literature

Decembersville Ch. 10

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Chapter 10: A very anxious circus freak called Pendulum Tin
     “In the name of all that is expensive and worth something, you clowns get your tin cans out there NOW!” the ringmaster screamed backstage to all the performers. Many of them emitted sounds of whining and one of the performers under the name Juliza Star said, “Aw, cut us some slack, boss! We went on about fifteen times in thirty minutes!”
Carvel Hare, the small pink bunny plush doll with broken button eyes and a mad sewn up mouth mocked her words, “’Cut us sum swack, boss! Wah wah wah wah’! This is why we’re going out of business! Now you, you, you, you, and you get out there and make those people happy!”
All ten performers groaned and slinked out the curtains. The bitter ringmaster screamed at them through his gritted sharp sewn teeth, “HAPPY! As in SMILING, you buncha saps! SMILING! SMI-LING!!”
     “Carvel, what’s the point of this,” a worry-toned voice said right behind the bunny doll who sighed in bother.
     “Aw, not now, Tin.”
          Pendulum Tin towered over his boss and began to complain like he usually does, “What do you recall is the very point of going out there and acting like such a clown?”
     “THAT’S BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE! Now get going out there! Go! Go! Get moving! Money’s walking out on me! Move it! Move, move, move, move, move!”
          The seven ft. tall performer let out a long whine and just said sappily, “Why if they are all just going to fall asleep and go home, huh? Have you the slightest idea that out labor is resulting in NOTHING WHATSOEVER!? For goodness sake, the longest we had an audience for in the last year was a maximum of twenty-one minutes and eleven seconds and six milliseconds! I smell epic failure, here!”
     “Wait…you know what?” Carvel suddenly said with his voice toned down. “Y…you are right, Tin. I…I DO smell something. Psst. Come down here. I wanna tell ya.”
Pendulum Tin leaned down forward to his boss’s level.
     “No, closer,” Carvel said until Tin was right in his boss’s face. “I smell a TALL, PESSIMISSTIC CRYBABY WHO’S GETTING ON MY NERVES AS WE SPEAK!! Now get out there and make people smile and have a great time! Waddyathink I’m paying ya for!?”
Pendulum Tin’s smoky eyes lurched and he stepped over his boss, muttering, “Little rodent, you don’t pay us at all.”
Suddenly there was a small gong ringing backstage. It was a doorbell. Carvel said, “Fine! You don’t wanna make people smile? Then how’s about answering the door!”
     Tin sighed and slinked over to the tall backstage door. His metal plated hands turned the knob and the door opened. Zero was standing before it outside in the night.
     “Hello, Zero! Long time no see!”
     “H-hello, Tin. Look…uh…may we talk in your room where nobody’s around?”
He had a strange feeling (as usual), but he replied, “Sure, why not!”
It was when Zero came in that he noticed little Sophia with him. She stared up at the circus performer in awe of how tall he was and of how strange his hat looked: black and bat-like with a strange clock-like mechanism sticking out of the center top. It looked like a spring with a sun and moon symbol attached. It was when he said “Hello, little girl!” to her that she noticed his teeth were sharp and his tongue was metal. He looked a bit frightening to her, so she didn’t answer.
          The three made it to his room, which was large and tidy and full of watches and clocks decorating the walls. “Are all of these yours?” Sophia asked the performer to which he replied, “Yessiree! I make them myself.”
Then after he bumped his head into a hanging light bulb, he asked Zero, “So what’s happening Zero? D-did you hear the news this morning?”
     Sophia wondered what he meant, but Zero just answered, “Yeah. Pretty…shocking.”
Tin looked at Sophia who was sitting down at a tea table. “Why, I have never seen you around, little girl. Did you come from Downtown?” then he poured her a cup of milk with a chocolate bar. “Shy little one, isn’t she. Is she your friend, Zero?”
     “Actually…that’s…what I need to talk to you about,” Zero said with some nervousness. “We really need your help.”
     “Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Tin stammered. “Is this illegal in any way?”
Zero’s head nodded slowly, but the tall freak just let out a few laughs and said after taking a sip of his tea, “Aw, Zero, honey! I-I’m your friend! It’s alright. Whatever dark, sinister plot you have in that nice, cute cuddly mind of yours is just between you, me, and that little girl right there.”
Sophia left everything up to Zero to explain, so she calmly ate the chocolate bar and drank her milk.
     “Well…you see…that girl’s name is Sophia, and…” then Zero began to whisper in Tin’s ears which were actually the bat-like things making up his hat. He whispered for a while. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four min-
Pendulum Tin began to stand up slowly and with patience. He had a deadpan look on his face and he was staring into nothingness. His hand little-by-little began to turn his cup of tea over. He spilled it to the floor. Then he turned all the way around at a snail’s pace and walked into his dressing room closet. The door slammed behind him.

