"That's just how things work."

The door closed behind her with a heavy thud of finality, emphasizing the parting between the mannequin and the young woman.  Clarice meant to step forward as her hand slipped from the door, but instead she found herself slumping against it as what little energy that she had left faded from her in an instant.  Although she had said she had been tired, she didn't think it had escalated to a level where she could barely support her weight on her own two feet.  It was like the park itself had been the only thing keeping her standing as she had to brace herself against the door to keep from collapsing onto the floor from sheer exhaustion.

She guessed it was the result of having a few attempts on her life and being in constant mortal peril since she had been in that park.

Clarice let out a soft sigh, her breath coming out in a puff of white smoke, signaling just how cold it was, although she didn't need any more confirmation than the cold that was already seeping in through her sweater as it gnawed at her skin down to her bones.  With all the events that had happened to her literally at her back, it was hard to believe that any of it had been real.  As the seconds ticked by, Clarice closed her eyes and thought about how simple it would have been to pass the whole ordeal off as some wild hallucination, conjured up by her mind in the midst of her confusion and exhaustion at having lost her way.  To just forget--

"Clarice!"

Clarice's eyes shot open as the memory of his voice rang out in her mind, almost as clearly as if he had been standing right behind her.  And he might have.  She didn't doubt that he could have been standing right on the other side of the door, perhaps leaning with the front of his helmet touching the wood, with his shoulders slouched and his painted eyes staring forlornly at the barrier that stood between them.  It was those eyes that she could still feel burning into the place between her shoulder blades.  A burden that weighed heavily on her heart.  

"Uhmm... C-Clarice..."

Guilt.

"Wo-wouldn't you like to stay here a little longer?"

She couldn't.

"J-just a bit longer."

His eyes.  God, his eyes.  How could eyes that were painted out of mud look at her that way?  How could they stare at her filled with such forlorn hope etched into every bit of those haphazardly drawn lines?  How could they convey such longing and loneliness?

"Just tonight..."

What was she supposed to say?  There wasn't anything else she could say.  She had to leave.  Even if she were to humor him, even for that night, the result would have been the same once that night was over.  He would stare at her with those sad eyes and make some sort of an excuse, something that would have been just as fragile as this one because they both knew that 'just tonight,' did not mean 'just tonight.'  It was best to end it as soon as possible.  It would only get harder if they had waited any longer.

You've got to be cruel to be kind, Clarice thought to herself humorlessly.

It might have been surprising to any onlooker to find that Clarice had become a bit attached to Climber within the short time they had spent together.  He was a sweet guy (mannequin) and it was hard for even for her to stay unmoved by his earnest efforts to help her find her way out of the park and his inferiority complex of being 'useless,' was oddly endearing.  She may have been cold and some might have even gone as far as to call her heartless, but in reality Clarice was being kinder than anyone would have expected from her.  They both knew that Climber could not leave the park and there was no way Clarice could stay.  

"J-just a bit longer."

She could see him looking out at her from his helmet, his right hand coming up to fidget with the zipper on that silly mountain climbing outfit the worker's at that park had donned on him.

"Just tonight..."

Clarice closed her eyes, trying force the plea from her mind, but she only succeeded to in conjuring up the memory of the sheer desperation on his face as he continued to beg her to stay.

"I don't care!  Y-you can sleep!  You can even use me as a pillow again!"

"Climber..."

"I'll be a good pillow this time, I prom--"

"Shut up."

Clarice opened her eyes, but it was still too dark to take in any details of her surroundings, and so the memory played on unhindered.

"I know you don't want to be alone... but I can't stay.  I have a life outside this park."

His expression could have been perfectly surmised of that of a kicked puppy.  

"Hey, don't be sad..."

That's what she had begun to say, but they both knew that it was pointless.  The fact was that she was leaving and he couldn't come with her.  That was all there was to it.

"That's just how things work."

She supposed that could have been the hit that cut him the deepest.  He wasn't able to feel any sort of physical pain, but that was easily evened out by the fact that he seemed more susceptible to words--especially her words--and any sort of emotional pain that could be inflicted upon him.

