Blog of a little ghost

It was quiet.

After an hour of screams, bones breaking, and bodies hitting her one-way window, the silence was deafening. Poppy sat in the corner of her stark white cell, clutching a toy phone and listening to the soft dripping of blood and faint dying gasps of scientists. Her door had opened at the start of the hour, but closed automatically when she did not move. This day was yet another horrible memory to add to her endless collection.

All caused by him.

Everything is his fault.

Poppy hugged the phone and wept for the lives lost. She should have known better than to trust him. Ollie was wrong.

“It’ll be great, Poppy! We’ll be free!”

“He can’t be trusted, Ollie.”

“But he’s giving us a chance to fight back and escape. Who else is going to do that?”

“I…”

“Trust him, Poppy. I do.”

“…Okay.”

“When the date comes, just stay where you are. Someone will come and get you once it’s over. Stay safe.”

And she stayed put and waited. She expected noise. Alarms blaring, voices yelling, toys screeching — all of that was guaranteed. She did not expect the endless cacophony of bodies hitting walls, bones crunching, people screaming at the top of their lungs, and the eerie silence that ended it all.

Tears dripping off her chin, she tapped in Ollie’s number. The ring echoed in her room. No one picked up. She placed it down, drew her knees up to her chin, and sobbed into her hands.

All those people… I hope Ollie is okay. Is he coming for me? Is Kissy? DogDay? I hope they’re all okay. This… this shouldn't have happened. His fault… all of this is his fault!

Everything — her father's murder, her capture, her abuse, the others’ mutilation, and her isolation — can all be traced back to Experiment 1006, ‘The Prototype.’ If he had stayed where he was supposed to be, Elliot would still be alive, the Playcare children would have been adopted out, and she would not have been ripped apart by evil, greedy people for years. Everything her brilliant father had built was turned to ash by him.

He’s a monster.

Something creaked. She shot up and listened. Footsteps — heavy, clipped, and metallic — slowly approached her cell. A strange mix of mechanical clicking, creaking, and shifting accompanied them. Near her door, she heard a dying specialist gasp out,

“No… no! No! No!” their voice grew shrill, “God, no! Please! No! No—”

Poppy flinched at the sudden wet, crunching sound and the subsequent thud. The killer laughed — an echoing, multi-layered sound that seemed to emit from a radio. It was unnatural. Unsettling. Poppy’s heart raced. She stared, wide-eyed, at the door. The keypad beeped as her code was entered. The door clicked then began to slide open.

She froze.

Experiment 1006, ducked beneath the doorframe and stepped into her room. He stood tall on legs she knew he did not have before, casting an oppressive shadow over her. His skull white face, stuck in a permenant smile, was cracked on the left side — the mechanical eye there black and long dead. But his right functioned fine. With it, he gazed down at her. Its yellow-orange glow was unforgettable. Heart hammering against her ribs, Poppy pressed herself against the wall.

She recalled those eyes peering at her father from the shadows of Playcare as he and her searched the grounds. Before she could alert him, a large snake-like jester creature sped out and tackled him. She ran away for cover. Helpless, she watched the creature relentlessly tear into her father’s chest. Then, once Elliot had stopped moving, 1006 turned his baleful, yellow-orange glare onto her. She fled, but the memory never left.

Now that same beast stood before her on legs covered by blue slacks that matched his blue, yellow and red tailcoat. His metal feet were fashioned to look like black dress shoes, the toes sharpened to points. He stood slightly hunched over, the gold braces reinforcing his spring, clicking and creaking from the slightest movements. His metal claws dangled down. They, his arms, and every other part of him were covered in fresh blood.

He clicked his face to the side.

“Ah,” he said, his voice a mix of voices. “You… stayed.”

Blood roared in her ears. She couldn’t run this time. There was no where to hide. No where to go. Her father’s murderer was blocking the only exit. She was trapped with him.

“Hello, Poppy.” He clicked his face upright. “You… are not hurt, are you?”

It took a few seconds for Poppy to register what he said. Chest heaving, she slowly shook her head.

“Good.”

He took a step. Poppy winced hard, slamming her back against the wall. He froze.

“Careful,” He said, “You’re fragile.”

“Stay back!” She shouted, her voice shaking. “G-go away!”

He stared. “Poppy… I will not hurt you.”

Don't trust him. He’s a killer. Don’t move.

“Poppy.” Slowly, he lowered himself to floor, crouching with both hands flat on the tile floor. The bells in his hat jingled as he tilted his head. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’re free. The pain… is over.”

She placed a hand over her rapid heart. She found her voice. “I-is it over?”

“Yes. All of them… are dead. They will never hurt us again.”

