The Curse of Elkwood

Prologue

Loud crashing could be heard throughout the orphanage as furniture was torn, bashed, rummaged, and broken. The cause relentlessly tearing through whatever he could get his hands on, or whoever was unfortunate enough to be in his path. He had already torn through three caretakers and two of the children, and he was not against destroying anymore of them. As far as he was concerned they were all responsible for his anger.
    "Where the hell is she!?" Jason yelled angrily as he ripped off the wallpaper under the stairs and tore and forced the door that was hidden behind it wide open, nearly ripping it off of its hinges in the process, and threw out all of the boxes hidden inside; tipping the relatively bigger ones upside down in case a certain young girl was hidden inside. The rotten black flesh of his arms ached for once as another shot was fired at him. His eyes glowed with hateful pale green as he glared at his attacker. Jason was past fed up with her. "DAMMIT! CANDY POP GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE AND DEAL WITH HER!"
    He didn't need to wait for even a moment when black spiked tendrils wrapped around the woman and yanked her out of the room with such force that Jason could hear her back snap. He finally paused in his rampage, taking in the sounds of tortured screams coming from the dining room along with the glee-filled laughter from the demon fairy torturing the residents. "Good to know HE'S having fun." Jason growled in annoyance, and he began to rummage about upstairs to escape the headache from the constant screaming. Jason made his way down the long hallway until he came upon the desired room. Jason opened the door and to his horror and anger, it was empty all except for two beds.
    "She's...gone?" He stared at the empty space in bewilderment. He had only left for a week, what happened? His bright red hair paled into a flawless white as rage filled his very core, and he stomped his way back downstairs and into the dining room where Candy Pop was holding another woman high up by the neck. The bells attached to Candy Pop's long blue hair and his clothes jingled loudly as Jason grabbed the woman and ripped her out of his grip. "Hey!" Candy Pop whined, "You said I could do whatever I liked with the residents!"
    Jason ignored his friend and focused on the injured woman; his hand firmly around her neck. "Where is she?" His voice was cold as he spoke. Sally kept quiet and only tried to struggle against Jason's hold. Jason gritted his teeth and slammed her harshly into the wall and punched her in the stomach. Sally yelped as the air was struck out of her and she coughed out some blood. "I will not ask again...Isabella was here before I left last week. Why is she not here now?" The woman only let out a sob and started trying to kick at him instead. Jason swiftly returned a kick to her leg; a scream erupting from her as her shin was broken and bent backwards, slightly bulging just under her calve skin as Jason threw her to the floor. He stood over her menacingly and lifted his leg to stomp on and break her other one, when a black gloved clawed hand rested on his shoulder.
    "Jason. Do you remember that neat trick I taught you? The one that I taught you for free, and could help get information when the victim refuses to speak even after torture?" Candy Pop asked. Jason turned to look at the jester with a puzzled look. Candy Pop smiled warmly and pointed at his mouth, tapping his black lipstick covered lips with his claw twice. Jason's eyes widened as he understood the meaning, and he let out a groan before looking back at the woman trying to crawl away. He grabbed her by the ankle of her good leg and dragged her close to him before he roughly pulled her up so they were face to face. Jason pressed his body against hers', pinning her to the wall, and he grabbed her jaw harshly.
    Jason watched as her face contorted with confusion, then her hazel blue eyes widened with horror as Jason forced her mouth open and quickly pressed his lips against hers. Sally let out some sort of squeal and began to relentlessly struggle against Jason, trying to jerk her head away and push him off of her to no avail. Jason deepened the kiss and began to slowly inhale from his mouth, and closed his eyes. In his mind he focused on what he wanted; the location of the child that would become his, and the soul of the woman in front of him. A shiver ran up his spine and soon he felt something going up his throat and extending out from his mouth. Jason did his best to hold back a gag and tightened his grip on Sally. Then a sudden sensation he could not even comprehend overcame his senses and he separated from the woman.
    Sticking out from Jason's throat was a long glowing pale green tongue manifested by the magic his friend had taught him. He pulled back and let the motionless woman fall to the floor, and focused on what he took from her. At the tip of the tongue was a small white thing that glowed beautifully and flickered like a small ball of fire. "Is this..." Jason shuddered, feeling Candy Pop come up behind him and press his body against his back as Candy Pop gently took hold of Jason's hands and carefully pressed them close together, cupping them as they were positioned right beneath the glowing white ember.
