The Craftsman

Edward kept his distance from Barry, he stood in the farthest backseat and kept his gun in hand, Barry had laughed the entire twenty minutes of the train ride, he did not stop to breath or wipe his tears away, he simply kept laughing and laughing and laughing.

“Stop it..” Edward grunted, “Stop it!” He punched Barry in the face which only made him laugh harder, “did I stomp your brain into mush or something?!”.

Brakes whistled and squeaked Barry’s laughter immediately continued until the train reached a complete stop. Once it did the smile faded away from Barry’s face, he wiped his tears away then looked at the other carts, the hook attached to their car unbound and the metallic chain went slack, metal jingled as it fell onto the floor. Barry could not make anything of the other commuters, it was like a window of frosted glass stood between him and the others, he could make an overall humanoid shape but none of the details.

The trainyard was in a paradox state of crowded yet abandoned, to Barry’s left laid a town.. Or rather a cardboard cutout of a town, the movie setting to a western, there were buildings, they were labelled, but none of them seemed to truly hold purpose or function, none of them made sense, people went in and disappeared out of the scene. Those who came out of town made their way to the train. To Barry’s right was the desert which spread to infinity, the train yard acted as a boarder. Despite how busy it was, the train yard was out of maintenance, there were no workers that organized the commuters, the railroads were rusty and withered, the ticket booth was empty, multiple dead trains littered the area, like a kid who forgot to pack their toys.

“…” Barry opened his mouth but closed it immediately, he left the car and checked the back trunk.

“No wonder that Bitch is interested in him.. They’re both insane.” Edward mumbled to himself and left the car, “how’s it looking?”, he asked, gun still aimed in Barry’s general direction as it hid in his pocket.

“Intact.”

“Good.”

Barry cringed at the delivery address, ‘within the train yard’, no more details were provided. Ed and Barry checked the disheveled trains one by one. The outsides were cacked in sand and dust, their original colors faded away. Those with holes in their hulls were completely hollow, no seats, no engines, no controls, when Ed attempted to crack open a window it did not budge, his fingers traced along the edges, it was painted on.

The further they went down the tracks the trains lost more details, some only were large grey boxes with wheels attached, some did not even have the wheels.

Barry checked his phone every few minutes and exactly one minute passed each time he checked. “Let me try something..” Barry checked twice in a row, two minutes have passed, it currently showed 9:52 P.M Yet the sun laid in the middle of the sky, its rays aimed directly at the two men, but the two felt rather cold, like they sat in an air-conditioned room.

Edward pulled his gun and aimed it to their right, a dark purple train cart laid amidst the blank, unlabeled carts. It seemed like an old steam train cargo trailer one would see in Westerns, once their steps came to a halt they could hear low, heavy breathing.

Barry felt a strange pull from his backpack, like a nail held in front of a magnet, “I think we have our costumer.” He took the cardboard box and held the package in front of him, the magnetic pull increased, it drew Barry towards the trailer.

The trailer rumbled, two pairs of arms extended from its massive side doors, the arms were thin, sickly green in color, and with long, slender fingers and purple veins. “Buddy.” Was written on the underside of the thing, creature, Barry couldn’t decide what to call it.

Buddy approached the two slowly, it pressed its front against the package, it twitched, like a dog sniffing food, its arms bent to face the delivery personnel, a third pair of arms extended from the sides, they reached Buddy’s “face” , the nails dug into the metallic exterior and split it open, a dark purple portal buzzed and twisted in front of the two.

Edward pushed Barry aside and approached the portal, he felt statics as his fingers brushed the front, “looks like one of ours.. sounds like one of ours, swirls like one of ours.” He shrugged and turned to Barry, “get in there.”.

Barry jumped, he looked between the portal and Edward, “What?! I just drove us all the way here! I You can’t seriously…“ He stopped as soon as the gun’s muzzle was aimed at him.

Edward turned left and right, a smirk on his face, “You know this area sure is secluded, a monster can come out of nowhere, a shoot may be fired in any direction.. You know.” He twirled the gun once, his eyes only focused on Barry, “It would be a shame if something… happened to you. Far away from where Klara or anyone else can prove it.” He stepped away from the portal, his guns till aimed at Barry, “But that’s why I’m here, I’m here to protect you. Your job is to deliver the package. In fact, I am doing you a huge favor being out here”.

Barry sighed, he wanted to punch him again, he wanted to swing at him again, but the bruises on his body and face were a reminder he stood no chance, even without the gun there was no way he win the fight, “I am counting on you.” He put his head down, closed his eyes and walked towards the portal.

