Page 60 - TheRedSon_PrintInterior_430pp_5.5x8.5_9-22-2019_v1

The distance between myself and the grinning demon-
doll began to shrink, but before we met, the wall beside me
exploded, scattering nightmare like shrapnel. Something
huge had broken into the room—it was my father, in all his
former living glory. Froth and fire leaked from the corners
of his mouth, and his eyes blazed like blast-craters. With
his bloodless hands burned onto his axe, he intercepted the
creature, throwing his massive shoulder into the stumbling
toy from hell. The creature was lifted from the floor and
sent crashing into the darkness. My father lifted his axe to
the roar of his own laughter. Though glorious, the intrusion
irritated me—this was the second time he had come between
me and a nightmare.
Somehow, my sisters were behind me, their curving
knives up in front of their grinning mouths. I wouldn’t have
guessed their next move for the life of me—they gleefully
punctuated the length of my body with their happy knives,
laughing all the while.
As I approached a waking awareness, still caught
somewhere between dream and a slightly sturdier reality, I
heard the sugary squeals of something inhuman, followed
by the sounds of something wet falling down a long flight
of stairs—perhaps in many small pieces. Then came the
laughter of my entire family, fading into abandoned sleep. I
sat up and looked around, finding myself prone upon a bed
within the glass penthouse. A cold breeze lifted the edges
of the oversized sheet that had been draped over me. My
family lay carelessly scattered next to the bed, on the floor.
The thought of someone else touching them stoked a rage
almost beyond my control.
I retrieved my family and sought out the man with the
ridiculous hat and blue-glowing eyes. He was easy enough to
find—I could see him through the glass walls, where he lay
upon a strange demonic bed, only a room away. The black
bed was slathered in a membranous substance, which did
not react to the breeze’s touch, despite its apparently delicate
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