That threw my mind into a whirlwind of emotions. I had been lied to all along.
Inside the box, there was a small empty dollhouse as well, and across its roof someone had scrawled in red: “You will become me.”
As I sat on the snow-covered ground, hopelessly alone and afraid, faced with the darkest moment of my entire life, I allowed the truth to uncover itself in my mind.
They tricked me—manipulated me into believing that Colton Kilhouser had died all those years ago.
Doctor Tuttle used him like a puppet to do his bidding. Colton had most likely had enough, and that’s why he was terrorizing thetown…but why me? What had I done to Colton to warrant all of this madness?
I’d soon find out. I needed more answers, but I couldn’t move. I was utterly destroyed, my body in a state of complete fatigue. I tried my best to keep my eyes open, but I failed. I soon drifted into a deep sleep.
I was suddenly in my old living room on Christmas Day, standing near the dead bodies of my foster parents, Peter and Maria Frost. The dark figure in the red coat and the plastic Santa mask was nowhere to be seen.
The boy standing in front of me looked like myself, he was holding a bloodied pointed star. He was breathing heavily, his Christmas pajamas streaked with blood. I felt nauseous as my vision grew hazy, bile rising from my stomach.
Wait…am I Colton Kilhouser? All of my blackouts…it makes sense, even if I don’t want it to.
I couldn’t believe what I’d done. I truly didn’t think I was capable.
It was all coming back to me now, the traumatic memory I had blocked out for so many years—the altered, manipulated scene that had been instilled and ingrained in my head by the adults that were around me in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Tears ran down my face as I faced an inevitable truth: my life was over. “Why me? Why?! Why would I do this?!” I screamed at myself.
The boy dropped the pointed star and looked at me with misty eyes. “I…I don’t know. I got mad and…I’m a monster. Come with me,Lenny. Come with me. We have to leave. The police will be here any second. We can protect each other.”
I shook my head and stepped back, fear strangling my chest. “No, I can’t. Look what you’ve done. You killed them!”
The boy ran his fingers through his hair, not believing what he had just done. “Please, Lenny. We didn’t mean to. All we wanted were the dolls. They never gave them to us. They always kept us locked away. We snapped…we couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sorry.”
He tried to step forward, but I screamed at him. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I didn’t regard myself as human after that moment of darkness. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know who I am anymore. I hate you. I hate you!” I shouted.
He was taken aback by that and fell to the ground, his legs becoming weak. “We’ll remember this, Lenny. We’ll remember.”
I jerked awake, my head hitting the snow on the ground. As my eyes fluttered open, I was still surrounded by the dark. I thought about what I had just dreamed before I’d forget it. That was the voice I had been hearing all this time, my own voice.
I knew why I was exacting revenge. I was punishing myself for what I had done…20 years ago.
CHAPTER 24
CHRISTMAS EVE
Iquietly walked home to find Detective Castillo already there. I saw her inside my house, through the back window. She seemed to be searching for evidence of something—perhaps wrongdoing, or foul play.
I snuck towards the back of my house and entered quietly, pushing the door slowly, using the howl of the wind to mask the noise. I tiptoed to the living room where she was standing, sifting through my couch cushions.
She slowly turned her head and examined me from head to toe. She noticed how horrid I looked, covered in blood and ice. “Lenny…what…” before she could finish that sentence, I yelled and dove into her—tackling her to the ground and catching her by surprise.
I pinned her down with my body and pulled out her service weapon—aiming it at her like a deranged lunatic. Her eyes were large and full of fear, her hands in the air, her mouth shaking.
“M-Mayor Ham is dead. It was you,” she whispered, her voice was trembling. “You killed him and you killed George. Didn’t you? Joseph too? Angela? What have you been up to, Lenny? What have you done?”
I got off of her slowly, keeping the gun pointed at her. She started to get up. “No!” I commanded. “You will stay on the ground and you will tell me the whole truth—all of it!”
She gulped and took a deep breath. “What are you talking about?”
I shook the gun angrily at her. “You know what I’m talking about!” I boomed.
She rubbed her forehead and scoffed, probably at the absurdity of the situation. “I should’ve known this was coming. All this time…the chickens have come home to roost.”
