Outside The Box

Chapter Seven: A Living Doll

December 28th, 2084- 7:40 AM.
Joss Coles.

       The snow prickled at my skin, but I didn't brush it away. I physically couldn't. My body was frozen in time with my arms glued to my sides and my feet planted into the ankle-deep snow. I stood like a statue and anticipated what was coming next.

       I had autonomy over my eyes, but I couldn't take my attention away from the blood that stained the snow, giving my vision a focal point. I stared as a knife plunged into Ainz's abdomen. A piano slammed in my ears every time the knife entered his body. There was no piano that I could see, so I must be losing my mind. I tried to scream out to him, but my mouth would not open. Someone locked my mouth and threw away the key.

       My father finished his work and released the grip on Ainz's shirt causing Ainz to sink limply into the snow. Ainz stared back at me, and I just know he was disappointed with me; that my decision was the reason behind his fate.

       My father glanced at me and trudged closer towards me with the bloodied knife still gripped in his hands. He stopped right in front of me, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he handed me the knife, giving me one of his cold smiles before lumbering off into the forest.

       Leaving me alone with the murder weapon and the victims I had killed.

----------

       In the morning, I spent a good deal of time just staring at the wall in my room. In the pass couple weeks that is all I have been doing since I have yet to make a decision. My father is to come deal out my punishment for not giving him an answer by the end of the month. I have no idea what is taking so long for me to decide since I know that my father had something to do with Ainz's brief disappearance in Banes Point, but I don't know why Ainz would lie about it.

       After pondering for a few more minutes, I got dressed and headed out on the town. Snow has begun to fall in thick clumps and there was no doubt that the streets would be trapped beneath ankle-deep snow by evening.

       I rounded a corner and a golden retriever pounced at me; almost making me fall on my butt in the middle of the road.

       "Peanut Butter! Stop that!" I giggled, as the dog, Peanut Butter, licked happily at my face. I gently shoved the dog away from me and patted his head. He sat down nicely and received my pets with his fluffy tail swiping away the snow on the road.

       Peanut Butter is an elderly dog that was abandoned by his previous owner a few years ago, but no matter how many times someone in the town tried to bring him back home he would run away. Everyone now just lets Peanut Butter wander the town with him squatting in random people's houses when the weather gets rough (those that allow him in, that is) then leaving by the time the sun shines again.

       Peanut Butter nudged my hand away from his head (a sign that he was done with getting pets) before trotting down the road towards the river. He glanced back at me as if he was expecting me to follow him.

       I trailed behind the dog along the path that spanned the river that connected the two parts of the town. Thin sheets of ice had already begun to cover the calm waves of the water. I thought about crawling along the ice and praying that it cracked beneath me and swallowed me whole in the deep depths of the river so that I won't have to make this decision. However, if I were to die then who knows what my father would do to my friends.

       Peanut Butter picked up the pace and jumped/ ran towards a man standing with his foot propped on top of the path's low stone fence. Peanut Butter wagged his tail violently and sat down before the man expecting head pats. I grimaced at who it was.