Depart the Darkness

by Melissa R. L. Simonin

  “I’m not laughing!” Dillon hurried to say.

  “Good!” Xander snapped. The doll stared Dillon down as it paced, its eyes never leaving his face. He trembled, and eventually looked away.

  “Got any popcorn?” Xander asked suddenly. The doll stood still. Dillon looked up in confusion. “If we’re gonna watch a movie, we’ve gotta have popcorn. You do have pay per view, right? I intend to get a lot of use out of that!”

  Dillon stuttered so badly, his words were unintelligible. The doll stared blankly.

  “What,” Xander demanded flatly. “You think I can’t eat? You do see the teeth, right? Of course I can eat. A steak sounds good. How about T.G.I. Friday’s? Or is it too late. Nah, it’s not too late. Come on! I’ll drive.”

  Dillon stared in horror as the doll hopped off the table and headed toward the door leading to the garage. He gave a shriek as he involuntarily rose from his chair, and followed.

  “Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Dillon pled frantically. He grabbed the doorframe on his way past, and held on for dear life.

  “What?” Xander asked. The doll stopped, and turning, looked up at him. “You got some place better in mind?”

  “Uh… uh…” Dillon stuttered in panic. “Uh… pizza! We’ll order pizza and watch a movie, you wanted to watch a movie!”

  He stared at the doll desperately. The doll appeared to consider that, then shrugged.

  “Alright,” Xander agreed. Dillon slumped against the doorframe in relief. “We’ll do T.G.I. Friday’s on Friday. Makes more sense. Ooh, know what I’m looking forward to? Wednesday night, and getting together for drinks with the rest of the group from Intersect!”

  Dillon looked ready to cry again. The doll walked past, seemingly oblivious to the psychological turmoil he was in.

  “Maybe you’re right though,” Xander said thoughtfully, as the doll hopped onto the kitchen counter and sat facing Dillon. “I should get a makeover. I mean, what’s with this? Am I wearing makeup, or aren’t I? I’m not exactly rocking the Queen Amidala, Effie Trinket look.”

  The doll tapped its partially painted lips.

  “And I want pants,” Xander added firmly. “I’ve got pantaloons under this skirt, but I can’t go around dressed in just those. That would be indecent. Everyone would stare.”

  Dillon blinked dumbly.

  “What are you doing, man?” Xander asked impatiently. “Order the pizza, already!”

  Dillon jerked out of his daze, and pulled out his phone.

  His hands trembled as he found the right contact, then held the phone to his ear.

  “Tell them I don’t want any grease,” Xander yelled loudly. “No grease, man! You don’t want to know what that does to my complexion.”

  Dillon turned away and spoke quietly into the phone.

  “I said no grease, did you hear me?” Xander shouted. Dillon involuntarily turned around to face the doll. “I want to hear you say it!”

  “Uh, and no grease,” Dillon said.

  The person on the other end of the line seemed confused.

  “Tell them blot it with paper towels until they come clean!” Xander ordered. “I want extra pepperoni, too.”

  Dillon’s color returned in full force. His cheeks burned.

  “Blot the pizza with paper towels until they come clean,” Dillon said desperately. “And add extra pepperoni.”

  “You’re gonna check and make sure they do it right before they leave here,” Xander warned. “Better tell them that! Otherwise they’ll mess it up.”

  Dillon looked as though death might not be such an unbearable prospect after all.

  “Make sure it has no grease, I’m checking the pizza when it gets here,” Dillon said stiffly, then abruptly ended his call.

  He gave the doll an exasperated look.

  “Don’t even think of going to the door when the pizza comes,” he said firmly.

  “Don’t even think of trying to stop me,” Xander retorted. “Where’s your TV?”

  “It’s—through there,” Dillon said, motioning toward an open doorway.

  “Come on,” Xander exclaimed enthusiastically.

  Whether he wanted to or not, Dillon followed the doll as it skipped across the floor and into the living room. It hopped onto the couch and sat, then held out its hand. The remote sailed through the air and came to rest beside it. The TV screen mounted on the opposite wall, lit. The doll tapped at the remote with its hand, and the pay per view menu popped up.