Human-sized arms extended out of the portal, they wrapped around Barry’s body and embraced him, the man winced and closed his eyes tighter, each finger felt like a worm that pressed against his body. The arms moved him with extreme ease, angling him on his back and moving him like groceries on a conveyer belt. Barry’s entire body shuddered at this sensation, he hated being touched, he hated most forms of physical contact, he hated how each point of pressure reminded him of his own body, he hated how each finger bent perfectly to abide his shape. He instinctively attempted to pull a hood atop his face, he held his breath, he covered his mouth, he covered his nose, his entire body tingled and shook.

Then, the sensation of velvet, Barry opened his eyes and examined his surroundings. His body laid upon a fancy rug, the room in its entirety looked gaudy. The Decorations were too much, many chairs and couches crammed into a room no bigger than his dorm, lights of different colors in the ceiling, the arched door to the next room covered with thousands of flowers, each a different species or variety.

Compared to the room, the crackling purple portal behind him was extremely out of place. “Certain Death.” Barry looked at the portal, then turned to the decorated door, “Uncertain death.” He weighed both options and choose uncertain death, he pressed his palm against it, it felt soft, unreal, like cotton-candy.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The words projected themselves into Barry’s mind, he felt them right behind his eyes.

Yes/No

Each option existed within one eye.

Yes

As he walked through Barry’s hair was pulled off, it was painless, like removing a hat. He felt the air from a cooling unit hit his bald head. The room became less detailed, the number of furniture halved, the door to the next room had less variety of flowers.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

Barry’s skin turned grey and porcelain like, pimples and rashes faded away, “This is not too bad.” Barry watched his reflection on his phone’s dark screen. The room now only had chairs now, no couches. The door only had varieties of roses now. .

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

Barry lost his tired eyes, he could still see and view everything around him, but his eyes no longer existed, skin covered the area where his eyes once were.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

Barry lost his small nose.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

Barry’s spine cracked and twisted, now in a perfect posture.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you hate.

The door demanded.

Yes

Barry had lost his name, he was now a template, a perfect mannequin of porcelain passed through the last door. The room was oval in shape, made of spider webs, hung from the ropes were familiar figures, a crow cultist, a runner, students, blurred figures, tens of other unique looking creatures that it had not seen before, amongst them stood ones that were perfectly human.

In front of it was a eight-armed figure, a large cloak covered the center of its body, six of its arms worked in perfect sync, the two lowest functioned as legs, the mannequin presumed. One hand held a paint brush, another a hammer, one a chisel, one a needle, one a saw, the last one held a pen.

The mannequin waved, it lost its voice three rooms ago.

The mysterious figure continued to work on its project, “Who visits this lonely Craftsman?.” A male voice hummed, he did not turn around or give the mannequin any attention, he continued to work on his current project, “No no no!” He gripped his current project and threw it with all his might against a wall, the project shattered on impact, its clothes slid onto the floor, the white wig intended to sit on its head now looked like a hairball vomited by a cat, its pieces no longer recognizable.

The mannequin did not move, it lost its sense of self-preservation five rooms ago, it simply stood, awaited, it craved another option.

The figure’s lowest right arm put the pen down and reached a hand to the mannequin, “hand it over, my order, I need to start over! I cannot capture her beauty, but I am close! I am close! I just need one thing.. I am missing one more ingredient!.” It screamed, all its arms up in the air.

The mannequin waited, it tapped on the package’s form, it needed to be signed, the mannequin needed it to be signed for reasons the mannequin could no longer remember.

“On it on it.” The Craftsman grunted, he spun threads into the air to create a new pen, his back bent and exposed, a dark purple portal swirled on his back.

The mannequin approached, its hand reached toward the portal, its finger twitched in anticipation.

The mannequin looked up and tugged on the figure’s cloak.

“What?!” The Craftsman groaned, he turned around finally, its face yet another arm, its pinkie and index extended upwards, the fingers bent, as if they were eyes that stared at the mannequin, “speak up!” the head-hand snapped.

“Answers… I want. Answers.” The mannequin whispered, it was given a voice, a different voice, it was a voice much deeper than the one it had before, it was someone else’s voice.

“Huh?!” The Craftsman’s voice was confused, it did not have any features that the mannequin could read, “Aren’t you the folks who go on and on about ignorance being bliss?”

“Answers. Answers.” The mannequin repeated, its voice feminine and soft.

The Craftsman bent over, his fingers traced across the shape of the mannequin, “Ahhh Yes.. Yes… This might be exactly what I need.. I shall grant your wish.. for a cost however” He turned around again, its cloak fluttered as the portal now fully exposed on its back, it did not have hair on its back, but rather individual fingers.

To Proceed, sacrifice a part you love.

The portal offered.

Yes

Wait no-!