Undead Requiem

Children who have never seen a show look forward to the puppet show.Early in the morning, they made arrangements in the auditorium for the evening performance.In order to accompany the children, today, Whitman did not work as a shoe shiner.

Therefore, when Walt came to the commercial street again and couldn't find Whitman in a row of small shoe shiners, he knew that his boots were not cleaned today.So, he left, mixed into the crowd, and slowly disappeared.

In the auditorium in the poorhouse, Whitman told many interesting stories to the children.Little Bean Ding raised his hand and asked all kinds of strange questions from time to time.For their questions, Whitman patiently explained them clearly.

After dinner, a carriage came through the night in the thick fog, and a nice nursery rhyme came out from the carriage.When the children in the poorhouse heard this, they ran to the gate to greet him.Whitman stepped forward and said, "You are welcome, Mr. Lewis."

After getting out of the carriage, Louis took off his top hat: "Good evening, Whitman." Seeing a group of innocent children looking up at him, he smiled gently, "Good evening, children."

"Good evening, Mr. Lewis," said the children in unison.

Then, Louis manipulated several large dolls to move the box containing the small dolls into it.The children were very excited to see the moving dolls.So follow them and ask.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, boys. My name is Johnny."

"Will you prepare a show for us?"

"Of course, the happiest thing for puppet people is to bring joy to children."

As if by magic, several puppets spread carpets and hung curtains on the stage of the auditorium arranged by Whitman.

Under the arrangement of Dean Eva and Sister Emma, ​​the little bean dings sat down on the chairs and waited for the puppet show.

After everything was ready, Johnny the puppet jumped to the center of the stage and bowed to the audience, and then sang: "Look, what a wonderful night this is. The elves got into the children's In the dream, bring them joy and happiness. Tonight, you will dance with us." After singing, the curtain opened, and there were more than a dozen puppets on the stage in an instant.They held hands and started a nursery rhyme chorus.

The children stared with their mouths wide open and their shining eyes wide open.

On the stage, puppets with different looks sang nursery rhymes and operas together:

Who Killed the Mockingbird?

It's me, said the sparrow,

I killed the robin,

with my bow and arrow.

Who saw him die?

it's me, said the fly,

with my little eyes,

I saw him die.

Who took his blood?

it's me, said the fish,

I took his blood,

Use my little dish.

Who will make mourning clothes for him?

I, said the beetle,

I will make mourning clothes for him,

With my needle and thread.

Who will dig his grave?

I, said the owl,

I will dig his grave,

With my hoe and shovel...

While the puppets on the stage sang, they performed "Who Killed the Mockingbird".After singing the children's opera, the puppets on the stage began to perform a puppet show.The children in the audience watched with relish, and they clapped their hands from time to time because of the excitement of the play.

Looking at the stage, Whitman always felt a little weird.Although each puppet was hung with hanging silk, he always felt that these puppet figures seemed to be alive.And, where do their voices come from?Is Mr. Lewis singing?If so, he is really a formidable person.

Puppet shows were staged one after another, and when midnight approached, the show finally ended.Louis came to the stage in person, and he smiled and bowed to the small audience.Then, the puppet stepped off the stage and hugged the children.When a white-haired puppet pounced on Whitman, and Whitman subconsciously hugged him, he became dizzy and fell down.

Something had happened to the East End poorhouse.Detective Charles was called to the scene and rushed to investigate.In the auditorium, Dean Eva, Sister Emma and more than 20 children were unconscious on the ground, unable to wake up.

"This is really terrible." If the people who fell and fell asleep before were accidents, but the people who fell on such a large scale were not.Poor kids, someone must have done something to them.He walked up to Whitman and shook: "Whitman, wake up." But the young man fell asleep and did not hear his words.He called several times in a row, but he still didn't wake up.From the children's sitting postures, he could judge that the children were facing the same direction, which was the direction of the fireplace.But ahead, there is nothing.So, he ordered the police to clean up the space in the auditorium, spread out mats, arrange the children in a row, and then cover them with thin quilts.

What happened?

Detective Charles inspected the poorhouse.