He'll be all right.  After all, he's been on his own for this long without me.  

Clarice closed her eyes, feeling the same small smile she had given him creep up on her lips, although she found no comfort even in her own words.

It's for the best, Clarice thought, as if trying to reassure herself that she had made the right decision.  Even so, she still could not shake the tightening in her chest as she slowly pushed herself from the door.

He was like a dog, or at least, that's how Clarice could have classified him.  How he had latched onto her like a lifeline, loyal to a fault despite her earlier (and justified) distrust of him.  He never once backed down in his efforts to help and protect her, even when his charge was the very one trying to deter him from his self-proclaimed mindset to be her guardian.  Although it seemed that most of the time it was she who had to pull Climber out of harm's way before she would be left with nothing but synthetic foam and as far as she knew, her sewing skills left much to be desired.

However, she had to admit she was impressed by how determined he was to protect her, and how genuinely happy he had been in her company.  

But that was it, wasn't it?  It was the company he wanted, the loneliness he needed to stem away.  After laying in a rotting wagon that sat, forgotten, off the beaten path, and all alone for such a long time, she was sure that anyone who had come along and would have seemed like a savior come from the darkness to the mannequin.  

Perhaps that's what helped her come to her resolve to leave.  

It wasn't her he was actually longing for.  It was anyone.  Anyone would have done to keep him company, and in that there lay the problem.  

Her hand reached up to her right shoulder, over the place where her tattoo lay, branded on her skin and burning as if were a fresh wound.  

Clarice didn't want to be just anyone.

How was she supposed to know that she'd play such an integral part in his life?

Clarice slowly looked up at the sky above, momentarily marveling at the millions of stars that stood out starkly against the night sky, and briefly noting how different it was out here than it was back home where it would always be clouded and stars would easily be confused with satellites and planes flying overhead.

Everything had been different inside the park.  The scents, the sounds, the lighting, the very atmosphere surrounding it.

It's like entering an entirely different world, Clarice thought as her eyelids became heavy, the stars starting to blur together to make pockets of light streaking across the sky.  As if nothing else existed outside the park...

Her right knee hit the ground with a sharp thud, the pain shocking her back to her senses as she blindly grasped for the handle of the door behind her to find some purchase in order to avoid giving her other knee the same treatment.  She winced as she shifted so that she could slowly slide down the rest of the way to the ground, falling a good three inches onto her rear with a sharp intake of breath as she surveyed the damage done to her joint.  She gingerly touched it through the material of her jeans, hissing as the bruise that was already forming throbbed angrily in response.

Karma, Clarice thought to herself with a snort.  She had inflicted pain on Climber, (she had no other choice--she couldn't stay in this park forever) and now it seemed the cycle was quick to hit her back and reward her for her so called 'kindness.'  And perhaps it was.  Clarice's head was no longer muddled from her exhaustion; the fresh wave of pain had made sure to clear her senses enough to let her focus on the long trek that remained ahead of her.  

Her whole body felt heavy as she managed to haul herself up onto her feet.  Her legs threatened to buckle, but she managed to keep from falling as her arms swung back down to her sides and she started walking away from the door.  The path ahead looked long and tiresome, and it would be dangerous to navigate down while she could barely see her hand in front of her face, but whatever could happen to her at this point would be nothing compared to what she had gone through hours earlier.  The thought of a hot shower and a nice warm bed that would be waiting for her was all she needed to keep moving forward.

A sudden gust of wind hit Clarice from behind, her braid thrown over her shoulder as it brushed against her cheek.  Her hands shot up to brush her bangs from her eyes as she turned around.  A biting chill shot down her spine, right down to her bones as the sudden wind disappeared as quickly as it came, taking with it every ounce of warmth Clarice had left in her body.  She trembled, her arms coming up to wrap around her shoulders, squeezing them tightly before rubbing them up and down rapidly to start some friction and recreate some of that lost warmth.  

She could not see anything in the darkness, but the soft, almost mechanical creaking of a door swinging on its hinges was enough to for Clarice to realize that the door she had just come from had been blown open.  How else could that wind have hit her from behind?  But how did that door get blown open?