                                                  35 MINUTES LATER
     “Pleeeeeeaaaaaase, Tin! Come on! Open up! She’s just a little girl!” Zero cried at the foot of Tin’s dressing room door.
     “Get. Away. From me.”
     “She’s not going to bite or anything! I’m serious! She just wants to go home and that’s it!”
Sophia ran over to Zero’s side and said, “Yeah! I’m not a bad guy! I just wanna go back to my grandparent’s house, mister!”
     “Th-th-th-then GO ALREADY!” he said back, opening the door and towering over them with a face of anxiety and worry. “What the heck do you need ME for!?”
     “You are the only friend I have and you can operate a car to get around and--”
     “And WHAT! I’m sorry, Zero! B-but there’s no way I’m going up against Chimabell again! You KNOW what happened before! NEVER AGAIN!”
Sophia turned to look at Zero, “Who is Chimabell?” but Zero didn’t answer.
     “We all know what happened, Tin,” the ax-handed freak answered reflectively. “But that was YEARS ago. He probably doesn’t remember you or anything!”
     “I am NOT going back to the Chopping Place! They’ll never take me back there alive! EVER! There’s just no way! I’m not going back to that scary place where all they do is hit you and scream at you and use you and abuseyouandannoyyo uanddriveyouinsaneandgocrazyandgoinsanea ndbeCRAZYAND
FREAKOUTWADJAJAJDSJHASHDAJKAJA--” then, with the flat of his blade, Zero whacked his friend at the side of his face. Sophia let out a small shock of surprise at such an act. The tall freak’s eyes rattled until they were in place again. Then he calmly asked as if nothing happened, “And you are?”
          Zero sighed and said a few words that brought his friend back into focus (this obviously happened before), “I’m your friend Zero and right now this is a tight situation that has to do with--”
Tin instantly shot his gaze down at Sophia. “Look, I’m sorry you can’t go home, little girl, but I cannot take the risk for a…a-a human. Sorry. It’s not you! I-it’s me! I think you are really cute and not mean and harmless and adorable and everything, honey, but I-I’m sorry I just can’t do anything for you!”
     Then the door slammed closed again. Zero and Sophia were just staring at the door in silence. The little girl felt some helplessness and confusion as to why they would need the help of someone as tense as Pendulum Tin. He didn’t really seem too likeable to her, but it was obvious that he and Zero went way back.
          “Uh…m-mind if we stay overnight?” Zero called through the door.
          Then the door opened just a crack and Tin’s voice cracked, “…Will there be anyone breaking in and trying to find the girl?”Sophia looked down in small depression and Zero shook his head. “Okay. Sure, it’s fine. Just stay in my room b-because I don’t want that rodent Carvel finding out that I’m hiding a human here, let alone the Dolls find out.”


     But the entire time…there was someone standing outside, ear to the door. He took another sip of his cigarette and his thin smile curled. There was a bloody switch-blade in one of his hands. He then musically rasped to himself, “Oooooooooh. Scandalous,” and then he ran off into the night.