    "Now you exhale, Jason." Candy Pop instructed with a soft voice, "Be careful though. We don't want to damage it." Jason obeyed the instructions and slowly exhaled. As he did so the green tongue retracted back inside of his mouth and the small soul gently floated above his fingertips. "What...What do I do with it?" Jason asked turning to his friend with uncertainty. Candy Pop's smile remained as he opened his mouth, "You could give it to me, or absorb it yourself." Candy Pop stated with a shrug. Jason stared at the glowing orb just at his finger tips and eyed it curiously as he lifted and lowered his hand, and the little orb remained at his fingertips as he did so.
    "Quite neat huh?" Asked Candy Pop. "Oddly so..." Jason almost mused with a faint smile, before he quickly shook his head and remembered what he was there for. "How do I do this?" He asked gesturing to the soul. Candy Pop smiled sinisterly before he extended his left hand out to his side, and a young boy levitated from the ground and was quickly dragged into Candy Pop's grasp. The boy's eyed widened in terror but before he could even scream or cry Candy Pop's hand was thrusted into his chest. Blood spilled from the boy's chest as he let out a strange gurgle. The jester frowned with boredom and swiftly snapped his neck before letting him fall to the floor; now holding his own little ball of pure light. "That...is much brighter than mine..." Jason muttered unhappily as he compared the two little souls. "Hah! It is the soul of an innocent child, so of course it's more pure!" Candy Pop stated matter-of-factly with a innocent smile. "Now...Just watch."
     Candy Pop carefully brought the soul to his mouth, "This is how you'll be able to do it." Candy Pop opened his mouth wide, exposing his sharp teeth, and slowly inhaled the thing. Candy Pop shuddered and smiled with satisfaction and gestured to Jason. "Your turn." Jason looked at the soul at his fingertips, "Where does it go? After you inhale it, I mean."
    "In my cluster." Candy Pop stated matter-of-factly with a stupid grin on his face. "Your what now?!" Candy Pop stared at him puzzlingly and caught Jason's eyes wearingly glancing at his rear with concern. Jason looked away immediately and they both just stood in silence until it seemed to click for the jester. Candy Pop bursted out with laughter and fell over onto the floor. "Did you think I was talking about my ass!?" He managed to get out before entering another fit of laughter and clutching his stomach. "What in the bloody hell was I to think!? Don't you know how absurd what you said was!?" Jason replied trying to avoid entering a state of laughter himself. What was he thinking? What was a cluster to Candy Pop? Candy Pop laughed for awhile but eventually calmed down enough to explain himself, "My cluster-heh-My cluster...It's where the souls I take are stored. In my chest."
    Jason nodded in understanding, but before he could attempt to mimic what Candy Pop had done a loud crash emitted from the remains of the living room. Jason looked at the doorway with wide eyes and Candy Pop took the soul from his fingertips, "I'll store this for you. It seems little Robin is finally up." Jason nodded at his friend and rushed out of the dining room. He looked about and spotted the nine year old girl, who seems to have tripped over some rubble in front of the stairs. Robin looked around her in confusion, unable to put together what was happening around her and clutching a wound on her knee. She wasn't quite who Jason was looking for, but she was the only other one that Isabella loved more than she loved Jason. Isabella made THAT very clear to him.
    "Perhaps I should finally get rid of her..." "Hey Jason, I know where the records for Robin are if you wanna look at them." Jason jumped and nearly struck Candy Pop as he turned to face him. Oddly enough, his smile was gone. Jason looked back and Robin was trying to sneakily scoot away into hiding. "HEY!" Jason yelled out in annoyance and stomped over to her. Robin froze and her big blue eyes widened. The toymaker huffed and scooped her up by the underarms. He could see the hair in his face turn from white and into a vivid bright red. For some reason every time he grabbed Robin in his more crazed state his hair would always revert back to bright red. It could be that Robin was a difficult child to hate entirely. She was legally blind and disabled with weak legs unable to support her weight, and she wasn't a bad kid, just in his way too much ever since he came here when she was five years old and she was incredibly rude when they met. Who in their right mind would treat him as if he were some monster before getting to know him?
