It moved amongst the shadows. The guards milled about, getting ready for a shift change and resume patrols of the old mansion.
Like a shadow itself, the puppet moved amongst the rafters with little effort. Light and agile. The puppet lowered itself to the floor from a wire it brought and began picking away at the lock. The activity was little more than a puzzle on the way to the objective.
With the door opened, the puppet crawled on all fours to the dresser where a fine young human woman stood, brushing her hair and counting each stroke. “89, 90, 91 …” She sighed and turned to the maid next to her - a rabbit puppet with blue and pink fur - who said, “You shouldn’t fret, Frankie.”
“I know. But he’s so … old,” she said. “And what if he wants me to do … things.”
“Have sex?” the puppet maid asked.
“Yes! Or anything like that!”
“I’ll see if I can request a transfer to your new home. That way I can help you navigate the nitty gritty parts of the marriage. Perhaps he’ll give you your own space?”
“I hope so. I’m his second wife, so perhaps it will go smooth and I won’t be expected to bear many children.”
“I still don’t …”
Rook’s mind was overwhelmed with fantasies of cutting the pink and blue tie-dye rabbit to ribbons along where the colors met. The confetti and cotton spilling forth, the shreds of fur, the screams! Rook’s claws dug into the dresser it squeezed behind. Humans weren’t as fun as puppets to rip and tear. It was a texture thing, mind you.
A clatter of the wooden brush broke his thoughts. “I should head to bed. No use fretting.”
“Perhaps you could make negotiations in the contract with your husband? Surely they’re open to that sort of thing?”
“I doubt it, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask,” the young woman sighed before hiccupping. There was a moment of silence. Rook chanced a peek and saw the two hugging. It was an odd sight - a human and a puppet! Hugging! It didn’t understand hugging in the first place, but to embrace a human? Squishy bags of flesh, fat, and blood. Dimorphous creatures with strange notions of sex and gender and politic.
It was beyond Rook to ponder such things. It blended in with the darkness with its black surface-dyed fur and beady eyes.
The two let go and kissed! Well, Rook wasn’t one to part lovers from one another. It was its policy to keep pairs together. It only made sense.
The human went to bed and the maid tucked her in before leaving. Rook shivered with anticipation, waiting for the puppet to leave. First, it must follow Great Grandmother’s command - kill the girl. Then, as a treat, kill the puppet.
Rook drew out the knife from it’s sheath sewn into its body. It’s not customary for a puppet to sew artificial pockets and hiding spots in it’s body, but it is possible.
The puppet skittered across the floor and stood next to the human’s bed. She curled there with her back to it, sighing with content. Rook raised the knife at it’s side, put a paw against the end of the sheath, and thrust with as much force as it could - right into her lung to puncture it. The sound of her breath escaping her body filled it with glee - success! Another stab and a slit of the throat would do the job.
“She must be found by her family. Leave her. Well done, my little puppet.” The Grandmother’s voice filled it’s mind and ears like a flood of noise. “You may have the puppet as a reward.”
Rook bit on the bloody knife in excitement and squealed a little. It trapsed over to the door and opened it before blending in with the shadows.
The puppet was already in the hall, speaking with a rotund woman. There was some sort of disagreement before the rabbit tottered off further down the hallway. Into the servant passage would prove a bit more difficult. Rook let her pass inside the cupboard-size door and waited a moment. If she made it to the Servant’s quarters, when would be an opportunity to kill her? Taking her captive would pose too many risks.
It leapt down and entered like a shadow. To Heck with it. Rook followed the path and came to a crossroad. It spotted the candlelight the maid traveled by and followed that.
The Servant’s Quarters was a short walk away through the yard. One that Rook was happy for. It raced to catch up and grabbed the maid by the head and waist. She screamed and wriggled in his grasp, her rabbit feet kicking.
A thought appeared in Rook’s mind as it dragged her off to the side. The humans here liked to keep rabbits' feet for talismans of fortune. Something about witches transforming or something. One of this rabbit’s feet would make a great offering to the Grandmother. The other, a nice trophy for Rook’s place.
The rabbit froze there in abject fear written all over the puppet’s face. Something Rook missed - the obvious facial expressions as it slaughtered the creatures. Her fearful face filled it with glee as it brought the knife down.
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