Floating over the auditorium, Walter watched as the police put the children to sleep and stationed a few in the poorhouse.He floated up to Whitman and called, "Hey, little guy."

But the other party fell asleep and did not respond to him.I didn't see Whitman working as a shoe shiner in the shopping street for two days, so I couldn't help coming to the poorhouse. I didn't expect to see such a scene.Then, he stretched out his hand into the boy's body.

The boy's soul is gone.In addition, he also touched the same thing.So, he slowly and slowly took out a Death Scythe from the boy's body.

Looking at the death sickle in his hand, Walter smiled, and then put the sickle back into the boy's body.He then checked the bodies of the other little ones and found that their souls were gone.

The souls of all the poorhouse owners have been stolen.

It's abominable, who is it that steals other people's souls?I don't know if the other gods of death have found clues.

Ten little Indian boys ran for food; one of them choked to death and could not be saved, and only nine of the ten remained.

Nine little Indian boys, sleepless late at night, really sleepy; they fell asleep and died of sleep, and there were only eight of the nine.

Eight little Indian boys went hunting in Devon; one died, and only seven remained of the eight.

Seven little Indian boys, felling trees and cutting branches are not easy; the ax splits in half, and the seven are only six...

In the ear, I heard the nursery rhymes sung by the children.Whitman opened his eyes, and he moved.The body feels stiff.He looked down and found that his hands had turned into wood.

How is this going?

He struggled to stand up and felt all over his body, only to find that he had turned into a puppet.A puppet came up to him and said, "Look, he's awake. We have another brother."

As a result, other puppets rushed over one after another, holding hands and singing nursery rhymes.Whitman was at a loss for a moment—what the hell was going on?

Until the puppets go away to play.Whitman suddenly realized that he was not dreaming.The life I felt from the puppets at that time was actually real.Therefore, inside the body of the puppet is the soul of a human being.As he thought about it, he thought of the children in the poorhouse.

Children, perhaps also have their souls stolen.

So he went looking for the children in the big manor.

"Dean Eva—"

"Sister Emma—"

"Little Allen—"

In the manor, Whitman called.Until a familiar voice answered him.

"Whitman? Brother Whitman?"

It was Little Allen's voice.

In a group of puppets playing, Whitman found little Allen, a little puppet with purple eyes.

"Ellen, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. We're happy, Whitman. Father said he'd bring us more brothers and sisters."

"Father? Alan, what are you talking about?"

"Father is... that is Louis' father. Thank you father for raising us all the time."

"Wait, wait a minute. Alan, you and I are orphans in the poorhouse."

"Whitman, what are you talking about? We are all children raised by our fathers."

Hearing what Little Allen said, Whitman was terrified.So, the second child was found.Like little Ellen, they completely forgot that they were children of the poorhouse.What did the puppeteer Louis do to them?

In the spacious hall, dolls with human souls held hands and began to sing nursery rhymes again.Watching them, Whitman was terrified.He looked towards the gate, and then, passing through the children, wanted to get out.But someone caught him.

"Whitman, where are you going?"

Whitman looked up and exclaimed, "Mr. Lewis!"

Louis showed a surprised expression: "Mr. Louis?"

Whitman covered his mouth.But the other party had already noticed his strangeness, so he carried him to a room upstairs.In this room, Whitman saw many paintings and photographs.In these photographs and oil paintings, there are portraits of Luis with another woman and three children.

This, Whitman thought, was his family.

By the clear window, Louis put Whitman on the table, then he sat down and said, "Do you remember that you are human?"

Whitman wanted to lie, but obviously, the other party could see through any of his lies.So he said, "Yes, Mr. Lewis. I remember being a human being."

Luis is surprised and amused.He smiled and said: "You are a special child. Don't worry, you can find happiness here."

"No, it's not happiness. Mr. Lewis, why are you doing this?"

"Whitman, your question is meaningless."

"Mr. Louis, we are human beings, not puppets controlled by you."

"Here, you are just my children, you don't have to worry about anything."

"Mr. Lewis, please release our souls."

"I can't satisfy your request. You are my child, and it is enough for you to stay in this manor."

After that, no matter what Whitman asked, Louis did not answer.Whitman could not feel malice from the other party.Therefore, he believed that the gentleman in front of him was not an evil person.

