Decembersville Ch. 14

Chapter 14: Sophia, officially framed
           Count Merry-Go-Round was gardening. Yup. The sorrowful, brooding, violent-hearted vampire was outside in the caged-in garden watering the flowers. He was wearing a tightly-woven sun hat and a long, almost cute, pink garden apron with a daisy print on it (I beg you, don’t ask). The garden was small yet colorful and it was located right outside the orchestra room, meaning the garden was elevated off the ground from the entrance of the castle. It was also caged in by tall, black metal bars made to look like a very thin fence that surrounded the little garden to make it look like you were trapped in a small square room. The sky was open to it, meaning snow still entered. Merry was actually humming a happy tune while watering the flowers. He was just about done when he heard his doorbell ring down below. He put the watering pail down and went back into the orchestra room. Then he exited and went down the collection of spiral staircases leading to the front exit. He opened the hard, cold black door and smiled saying “Good morning, neighbor!”
     “FIRE!!” yelled one of the neighborhood kids. Next thing Merry knew, he was getting pelted with ice and snowballs from the little twerps! He was extremely surprised and started yelping “Ow! Agh! Vhy you little rats…!”
The kids laughed and ran away from his castle doorstep, running down the icy cliff-side stairs as fast as they could. Merry yelled at them from the entrance “I vill get you crazy kids if it is the last thing I do! I VILL!”
The kids kept on laughing as they ran off, one of them yelling “That’s what you ALWAYS say, crazy bat!”
Merry madly shook the snow off his apron and screamed out to them “Big mistake, my friends! HUGE!!”
Then he slammed the door closed. Instead of taking the stairs, he flew off the floor and took a shortcut to the orchestra room. Andante was laughing like mad in there. “Aw, vat is so funny?” the Count asked the cat organ as if he didn’t already know the answer. Andante didn’t respond but just kept on laughing at his master, who pathetically just made a frustrated gesture and walked back to his garden as if nothing happened.


     The Decembersville Clock Tower struck twelve o’ clock noon. There was a shopping district Downtown called Environ Avenue and that is where the group of misfits were led to in order to find Sophia a disguise. The little girl was given a series of clothing and she tested each pair to see if she contrasted at all from her wanted poster.
     “Ya know watcha need? Ya need something to cover up your head, kid!” Mellon said to her from the other side of the dangling dressing stall. “Somethin’ to keep people distracted from your face! Hey, clock! Over here!”
Zero was sitting outside the dressing stall waiting for Sophia to come out. Then Pendulum Tin ran into the dressing hallway holding an eccentric outfit in his arms. “What about this one? It comes with a matching hat thingy.”
      “That’s better! Much better! Gimme, gimme, gimme!”
Sophia was in the dressing stall ready to change. Her new outfit was tossed over into the stall and she examined it. It was a black and red plaid costume with a matching striped hat to go along with it. “Thank you!” she called out then she began to change. She took off her sweater then threw it down, but her eyes widened when she heard a loud THUD. She looked down at her human sweater then instantly reached in through the pocket…and she pulled out a lightweight flashlight. A flashlight? Her mouth opened a little at looking back at her memories: In the foggy woods during the deep night, she remembered Darkslaw giving her something. A flashlight. “Use it…against those you feel powerless against; those…who make you feel odd around.” he said.       
     So then she kept it with her. Everything he said was true. Everything. So she kept the flashlight with her.
After some time, Zero saw the door of the stall open and Sophia hopped out. He laughed and smiled “Hahahaha! Who are YOU, miss? I certainly have never seen you before!”
Sophia giggled and turned all the way around saying, “Do you like it?”
     “Aww, Sophia! You look adorable!” Tin responded happily. The little girl blushed a little and made sure the flashlight was safely tucked in the front pocket of her dress-like outfit. She looked in the mirror and noticed her disguise’s design was much like Zero’s. She really liked it.
     “Hey! Are you kids ready or what?” Mellon asked from around the corner of the dressing parlor. The trio looked at him with approval and then he smiled thinly “Niiiiiiiiicccccccce.”
They walked PAST the register. Zero said to their guide “Uh…Mellon? The paying kiosk is back there. Hello?”
     “Follow the leader, Z. Heheheheheheee….Melloni Collie never pays,” he rasped evilly. Sophia stopped dead in her steps. “Y-you mean…? We can’t steal this!” she whispered loudly.
     “Shut up, kid. Trust me on this one. Just come on.”
Zero, Tin, and Sophia still didn’t move. Mellon looked back at them with a suspicious face saying “Hey! Ya wanna get home or not? Besides,” he grinned. “You still owe me something. I suggest you better follow along if you don’t want her head separate from her body, ya pansies.”
They all gave him a look, but it was true. He caught them in a knot there. So, they had no choice but to follow.
Near the exit of the store, Mellon told them to stop right where they were.
     “Alright, kids. Listen here,” he whispered to them importantly. “When I give the signal…run like hell.”
He said it slowly as if it was a mandatory procedure. The trio shot each other worried looks and watched their guide exit the hole-in-the-wall store alone. He stood in the middle of the eccentric crowd and looked around the little area. Then he secretly began to rummage through his black jacket unsuspicious. Zero’s heart hammered when he saw Mellon carefully pull out a gun. Fast as a flash and without the weapon being seen, a bullet was fired and it violently stabbed into the gas lanterns. One after another the lanterns exploded into immense fire like bombs and Mellon screamed out in the shocked crowds “HUMAN!!”
Then all hell broke loose. The entire street of freaks was overturned with screams and insane chaos. They all began to run and yell as well as the shoppers and employees. Bags were dropped and people were crowding as they ran to god-knows-where. Many sped down the street as the lamp posts kept on exploding like a terrorist attack just hit. Police sirens rang. Mellon ran back to the entrance of the store and yelled at the posse “WHAT PART OF ‘RUN LIKE HELL’ WAS TOO COMPLEX!? GET MOVING, YA MORONS! GO, GO, GO!!”
Then they all ran into the crowd, trying to stay together. Sophia held on to Zero’s arm as they squeezed through the utter madness. Pendulum Tin kept on yelling “Ouch! Ouch! Zohmygod!! Did I step on you!? I-I-I’m so sorry! Ow! OWW! Watch it!”