           
     Sophia couldn’t sleep at all that night. Her heart was pounding as she lay down on the floor mattress and her shivering did not cease. She felt scared again. Imagine: you are trapped in an unknown world where you are wanted and you have no hope of returning home ever again, never ever to see your loved ones; not to mention now you are sleeping in the pitch black darkness of some stranger’s home. Loose tears fell down her face as she gazed into the darkness as she pretended to sleep, hoping not to disturb Zero.
     The lights outside the window suddenly went off all at once at the sound of an immense bell-tower gong sounding faintly from far off. Now there was nothing but darkness. She heard Pendulum Tin walk into the room, sighing from the performance he gave out there. He had a candle-lantern with him. He shone it on Zero who was sleeping soundly. Then the light shone on Sophia. There were still tears going down her face and she stared up at the circus freak who stared back down at her. He came in closer and kneeled down to her level whispering, “Are you okay, little girl? S-scared of the dark?”
She sniffed and choked out, “I wanna go home. I really don’t want to be here. I hate it. I hate it.”
     “Aw, there, there,” he tucked her in. The palms of his hands were freezing cold. “Look, sweetie. I-I know it’s scary NOW, b-but I think y-you’ll get to like living in Decembersville…with a new name…and a new look…and a new personality…and, uh…the fact that you need somewhere to live without raising any stakes…or getting the police Dolls on your back,” he said negatively.
She still sniffled quietly, “I wanna go home.”
The freak emitted no answer to her mourning. He just frowned and place the lantern on the tea table, “I’ll…uh…I-I’m going to leave this here so…it wouldn’t be so dark,” and he walked in the dressing room and closed the door.
          From behind the door, he sat on the floor. Then he thought to himself all night…


          Decembersville was asleep. There was only the half-moon shining pearly white in the dark night. The wind was strong and the black city looked hauntingly chilling in such darkness. A tall figure flew across the sky, looking down over the city. Count Merry let out a growl, “Where are you, demon?”
Then he flew deep into the fogginess, continuing his search before sunrise.
  

          One of the cells in the Chopping Place opened. The silhouetted figure with a vulture walk and a top hat against the darkness was frightening. Even in such darkness, you would still see his smile. He slinked into the cell with private charisma, whispering evilly yet joyfully, “Hello there, traitor.”
The “traitor” within the cell was shaking against the dark corner with his skinny hands covering his eyes as if he was horrendously frightened of something. The chiming sound of bells made him shake even harder. He looked tormented and scared.
     “Good news: we got your girlfriend’s picture,” said Chimabell. “Awww, but she’s sooooo teeny. I don’t think she’ll be able to fight back when the time comes. Hehehehehehehehehe…”
The captive was still trembling in the dark corner, then he brought his face up shakily to face his leader. “Tammy,” Chimabell said, smile still intact. “Nothing personal, but I have a little something I’d like you to do for me again, and this one…is gonna be a pretty messy one. Hehe…Hehehehe…HEHEHE …AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAHA!!”
His vulture shadow cast over Tammy. “A PREEEETTTTYYYYY MESSY ONE, TAMMY!! AHAHAHAHAHA!! MESSY!! SO MESSY, YOU ARE GONNA CRY!!  GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA…!! CRYYYY!!!”
Thunder roared outside and another storm began.
Chimabell's laughter and cries echoed out over the city, faintly but there, "CRRYYYY! YOU ARE GONNA CRY!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!
Here is Chapter 10 of my story Decembersville.
The main point of this one was to introduce the anxious circus performer and Zero's best/only friend Pendulum Tin (you'll see later on just why he's called that). This was more directed towards his tense, cowardly, stick-to-the-rules personality that will play a major part in the story.
The EXTREME main point of this chapter was to finally get the three together for the insane journey ahead. HOORAY! IN THE CHAPTER COMING UP BEGINS SOPHIA'S FIRST REAL DANGEROUS, CRAZY-ASS JOURNEY IN DECEMBERSVILLE (about damn time, cuz the past chapters were more about the characters and setting up the basis)!!
Oh yeah. "Dolls" are the police puppets that asshole Chimabell controls (like Tammy) and...just for future reference...Tin is THE WORST DRIVER OF ALL TIME.
Hope ya like it ^^
I tried thinking very negative to get Tin's personality right.
I got a few goosebumps when writing the final segment of this baby (when Chimabell is visiting Tammy in the jail cell part of the Chopping Place) because...the freako aristocrat dude kind of goes a bit crazy. BUT, I'm afraid, there's a little traumatizing backstory behind his entire "CRY!!" sequence. It has to do with his childhood that you'll read in a billion years from here, and trust me, it's not pretty.

YAAAAY!! The next chapter is gonna be awesome (I got it planned out ^_^)
Bad news: I'M STILL MAKING THINGS UP AS I GO!! SHUT THE HELL UP!! I got all the characters out but the events are just hitting me as I write!!

Link to next chapter - [link]

Decembersville (c) Andi
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