Stuffed

Chapter 9

Isabelle sped past him in a few moments she was giggling loudly running up the stairs. It took a few moments for Maurice to gather himself, his head was fuzzy and clouded, where was she going? Taking a quick look at the table he watched the stuffed animals playing and conversing, he hoped they wouldn't change or do anything any time soon. Without warning the little devils he ran up to follow Izzy to see where she was going, his body stumbled ungracefully up the staircase. Maurice White couldn't think his mind was blocked by what he could only assume to be too much alcohol.

In a frazzled mess he approached the bedroom as he was astonished to see Isabelle going through his closet. Tripping over his feet he rushed into his bedroom as she curiously searched through his things. He wondered why in the world she was so rambunctious and so interested in the things around her? Had she really trusted him so much to go through his things or was she just incredibly nosy?

"Izzy what are you doing?" He slurred over his words with confusion.

She chuckled turning to greet him, "Looking through your stuff!"

Baffled he leaned down next to her as she sat on the floor, "Please, don't touch anything."

"Why not, are you hiding something?" She laughed uncontrollably while opening a box.

Inside the small shoe box she opened were a black pair of gloves with no fingers, mostly meant for covering your wrists. Mr. White kept forgetting about them, but the memory was clear and he wondered why he kept them. He remembered the gloves he used to wear a lot back in high school in an emotional stage of his life. Seeing it only reminded him of painful things, he took the box from her and stared down at them for a few minutes.

"What are they?" Izzy asked with giant blue eyes staring at him.

He mumbled while putting the cover over the box, "Just some gloves I used to wear a lot."

She snatched the box and ran to the other edge of the room, "Do you still wear them?"

"No, I don't know why I haven't thrown them out yet..." He grumbled at having to get up again.

"Can I have them?" Izzy asked opening the box again.

Maurice lifted himself off the floor, "Sure, not like I'm going to use them..."

"Cool!" The girl yelled taking them while running off again.

Mr. white chased after the box as she dropped it, it landed promptly into his arms. Isabelle by then was already far from the room, he took a deep sigh and organized the closet again. The box after he decided to keep in case he ever needed it later, he figured you'd never know when you'd need something peculiar. Placing it on top of the shelf in the closet he left once more to find where Izzy had went, for an eighteen year old that's never been outside see ran awful fast.

As he causally walked out of his room he heard a loud crash from the downstairs kitchen. His head sparked and yet again he raced towards the direction of the kitchen. However in his clouded brain he barely had a good footing as he stumbled down the staircase. In what seemed like too long he heaved at the edge of the kitchen counter to see the stuffed animals gone once again and Isabelle lying across the floor with a silly grin. Baffled by her behaviour stood at her feet and hovered over her, she stretched out her arms the gloves she had put on her hands. They fit her almost perfectly, it was odd and it made him wonder how tiny he was in early high school.

"Do you have any instruments?" She asked out of the blue.

Maurice helped her up by the hand with a shocked glare, "Why in the wide world would you ask that?"

Izzy closed her eyes yawning softly, "I don't know, I thought maybe you could play me something."

"Well I'm not really good at anything creative so that would be a no" Mr. White explained to her while stepping across the floor.

Isabelle began to follow him like a duckling, "That's too bad... What else do you have?"

"I have a lot of books, I have a television... What do you want exactly?" The man stumbled over his words.

"I want to watch a horror movie!" She screeched over her lungs, "I haven't seen a scary movie before!"

Maurice lowered his head in agony, "I don't think that's a good idea hun..."

"Did you just call me hun?" Izzy burst out into laughter.

"No, I did not!" He attempted to save himself, "Fine, fine we'll go watch a dumb movie..."

Maurice's skin crawled from being such an idiot, he spent a good moment erasing what he said from his mind. With Izzy following him closely he pushed the door open to his living room. The walls were plain and so was the hardwood floor, but inside there was a decent sized flat-screen with a shelf full of movies and shows he had collected. Mr. White leaned down next to the television and the player, his eyes flickered from the bright red light that illuminated from turning it on. Once he had set it up he stood over the massive shelf of movies, he gazed over to Isabelle who had been sitting on a long couch seat kicking her legs.

"What do you want to watch?" He asked glancing back at his collection.

"Something scary!" She yipped while staring at the ceiling.

Mr. White rolled his eyes, "No I mean, what movie do you want to watch?"

"Yeah, something scary!" Izzy replied with blatant sarcasm.

Shaking his head from her indecisiveness he simply picked his favorite zombie movie and popped it into the player. Maurice swiped the remote off of the counter and passed through the commercials to click play on the menu. However before he decided to continue a thought finally popped into his head, as difficult as it were for him to think at the moment he remembered the stuffed animals were somewhere in his house. Yet he had no idea where they went, and he wasn't going to sit down safely without knowing they're not plotting his death.