    Robin was Isabella's first and needed constant "reminders" that Isabella now belonged to Jason; both verbally and physically at times, and sometimes wound up being bloody if she made things difficult by trying to hide from him. He hadn't been able to even approach Robin ever since Pumpkin showed out of nowhere when she turned seven. Pumpkin...What an unsettling child she was before he cremated her alive. Such a nuisance as well. This is the first time in a long while that Jason has gotten ahold of Robin, and she was so small and light. Could so easily be crushed by the slightest squeeze from Jason the toymaker. Robin didn't struggle for some reason. Her expression was only of a little discomfort and confusion, and her eyes were staring into seemingly nothing. Of the few things he knew of Robin, her odd staring is just her going into her own strange little head.
    Jason finally blinked as he tried to figure out anything else he knew of the nine year old mutant, only to realize how little he knew about her. "I don't suppose you know where Isabella is?" Jason asked. He practically hissed Isabella's name out. That is how upset he is with her at the moment. He got a reaction of sorts from Robin, who blinked in surprise and stared directly up at his head. Jason wasn't holding her at face level but just at his collarbones.
    "Jason...Let me see her real quick." Candy Pop appeared behind Robin and took her from Jason's grasp. It was then that she finally began to struggle and let out hushed whimpers that sounded strained at best. Jason only watched as his blue haired friend set Robin on the remains of one the couches and began to examine the laceration on Robin's knee. He "hmmed" and "huhed" for a bit until he carefully positioned his now declawed fingers at the edges of the injury and slowly squeezed. "What the hell are you..." Jason's eyes widened and his face cringed in disgust as what looked like a black, spiked and thick maggot wriggled out from the orphan girl's knee. "So that's the problem~" Candy Pop mused as he plucked and pulled the thing out from the cavity.
    "What...What the fuck is that!?" Jason gagged and backed away when his friend tried to skip towards him with that thing in hand. Candy Pop paused and smiled once again. "This is why Robin is disabled. It's a parasitic maggot that is usually found feeding on demons in the underworld. Any disabled demon is usually a victim of these nasty little guys. They feed off of nerves and bone marrow." Jason just stared at the thing. That was inside of Robin? "How long-?" "Oh this one is about four years old, and they cannot reproduce until they're ten years old, so we just have to take the rest out and mash them up!" Candy Pop dropped the maggot inside of a little wooden box he manifested out of nowhere, and turned back to Robin. Jason finally returned to his senses and grabbed the jester by his shoulder, "What do you think you're doing? I need help finding-!"
    Candy Pop shushed Jason by putting a finger to Jason's lips. His hot reddish pink eyes burned into Jason's green ones as he opened his mouth to speak, "Isabella is long gone by now, but Robin is right here." Jason stared at Candy Pop in utter confusion, unsure where he was going with this. Long gone? Why? How? With who? By herself? Without him? That is absurd! She had to have been somewhere close right!? Why would Isabella abandon him? He was a fantastic friend to her, and gave her everything she could ever want! "Jason." Jason blinked and returned his attention to his friend. "You and I both know that if you wanted Robin gone, then she would not have been able to interrupt us tonight. Think about it my friend! You clearly care for her! You wouldn't let her be adopted, hell you even chased away and killed the few people interested in her. You were always keeping an eye on her even when Isabella was playing with you. You isolated her from the other children much like you did Isabella. You even gave her a nickname-I mean a rather very insulting one, but still. And you evee funded those crutches of hers'."
    Jason glanced at Robin, who was poking her injury curiously and seemingly forgetting about her predicament. He did not care for her. Definitely not in the way he cared for Isabella. He was merciful towards Robin at best, but he was marvelous with Isabella and a good friend to her. "How about you take her to your workshop and work on getting the rest of the maggots out of her?" Candy Pop handed Jason the box, "I will get all of her records and documents from the main office and will tend to Robin when I meet you...On second thought just soak her legs in a tub of very hot water and I'll tend to her when I come back, and you can either read her documents or get some much needed rest."