It couldn't have, Clarice thought to herself calmly, even as she stared into the inky darkness from which she had just come, barely able to make out the outline of the park and the doorway she had just used earlier.  With that same calmness, she knew it hadn't been Climber who had opened the door in a last desperate attempt to follow her because she couldn't feel any sort of warmth or familiarity as she stared at the opening, or at least where she believed the opening was.  The doorway gaped at her, like the open mouth of a beast waiting to sink its teeth into her delicate flesh.  The path of pavement, cracked and eroded with time and the natural elements, acting as a tongue that longed to curl around her and pull her back into the depths of the amusement park, trapping her forever.

Just like Climber.

There was the sound of heavy breathing in the air.  It was raspy and low, rumbling like thunder that seemed to shake at her very core and scratching against her ears like nails on a chalkboard, leaving her feeling dizzy as the air around her no longer seemed as cool as it once was.  It was as if the air was becoming thicker, warmer, more humid, but the chill that had seeped down into her bones did not relinquish its hold on her body.  It was all around her, drowning her in a sea of darkness, creeping across her neck, tightening around her throat--

Clarice let herself drop down onto her right knee.  Pain shot up through her joint, causing her to grit her teeth against the tears that had sprung up at the corners of her eyes and threatened to fall.  She panted quietly, one of her hands braced against a tree nearby, her nails digging into the bark as she struggled to regulate her breathing.  She doubted she'd be able to get up anytime soon and she was almost certain she'd be limping for days to come from her little stunt, but she got the desired effect.  Her mind was clear and the pressure that had been threatening to take over her consciousness had dispersed, but she was far from all right.

Then there was laughter.  Clarice felt an icy grip suddenly clench around her heart, constricting her chest and making it difficult to breathe, but she fought against the unknown force as she continued to dig her finger nails into the unforgiving bark of the tree, threatening to break them in the process.  The laughter seemed to be mingled with incoherent words, and it was just as raspy and eerie as the breathing she had heard earlier, something that she knew wasn't human as it caused the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.  

"Hahahaaa... child..."

Clarice shuddered, clenching her eyes shut.  She was certain she could make out its words this time.  The laughter continued, but it seemed to be fading now and the pressure that had been weighing on her shoulders and on her chest seemed to be lifting.  She took a deep breath, slowly opening her eyes as her hand relaxed against the bark of the tree, although it was entirely possible she may have gained a splinter or two.

"Haaaa... Time is short..Haaaahahahaaaa..."

This time the voice had become so faint that Clarice wasn't sure if it was her imagination, or perhaps nothing but an echo in her mind.  However, she doubted her mind could have conjured up something so chilling when she had come to a point of exhaustion where she could barely find the strength to stand.  

She placed her forehead against the cool, rough surface of the bark of the tree, shifting so that she rest with her hip braced against one of its gnarled roots to relieve the pressure from her painfully throbbing knee.  A cold sweat had managed to break out across her brow and she wiped it away with the back of her sleeve with only a narrowing of her eyes to express her disgust.  She took a minute to control her breathing once again, debating whether or not she should risk standing up to continue on and limp her way through the darkness, or wait for some light--it couldn't have been more than a half hour from sunrise.  However, neither seemed to be an option as her eyes drifted back over to the entrance to the amusement park.

Climber.

She couldn't feel his presence.  Not now or anytime since she had left the park.

What?  Are you some sort of psychic now, being able to feel his presence?

No, it was nothing like that.  Climber just had a certain warmth to him, something that was undeniable.  It was something almost tangible, but that might have been the fact that he was an animated mannequin that probably ran on something that most people would referred to as 'magic,' or some sort of energy that wouldn't exactly be considered normal.

He probably went back into the park.  Did you think he'd wait outside the doors forever, like some lost puppy waiting for its master to return.  For you to return?

That's not what she wanted at all.

Don't lie to yourself, Clarice.

She wasn't.

You're horrible person, but you knew that, didn't you?

