"These balloons, these pink cat balloons." Jenny ran a finger through the dust on an image of a small boy she picked up from the fireplace within 316 Willard Street. "What do they mean?"
Leland leaned against the wall nearby, fiddling with a piece of wallpaper that was peeling away. "They could just be the sick calling card of a loony dead paedophile. Loony people don't really have a method to the madness. They're just crazy and should be locked up."
Jenny turned until her hazel eyes rested on Leland. "Loony people don't just start collecting legs. There's always a reason."
"I was saying that you..." he stopped and let the piece of wallpaper fall til' it rested against the wall again. "I didn't mean...you're different. I'm sorry."
Leland didn't know much about Jenny. But he knew that she had spent most of her life in and out of homes and institutions. Just looking at her, you could tell she'd drawn the short straw.
Her long black hair was tangled and dull, and her olive skin was covered in patches of dirt and grime. It had surprised him when she asked him to come with her, he had been coming for his weekly visit, but he never expected to find her waiting for him. When she asked him to join her, he was quick to accept. Something had gotten her speaking again, and he wanted to see where this would go.
Jenny slipped the picture out of it's frame and flipped it over. 'Danny Walker. 12. Harvested 20/03/1954'
"Harvested?"
Leland looked over her shoulder at the writing's scrawling on the back of the picture. "Well, that's gross. This guy was totally messed up."
"What are you two doing here?"
The picture frame shattered on the floor as they both turned to see the sheriff, May Vacay standing in the doorway. "This is no place for...children."
Leland quickly slipped into a fake grin. "We were just..."
"You killed Jordan!" Jenny stomped her foot on the ground, flicking a cloud of dust into the air. "You are a murderer!"
"Where did you hear that? That is a dangerous thing to go around blurting out." May's words slurred and Leland noticed a bottle hanging loosely from her hand.
"We know you've killed not only Jordan, but the vet, and probably Marie Valkyrie as well!"
This time, Leland turned wide-eyed to look at Jenny.
"Well..." May slowly shut the door behind her. "...I gave you a chance to walk away."
Leland slipped in front of Jenny as the sheriff pulled her pistol from her pocket.
"Please. Just let us leave. We won't say anything, I swear."
"I will." Leland heard the steel in Jenny's words. "I will tell everyone."
"Well kid, this is your unlucky day." May raised the pistol at Leland. "You should've just stayed home instead of slumming it up with wackos."
He saw her finger push on the trigger and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain that followed. He heard a crash, a loud yell, and when he opened his eyes, the sheriff was on the floor, struggling with something unseen.
"Sammy!" Jenny yelled.
"We need to run!" he grabbed Jenny's hand and ran toward the opening leading to the room upstairs. They turned the corner at the top of the stairs, finding themselves in a hallway with a door at the end, and several doors opening into rooms along the way. "Jenny, hide in here."
Leland opened the nearest door and pushed Jenny inside. "Stay quiet." Leland realised as he closed the door, that those words were insensitive, but he'd have to apologise later.
Thumping on the stairs told him he had very little time, so he slipped into one of the doors and waited.
"I...hate doing this." Leland could hear May Vacay fight to keep her words from slurring. "I wasn't always like this..." Leland heard her stop in front of Jenny's door and chuckle to herself. "It was up here, in this hallway. Three girls running for their lives." Leland quickly peeked out to see the sheriff leaning her forehead against the door. "Janice was always the fastest. She was ahead. Me and Marie, we weren't going to make it. I didn't want to die, I had a future!" Leland slipped out his door as the sheriff wrapped her fingers around the doorknob.
"Marie was going nowhere. She was too attached to this town, too stuck inside her head. The world would go on without her. A quick swipe with my foot, and down she went. She wanted me to go back but whatever had been after us grabbed her instead and I was able to escape. So you see, this isn't something I want to do. It's something I have to do." May swung open the door and Leland pounced.
Jenny watched as both Leland and the sheriff crashed into the room. They rolled as May tried to gain her gun. A loud bang filled the room and everything went quiet. Leland's body slumped over May, his eyes fading.
The sheriff was untangling herself from Leland's body as Jenny stepped into the hallway and ran. She almost stopped as she approached the door at the end of the hall. Something about it screamed danger. Something about it made her want to turn away. Ignoring it, Jenny twisted the knob and slipped into the room as a shot rang out.
She felt a stinging pain in her leg and collapsed. With her uninjured limb, she kicked the door shut. She was instantly surrounded by darkness, the only sound: May's laughter outside of the door. "And that's the last time anyone ever saw Jenny Green!" Jenny heard the sheriff's footsteps fade away, but waited several minutes before trying the door. She twisted the knob, but the door didn't want to open again.
