The Man (Puppet Boy Prequel)

11.

WARNING this may be graphic for some people.

TOMMY TRIED to jolt his body up in a worthless attempt to stop whatever was happening, thrashing on the small table, but his limbs were frozen. It was as if weights were piled on them, keeping him pinned to the cool metal. His lungs were sore and each breath he took of the dusty air only choked him, causing him to cough weakly.

"Silence," his creator ordered, distracted.

Tommy slowly turned his head to the side, finding a stack of bones just beside his eyes. He stared at them with widened eyes, studying the dried blood splatters on them and the way they browned at the edges. Those bones were removed from the bodies of other people, and Tommy couldn't help but shudder at that realization.

His heartbeat accelerated, pounding so hard he could hear it.

Tommy instinctively thrashed his torso again, trying to get off the table. He was helpless and frail, making his movements awfully small and unsuccessful. He was suddenly pressed to the table again by a heavier weight, and after blinking a few times, he noticed through bleary vision that a glove-covered hand was pressing against his shoulder.

"Stay still, my boy," he heard his creator say sweetly. "Watch what I do. You will not be able to feel this, because your leg is numb, but you must watch."

He stared up at the foggy light, watching the moths surround it. "I... I c-can't... I can't move," he whispered, his lips so dry that they barely parted.

"What did I just ask for you to do?" his creator asked, and Tommy swallowed thickly while keeping his eyes trained on the light that danced in and out of his vision.

"Uh, you... you asked for me... for me t-to watch..." Tommy trailed off. He couldn't keep his voice steady and he feared his creator would notice. With the mocking look behind the dark irises of his once loving father, he confirmed that his creator found great enjoyment out of it.

And Tommy's heart fluttered behind his rib cage, because he couldn't help but love making his creator happy.

"Watch," he heard the loud voice order again.

Tommy didn't even try to tilt his head up to watch whatever was happening to him, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to. He could sense that he was making his creator angry by the way his breathing picked up and the angry mumbles beneath his breath but at that point, Tommy didn't seem to care as much as before.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, overwhelming pain thriving throughout his body from his lower abdomen. He screamed into the particle-filled air, his lungs heaving and his eyes burning as hot tears slid desperately down his flushed cheeks. He lifted his head to find his creator running a knife along the bottom of his bare stomach, slicing a line just above his hip bones.

He cried, his breath wild as he shook his head. "Pl-please," he sniffled. He couldn't keep his head up any longer. As he watched blood trickle from the crimson slash, he felt he must continue to watch in order to stop the silver tool from tearing his flesh any further.

His creator locked eyes with him, his yellow grin wide and bright, glistening from the light that swayed eerily above them. Tommy studied his creator's every slow, plodding movement with a chest that swelled at a rapid pace.

His creator kept his narrowed eyes fixed on Tommy's as he brought his latex-covered index finger to the start of the slash. Tommy could feel the pressure as he collected a drop of blood onto his finger and brought it to Tommy's face, touching the pad of his finger to his puppet's cheekbone.

Tommy couldn't slow his breathing. It was all he could hear at that moment, that and the maniacal chuckle his creator bellowed upon viewing his puppet's terrified reaction.

"Watch," his creator said, the vile smirk still on his wrinkled lips.

Tommy flicked his tongue over his cracked lips in anticipation, terrified but at the same time, fully enticed. He watched as his creator's nimble fingers brought a silver, sharp-bladed tool just below the cap of his knee.

No...

"I- I, what-" Tommy fumbled with his words as he tried to figure out what his creator was attempting. "Stop, please, oh, God, I promise I won't cry anymore-"

The tool penetrated below his knee cap.

"-Stop!" Tommy screamed. "What, what are you-"

"Shut the hell up. I am doing this because I love you!" his creator yelled, saliva flying from his mouth as he slammed his fist down on the table beside Tommy.

Tommy's lip quivered. "B-but, why?"

"Puppets are known for their beautiful, fluid movements. And those gorgeous movements are controlled by me, your creator," he explained.

Before Tommy could even bear a second thought, the blade slid right across his leg. It seemed so dull but for some reason carved into his skin with unbelievable ease.

Tommy's mouth fell open in shock as he tried to make some sort of noise, any sort of noise for help. Nothing but a low and vibrating groan escaped his arid throat. He sniveled and whimpered, hopelessly trying to stop his creator from tearing his flesh but it only seemed to motivate him further.

Blood cascaded from his lacerated knee, racking his vision. He couldn't feel it, and for that he was more than grateful, but each time he even so much as whisked his eyes away from the operation, he was ordered to watch or worse would come.

The liquid that gushed from his leg was the darkest shade of maroon he had ever seen.

His vision clouded over, and he began to feel an uncomfortable nausea within the depth of his empty stomach. His head threatened to reel back into the metal table, and he lost track of reality before he slammed back so hard his vision flickered.

"Twinkle twinkle little star..."

His creator sang gently, his words perfectly accentuated as he cut into the bone of his puppet's knee.

"How I wonder what you are..."

Everything went black.

_

A.N

Thank you for reading! Don't worry about the next chapters being like this, they won't contain that much gore. Although, if you complain, I really don't know what to tell you :( It's horror. Not chicklit romance or whatever. There will be gore and you should probably expect that when reading horror!

And thank you for #8 in horror!! YAYYY! I'm so happy :) You guys did it! I love you.
-Steph