Marcus rushes for the stairs, eager to turn the television off. Yet, before he gets down any more than the first two steps, the television is silenced. Stopping in place, he looks back in Phil's direction, finding his friend to be listening intently to something out of sight. Phil puts a finger in the air as Marcus goes to speak, then turns to face the office door. Pressing an ear against it, he takes a deep breath and yanks the door open. Finding the room to be empty, they hear Funko thump around overhead once more and laughing as he goes. As the thumping approaches Marcus's room, Phil turns to face it once more.
"Phil, don't play its game! Let's just leave." As Marcus plants a foot on another step lower, the living room goes dark, bathing the bottom stairs in shadows.
"I don't think we have a choice but to play." Phil swallows hard and reaches for the next door. Again, he rips it open, and the thumping overhead shuffles to the restroom, passing directly over Phil, who notices that the light inside is still on.
"You know he's not going to be in there. Don't bother!" Marcus pulls himself back into the hall as the clown's movement trails toward him, seemingly going from being in the attic to being in his mother's room. Now growing angry with the thing, Marcus faces the room and reaches out for the knob. The smell of burned flesh becomes obvious as he does this, and he looks to the bottom of the frame. In doing so, he sees a small amount of ashy smoke trail out from underneath. With this, he retracts his hand and looks back to Phil. "Help me block this!"
Phil nods and rushes over, grabbing the knob himself and pulling it as hard as he can. The door begins to shake as a force on the other side attempts at opening it. Phil then slams a foot against the wall, using it as extra leverage.
"What do we do now?" Phil grunts, keeping his eyes locked on the metallic knob under his palms. "Marcus!?"
Thinking quickly, Marcus rushes passed Phil and down the stairs, where he ignores the lights and searches the floor. Relocating the bat he had lost earlier on, he collects it and turns to face the stairs.
"Marcus!" The sound of beating against the door grows louder as Phil struggles to keep it closed. Marcus, looking up on this, notices and begins skipping steps on his way up, but as he does so, something catches his eye. Looking back at the front of the house, he spots headlights pulling into the drive. "Marcus!" Phil cries out again, feeling himself losing the battle as the clown becomes hysterical on the other side.
Marcus shakes off knowing his mother is home and rushes to help his friend. As he gets to the top of the stairs, he motions for Phil to get out of the way. Phil nods and releases his grip. As he steps away, the sound of heels on concrete can be heard below. The door rattles once more before the knob begins to turn. As it cracks open, so does the front door.
"Marcus? Are you home?" The concerned voice of his mother calls out, looking about the downstairs before she glances up at the boys. Spotting Marcus with a bat in hand, aimed at her bedroom, and Phil pressed against the wall next to him. "Oh, thank god you're okay! Why didn't you return my calls? Phil, why didn't you let me know he was alright? And what are you two doing?"
The boys look to one another, neither knowing what to say at the moment.
"S-sorry. I, uh, lost my phone." Phil fibs, looking for Marcus to back him up.
"Yeah, so did I."
"We have a house phone. You didn't think to get ahold of me that way? You still haven't told me why you're trying to bust my door down."
The boys look each other over once more before Marcus motions with his head for Phil to go downstairs. As the boy does so, another set of headlights can be seen approaching the house. This catches Marcus's mother's attention and she takes a glimpse through a small glass window on the door.
"What are the police doing here?"
"There was... an incident." Phil states, moving passed the woman and making his way over to the door. "You should come outside with me so we can talk to the police about it."
The woman looks back at her son, who is still holding the bat up, ready to strike, then over at Phil, who is holding the door open for her. Sighing and discomforted, she steps back out and Phil shuts the door behind her. Marcus sees him looking up through the same window his mother had been using before both disappear from view.
Noticing that the laughter has come to an end, and that there is no more motion coming from the room beyond, Marcus takes a step back and uses the bat to push the door open further. Once the contents are exposed, he looks to the floor. Sitting with its back against the carpet and its limbs spread out in every direction is the burned-up ragdoll. Marcus moves closer to it and glances around the room once more. In doing so, he spots an alarm clock sitting on a bedstand. The time on it reads 12:01. Ignoring the doll for a moment, he walks over to one of the two windows at the front of the house and peers down at the police vehicle. He spots his mother, who is being informed about an intruder having been in the house, and Phil, who looks right back up at him. Marcus gives Phil a thumbs up, to which his friend nods before returning to his conversation with the officers. With this, Marcus turns where he stands and looks back at the doll, which is now sitting upright and facing him.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Marcus walks back over to Funko and raises the bat. With one hard swing, he sends the doll flying into the hall, where it slams against the crawlspace ladder before skidding across the floor and coming to a stop.
Toot, toot!
As the sound rings out, Marcus lifts the bat again and walks over to the doll. Swinging it down, he smashes a clay hand, which bursts, sending small shards everywhere, but that's not all. From the opening, a thick red liquid begins to ooze out. Disgusted by this, he raises the weapon once more and brings it down, crushing the clown's head. The sound of it shattering sends a bolt of relief throughout his body and he tosses the bat down. Watching as the same red fluid that came from the hand spills out of where the neck had been, he smiles and turns toward the stairs. Heading down them and into the kitchen, he collects paper towels and a plastic bag. He then marches back up to the second floor and- to his relief- finds the doll to be right where he left it.
Scooping up the remains and wiping away the strange ichor, he puts everything into the bag and ties it off. On his way back down to the first floor, his mother reenters the home and gives him a hug, which he gratefully returns.
"I'm sorry I wasn't home earlier."
"You're fine, mom. It's taken care of."
The woman pulls away and rubs her thumbs against her son's shoulders with a soft smile before she tosses her purse down on the sofa and looks back at Phil.
"You two should stay at Phil's place tonight. Just in case something else happens."
"What about you?" Marcus wonders, directing the question at his mother.
"I'll be fine. Someone should stay behind in case something else happens, and it shouldn't be you."
Marcus nods, but disapproves of the conclusion.
"We just have to, er, take care of something real quick." Phil states, eyeing the bag in Marcus's hands.
"Yeah, I've got to get some things together for the night and then we'll be on our way."
"Well, just don't take too long. I'll talk with your mother, Phil. See if I can't get her to agree to letting you have another day off from school, as well as a ride over to your house."
"Sounds good to me!" Phil exclaims, trying not to let on that something is bothering him.
With this, Marcus's mother gives each of the boys a smile and pulls out her phone as she steps further into the living room. Once she is no longer looking their way, Marcus jerks his head back, motioning for Phil to follow him.
The two walk through the backyard, with Marcus holding the bag a few inches away from his body as he approaches the firepit yet again. Tossing the remains in, he collects the lighter fluid they left out and empties the bottle over the bag. Once the container is empty, he tosses it aside and looks to Phil for a light. Phil, getting the hint, puffs his chest and crosses his fingers. With the lighter burning brightly, he lowers it and sets the doll ablaze once more.
"You think it'll work this time?"
"It has to." Marcus watches the plastic melt and the paper towels turn black as the red liquid bubbles up. "Come on, let's get out of here."
YOU ARE READING
OddityVille: Funko (Book Three)
Horror"The carnival is back in town and with it comes Funko, the Contorting Clown! So come now children, gather 'round, and guess where Funko might be found!" The rhyme poisons the air around Marcus, as his friends tease him about his fear of the clown. T...
