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The flame is the only source of light in the room. It burns, all-consuming, as I bring it to the first crimson candle. Once all are alight, I sit down at the head of my dining room table. Accompanying me are twelve little, weak children. And across from me…she is a menace. She almost ruined it. But no worries, that will all be fixed soon.
“It’s time.” I announce to them. My little helpers. I hold my hands out, resting upright on the table. The others follow suit, grasping each other. Connecting. Charging it up. Even little Holly.
I close my eyes.
Then, everything changes.
I almost laugh.
At how easy it is. He doesn’t even think to wear a blindfold or stuff his ears. It’s like I’m right there with them, inside the truck.
My perfect spy.
It’s almost like the others have forgotten. I am almost offended. But, the fact that Eleven and Kali do not realize I see all that they see only makes my plan easier to enact.
I reach into his mind like dipping my hand in water.
Now, I only need to wait.
The three idiots wander through the mind realm, forgetting that it is my realm. And I have them just where I want them.
They see me because I allow them to. I see them, hear them. Eleven grabs my hand. I don’t rip her arm off. Instead, I let them in.
I show them the memory. The one they believe to be my own. They are stupid enough to believe Dr. Brenner let me out into society. That Joyce and Hopper wouldn’t have claimed that they knew me.
All it took was a simple rewrite on a flier for Max to believe. How utterly…weak of her.
And her physical body is even weaker. The nurse doesn’t even put up a fight when the soldiers find them, cowering and helpless.
Their plan is the tower. Really? That’s the best they could come up with? So be it. I’ll amuse them. But not without a little scare first.
I feel more than see the three little girls traversing through my memories. They are almost here…
Ha! What fun! Eleven throws me through a window. I can sense her hope. Oh, how I yearn to shatter it like the glass beneath me, digging into my noncorporeal skin.
I will teach her one final lesson.
The ants swarm to my sugar trap, convinced that they struck gold.
The children believe my act. I should win an award for the performance. Then again, my audience is easily deceived.
Did they really believe it? That they could kill me? In my own mind, with nothing but a steak knife? I thought I taught Eleven better than that.
I drag my feet as the Derek boy takes his sweet time. I underestimated just how gullible the boy was, and now he’s too obedient. No matter, I’m ahead of schedule. I have plenty of time to wait.
In the meantime, I show Hopper his deepest fears, his guilt, pulling at his strings until he snaps. And the pest of his daughter vanishes.
Don’t worry, she’s not really dead. Not yet.
Belief is a fickle thing.
I once believed your world was great. That the stars and the oceans were beautiful creations for mankind to enjoy. That humanity was kind and just. But I know better now.
The children believe that they are safe. The others believe that they have the upperhand, that I do not know they are approaching my most powerful soldier.
And as Will approaches his position, I send him my consciousness.
So that I can take his.
I have them. I have them all. They believe that they have defeated me, bested me, outsmarted me.
Quite the contrary.
They are all mine.
I was once a prisoner in a world where everyone else knew freedom.
Now, they are the prisoners. Every. Last. One of them.
But unlike my own treatment, they do not suffer. They do not feel pain. No, I am a just and kind caretaker. Humankind has proved itself to be unable to self-govern. I have saved them. And under my attentive rule, they thrive.
No need to thank me.
You are welcome.