"Isabelle where are the stuffed animals?" Maurice White wondered with fear in his voice.

The girl with orange hair blinked a few times, "They said they were going to play hide and seek."

His gut twisted inside out at the thought, "Can you tell them to not do that?"

"What are you scared? Sit down and stop being a baby!" She nipped at him in a sassy but playful way.

"Right..." The man grumbled sitting down uneasily on the couch.

Isabelle had no idea how terrifying the thought of those living monsters really was, it was as if she was utterly oblivious. In many ways he could tell that she blocked out a lot of what was going on around her, but how much did she really block out? His head throbbed from trying so hard to just push a thought through his mind, it troubled him in many ways but he felt dizzy and somewhat relaxed. Izzy smiled at him while sprawling out on the couch, she grabbed onto one of the pillows and rested her chin staring at the screen.

On the screen the movie began to play and no words were uttered in the beginning sequences, she seemed pretty enveloped into it. His body sunk deeper into the couch as he began to relax, his muscles weren't as tense but he couldn't help but feel wide awake. Lingering onto his slow breathing he watched the screen play before him but paid no attention, in his mind he simply went blank for a long while just listening to the noises around him. It wasn't often that he just stared off, without initially having something new to worry about it seemed like something nice.

As if he were floating for a moment he was broken out of it by a light squeal from Isabelle on the other side of the couch. Maurice shot up immediately glaring at her as if she were dying, but she was just simply frightened. Considering what kinds of things she's lived through Maurice White assumed she would just shrug scary movies off like nothing. However regardless of that it was still a long time since she had ever been in those events, by now it could only be a distant memory. Izzy covered her face into the couch pillow, she clung onto it as if she were about to fall off a cliff.

Feeling sort of guilty he asked, "Are you sure you want to watch this I can just turn it off?"

She leaped at the sudden sound of his voice, "No, no! I want to watch it! I was just startled."

Mr. White tilted his head at her noticing that she just lied to him, maybe she just was trying to prove she wasn't afraid. Shaking it off allowing her to be her own person he gazed back into the television. After a few moments of looking away he suddenly felt her latch onto him like a leech. The sudden impact made him flinch and he immediately glanced to her in utter fear and confusion, but she gazed at him with wide scared eyes and he couldn't help but feel guilty. Maurice attempted to ignore her at first but she kept clinging to him and moved closer to him each time.

He pat her on the head gently, "Hey are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine" She answered nuzzling into his stomach.

Maurice flinched again attempted to move away, "Then what are you doing?"

"I'm cuddling you" Izzy whispered.

"Excuse me?" Mr. White questioned her awkwardly.

She didn't reply to him and for the first time in his life he felt completely trapped, what was he supposed to do? Maurice knew that if he were to be close to her in any shape or form, it would mean him much harm from the stuffed animals and possible getting fired. Sure he really loved her but besides that he would rather not get killed. His stomach twisted into knots as he froze still, the entire of his body grew warm and he felt the urge to run away. Never had he been so mixed in his emotions since he were a petty teenager, it made him sick.

"Isabelle please don't be so close, you're making me uncomfortable..." Maurice spat out in an awkward way.

She gazed at him widely, "Why, don't you like me?"

Maurice scratched the side of his head avoiding her gaze, "No, it's not that..."

"Then don't worry about it!" Izzy smiled interrupting him.

In his head he felt rather irritated, she was too naive he wished he was better prepared. However before he had a chance to make up and excuse Isabelle moved close to him pressing her lips against his cheek. His entire body lit on fire and he was suddenly in a blur of confusion, his brain repeated 'why did she kiss you?' over and over. As if she weren't even phased she gazed back to the television, and he couldn't help but be sent into a barrage of thoughts. What are you doing, what are you doing?

That kind of kiss was not the kind that was simply a sign as a thanks, it was affectionate and it made him nauseous. Maurice couldn't figure out what happened and he attempted to push it out of his head but was still confused. He wanted so badly to ask why, but his tongue was caught by the fear of those evil stuffed creatures coming to kill him.

Suddenly Izzy screeched loudly from surprise of a jump scare on the movie in front of him. The girl clutched onto him causing him to jump once again, but her scream was not just a small squeak. Almost as if on the moment of her voice the stuffed creatures had burst into the room in form of terrifying large monsters. The first ahead of them was the fastest Raum, his eyes were white and clouded like a ghost. On his right was a huge horrible bat the size of a vampire and on the left was Raina in her saber cat form her teeth barred. One after one they closed into the room and a giant blue dinosaur snout poked in but retracted outwards when unable to fit through.

"MAURICE!" Patchi screamed almost immediately blaming him.

