Pinocchio

Chapter 28 : It's Time to Wake Up

Gustavo walks out of the building with Penelope by his arms. He has burned the place with huge flames. He has dragged all the people inside into the bushes behind the building. He realizes he's not that evil to let them die inside the burned building.

He doesn't wait until the fire fighters come over and see what happened. He just leaves and walk through the quiet road. Luckily, he still has the GPS so he knows where to go.

He knows people are looking at him as he walks. But he doesn't care. He just wants to go home because the thought of losing Penelope is just too depressing. He knew this is what happens if he lets someone get too attached to him. Either he or the other person will get hurt, eventually.

And by the time he arrives at the hotel, it has already reached afternoon, just in time to have supper. He walks inside the building, right to Madame Azalea's room. He knocks the door and she opens it wide.

She gasps when she sees Penelope. She lets them in and closes the door behind her.

"What happens?"

"They shot her. I-I couldn't. I didn't." He bursts into tears once again as he sits down on the couch.

"No, don't blame yourself." Madame Azalea pats his back and sits next to him. In front them, Penelope is placed on the chair. She looks like her usual self, unless now she's not breathing and she's not moving.

"I can sue him." He says suddenly. He stands up and walks around the room. "Yes, I can do that. I will hire a good lawyer, sue him, make sure he will have miserable life, and-"

"No, you can't."

"Bailey, you're supposed to be on my side."

"I know." She sighs. "Listen, what they did to her was mean, it definitely violate human rights."

"Ha!" He interrupts.

"Is she a human, Gustavo?"

He stops moving and stays silent.

"Now, even if you can sue him, the government will definitely make more experiments on her to be sure of what she is. They might be more rational, but they can be mean, too. They'll try to figure out how many chromosom that she has, her DNA, stuff like that. What if they hurt her accidentally? Who are you going to sue? And where? You can't sue government to the government."

Gustavo sighs. "You have a point." He growls and he puts his head on his hands.

"You know what," Gustavo suddenly stands up. "I'm going to take my tools, fix her, and see what I can do." He walks outside and closes the door behind him, leaving Madame Azalea in silent, alone with Penelope.

She walks to Penelope and caresses her cheek. "What have you done to him? You've changed him completely. He's in, love."

She sighs. "Oh. How I wish I were you." She brings her head closer to Penelope, near her ears.

"Penelope, it's time to wake up."

***

Back in his room, Gustavo is struggling with his tools. He is fixing Penelope's broken ankles, scarred arms, and scratched skins. She has suffered a lot of physical injuries and Gustavo is doing his best to fix what's left behind.

When he's finished, he looks up at his masterpiece. Penelope looks normal, again. But she doesn't budge. She's completely dead; not able to move, speak, do anything to show any sign of existence. She just sits there, giving Gustavo a fake smile.

He sighs. He has packed all of his stuff, so he takes his car key, Penelope, and his wooden carving tools to the car. He's going home.

When he reaches the front desk, Madame Azalea looks gloomy. She's not as elegant and as classy as she usually is.