air. She shot up, wiping away her tears.
She gathered the masks on the floor and placed them in chairs around the table. They deserved better than to lay on the floor. She walked to the exit on the other side of the room, once there she turned back to look at the table surrounded. “He’s still alive... this time I will take care of him. I promise...” She turned away and went through the exit. She awoke in a smouldering building, surrounded by broken beams, charred drawings, broken tile, and her friends’ burning suits.
She wasn’t strong enough to get up, her body trapped under the rubble, her mask broken, her fabric smoking. With the little range of motion she had, she turned her head. That’s when she saw him, a few short feet away, smoking, sizzling, all burnt up. The yellow rabbit, stood against a wall, he was... alive. Yet, he couldn’t move much either.
“I’m not afraid of you... not anymore. I know who you are, and this time... I’ll make sure you won’t get away.” She spoke, unknowing if he could even hear her, but that didn’t matter. One day, no matter how far into the future, she would ensure she got her revenge, for her friends, all those who suffered at the hands of this monster, and for herself.