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Penny Dreadful Chapter 2

Penny Intro To Madness

By Christopher ShaversPublished about a year ago 9 min read
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Prologue

Dear Diary,

It’s raining today. The rain makes me sad. Reminds me of the last time I saw dad. The kitty comforted me so I decided to name them Papi. Another day where I really don’t want to go outside. But at least this time, I’m not alone. Papi is by my side. Especially now that Miss Cat Lady is moving out. She was such a nice lady. Oh well, I’ll just have to keep Papi with me all the time now. But I do wonder if anyone will move into her apartment any time soon. I hope it’s an old cat grandpa.

-Penny

Act 1

Mrs. Lindenberry was feeding her cats when she noticed that the kitten that Penny brought over was hiding in the potted plant by the back door. She smiled and began to sing a lullaby as she made her way to the back door. As she lured the kitten out of the potted plant with cat food, she saw a man in a mask trying to pick her back door. Mrs. Lindenberry covered her mouth and backed away slowly. She kept Penny’s kitten close as she made her way to the bedroom and locked it, so she could call her husband.

The back door opened as the masked man snuck in. Seeing the numerous cats roaming about, the masked man cringed. It appeared that he was having second thoughts. That was before one of the cats tried to climb him. Its claws dug into his leg but he held in his surprised scream. Kicking his leg, he kicked one cat in the head and the one clinging to his leg was flung into a nearby wall. He cursed at the cats and threatened to kill them. He pulled out a knife and raised it over his head. Only to be freaked out that all the cats were staring in the same direction. He looked in that direction and saw a figure in a bloody skirt staring at him from the front door. He lowered the knife and tilted his head in confusion. The figure flicked their wrist, and small thin blades came from their sleeves and into their hands.

The masked man attempted to raise his knife. Halfway through his movement, a thin blade appeared in his wrist. The masked man took a few seconds to register what happened. He yelled, clutching his arm. Dropping the knife, he slowly pulled the blade out of his wrist. Taking a few moments to collect his thoughts, the masked man eventually looked up towards the front door. A thin blade flew past his face. He turned his face, hoping to dodge. The thin blade stabbed into the wall. It had cut through the mask and blood began to come from the cut on the man’s cheek. He turned to the figure with anger in his eyes. It didn’t last long, his gaze was suddenly at the ceiling as he felt something in his mouth poking the roof of his mouth from the inside. He blinked slowly as he struggled to look down. He was greeted by the crazed look of a female with orange hair that was stained by fresh blood. Her big brown eyes felt as though they were staring into his very soul. He felt that sensation in his mouth pulling him closer to her.

He realized that it was a knife. His knife that was stabbed into his mouth from his bottom jaw. It was his knife that was pulling him by lower jaw. Pulling him to her. The man looked towards his trembling hand. Sensing he was about to attack, the girl yanked the knife away from her body as she kicked him in the chest. His lower jaw was ripped from his face. The girl spun the knife around her fingers as if it was dancing to a familiar tune. As she twirled around, the last thought to come across the man’s mind was, “All this… over a stupid cat?”

The girl twirled and slashed open the man’s eyes with one hand. She jumped back and threw thin blades into the man’s throat with her free hand. He began to fall forward, realizing that he could fall on one of the cats, the girl lunged at the man. Jumping over him, she grabbed his upper jaw and slammed his head on the ground.

Act 2

Hearing a thud, Mrs. Lindenberry put her phone down. Her husband could be heard begging her to come back and wait for him to get home. She didn’t listen. She slowly made her way down the steps. She did her best to stay calm by petting Penny’s kitten. The closer she got to the bottom of the step, the less and less she heard a dragging sound.

Mrs. Lindenberry’s mind raced with the ideas of what it could be. Her cats? Her cats, but dead? Her family photos? Her husband’s trophies? The silverware? Her mind couldn’t fathom what she finally got to the bottom and looked around.

Nothing was missing as far she could see. The front door was closed. The cats weren’t roaming around, but the backdoor was open. Mrs. Lindenberry slowly walked around the front of the house. Her petting got slower and slower as she came to relax. Only for her heart to sink when she made it to the kitchen.

Seeing the trail of blood, Mrs. Lindenberry went pale. She began to worry that the cats were killed and taken away. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She convinced herself to look outside. She steadily made her way to the backdoor. Hearing a few familiar meows, she rushed to look out the backdoor.