Rather than respond, Clarice quickly shut off her own inner dialogue,  clenching her eyes shut as she carefully rose back up on her feet, wincing as the rough material of her jeans brushed against her heavily bruised knee.  She leaned against the tree for support, her eyes were downcast and her bangs were slightly damp from sweat as they clung to her forehead and obscured her vision, but she could still make out the entrance of the park.

As if it knew she were staring at it, the door creaked on its hinges once more, the sound easily traveling through the dead silence that surrounded her at a distance that could have made her only a good fifty yards away.  

A sudden glint of determination passed through her eyes and Clarice took a strong step forward with her uninjured leg.

What are you doing? A part of her, that cynical part of her, asked.

I have to see, another part of her responded, stopping short of adding 'him,' as she took another step forward, wincing as her leg nearly buckled under her weight from the sudden pressure.  

Why?

She hesitated.

I don't know.  That was a lie, and she knew it.  

She made slow work limping back along the path, staying close to the trees in case she needed to brace herself and regain her balance.  She had to know that he was all right, but she was sure she already knew the answer to that.  That voice, that laughter, hadn't been her imagination and she knew that Climber had encountered it on a scale much greater than she had.

He's fine, she argued with herself.  That same cynical part that was quick to help her regain some portion of her rationality.  Do you realize that you're walking right back to the place that could have easily have become your grave?  That you could very well not come out so lucky a second time?  Why are you tempting fate?

She knew that.  She knew all of that very well, but even so she also knew that he wasn't fine.  Or at least, she knew that he was going to do something that was going to lead him into trouble, and it wasn't hard to guess that it probably had something to do with her.

And what if you're wrong? The other part of her persisted.  What if you're wrong and he's standing right where you left him?

That would be fine, as long as she knew he was all right and he wasn't doing something stupid.  But she knew he would, because the image of him staring at her with such loneliness, and the hope shining in those painted eyes that shouldn't have been able to convey such emotion, came back to her and the way his face crumpled when she told him she couldn't stay.

What about your resolve?  Cruel to be kind--it doesn't work if you go running back now.  It's just cruel.  You'd be coming back to see his eyes light up because it'll make you feel special and then you'll be just as delighted to see how he breaks when you turn right back around and leave--

SHUT UP!

Clarice stopped just outside the doorway, one hand flailing out to find purchase on the door that was wide open, just as she had thought.  She slumped against it, one hand had shot up to grasp at her right arm, over the tattoo on her shoulder, her chest heaving as if she had run a marathon.  Her eyes narrowed as she stared defiantly into the darkness that led into the park.  

She realized that it must have been the adrenaline from her anger that had brought her this far, but as she continued to stare into the darkness, she found her mouth had become dry and she couldn't bring herself to call out his name.

Clarice licked her dry lips, trying to bring moisture to them as she swallowed hard, as if to prepare herself.  However, all she could do was continue to lean against the door, her left hand flexing in its grip against her right shoulder as she stared into the darkness that seemed to only whisper to her of her fears.  Perhaps that was the reason that kept her voice caught in her throat.

Careful, Clarice.  'If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.'

"Climber?" She forced his name out with a slight tremor in her voice and hated herself for it.

There was no answer.  

"Climber?" This time she had pushed herself away from the door, swaying unsteadily on her own two feet as she favored most of her weight on her left leg, but her voice was steady this time.  Her left hand continued to rest on her shoulder, over her tattoo that seemed to burn beneath her palm, through the material of her sweater.  His image was conjured up in her mind, as if to answer her own calls.  It was then that a sudden thought hit her.

I remember now, Clarice thought as her hand slipped from her arm and swung back to her side.  

'I must be cruel only to be kind; thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.'

And yet here I am, meeting the worst that I tried to leave behind.

With that thought in mind, Clarice could not help but let a humorless smile grace her lips.  As she took that step over the threshold to the park, she could have sworn she heard laughter.  The same low, breathy, raspy laughter that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and made her heart feel like it was caught in an icy grip as a chill shot down her spine.

Or perhaps it was just a combination of the wind and her imagination that warned her of all the monsters that lay in wait in the abyss.

"HaaaahahahahahaHAHAHAHAAAAAAA--"