Puppet Show

Until yesterday I was just a simple girl who lived in a nowhere town, someone who didn’t think they were going to matter in the long run. Just someone who was going to come out, do their business and clock out when the time was right, then I did something that changed this forever. Turns out I might be clocking out early. I’ll explain to the best of my ability, I’m also going to use an alias because of, well reasons, I will be going by Emily.

I lived in a relatively small town, so small that everybody knew each other. You couldn’t walk down the street without getting a friendly hello, but me being the anti-social and anxiety filled high school graduate I am I really didn’t pay much mind to it. There was only one person I was extremely close with, someone who had been with me through my years of high school, guided me and fought by my side while I dealt with all of the bullshit, her name is Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was similar to me, she was very anti-social and was considered a problem child by the school. She would almost regularly skip class and when she did show up she would simply just sleep through the course, or if she didn’t sleep she would play around or make hand puppets, she made them with incredible detail such as using real hair for the hair or facial hair of the puppet.

Me on the other hand I was the complete opposite of Elizabeth, I was a straight B student and never missed a single day of class. My English teacher had asked me personally if I was able to assist Elizabeth, I was confused why he asked me and it turns out he had asked 3 other students before me and they all simply denied because they wanted nothing to do with Elizabeth. I asked my teacher to give me time to think, as I felt as though I wanted to get to know her a little bit more before I dedicated my time to her.

During lunch period, I saw Elizabeth sitting at a table on her own. She was another hand puppet, the one she was carrying had a mustache and was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt. I walked over and also noticed she was wearing a Star Wars shirt, similar to mine. I spoke “Hey, you like Star Wars to?” Elizabeth looked up, then immediately looked down. I spoke again, “Is it cool if I, ya know, sit here?” She nodded her head yes.

At first we were very quiet, I then commented on the puppet, “That’s a really nice puppet. Did you make that?” She nodded her head yes again. I then asked another question, “How many have you made?” It was at this moment she had finally responded with an actual answer, “I have a lot. I make them in my spare time.” After this we started to have many other conversations following this one And it was with this simple conversation I was able to become comfortable with Elizabeth, we shared many things together, our music taste, favorite movies and turns out we both played video games. With that I was happily able to accept the tutor offer from my teacher. Elizabeth and I were officially friends.

During the tutoring sessions we became closer and closer every single day. One night we decided to go to her house to do some “studying” which meant playing Super Smash Bros. and eating pizza. Elizabeth was only living with her mom as according to Elizabeth, her father had passed away. She also had a brother however he was away on a field trip to a waterpark with his middle school friends.

During this night, it was at this point that me and Elizabeth grew closer and closer with every hour getting closer to the night. It even got to a point where I started telling her some really deep dark secrets, as she told me some of hers. The one I told her was I was actually an addict to unprescribed medication as it sooths my depression and anxiety, it’s how I was able to simply walk to her and offer to sit next to her. One night, at her house she told me something of hers; “I like to make videos with my hand puppets”

She then goes to a website called Puppet Show. The website only contained a playlist of videos of Elizabeth doing a puppet show, it was actually really funny, she was really good at doing different voices. She then spoke “I did this one about my dad, made it for his birthday. He’s, he’s no longer here.” I then looked at her, and then going back to the video, it then got to a point where the puppet of her father, which was presented with the exact same puppet she had during our first time meeting, blue shirt and mustache, started to gag, another puppet, which was meant to represent Elizabeth, dressed up in a nurse gown, began to cry. The puppet then yelled “he’s having a heart attack!” I was a little freaked out at this, but at the same time I was confused. “You said you made this for your dad?” Elizabeth then spoke, while staring at the video, “Yeah, I made it after he died. I only did it to basically let out my emotions. At the time of his death I was completely silent. I had no idea what to say. Sorry for the suddenness of this, I can tell it’s a bit freaky.” I then spoke “A little? That’s like psycho shit right there! Haha” Elizabeth then laughed as well.

“It really is when you look at it out of context! Haha” This happened a year ago. During the later times after this me and Elizabeth grew closer and closer, and every night we talked and she would show me another video that she had made, all of them simply for fun. One video involved a puppet screaming while going singing Light my Fire from The Doors, while it was on fire. Another video dealt with a puppet holding scissors and a hand, Elizabeths obviously, cutting one of the eyes. Then saying “Look! I’m Cyclops! X-Men lets go!” We were cracking up.

Elizabeth obviously had a really dark sense of humor, but the one video I just couldn’t get out of my mind was the one about her dad. The tone of it was so different, obviously she wanted to express emotions, but I don’t know what it is. Every night she watches it again, ending with “I love you dad.” We both are now graduated and our roommates in our new apartment together and we are the best of friends. Then yesterday occurred.