Mrs. Lindenberry swiftly regretted her choice. She saw a figure pushing into the nearby dumpster. The figure even bent over and tossed a knife in the air playfully before putting it in the dumpster. Mrs. Lindenberry gasped. The figure’s head snapped towards the house. Mrs. Lindenberry swiftly hid before quickly running upstairs into her bedroom. Her husband gave out a cry of relief telling her that he’s glad that she’s okay. He told her to stay put. She went on and on about the man who broke in being killed by someone that stuffed him in the dumpster behind the house and how she’s worried about the cats. Her husband fussed with her about thinking about the cats at such a time. They began to argue about what parts were actually important. An argument cut short by the sound of giggling. The giggling was getting closer and closer to the bedroom. Mrs. Lindenberry started to confess all kinds of things to her husband. He began to cry telling her to hold on until he got there. Mrs. Lindenberry began to cry silently as she saw the door opening.

Penny opened the door, “Cat Lady? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Oohhh Peeeennnnnyyyy! I was so scared! There was a burglar and the cats were and…”

Penny giggled. “It’s okay. I took care of him. You’re safe with me around. I’m super strong.”

Mrs. Lindenberry hugged Penny tight. Penny hugged Mrs. Lindenberry.

Mrs. Lindenberry wiped her eyes and noticed blood on her skirt. Mrs. Lindenberry made a remark about Penny needing anything for her problem. Penny told her that she has no idea what she’s talking about but more hugs would be nice. Mrs. Lindenberry laughed.

Later that night, after Penny left, when Mr. Lindenberry was in bed talking with his wife about everything that happened. Mrs. Lindenberry’s eyes went wide as she sprung up from the bed.

“Jesus Gladyss. Didn’t you give me enough heart attacks today?” he joked.

“Arvid… we have to move. It’s not safe here.”

“It was just one incident. We’ll get you a gun and cameras.”

“Arvid, no. We need to move now. She…”

“Gladyss, you are not making any sense.”

“How did she know the burglar was a man?!”

Act 3

“What do we have here?”

“Detective Soung. Nice of you to join us.”

“I apologize Officer Richardson but my job is more than just running from incident to incident.”

“Hopefully it’s more than sitting at your desk for hours and harassing our forensics department.”

“You would know if you could make it to detective.”

Officer Richardson gave Detective Soung a dirty look. Detective Soung took out a taffy and made his way to the dumpster behind the former home of the Lindenberry couple. Officer Richardson looked at some of the other officers. They looked around trying to avoid eye contact. Detective Soung looked at the specialist and photographer.

“I’m Detective Soung.”

“I’m Reese and the nerd with the camera is Shell.” Reese said, looking at a clipboard. Shell stuck her middle finger at Reese.

“So. What do we have?”

“Pretty simple case of a criminal breaking into the wrong house.”

“But weren’t both of the people that live here both in their late 50s?”

“This is a very true but this is a hot spot for crime. He likely bumped into a more sadistic criminal.” Reese said.

Shell stopped taking pictures for a moment. “Or a guardian angel.”

Detective Soung looked up at a window that oversaw the dumpster. What appeared to be a small kitten was looking down at him. “Doesn’t matter what it was. Killing is a crime.”

“Hey Detective. A word.” Officer Richardson called out to Detective Soung.

Detective Soung sighed and went to Officer Richardson. Just as he got out of view of the window. Penny walked to the window in a towel.

“What ya looking at Papi?” She picked up Papi and looked down at Reese and Shell. Reese looked up and waved at her, blushing. Penny giggled and waved back. Shell scoffed and took a picture. Reese began to fawn over Penny. Shell looked at the picture that she took and questioned Reese’s taste in females. Shell was quite confused to see that everything in the picture was clear, except for Penny. Who appeared in the picture as a ghostly blur. She quickly looked back up at the window but the curtain was closed. In that moment Shell felt alone and vulnerable.

psychological
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About the Creator

Christopher Shavers

Start writing...I am the Author of Circus by Christopher Shavers and the Author in Faceless Entertainment. I love to write and perform. Be it me bringing nightmares to life in stories or my journey through poetry. Enjoy the Show.

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