        “WHAT THE FUZZCAKE!?” Chimabell cried as his siblings pulled him back before he could have been trampled down by the running crowd. The von Pyre Bros. just stared as an entire mob ran past them. “Excuse me! Hey! Hey!! Aw, come on!! HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU!” the mayor called a random pedestrian who was also running along with the crowd. The citizen came up to him and quickly told the trio “H-human! Down Environ Avenue!”
The siblings shot each other an alarming look. Chimabell immediately took action and brought his head down, hands on his bell ears. He whispered to the ground as he concentrated “Yo, Tammy. I think we got one. Go to Environ Avenue and gimme some call. Don’t be stingy.”
Then, in a fluid movement, the three aristocrats raised their parasols in the air. A flock of vultures came down out of nowhere and gripped their metal umbrellas and then individually lifted them off the ground, carrying them over the crowd to Environ Avenue like smoke.


     “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA! Wasn’t that awesome!? AHAHAHA!!”
     “A-a-a-a-a-awesome!? You idiot! You could have gotten someone KILLED! Stop laughing, psychopath! What’s the matter with you!?” Tin screamed at Melloni who was laughing his brains out. For some reason, Sophia found herself giggling as well. She couldn’t help it. It’s one of those crazy moments in your life that you just couldn’t help but look back and find yourself smiling.
          The small group was now alone. They were in Winterglass Cemetary which was perhaps one of the most lonesome, most remote areas in all of Decembersville. It was huge as well, and though it was a cemetary, it still emitted some sort of grim beauty what with the detail on the tombstones and the icy setting. The silence was nice too. Zero was sitting at the foot of a tall cross, relieved of the short yet insane mess they got into ten minutes before they made it to the cemetary. Sophia then began to laugh harder. Zero, Tin, and even Mellon looked at her strangely. She felt a little excited, that was all. Then Zero began to laugh. Tin looked as if he was going to have another spasm attack. “PSYCHO’S! I’M SURROUNDED BY PSYCHO’S! What are you all laughing about!?”
     “Aw, get a grip, clock! The fun’s just beginning,” the gangster said to the performer. But then they heard children’s voices coming from the entrance of the cemetary.
     “Yo, Mel! Heeeey!” one of them shouted.
Mellon looked away from the three morons he was blackmailing and turned around to see four kids running towards him. They all wore beanies and had multiple piercings on their ears. Three of the boys had fangs and springs for wrists. The only girl in the group had lizard eyes and piano keys for teeth (yes, they stuck out from her mouth). The group of kids ran to Mellon who laughed and said “Yo, my Howlers! Wazzaaaaap’?”
The four kids then howled shortly “Awoooooooh!” and then did a weird, complicated clap with their older friend. It was obvious that those young children looked up to the teenage Melloni Collie by the way they interacted with him lightly and how well-seeming he responded to them. “Watcha kids doin’ out here? On the run again?”
     “What do you mean what are WE doing here? What are YOU doing here in the graveyard?” one of the boys going by the name Kevi asked. Kevi then shot a gaze at Pendulum Tin, then at Zero, then at the disguised Sophia. “Who are these guys? New to your market?”
New to the market? What the heck did that mean?
Mellon shot Kevi a smiling look that really said “Shutupshutupshutupshutup!!”
     “Yo, Mel! We just attacked that loser Merry again! Hahahahaha! Got him good this time!” said Drea (the girl). “That guy falls for it ALL THE TIME!”
     “Aw, guys,” the gangster suddenly sounded a bit mature. Almost like a mother. “What did I tell you? You kids shouldn’t be doing that stuff to other people ESPECIALLY Merry! Knowin’ he can’t leave his castle is playing dirty! I thought I taught ya better than that!”
The kids groaned as if this was the hundredth time they heard their leader say that. One of the boys, Tover, kept looking over at Sophia hoping to get her attention, but he would just blush. Zero noticed this and couldn’t help but smile nicely.
Kevi began to speak again “Oh yeah, Mel! Big news: Sasha wants to kill you, man!”