  Xander made a tsking sound, and tapped at the remote again. Menus moved rapidly across the screen.

  “There!” Xander said with satisfaction. “Parental controls are now enabled. I’ll hang onto the password for you. What’ll we watch? How about Aladdin. That’s an animated classic, you know.”

  Dillon looked sick. The doll turned its head in his direction.

  “You don’t look happy about that, Dillon,” Xander observed innocently. “Is there something you’d rather watch?”

  “Yes!” Dillon hissed. “You, leaving!”

  “Say the word,” Xander replied blithely. “Several, actually. In writing, on video, and I’m outa here.”

  Dillon’s eyes burned with resentment. He crossed his arms and turned away.

  “Just watch your stupid cartoon,” he snapped. “I don’t care what you do.”

  “Excellent. Where’s your phone? I want to talk to your girlfriend.”

  Dillon shot the doll a horrified glare. The doorbell rang, and he almost looked relieved. He jumped off the couch and fled for the door.

  The pitter patter of patent leather boots followed right along.

  Dillon grasped the doorknob as the doll came to light on his shoulder. He shrieked as he let go of the knob, and tried unsuccessfully to scrape the doll off. He grappled madly with the unseen force that prevented him from laying a hand on it.

  The door swung open.

  “What do you think of our routine?” Xander asked.

  Dillon froze as his eyes locked on the open-mouthed pizza delivery guy standing on the front step.

  “Part mime, part ventriloquist,” Xander continued. “I think we’re ready for the road.”

  The doll patted Dillon on the head, causing him to lash out furiously again, to no avail.

  “The guy loves me, this is just part of our act,” Xander said to the delivery guy. The guy blinked hard.

  “Yeah, uh… that’ll be $14.85,” he said, gingerly holding out the pizza box.

  “Open it,” Xander ordered. “Come on, open it up!”

  “What?” the guy asked in surprise.

  “Gotta do a grease check,” Xander insisted.

  Much against his will, Dillon flipped open the pizza box and lifted a piece in the air. The pizza guy, Dillon, and the doll, watched as grease dripped off the end of the slice, and back into the box.

  “This is disgusting!” Xander exclaimed. “I can’t eat this! All it is, is grease!”

  “Well… you did order extra pepperoni,” the guy said timidly, addressing the doll. “And it is a pizza. That’s kind of what you get.”

  “Take it away, my good man,” Xander said. Dillon, a grim look on his face, involuntarily dismissed the delivery guy with a wave. “I can’t possibly eat this. But, it isn’t your fault your place of business is unable to fill a simple request… here.”

  Dillon took out his wallet. Much to his horror, he watched himself hand the guy a wad of bills.

  “Thanks!” the guy said, smiling as he stuffed the money into his pocket. “And… you’re real good at this ventriloquism. I barely see your lips moving at all. But… your doll’s kind of disturbing.”

  “Don’t I know it!” Xander hollered after the guy.

  The door closed and locked. The doll hopped off Dillon’s shoulder, and headed to the kitchen at a brisk pace. Dillon had no choice but to follow.

  “Where do you keep the popcorn?” Xander asked. The doll rummaged through cabinets. It left a string of pots, pans, food storage containers, and
dry goods, in its wake. “Ooh, movie butter!”

  The doll hopped onto the counter, a package of microwaveable popcorn in tow. It placed the bag inside the microwave, and set the timer.

  “I like mine well-done, hope you don’t mind,” Xander said.

  “Would it make a difference?” Dillon snapped.

  “Sure it’ll make a difference,” replied Xander innocently. The doll rummaged through cabinets again, probably looking for a bowl. “Either you’ll enjoy smelling burnt popcorn the rest of the night, or you won’t.”

  Dillon jumped up and down in a rage, as he screamed. He grabbed the glass pepper shaker off the counter, and hurled it.

  Instead of smashing into the doll and shattering the back of its china head, the missile came to a halt, and hovered in the air just behind it. Dillon paled.

  The doll turned around. Lifting one hand, then the other, it appeared to juggle the pepper shaker.

  Xander made a tsking sound.