"Her guilt is cute." Jenny whirled and found herself face to face with a small girl. She wore a tattered dress and held a small notepad close to her chest. She had a face that should've been smiling but wasn't.
"Marie?"
Marie frowned up at Jenny.
"Not for a long time. Not since that night he took me, like he's going to do to you."
Jenny felt tears well up. "I-I don't wanna go with him."
Now the girl smiled. But what should have been lovely and cute was ugly and twisted. "You don't have a choice. He's coming."
Jenny stared in horror as the image of Marie began to contort and tear, her body becoming taller, wider and threatening.
"I don't like to eat my veggies. I don't like to eat my stew. I curl my nose at peas and corn, so I'll just pass them to you."
The voice was thick, old and soothing, but that didn't stop her skin from crawling as she heard it. "Give me a bucket of ice cream, just one lollipop or two. I would love a caramel apple, only the sweetest sweets will do." what once was Marie Valkyrie was now a tall, old man.
His body was thin but not aged and his body was stuck out from under the stained white t-shirt he wore. His face was deceptively kind, his eyes smiling just as much as his mouth was.
Jenny ignored the pain as she pushed herself against the door.
"Now, now." the murderer with the kind face knelt to look her in the eyes. "Let's not be scared. You're in a safe place, now. I promise."
She almost believed him, she wanted to believe him. "Open the door, please."
"Well..." the man's face twisted into a sneer. "...that's not happening. I am a collector, and you're my next trophy. This time, you don't have as much room to run." the man laughed, a pleasant laugh and stepped back into the darkness.
Jenny tugged at the door again, but it wouldn't budge. Giving up, she began to limp through the darkness, one hand on the wall, looking for a place to hide. A way out, or a weapon. She heard his breathing and every so often, she'd hear him sing that song again. Slowly, a familiar smell filled her nose and made her breath catch.
The smell from the thing in the library. The smell of cinnamon, daffodils and blood. Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself to move faster against the pain of her leg. Now she could hear him nearby, moving quickly. Her hand wrapped around something thin and she spun, swinging with all her might. A loud crack filled the room as whatever she held connected with the dead man's face.
"You ungrateful little child." she felt something heavy slam into her side, sending her flying into the wall. Wincing, she pulled herself onto her feet again, the object held in front of her protectively.
"I'm not a child anymore!" she swung as he approached again, causing him to step away. "I'm not scared of you!"
His growl filled the room and she felt herself get thrown into the air. She heard a splintering sound as her body collided and broke through door and into the hallway. She rolled along the hallway floor, a loud and ugly scream filling her ears and shaking the house. In her hand, she gripped a long, thin cane, topped with the head of a cat.
"We're not done playing yet."
The hallway began to tear apart as the man's anger and malice ran rampant. Jenny pulled herself along the floor towards the stairs, fighting against the intense wind and flying bits of wood. The sheriff turned into the hallway, a surprised look on her face. A small piece of wood embedded itself in her chest and she fell to the floor.
Jenny yanked herself over the stairs and went tumbling down. She felt his hand grasp her leg, but she swung the cane down hard and the hand let go. Her body slammed down the stairs as wood and furniture flew around her. A loud cracking noise echoed throughout the house as the ceiling above her was torn away.
There he was, staring down at her as she tried desperately to move against the pain. He was smiling that pleasantly sickening smile when he swooped in. As if running into a wall, his body crumpled. His face filled with rage he reared to try again, only to be thrown back.
Jenny's eyes went wide as she saw Leland slowly form in front of her, followed by Jordan, her mother and lastly, the sheriff. Jenny didn't wait for a signal. She just pulled with all her might until her body fell into the grass outside of 316 Willard Street. The roaring filled the air as the man's rage began to tear the house apart. She watched him fight against the barrier as the building began to collapse around him. She saw her mother turn and smile at her before the collapsing house blocked her from sight.
The air slowly calmed, and the noise faded as she pulled herself to her feet, leaning against the cane, she wiped dirt, blood and tears from her eyes. The last of the building fell, nothing left but a massive pile of broken wood and furniture. Somewhere between smiling and crying, Jenny turned and began to hobble her way down the street.
She'd only gotten a few feet when she felt a wet nose in her dangling arm. Now she did smile. "Sammy. It's all over. Let's go somewhere new."
And that was the last time anyone ever saw Jenny Green in Fells Glen.