When the curtains dropped, I stand up. The girl looked at me. “Please tell me we’re not going to go run around in the forest again?” she asks in an annoyed tone. “N-no, I just wanted to get more popcorn if that’s alright,” I stutter.
The girl sighed and looked back to the stage. “The popcorn machine is broken. Besides, the play is almost over. Act four isn’t that long anyway,” she explains.
I slowly sat back down, “Oh… Hey. Is that man, okay?” I ask the girl stares back at me, “the first narrator? He started to sound sick.” The girl didn’t say anything for a while.
“Why do you even care?” she finally spoke, sounding a bit offended I was taken aback.
“Well… I mean…” I couldn’t find the right words. It felt like whatever I say she was going to bite my head off!
“Would you two lovely girls like a cookie?” a woman asks I look up. The same woman who narrated the ending for the last Act was holding a plate that had heart-shaped cookies with colorful icing on them.
“Oh, yes, please, and thank you!” I thanked.
Taking one, the woman held the plate out to the girl. “No, thanks, Lady Valentines. I’m good,” the girl mutters, looking away.
“Are you sure, love?” The woman asks as the girl nods. The woman sighed and looked at me. “I hope you like the play so far, lovely,” she giggles, “I also hope you learn something from it too!” I looked at her, so did the girl.
“W-what?” I shiver.
“I hope you love the cookies too!” she chirps then quickly skips away as the girl facepalmed her mask.
I was hesitant at first to eat the cookie, but it was delicious and sweet. When the curtains came up, it was nothing but darkness, and there was no one on stage until something moved. That dark figure was in the middle of the stage.
A voice begins to speak, but it didn’t belong to the woman or to the man that has narrated so far, it was more of an echo of a young girl. “Don’t leave me… why did you leave me? What did I do wrong? What did they do wrong? I thought we were all friends? What did we do wrong…?” they repeat themselves.
The figure stood up and started to walk around in circles, still speaking to itself but now incoherent words. A light turned on as a different man came out and stood under it. He was wearing a hat with a red feather on it. He was in a suit that had a belt going around it with a bright gold buckle.
“The poor lass… losing her mate, having to see said mate throw away everyone and everything they made together, then get left behind in the dark to rot alone with herself. She still watches that backstabbing mate live her new life, not caring about the damage she was inflicting,” he shakes his head.
The dark figure drops to the floor, then it stood up again, rocking and twitching. It was still speaking to itself. Sometimes it would start to cry. I began to feel uneasy again… The man sighed as the light over him was going dim.
“Day by day, the lass was falling deeper into the abyss. She was alone, scared, cold, and was breaking even more until she got the greatest idea! If that heartless sea witch wasn’t going to remember the creations she made, then the lass will remember them all and save them from losing themselves as the lass was losing herself!”
“She remembered their stories, the adventures that made them who they were! Every detail about them! Everything! The lass remembered everything she could. Sadly… She couldn’t remember all our brothers and sisters… and in the process of trying to remember them… She did forget one important thing.” the girl shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable.
“The lass forgot her name, the name that the creator gave her. When she realized it, it was already too late. Her mind finally shattered into pieces…” the man shook his head as the figure grabbed its head and started to move sporadically bright blue liquid oozed out of its mouth and eyes.
“My name? My name?! No… NO, NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! WHAT IS MY NAME! NO!” it screams and wails as it fell to the floor. It begins to sob covering its face, “no… please no… what is my name… what is my name…? What is… my name…?” The man sighs as he watched the figure.
“The characters she did remember couldn’t help her… She didn’t blame, resent or hate them or the ones she couldn’t remember. It wasn’t any of their faults. They were victims as much as she was!… We were forgotten, we were locked away too…! But she never forgave herself for not remembering all of us…” the audience started to cry out.
“Because of that and all the pain cause upon us! The lass was furious! She screamed like a banshee hunting for her next prey, and she howled like a wolf in agony! She cursed the one who left us behind! The ones she remembers stood by her. The ones she gave her sanity up for, the ones she gave her name up for! We stand by her because we all feel her pain, and that hate!” the man screams!
“Revenge is hard and can be messy, but with that hatred. Nothing was going to get in our way and with things falling into place.” The man started to laugh as the sounds of a car screeching came from the darkness, “the real fun is only just begun for the lass and the characters!”
The curtains slowly fell, swallowing the fear that was rising inside me. I peek over at the girl, she held up three fingers and slowly put one down. “Three down, two more to go. Do you remember yet? Best friend?” she giggles, looking at me with that wide smiling mask.
I was about to stand, but something had a hold of me, looking down, jump ropes were tied to my wrists.
“Sorry, lovely. I hope they’re not too tight,” the woman who gave me the cookie popped her head between the chairs before climbing over them to sit beside me.
“They’re supposed to be tight, Lady Valentines. We don’t want her getting-” the first male narrator spoke but begins to cough before he could finish his sentence, he covers his mouth with that handkerchief, “damn it. I wish this brat didn’t make me sick all the time. It was hard trying not to cough the first time now I can’t-” he snaps, then he started to cough again before sitting on the other side of the woman.
“Well, she did create you when her cousin Bobby was in the hospital!” the woman sings in a sweet tune, “so, do be kind, Doctor Wheeze!” as they were arguing, I was trying to get loose but stopped when the girl knelt in front of me. I gave her a dirty look she just clicked her tongue.
“Give me that look all you want, this is only going to get worse for you. Much worse,” she spoke so coldly. “You. Are. MAD!” I yell both the man and woman stopped arguing and looked at me. The girl chuckles then she starts to laugh uncontrollably.
“Mad?! MAD!” She snickers before lunging towards me and putting both her hands on the arms of the chair. Her mask was close to my face. I could see the color of her eyes in the darkness of the eye holes, a bright green color, glaring deep into my soul.
“Sorry, kiddo, we’re all mad! Like it or not!” she pulled away and stood in front of me before shrugging and laughing uncontrollably again, “but isn’t that great?!” Turning away from me, she heads towards the stage. The man on it held out his hand to help her up.
Once on stage, the girl turned to face the audience that started to clap. “Act five will start shortly. I first need to get ready. By that, I need to get my shadow,” she laughs.
The dark figure walked up behind her, tapping her on the shoulder. She looked at it then hugged it as it sunk into her skin. “Much better. Captain, you may go sit down and watch the rest of the show,” the girl said sweetly, and the man bows.
He hopped off the stage and dropped down in the seat that the girl once was sitting in, he glances at me. I didn’t notice because it was too dark on the stage, but his mask only has one eyehole. “Evil sea witch,” he grumbles before looking back at the stage.
“Act Five, Waiting, and Watching,” she spoke with evil in every word. The audience begins to clap and laugh. I started to breathe heavily when she stares at me.