After graduation I was able to secure a job at the local insurance company as a front desk assistant. Coming into work, clocking in and clocking out when the time was right. Elizabeth was able to secure a job as a freelance editor for short films, so she was able to be a stay at home roommate. Yesterday, Saturday morning I woke up at 9 AM, ready to enjoy my day off from work. I noticed Elizabeth wasn’t around, I thought maybe she went to get breakfast so I simply walked to the living room of our apartment, where I noticed Elizabeth had left her laptop. She left a note on the laptop saying;

''“Will be back later roomie! Mind plugging in laptop? <3”''

I then attempted to call her saying that I wasn’t going to put it up. I was then immediately given a message back, “The number you have reached has been disconnected.”

I paused for a second. A thought process went through my head; she’s just messing with me. I then looked directly at the laptop, noticing that she had made a new video titled “For Emily”. I chuckled and thought it was cute, I then began to watch it. This video was really bizarre; it was simply a black background with nothing in sight. It then cut to a man sitting in a chair, out cold. The man, from what I could tell was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt similar to the puppet of Elizabeths dad wore in the video she watches every night.

I thought for a second, “what the hell…” I then brushed it off saying “it’s probably just something she did for a job. She’s a freelancer.” The video just showed the man sitting on the chair, still out cold. It wasn’t until 2 minutes passed that he woke up, his head came up, when I saw his face I was silent. He had a mustache just like the puppet. Still thinking this was a coincident, I then began to call Elizabeths number again, trying to get her. Then the scene cut again, this time right in front of the mans face, I jumped back.

You could see the fear in this mans eyes. The sweat that was beating off his face as if he was a boxer who had just fought for a full straight hour. The man began to scream, begging for his life. It was then I heard a voice, one that was to familiar, Elizabeth. She was telling the man to calm down, and that he was going to pay. The man begged, “w-what did I do to you Elizabeth?! I raised you! Kept you safe!” Elizabeth then shouted “What did you do?” What she said I couldn’t hear but It was then I saw the truth about Elizabeth.

She had a drill in her hand and with it she powered it on, heading straight for his heart. Elizabeth then placed her hand over her fathers open mouth, as he began to spit out blood. The blood began to run down her hand, she then yelled “He’s having a heart attack!” after 20 seconds of this, it stopped.

Her father was dead. The video then cut to another scene, one of a boy, probably around 12 years old. He was tied up to a chair, he then started coughing, as if he was just choking on something. I then started to hear something, a song, it was Light my Fire by The Doors. It was then I saw Elizabeth dance into frame and as she began to enter the frame, she carried a lighter with her and once I heard the lyrics “light my fire”, she dropped the lighter onto the boy.

The boy then screamed for his life, it was at this point I began to cry and I ran away. I couldn’t watch anymore. I knocked the laptop onto the ground and it froze, I then ran to Elizabeth’s room and discovered a note on the bed, along with a little puppet. I picked up the note, what it said has stayed with me ever since;

“''Hi Emily. I’m assuming by the time you’re reading this you saw my little gift for you in the living room. I hoped you liked it. I did all of those things for you. As you can see my dad didn’t die from a heart attack, in fact he was just out of town the night I showed you that puppet video that night. Same thing with that kid, sorry; my brother, none of those people showed me any kind of compassion as much as you did. Your kind heart, and faith in me allowed my true self to open up. It was, incredible. I thank you Emily, no simply writing this isn’t enough. I need to show you how much I thank you, look under my pillow.”''

I then reached underneath Elizabeths pillow and discovered three puppets, one of her father, and another of her brother. The puppet of her brother had been horribly burned while the father puppet was bloodied all on the chest, it was then I saw another puppet. I grabbed it, I froze.

The puppet looked incredibly similar to me, my pigtails, pink pajamas, everything. It also had its eye pulled out. She was coming for me next. There was another note on my puppet;

''“You have nowhere to go. I’m still in the apartment. Every step you take, I know where you will go. Every breath you take, I will hear you. I can show you my love and thanks.”''

I then immediately ran out of the apartment as fast as I could, not even thinking about shutting the door behind me. During my rush out of the apartment, I tripped down the stairs and when I looked back, I saw her.

She was carrying a knife, ready to send her thanks. I ran out the door, attempting to get to my car, breaking the window with a rock. I then hotwired my car and got the fuck out of there, I could see Elizabeth in the rear view mirror chasing the car as I was driving away. As I had my foot on the gas pedal I drove away, until I could no longer see her in the rear view mirror. After 2 minutes, and running 2 red lights, she was no longer in my sight.

My one true friend, or who I thought was my one friend ended up being a psycho. Killing her family because she finally had someone else in her life, she saw no use for them anymore. It makes me sick just thinking about it, those videos. I immediately contacted the police telling them that Elizabeth was out there in the town. All of this was yesterday when I was still in town.

Now I am writing this from an undisclosed location as I know Elizabeth is still looking for me, we always said we were going to be inseparable. I have attempted to become a blank slate, leaving nothing behind. Not my real name, where I am from, nothing.

I continue to run and every time I do, I look back and think that she is there. I also realized that during my struggle to escape the apartment I never let go of the hand puppet that was me, missing its eye.

I carry a knife with me in my car and I continue to look out for her, as she walks closer and closer to me. One day, we will see each other again, and we’ll see who is next to show on Puppet Show.