“This isn’t what I wanted…”

by XxX_Coffin_XxX

Summary:

The year is 1989 in the nice suburban neighborhood, Mullhoven, New Town. On the outskirts of town rests an abandoned building which would of been home to the filming of a recently canned puppet show, and once her kids go missing, their mother Nancy heads off to find them.

Notes:

Based on an au I talk about on my tumblr

Lily and Todney - Rodney and Lilac

Their mother - Nancy

Father - Weasley

Brother - Justin

(Names are generic on purpose)

Chapter 1: Kids And Puppets

Two twins lay across from each-other in their separate beds, Rodney and Lilac, identical twins, though not so identical recently, Rodney had grown quite a few inches about Lilac, and like most pre-teen boys had gotten rowdier as-well, Lilac had continued to match him in that area however and they still seemed inseparable, maybe siblings are just bonded like that.

Rodney squirmed around in his bed, his large striped blue pajamas feeling strangely hot, he kicked the sheets off of him and sat up in bed before whispering over at his sister.

“Lulu, wake up!”

Lilac grumbled, her brother was up to some antics, she knew that much, she sat up in a similar manner to him, rubbing at her eyes and unsuccessful trying to fix her hair that she styled into pigtails and refused to undo even if it meant an uncomfortable sleep or messed up hair.

“Huh…?”

Lilac mumbled out as Rodney hopped out of his bed and started messed with their window latch before getting it open and lifting it silently, there had been a storm recently, nothing horrible, it just left the towns grass muddy and the rivers overflowing slightly, Rodney could see the mud as he stared out the window.

“One of the boys at the playground told me you can find frogs near that river in the woods, but only when it’s dark out like this.”

Lilac woke up a bit from that, she was fond of frogs, and if they were that rare…plus, she thought her and Rodney were pretty mature now that they were both ten, even if the river was deep they could probably stand up and be just fine, big kids they were.

“Are there really frogs out there?”

“Sure are, I can already hear them!”

Rodney was already halfway through the window causing Lilac to speed after him until her legs hit the muddy grass outside their house, her brother seized her hand and trodded down into the thick brush of the woods, tangles of vines and large but skinny trees surrounded the admittedly small pair as Rodney guided Lilac towards the froggy croaks, both of their feet getting dirty and slightly scratched as Rodney guided her through the thick brush of woods.

Rodney was always a wild child, always needing to be saved from eating poisonous berries, Lilac was fine with playing along, she enjoyed exploring and goofing around with her Brother, Rodney had let go of her hand at this point once he heard a croak, and he sped off into the bushes to follow them.

“Rodney!”

Lilac called out in slight distress, her mother and her father (to a lesser extent), had always warned them about straying from the house and had especially warned them about splitting up when lost, she jogged after him, catching her foot on a rock and tumbling down into the dark underbrush.

-

Nancy stared at the rundown building through her kitchen window, She imagined it wouldn’t be long until it would be covered in overgrown nature, that building…her husband used to work on a show they made there…before it was canned.

Her kids loved that show, they loved being on that set, they wanted to be a part of that show so bad…maybe that’s where they had gone missing.

She scrubbed the dishes as she glanced back at Weasley, that man, that filthy man, of course the only thing he could do at a tragedy like this was drink himself into a stupor and whine at her, grumbling on and on.

It had only been days but it felt like weeks, and weeks felt like months.

The police had searched the woods, but had only turned up with one of Lilac’s hair ties and presumed the twins…her twins…dead.

Nancy wouldn’t accept that, they couldn’t be dead, if anything, the hair-tie was only more reason to keep searching, and to search that building, that building called to her, she could feel them there…trapped, scared, hungry.

-

Nancy stood up and out of bed, Weasley wasn’t even lying next to her, he was passed out on the couch, not that she needed his help…she stepped out the back door and into the woods, her nightgown skirting against the muddy ground as she stepped deep and deeper in the brush, illuminated by her flashlight.

She stared up at the rundown studio, a building that already seemed destroyed even if production had only ended months ago, it felt like it shouldn’t be here anymore, that it should already be rubble…Nancy figured she’d have it break in, she wound back her arm and struck the flashlight against the front door…nothing.

She grumbled under her breath, going for another swing before the door slightly swung open…maybe the first strike had done the job.

She lit up the inside with her now slightly damaged flashlight, it must have been the entrance to a work room, with all the scattered items.

Nancy briefly glanced around the room before her eyes landed on a small latch door in the floor, she stepped forward and stared down at it, they must be down there…Rodney and Lilac…this is where they must have gone…she was sure of it.

She wrapped her hand around the latch and opened the door, sticking her flashlight down there, though she could only see darkness, no matter how far she forced her arm down the cellar, but she suddenly felt…stairs, Rodney and Lilac had to be down there.

She stuck her leg down the cellar until she felt a step, she pushed the cellar door all the way up so it was secured open as she made her way down the cellar stairs.

The cellar stood up, it almost felt like the walls were breathing.

The door slowly closed.

Chapter 2: Felt from flesh

Notes:

“ Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run

Bang, bang, bang, bang goes the farmer's gun

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run, run

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run”

I see myself. I stare. Stare at the mirror. My eyes do not bulge. They are flat. My nose does not protrude out. It is flat. My mouth is red. It is flat. Yet I talk.

I don’t know how long I’ve been here, months feel like years and years feel like forever.

My children look at me, laughing. Playing. Their smiles are brighter than mine and their eyes shine brighter than a hundred supernovas.

My husband looks at me, playing. Playing his games. Sitting there and playing his games. He’s like a child. He’s more of a child than our children.

His grandma looks at me, dying. Rotting. She sits there and dies everyday. Her death rots the walls of the house. She suffocates this family.

And the eldest, no words. He lumbers. Doesn’t listen to his own mother. Disrespectful little shit.

We all gather around the table for dinner every night, I wear my special gown and we all eat, but I’m not hungry, the food I eat slides down my mouth and back onto the plate. They all say I’m pretty.

I stare at all of them. That’s all I can do. No blinking. Only staring.

They are my family but I don’t want them, I see my children and I only wish they leave. I wish I never found them.

And now I look down at my hands, plush, only one finger and a nub sliced from shattering the mirror.

I pick up a shard and stare at myself once more, my body feels like it trembles thought it doesn’t.

I hold it up to my stitched neck, the seams still feel like they’re popping. I wonder if flesh or felt will come out.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry kids, I’m sorry but this isn’t what I wanted.

-

A fly buzzes, rubbing its feet together, perched on the eyeball of a long-dead blonde girl, her pigtails battered against the rivers rocks, other flies rest over on a boys corpse, laying eggs in his exposed brains before they fly away.

-

Lilac Barlo and Rodney Barlo: reported missing May 5, 1989 - pronounced dead May 12, 1989.

Nancy Barlo: Missing.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The Puppet Graveyard {dhmis au}