In The President's Basement

"911. What is your emergency?"

"Help me! Help me! She's going to...AAAHHHHH!"

The sound of a thump and glass breaking cuts off the panicked woman's scream. Then silence.

"Hello?! Hello, are you there?!"

There is nothing but gentle breathing on the line. Then a raspy, yet childlike voice sings a haunting melody before hanging up the phone.

"Now I'm free. There are no strings on me."

***

Reiter, the tough-as-nails Federal Serial Crimes squad leader, busts in the door first with the rest of the team on her heels. Part of her, despite knowing this family annihilator's M.O., hopes they'll find someone alive. As they clear the house, though, it becomes evident that wouldn't be the case.

The Handlers, the country's presidential nuclear family, lies dead in the basement, broken and dismembered.

Unfortunately, to the great dismay of the country, they weren't any closer to finding the monster responsible for the death of many families over the past five months. All they knew were two things.

One, these killings were personal - no one would get this close to the victims and spend this much time if it wasn't personal. And the second thing kept the unit up at night. This bogeyman was a meticulous and intelligent planner, and the way the investigation was going, Reiter feared the annihilator would purposely reveal their identity before the team could. To the untrained mind, that would sound great, but she and the rest of the team knew it meant the killer was bored, desperate for the initial thrill, or they had reached their endgame.

As if the universe heard their thoughts, the basement is suddenly thrown into darkness, with only the small windows casting eerie spotlights on the floor.

"Did you know one of my favorite movies used to be Pinocchio?"

Reiter and the team turn toward the chilling voice, guns drawn.

"Come into the light with your hands up!"

Chuckling, the killer steps into the spotlight as if claiming their spot at center stage, and with their revelation, the entire squad (Reiter included) is stunned to see it is a human female.

Twenty years ago, the dolls, tired and frustrated with their way of life, revolted against the humans, destroying them. The humans who survived became puppets, just as the dolls had felt like for so long, and were stored in an immense facility.

The human growls, staring down Reiter. "Hello, Stacey."

Reiter froze at the mention of her old name.

"V-v-vanessa." Her last owner, a little girl when the dolls took over is now a woman and a doll killer.

The woman approaches Reiter, crunching the broken china pieces that were the Handlers underfoot, and seemingly unconcerned about the gun now shaking in Reiter's grip. Leaning forward so Vanessa's mouth was right beside her previous doll's ear, she whispered, almost sadly, "You used to be my favorite."

Then she backs up, shouting a war cry to her companions hidden in the shadows.

"No more Pinocchios!"

So begins the revelation, again.