The tall rabbit had long unnatural claws similar to some sort of dinosaur, the sharp edges reflected the movie from the screen. Before giving Maurice the time to move or think the patched rabbit flung him into the air and then against the wall. The impact made his back made a loud crack and his skull throbbed intensely. The man let out a groan in pain as the creature pinned him its breath flowing hot onto his face. Patchi's eyes glowed a bright orange against his skin and he could feel his flesh tearing from the pressure of its claws on his chest.

"No, he didn't do anything!" Isabelle cried in his defense.

Instantly the rabbit let go of him sending his body flying to the ground. Mr. White's head smacked hard against the hardwood floor making him pass out from the impact. In moments he went into a black blur, his mind began to drift into a pool of darkness.

******

Opening his eyes he adjusted to what seemed to be an intensely bright light, it burned against his pupils as he covered the view with his arm. With a leap he landed onto his feet and was able to see his surroundings once again. However he was not at home this time, he was on a stage that was lit to the point he could not see an audience. There were torn red curtains on the sides of him as he stood awkwardly on the middle of the wide black stage. Attempting to leap down he ended up falling far the wind picked him at his arms and body.

Crashing into a pool of red liquid he accidentally caught it into his lungs, it was blood. The taste of iron and salt poured onto his tongue and as he bobbed to the surface he coughed and spat as much as he could. The bitter taste lingered far after he was certain his mouth was cleared of it. He lingered at the edge of the pool for a few moments but in the distance he heard what sounded like talking. In hopes of finding someone to talk to he wandered towards the noise.

He arrived at a long corridor that appeared to be in an alleyway covered in black veins and growing organs. Continuing further he saw what appeared to be black shadows of people standing singularly in the narrow alley. As he got closer he could hear mumbles and whispers coming from them, the noise shattering his head but he couldn't make out what they were saying. At the end of the corridor was a gray steel door placed on a shabby brick wall. Maurice pushed through and the sounds around him stopped throwing him into complete silence.

Inside was what seemed to be an abandoned shabby bar with a tiny stage for guest performers. A bar table was nearby littered with empty cans and bottles, and all the tables were destroyed. Suddenly the light of the stage lit and there was a single man with long black hair standing away from the audience view. His clothes were shabby and all black, he had torn jeans and a torn leather jacket as well. In one swift move he turned around with his brown eyes locked on Maurice. The man approached him in an unnatural way, his neck twisting and his legs dragging like a puppet.

The man's voice called in a raspy deep tone, "Are you surprised Maurice?"

"Surprised, what do you mean?" Maurice asked back peddling towards the bar.

"I'm not a child, nor was I a perfect innocent man but I have a story too" The man called his voice shaking the room, "My name is Klaus, and I am the one who had everything taken from him!"

The man named Klaus began to warp in his face and Maurice could see flashes of bleeding eyes and screaming mouths playing in his sight. Mr. White bit his lip as Klaus stood high above him with a sharp stare and cold frown. Unable to make any moves for escape Klaus held his body in place with some sort of telepathy. The long haired male's mouth opened widely with multiple rows of sharp teeth as he chuckled with Maurice's head in his long pale hands.

"So you are the one everyone is a fuss about" Klaus hissed darkly, "Pathetic little weak minded therapist, why didn't you tell Isabelle that you love her? Is she not as important as trivial things like a crappy job?"

Mr. White barked in his defense, "I'm being a responsible man and doing what's right for her!"

"You're so idiotic for someone with so much potential!" Klaus snapped at him throwing Maurice to the ground, "I died a long time ago because I made a mistake. I chose my job over my family as a performer, and when you don't make the right choice you lose everything..."

Maurice heaved on the floor gazing up at this angry male, "What happened to your family?"

"My wife, my two lovely girls both raped and murdered on the twins birthday. If I had only been there, I decided to work instead of be there for them on their birthday!" The man screamed almost bursting into tears, "When I had come home the house was in flames, my whole family destroyed. Filled with rage and agony the killer went free with only ten years of prison on the entire lives of my family. Once he was free I took matters into my own hands and I was put in jail for what was supposed to be twenty years. Instead I escaped but starved with nowhere to go. My love and my babies have accepted their fate and are at peace but every day I am tortured in my own agony..."

"I'm so sorry..." Maurice empathized with him while lifting his body off the ground.

Klaus leaned close to him and snatched him by the scruff, "My gift to Isabelle is the most honest, and the most rational. He's on your side, don't make him change his mind!"

"What do you mean? They're killers!" Maurice cried out in a frightened way.

Throwing Maurice back his eyes turned completely white, "If you want to be like me, then go ahead and see where that choice leads you"

Mr. White stumbled backwards as the man began to fade away, the entire area blowing away from a bright white light. His eyes were burning out like fire and his skin began to peel but he felt no pain. His body jerked and his eyes flickered open and he was no longer asleep.