Mellon groaned pathetically and said “Ohhhhhhh, god no. Ohhh, crap,” he turned around and gave Tin his gun. “Shoot me now and end my torment, clock. I leave my blood on your hands.”
     “Yeah. I think she means it this time. She said that while holding a cake knife! She even scared Emmyli, man!” Drea said. “You better come to terms with her before she goes on a murderous rampage!”
     “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever. It’s not like--”
     “And she’s thinking of marrying Emmyli, now. Are you okay with that?” Larz asked. Mellon just scoffed and said “As long as she’s off my back, what do I care if she marries the pack leader? Screw her and screw him! Now what do you want! I’m busy here!!”
Sophia and Zero flinched at the sound of Mellon’s voice being raised. He sounded a bit demonic. Tin backed up a little.
Tover then said “Hey…heard of the human, Mel? She’s on the loose, man.”
Sophia turned away and pretended to be looking somewhere else. Deep down she was beginning to worry as well as Tin and Zero. Even the gangster himself began to feel a little nervousness which was not an easy feeling for him to take in.
     “Totally, man! And didja hear? Another freak turned up dead this morning and all fingers are pointed at the human chick! Things are getting hot and the vultures are getting paranoid!”
     “Wait…what?” Mellon sounded unsure of himself. “Another freak…dead?”
He looked at Sophia who was not looking back at him. Zero didn’t dare speak up. Tin was speechless. They left the talking to their guide who responded to the group of kids “Alright, Howlers. Who told ya this crap?”
     “It ain’t crap! It’s all true! The Dolls say so!”
     “Aw, cut the brat some slack! Those Dolls are nothin’ but a bunch of ‘monotonotonous’ puppets! For all ya know they are just screwin’ with us, kids!”
     “Mom told us that the Dolls are the law and we shouldn’t argue with the law, Mel,” Tover said. “The vulture’s are on her tail and sooner or later she’s going down! BANG! Its gonna be soooo crazy! They plan on killin’ her before the December Opera in two days. I heard they got Count Merry workin’ for em, too.”
Then all four kids turned away and began to run off. Kevi shouted back at their teenage leader “I suggest you stay undercover too, Mel! The police are getting tight and it’ll be mighty boring without you around!”
Then they left the cemetary.
Tin sighed and blandly said “Ohhhh, NOW what are we going to do?”
     “One thing’s for sure: someone is framing Sophia for the murders and they are doing a good job at it,” Zero said, trying to get up out of the snow. Sophia shakily came over and helped him. Then she looked over at Mellon and said “Who is Count Merry? What vultures?”
The gangster turned to her and said quickly “Okay kiddie. In a nutshell: you can’t escape this city. Someone’s framing ya. The vultures, Chicabell and Camblabla and Bell are in charge of the city and they want your head on a silver platter cuz…I don’t know and I don’t care. Right now you got a useless runt,” he pointed at Zero. “A cowardly clock guy who could never shut up,” he pointed at Tin. “And the smartest guy on the face of the planet…who is really screwed right now helping you out,” he pointed at himself. After a second or two, Mellon suddenly snapped and his flamboyant attitude returned. “AHA!! I GOT IT!!”
     “What is it? Will it get Sophia home?” Zero asked.
     “Better! I got ties to someone who could help us out! Just follow me, kids! You!” he pointed at Sophia who flinched. “Are you scared of rabbits or guys with stapled eyes who love to wear make-up?”
She didn’t dare respond.
     “Good! Now come on, ya guys! We’re goin’ to the Underesidence!!”
Zero’s eyes lurched, “We are going WHERE?”
Mellon then grinned wider than ever.
Sophia gulped.


     Tammy and the other Dolls searched the clothes shop. The place was completely trashed. Chimabell waited impatiently outside and saw Tammy exit with something in his hands. The mayor snatched the items from Tammy’s hands quickly with his talons and began to examine them hastily. They were clothes. Sophia’s old clothes.
Chimabell sniffed the cloth for some time and then his thin smile corrupted his pale face.
     “Sophia Lilbette…female; eleven years of age; four foot seven; short blond hair; peachy skin; big pretty blue eyes; scared of life;  born in…Washington. In other words…I think we found our little unwelcomed guest. Hehehehehe…”