The Strings Between Us

Swift Escape

Slappy held Belinda's hand tightly as they moved through the winding corridors beneath the sanctuary, making their escape.

The walls shimmered around them — not like stone, but something alive, watching, responding.

High above, the wizard stood before the scrying pool in the observatory.

He saw it all — Slappy's entrance, the escape, the embrace.

His jaw clenched. The air around him crackled with fury.

"You always were a cockroach, Slappy."

He lifted one hand and muttered a word of command.

Below, the tunnels shifted again — slowly at first, then violently.

Stone groaned.

The sanctuary began to reshape itself, walls twisting and snapping, ceilings splitting into jagged veins of light.

And in the deepest part of the fortress, a door opened with a hiss.

Something old and hungry was released.

Slappy and Belinda didn't see it at first — but they felt it.

The ground trembled beneath their feet.

The air grew colder. Not naturally, but magically. Like someone had poured the memory of a blizzard into the stone.

"That's new," Slappy muttered.

Ahead, the tunnel forked.

"Left," Belinda said instinctively.

But when they turned, the left corridor twisted like a serpent, bricks folding in on themselves. A wall slammed down before they could pass.

"Okay, not left."

They pivoted.

Behind them, a sound rose — like claws on stone.

Slappy turned.

From the shadows came a creature that looked stitched together from shattered armor and bone. Its eyes glowed with the same fire as the guardian he'd fought before — but this one was faster. Leaner.

It let out a shriek that made the stones above tremble.

"Run," Slappy barked.

They sprinted down the hallway, the creature crashing behind them, tearing through walls like paper. Doors they'd passed seconds ago were crushed flat. Statues toppled. Flames snuffed out.

Belinda's legs moved like clockwork, literal gears grinding inside her joints. The doll body had speed—but she was still not as fast as Slappy.

He noticed.

He grabbed her waist mid-run and threw her over his shoulder.

"Seriously?" she shouted, thumping his back.

"Save the sass until we survive!"

He darted through a narrowing corridor just as the creature lunged. Its claws missed Belinda's leg by inches, tearing a gash in her dress.

Slappy turned a corner and ducked into a small alcove.

The moment he did, he dropped her gently to the floor and yanked down a lever hidden behind a tapestry. A secret door ground shut behind them.

Silence.

They panted in the dark.

"You okay?" he asked.

"That thing nearly clipped me!" she exclaimed.

"Nearly," he corrected. "You're welcome."

She shot him a look.

But she didn't pull away.

~~~

After staying in the hidden chamber until the coast was clear, the pair followed a narrow staircase down, deeper into the bowels of the sanctuary.

Finally, they reached it.

The tunnel ended at a cracked stone door covered in vines.

Slappy placed a hand on it — it pulsed under his palm.

"He's watching," he muttered. "He knows we're leaving."

"Let him."

Together, they pushed.

The door groaned open—and moonlight flooded in.

Outside was a narrow ravine that opened into the edge of HorrorLand proper. Crickets chirped in the distance. The scent of damp moss and night air returned.

They stepped through.

And for the first time in what felt like days—

They were free.