Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

After everything he went through with Amaranthe, Boris was unknowingly placed into the back of his car by Tyler. He was then transported back into the peculiar place where Absalom awaited him.
"Rise and shine, puppet," the voice called, and Boris opened his eyes.
Back in the room where everything around him was a void, and the light shining on the wall held the otter shadow of Absalom, the physical otter felt like complete garbage.
"Ugh . . ." he groaned, looking around. "What the hell happened?"
The shadow on the wall walked along it, stopping when it was right across from him. "You were injured in the fight with your target." He snapped his fingers, and the blacklight turned on from above, illuminating Boris' dark fur and revealing many lines where he had gotten cuts.
The biggest thing that stuck out to him was the piece of glass that appeared in his left hand, sunk deep into the skin.
"You can't see it, but your face and torso sustained injuries as well."
Boris, eyes wide from the thing in his hand, looked up at the dark figure. "What was that anyway?! You told me you wouldn't let me get hurt! You've never let me get injured before."
"Did you notice how I handed you the Blade of the Mirror at the last moment?" Absalom laughed. He snapped again, and the blacklight above disappeared, along with the luminescent wounds and shard of glowing glass.
"I said I wouldn't let you die. I kept that promise," Absalom explained.
Boris cringed. "So I have to rely on myself to the very last moment where I'm about to be killed?!"
Absalom giggled with delight. "It's a lot easier than wasting my power on making sure you never get hurt!"
The otter clenched his teeth. "Are you serious?!"
"Oh, very! Better improve at killing targets, little puppet of mine."
"Urghh . . ." A fire burned within Boris. He wished he could somehow wrap his hands around the shadow's neck and wring its life out, slowly, painfully.
"No growling." Absalom wiggled his finger. "I have something quite impressive to show you."
Boris stayed silent, as he often did when the demon said something like that.
"You know, your friend Tyler was a weakling at first, but I'm starting to warm up to him!"
The white circle that illuminated the shadow shifted and turned into a rectangle. It slowly expanded and grew until it covered a large expanse. Absalom's shadow shifted to become Boris's, reflecting the chair he was sitting in.
The light above his head that came from the void and converged somewhere behind him told Boris that it was like a projector now. He heard the clicking as the film began rolling, and he stared in awe.
The movie was nothing like Boris expected. It showed Tyler returning to Amaranthe's home, getting out of the car, and finding Boris's injured body. He watched Tyler pick him up and put him in the car.
The otter thought that might be the end, but of course, Absalom was showing him for a reason, so the video continued.
Tyler entered the house and followed the otter's bloody footprints he left behind. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and then went down the hall, discovering the bodies of the mink, wolf, and gazelle.
Boris had no idea what was coming next, but as soon as Tyler stuck his head over the toilet, he squeezed his eyes shut. He could only hear the sounds, which in turn, made him want to vomit.
After that was over, he watched the German shepherd crawl onto the dead bodies, in shock at his sudden courage. The gun retrieval from the car, the cleaning, the 911 call, and the mad dash out of the house; Boris saw it all.
"I . . . don't understand." The otter shook his head as the projector shut off, and the light formed back into a circle surrounding the shadow of what possessed him. "Was that real?"
Absalom nodded. "I can't show you something fake."
"How do I know that?!"
"You don't," Absalom chuckled. "How fun."
Boris groaned. "So he has a gun now . . . and the police will find those animals. Good."
"You couldn't save them," Absalom reminded. "Of course, they would have died even if I hadn't been possessing you."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Boris gasped.
"You can't possibly think a little otter like you would be a hero," Absalom chided. "Especially from your background? With no training? You would have died in that fight."
"I wouldn't have even been in that situation, then," Boris told him. "None of this would have happened if not for you."
"And those animals still would have had no chance," Absalom retorted, walking along the wall. "There was nothing anyone could do."
Boris felt sick to his stomach just thinking about how they were fated to meet their end in that horrible room. "Where is Tyler taking me?"
"He plans to take you to the hospital, but of course, I'm stronger now and can heal you myself."
"That's something I wanted to inquire about," Boris asked. "You told me that Amaranthe liked to have fun. I didn't realize you meant fun like that."
"It just goes to show; always listen to me, puppet. He was a horrible animal, and it's better that he's gone now."
Boris swallowed. "Is it . . . always going to be bad animals?" He wasn't sure if he should have asked that.
Absalom didn't answer for a moment. "Always listen to me."
The otter exhaled, tightening his hands into fists. "Tell me!"
"I don't have to do anything," the shadow hissed. "You're lucky I even communicate with you this much."
"Fine," Boris frowned. "Forget it."
"Let's check on the process of our King, shall we?" Absalom said, and the room flashed with extremely bright white light as if lightning had just struck inside it. At the moment it did, the stool with the wooden fox sat limp.
The spotlight from above moved and shone on it, revealing that orange fur popped out, dotting the wood spaces. On the chin, there were some spots where white fur escaped.
Boris watched from where he was and saw strings now hanging from the void above, attached to each limb. He felt unnerved as the wood thing just sat there. It was dead silent in the room.
Then, it moved. A string pulled, and the head raised, the wooden eyelids fluttering open. There was a slight yellow glow from them and a strange glint. Boris had the horrific realization that the eyes in that thing were real.
Suddenly, it stood up, the strings tugging and crossing as it began moving along in a way only a marionette did. The movements were so unnatural and jittery, but now Boris had a clear view of the tail.
It also had clumps of fur sticking out from it but was divided into parts so that it could wiggle easier as the thing moved. The artificial tail twitched and wagged as the puppet moved in circles around the stool.
The mouth opened and closed, over and over again, and Boris could barely make out what it was saying. He could tell the voice was deep and smooth and formal.
"I must find it, I must find it, I must find it . . . ." That's what it was saying. He was sure of it. It just kept going around in circles saying this.
Then it stopped in its tracks, and all the strings above tugged hard as it whipped to face Boris and pointed a finger at him. "You!!!"
The otter's eyes widened. He said nothing because he was honestly way too afraid of that thing with its real eyes staring at him. The sinister yellow glow in them chilled him to his center.
The puppet began clattering closer and closer to Boris, closing the much too small distance between them. The spotlight and strings stayed above it the entire time.
The otter wiggled and turned in his seat but remembered the straps that kept his wrists down.
"Remove them and run," Absalom demanded. "Don't you want to be free, Boris? It's coming right for you."
The otter's fear rose in his chest, and he began freaking out as he squirmed. "I can't! I won't!"
"It's coming for you!" Absalom repeated as the puppet jittered and was right in front of him. "It all starts with a song!"
The terrible wooden thing leaned down, its real eyes staring into Boris's. The terrified otter felt like wetting himself. It was horrific. He could see the detail of the wood and each strand of fur, each piece of the puppet, and each wooden tooth. Not only were the eyes real, but so was the tongue.
The strings above pulled, and slowly, its wooden arms lifted, and then the strings released and the limbs landed heavily on Boris's shoulders, causing him to shriek and vanish into nothing.