The Strings Between Us

The Caster's Return

Something was forming within it.

Something familiar.

"No," she breathed. "It can't be—"

The mist solidified, revealing a tall figure draped in a long silver cloak, embroidered with glowing runes. His dark hair was streaked with silver, and his eyes — cold, gray, soulless — settled immediately on her.

A smirk curled his thin mouth.

"There you are, my little doll."

~~~

Belinda took a full step back, instinct tightening her throat.

Jonathon Chiller.

The one who had cursed her. Changed her. Sent her to HorrorLand like a discarded trinket.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, heart pounding. "How did you find me?"

"You carry my magic," he said coolly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Even in a world as grotesque as this one, I can feel the echo of my craft."

He stepped forward.

The room bristled. Slappy didn't move from his throne, but the light around him darkened, shadows deepening behind the armrests like they were waiting for a signal.

"You're not welcome here," Slappy said evenly, his eyes filled with rage.

The wizard didn't even glance at him.

"You shouldn't have interfered, puppet."

"You shouldn't have cursed her."

"She was already cursed," Jonathon hissed, his voice suddenly sharp. "I simply gave her the form that matched her soul. Hollow. Beautiful. Controlled."

"I'm not your property!" Belinda shouted.

He turned to her with something like pity.

"Oh, darling. You're not whole yet. The spell I used was unfinished. Experimental. You were never meant to survive the transition."

That was enough.

Slappy rose from his throne slowly, every movement deliberate.

The monsters shifted behind him. Candles flickered.

"You call that magic?" he asked darkly. "Cursing an innocent girl and tossing her into a pit like a broken doll? You think that makes you a sorcerer?"

"And what does it make you, exactly?" the wizard snarled. "A toy with a stolen soul? A parasite living in the margins of other people's nightmares?"

Slappy stepped forward. Power radiated from him now — not loud, but seething. Pressurized.

"Say one more word," he said low, "and I'll rip every bone in your body and hang them in my dungeon like trophies."

The wizard raised a hand.

And Belinda screamed.

Not from pain — but from the sensation of being yanked.

Like invisible strings had suddenly lashed into her back. The wind-up key in her spine turned, whirring wildly, spinning like a clock gone mad.

She fell to her knees.

Slappy lunged forward.

"BELINDA!"

She clutched her ribs, gasping. Her limbs locked up. She couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

The wizard smiled cruelly.

"I still own her soul."

"NO YOU DO NOT!" Slappy's voice echoed like thunder.

His magic exploded from him in a violent burst — green flame ripping through the air, slamming into the wizard's shield. The entire room shook.

They faced each other now — Slappy on the steps, eyes glowing like emerald fire. The wizard, cold and elegant, his spell shield shimmering around him.

"Let her go," Slappy growled, "or I will end you."

"You think she'll stay with you?" Jonathon spat. "A freak? A thing pretending to be a man? She was born to be adored by others."

He then grinned maliciously. "Others who are far more greater than you could ever be. Real people. She'll go back to it all the moment you give her the chance."

"She already had the chance," Slappy hissed. "And she chose me."

"Belinda," the wizard said, turning back to her. "Don't be foolish. Come back. I can finish the work. I can make you beautiful again. Real. Human. Whole."

Her hands shook against the marble floor.

Slappy turned toward her too — not speaking this time. Just watching her.

Waiting.

Belinda rose slowly, still trembling from the echo of the curse. But her voice, when it came, was clear.

"You didn't change me to fix me," she said to the wizard. "You changed me to punish me. To control me. To make me small."

"I gave you clarity."

"No," she said. "He gave me clarity."

She turned to Slappy.

"You gave me choice. You saw me. Even when I'm porcelain. Even when I didn't know who I was anymore."

She stepped closer to him — and took his hand.

"I don't want to transform back. I want to stay with you."

The wizard roared.

His spell hit the ground like a lightning bolt — and Slappy moved instantly, dragging Belinda behind him, throwing up a shield of green and black light.

Pumpkin head guards lunged forward, defending their king.

The floor cracked. Chandeliers crashed. The air trembled.

"You'll regret this, Belinda. When the spell breaks, and the truth finds you... you'll come crawling back to me."

And Slappy's voice rang out like the toll of a war bell:

"GET OUT OF MY KINGDOM!"

The wizard cackled lowly. "Oh you're going to be sorry."

He then began to chant in a low, harsh tone.

"Something ancient and cursed will answer my thirst, you'll wish the darkness had claimed you first."