  “I’d say that’s a sign you don’t want me here, Dillon. Except for one thing. All you’ve gotta do is confess, and I’ll leave. But, you won’t do that. The logical conclusion is that you want me to stay. What time do we leave for work in the morning?”

  Dillon blinked hard at that change in direction. Xander didn’t wait for an answer.

  “No, no… no, never mind that. I won’t have you setting up the next unsuspecting guy who walks into the project. I won’t have that at all. Your reign of terror is ended. Consequently, so is your job. We’ll tell Daddy all about that at dinner tomorrow. Think your parents will like our new act? They may think you’re crazy, quitting your job to be a traveling ventriloquist mime. It’s not near as crazy as thinking you could get away with destroying people’s lives, though.”

  The doll continued to juggle the shaker from one hand to the other, as Xander let that sink in.

  “Sticks and stones can’t break my bones,” Xander said conversationally. “Nothing can. Not anymore. How about yours?”

  The doll hurled the shaker at Dillon. He shrieked as it shattered in the air in front of him. He somehow escaped the many glass fragments, but was liberally doused with pepper. Dillon sneezed violently, as the smell of burning popcorn filled the room. He added gagging to his repertoire.

  Then came the tears. Whether the result of frustration, fear, impotent rage, or pepper, I couldn’t be sure.

  Dillon sagged against the wall and held his face in his hands. He looked broken.

  “Come on,” Xander said. The doll shut off the microwave, and hopped off the counter. It pattered across the floor, and guided Dillon to the living room couch.

  Dillon sat and cried for a while. The doll sat on the coffee table, facing him. Xander waited him out, and used the time to rehydrate.

  Eventually Dillon ceased crying, moved through the sobbing stage, then on to the occasional sniff. Still Xander didn’t speak, so Dillon glanced at the doll. Its glass eyes glittered in the lamplight.

  “I’ll stop, okay?” Dillon bargained. “I won’t give the guy any more information. I haven’t heard from him in a while anyway, maybe he got everything he wanted.”

  “What about Aaron and Phillip?” Xander asked.

  “Look, what’s done is done,” Dillon said defensively. “I can’t do anything about that.”

  “Au contraire,” Xander retorted. “You can admit you set them up. Take the guilt off their undeserving shoulders, and put it on yours, where it belongs.”

  “What good will that do?” Dillon said doggedly. “The DOD won’t care. They did execute the command to lower the firewalls. Until they figured it out, anyway. So they are guilty.”

  “Do not make the doll angry,” Xander said threateningly. The doll’s hair raised, much like a lion’s mane. Dillon shrank back a little. “If the DOD doesn’t care, if they’re that inept, then… that’s on their head. But if you don’t confess that you’re responsible for setting up Phillip, Elliott, and Aaron… then your troubles will never end. I’m not going anywhere, man. Not until you clear these guys of the crimes they didn’t commit.”

  “Why do you even care?” Dillon exclaimed desperately.

  “Dude! Why do you not?” Xander shot back. “What’s your problem, Dillon? What makes you think you have the right to use other people like this?”

  Dillon rolled his eyes a little and glanced away.

  “You think you’re superior,” Xander concluded. “You had no conscience. You do now, though. No amount of lying is gonna wear me down. I’m sticking with you, Dillon. As long as it takes. You’re not gonna use anyone else, ever again. I already made you wish you were never born once this evening. I’m gonna keep that up.”

  “I won’t do it anymore,” Dillon said desperately. “I told you that!”

  “You won’t wear me down,” Xander repeated. “It’s my way, or… the highway, with you in the passenger seat. I got the impression you don’t care for my driving. But, it’s either that, or you confess your guilt and their innocence.”

  Dillon held his head in his hands.

  “I can’t,” he said. “I don’t want my Dad to know!”

  “Because you care about him, or because you’re afraid he won’t pay for your lawyer, once he knows what you’ve done?”

  Dillon made no reply. The doll shook its head. Probably in disgust.

  “I don’t care what you want or don’t want, anyway,” Xander said coldly. “I care what Aaron’s and Phillip’s fathers think, and their families, friends, and all the rest of the people who care about and believe in them. They should believe in them, they’re innocent. You though, are not. Besides. I’m telling Daddy myself tomorrow, at dinner. Or… technically, you are. I’m just the dummy. You’re the ventriloquist who’s too ashamed of himself to directly admit what he’s done.”

