Annik 2

Annik froze and looked straight in front of her. All she could see was a desk with a giant chair with the back facing towards her. She could imagine the face of the person sitting in the chair, and it was not pleasant. She thought of speaking, but remembered what Drake had said.

“Well,” said a velvety voice, and the chair turned around. There was a beautiful woman sitting in the chair, her long fingernails drumming on the arm of the chair.  She looked pretty, but in a very icy way. As she leaned forwards to take a better look at Annik, her eyes glittered with malice and her mouth pulled itself into a self-satisfied smile.

“Hmmm…” the woman said and sat back in her chair. “Tell me your name.”

“Uh, it’s Annik, Miss,” said Annik, trying to get away from the woman’s surveying eyes.

“Well, Annik, I am Kara Violet Hikari, leader of one of the sections of the Organization. I am sure you have heard of the Organization before?” asked Kara.

Annik thought she had heard of the name before, but couldn’t remember exactly. “Ummm… well Miss Hikari, I don’t think I have,” Annik started, but was cut off by Kara.

“I guess I will have to educate you. The Organization is a very notable group who are in the process of making this world a better place. For humans,” said Kara, and gave a little smile. “Puppets, will, of course, have a part in this, but they play a much inferior role. The Organization is trying to rid this place of the influence of the Puppetmaster, who is creating the world into an awful place. I am sure you will be pleased to help us with our noteworthy cause.”

‘Oh wait, I remember now!’ thought Annik to herself. ‘I’ve read that the Organization was taking advantage of Puppets, and using them for their own benefit. The thing is, now I’m kind of trapped here, and I’m probably going to be forced to work with them.’

She looked into Kara’s eyes and asked, “What exactly will I have to do?”

Kara smirked and said, ”You’ll do anything for us. You’ll have to cheat, steal, lie and kill to get what the Organization wants. Otherwise, there will be consequences. Understand? You don’t want to end up like those useless things in the halls that you saw, do you?”

Annik shook her head quickly, terrified now.

“Good. Now do you have an element?”

Annik was confused with the sudden change of topic, but she asked, “Why?”

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “How impudent. I guess I will have to check myself,” she hissed and stood up. Her velvety voice roughened until it didn’t seem so smooth. She slinked over to where Annik was standing and started searching for Annik’s tattoo. Annik tried to wrench herself away, but Kara’s nails dug into her skin and kept the Puppet in a talon-like grasp.

When Kara found the tattoo on Annik’s shoulder, she smiled in delight. “Ah ha! I knew you were more then just a blank Puppet!” exclaimed Kara. Annik squirmed, uncomfortable with someone examining her so closely. She had always hidden the tattoo away from prying eyes to make her more unobtrusive, and for it to be so exposed made her feel violated.

“The water snake,” murmured Kara to herself. “Isn’t that part of the Puppetmaster’s prophecy?”

Annik stopped struggling. ‘Did she just say “Puppetmaster’s prophecy?” Oh crap.’ she thought. Kara noticed her unexpected pause.

“Hmm… did I say something that made you uncomfortable, Annik?” asked Kara.

“No… not at all, Miss. I was just… thinking,” replied Annik, trying not to let anything slip. She knew if she said anything, she would have no hope of ever coming out alive.

“Anyways,” Kara stated, her velvety voice returning. “It seems you’re much more important then I thought. I hope you’ll be able to stay and work for us.” And with that, Kara clapped her hands and Drake and Nathaniel appeared. “Take this Puppet away. But she must be treated well. She’s much more precious to us then we thought.”

The two men took Annik and escorted her out of the room. Kara sat at her desk, thinking. She then pressed a button on her desk and spoke into it.

“Put the Head on,” she commanded the voice that came on. She waited for a second, until she could hear the change of lines. She then spoke again, making sure she sounded composed.

“Master? We’ve got something you might be interested in.”


Kiki