She sucked in a quick breath through her teeth. Then she dipped her head. “This was too much…”

“It was the only way, Poppy.”

“Way for what? For us to leave? There had to be—”

“We can never leave.”

“What?”

“There is no place for us out there. We… are not who we used to be. If we were to venture outside the factory, we would be killed or captured. And if we are caught, the experiments will start all over again. We can never leave.”

Poppy stared at her porcelain hands. We’re not people anymore. She hugged herself, feeling hollow. We’re monsters. Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

1006 gently said, “But this is not the end. It is the start of a new beginning. We can make a home here—”

“This is not home,” she sobbed, not looking at him.

“We can make it a home. It will take work, but it will be worth it in the end—”

“Why?”

“Why… build a home?”

“No,” she glared up at him through her fingers. “Why did you do this? Was this really the only way to make them stop?”

The jester watched her steadily. “Yes. It was, Poppy. This is karma at its finest. All of them deserved death for what they did to us—”

“What the scientists did to us! Not the workers—”

“All had to die!”

His distorted shout froze her blood. She flinched and huddled against the wall. 1006 dropped his head with a sigh.

“Poppy,” he said, “As soon as we exposed ourselves, their deaths were set. We could not let survivors escape and no doubt report us to the authorities. That would make everything we just did pointless. All had to go. It was the only way.”

She shook her head. “You’re a killer. That’s all you know. How to kill. That’s why you think this was it—”

“I am more than the beast you saw that night—”

“Are you?” She gestured to the blood, sneering. “You look like one!”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this, but I was close by and I was worried that one of them would hurt—”

“Why do you care?” She spat, “You don't know me! You don’t know anything about me!”

He sat straight. “Of course I do! You the Poppy Ludwig, Elliot’s precious little girl—”

“Don’t say his name!” Her yell startled him. She breathed hard, her fear mixing with hatred. “You don't deserve to say his name, murderer!”

He hunched his shoulders, hands hidden in his lap. “Okay.”

“‘Okay?’ Is that all you have to say to explain yourself? Why did you kill him?”

“That is not a wound I wish to unwrap. Not now, anyway. Not when you hate me…”

“Of course I hate you!” She shot up onto her feet. “I will always hate you! You’re a monster!”

“We’re all monsters, Poppy,” he sighed. “But we can become something better together. We have liberated ourselves from our oppressors and are now free to do whatever we want!” He shifted onto one knee. “We can run, we can play, we can live forever as a family in a home of our design! The world is ours! But I need you,” he placed his hand, palm up, onto the floor, “to trust me. I am more than the monster they turned me into.”

She stayed close to the wall. “I will never trust you.”

“Poppy, please. I beg you to look past the viscera and see the future! We can never go back, but we can move forward. However, we must to do it together or else everything will crumble into nothing and we will devolve into animals.”

She stared at him.

“Please, come with me. I will never hurt you.”

She sat on the floor and brought her knees up under her chin. “No. Not when you’re covered in blood.”

1006 twitched then looked at his bloody hands. Sighing, he creakily stood and rubbed his hands down the front of his pants, smearing the blood. He put his hands out to her.

“That’s the best I can do, Poppy.”

She squinted at him, unmoving. Realizing she was not going to stand, he approached her, his heavy metallic footsteps sending slight tremors through the floor. Poppy’s heart jumped. She shivered as her terror returned.

“Get away!”

He crouched to her level, too close for her comfort. “We do not have time for this. We must wrangle up the others and organize them before they go feral.” His fingers clicked as he moved them over her head and gingerly picked her up by the collar of her dress.

She screamed and kicked. “Put me down!”

“Poppy, stop moving! I don't want to drop you.”

Holding her out, he rose to his full height. Then, gently, he placed her on his right shoulder. She quickly grabbed his collar when she felt herself slip. She was very high up.

1006 glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Hold on. I will walk slow.”

She trembled. “Put me down!”

“I need you to trust me for we only have each other. Believe me when I say I will never hurt you. All I want is peace and happiness for all of us. We were denied a proper introduction so let’s start over.” He placed a hand over his heart and twisted his neck to look sideways at her. “I am The Prototype. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

His bizzare formality puzzled her. “Uh, hi, Prototype.”

“Hm. Come on, Poppy. Play along.” He gestured dramatically as he spoke. “We’re free! No more pain! No more cells! The dark deed we have commited will be forgotten and forgiven in time as we pave our new road. You’ll see that, past the blood and the viscera is salvation, love, and happiness—”

“Prototype!” She grappled onto his collar with both hands. “Stop moving around!”

Extra photo with my Huggy figure that I didn’t feel like fine-tuning (because my phone’s camera is hot garbage..?! It’s 2026 guys cmon!!!)