  Dillon stared at the doll, wave after wave of emotion washing over his face.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” he said slowly, a threatening look in his eyes.

  The doll shook its head slowly.

  “Dude. You say stuff like this, and it makes me think you don’t even know me,” Xander replied reproachfully. “I’d dare a lot more than that. I’d dare tell the world. Whatever the consequences of your actions, bear in mind that if you don’t confess on your own, they’ll be compounded by my continued presence in your life. So you gotta ask yourself, Dillon. You want to do this alone… or you want to do this together? Forever?”

  Dillon’s complexion was blotchy. Maybe his face couldn’t decide whether to pale, or flush.

  Dillon gave the doll a long look, then sagged in resignation.

  “Fine. Tell me exactly what I have to do to get you out of here.”

  Chapter 26

  “We’ve got it,” Miles said quietly.

  “Awesome,” Xander replied with satisfaction. The doll stood. “So long, Dillon. As long as you don’t go trying to retract your statement, you’ll never see me again. But if you do… I’ll be back.”

  “I’m not going to retract my statement,” Dillon replied brokenly. “Just go—please, just go!”

  “You got it,” Xander replied.

  The doll trotted out of the living room, down the hall to the front door, and out onto the steps. The door closed behind it. The doll hopped onto the snow covered lawn, then walked briskly around the side of the house.

  In a flash, it took off like a rocket into the air.

  Miles glanced at the clock and winced, as he took out his phone. He hesitated for just a moment, then selected the contact he wanted. We all watched the video screens as the doll sailed rapidly past the lights of first one city, then another.

  “Hi, Grandma Polly. It’s coming your way.”

  “Very good, Miles dear,” Grandma Polly answered. “So I take it you got your man?”

  “We did,” Miles smiled. “With a vengeance.”

  “Wonderful, dear!”

  We heard footsteps as she traveled down the hall to the doors leading to the balcony where the doll would make i
ts landing.

  “I’m ready, dear,” she said.

  “One more minute…” Miles replied, watching the screens. The lights of the estate came into view, and the doll came to a halt and settled on the floor of the balcony. We heard the door open, and Grandma Polly appeared on the screen.

  “Oh, my!” she said, hesitating a moment before picking up the doll. “It’s a wonder it took so long to crack that fellow.”

  “Pretty disturbing, isn’t it,” Miles agreed.

  “Yes, but she’s rather a hero at that,” Grandma Polly decided, looking the doll over. “I’ll put her safely away for you. But… do you mind terribly dear, keeping a force field around her?”

  “Not at all, Grandma,” Miles smiled. “We’ll see you this weekend, and pick her up then.”

  He and Grandma Polly said goodbye, and Miles spoke into the mic.

  “That’s a wrap.”

  On one of the screens we saw Xander tear off his headset and jump to his feet. Me, Miles, and John, did the same thing. The door to our room swung open just in time to allow Xander entrance. He was smiling ear to ear, like the rest of us.

  “That was awesome,” Miles said, as we all group hugged. Jenny and Annette hurried into the room, and joined us.

  “You were so amazing!” Jenny exclaimed admiringly, as she hugged Xander. There was a different respect in her eyes. She respected him before, but… this was different. In a good way.

  “The way you good-cop, bad-copped him—the guy didn’t know which end was up!” John laughed, slapping him on the back.

  “No one else could’ve pulled that off,” I said. “And that’s the truth.”

  “I didn’t do it alone,” Xander pointed out modestly. “Without Miles’ abilities, I wouldn’t have had the chance.”

  “And John’s technical expertise,” Miles said, giving credit where it was due. “Plus the webcams, transmitter, speaker, and microphone, which were skillfully disguised by Jenny and Annette. And the truth, which Anika supplied.”

  “We all did it,” Xander agreed. “We all got this guy. We all got this guy! Do you realize that? We got this guy!”

  He whooped, and so did the rest of us. There was a lot of hugging, laughing, and… rather passionate kissing on the part of Jenny and Xander, which I benevolently chose to ignore.