Because Whitman kept his memory, Louis had to lock the doors and windows when he went out.Therefore, Whitman, who wanted to sneak out of the manor, could not find any exit... no, there was an exit.

The chimney of the closet can lead to the outside.But the premise is that he can climb up.

Looking at the closet carved with the image of an angel, Whitman walked into the closet, then put his limbs on the wall of the closet chimney, and moved slowly, slowly.But less than halfway through, he slid off and fell into the ashes.

Louis, who took the puppets out to perform, came home and saw a dirty puppet.He gently picked up Whitman and washed him, then dried him.

At the dinner table, he put Whitman on the table to face him.The puppet Johnny brought Louis dinner.While eating a delicious dinner, Louis said: "The children who came to the theater to watch the performance today are very happy."

Whitman looked at him and said, "Is Mr. Lewis happy?"

Lewis paused, then smiled and said, "Of course, I'm happy."

"You'll be happier if you give us back our freedom."

"Whitman, you are a bright boy. So you should know that children are not happy when they lose their father."

The conversation ended up falling apart.

Late at night, in the hallway, Whitman sat on the floor, looking up at the window.It was dark outside because of the smog.From time to time, demons fly by flapping their wings.The demons, he thought, have smelled souls.This manor has gathered a large number of souls, and once a flaw is revealed, they will fly in and eat the souls of the children.

Oh what a horrible thought.

But he knew that the idea was very likely to happen.Perhaps, demons have surrounded the manor from the outside.

Must, must liberate all souls and return them to their bodies.

But is there any way to separate the soul from the puppet?Due to the call of the body, once the soul leaves the puppet, it will inevitably fly back to its own body.

Whitman ran, squeezing the soul, trying to get the soul out of the puppet's body, but to no avail.His soul was tightly locked in the body of the puppet.

He fell to the floor panting.

How to do?

Ah... he remembered Mr. Death.If he didn't see his own Mr. Reaper, he must have noticed the strangeness of the poorhouse.I don't know when he will be able to find here.

The next day, after Louis went out.Whitman roams the large estate.He found that this house, except for the spirit puppets, has no human breath at all.Even if it is noisy, lively and happy inside.He felt an indescribable loneliness.So he thought of the portrait hanging in Mr. Lewis' room.

He came to the second floor and opened Mr. Louis' room.He looked up, looking at the portrait.In the portrait, three children who look very similar to Mr. Louis are smiling.In this manor, there is only Mr. Louis.But the woman and child in the portrait are not there.

He guessed, are they dead?

So, he struggled to open the drawer.In the first drawer, he saw a pistol.He continued to open the second drawer, and in the second drawer, he saw toys for children to play with.In the third drawer, he saw a diary.

The secret sealed in the diary seemed to tempt him to pick it up and open it for inspection.

Whitman knew that it was shameful to look into the owner's diary.But he wanted to get to know the gentleman who had done them no harm.So he flipped through his diary.

"That estate exudes a delicious taste of the soul."

"Oh, and I smell the soul of that poorhouse orphan."

"Jie Jie Jie, if we eat those human souls, he will definitely kill us."

Therefore, they lurked and hovered on the roof of that manor.Surrounding the entire manor, whenever they had the chance, they would fly in and eat those delicious souls.

When Lewis came home, he picked Whitman up and put him on the dining table.After a while, the puppet Johnny brought him dinner.

"Dear Whitman, are you having a good day?"

Whitman shook the wooden head.

"You need to play with the kids a lot."

"Mr. Lewis, please forgive me, I read your diary."

Louis paused while cutting the steak: "Whitman, you are such a naughty boy."

Louis had a smile on his face, but Whitman felt the anger and pain behind his smile.He apologized again: "I'm sorry, Mr. Louis..."

In that diary, he saw Louis's despair, pain, sadness, confusion, etc. due to the loss of his lover and child.He walked alone in the dark for a long, long time.Finally, a glimmer of light was caught.From the ancient books, he found a kind of forbidden spirit puppetry.This forbidden technique can separate the human soul from the body, and make the soul forget its own body, and then put it into the doll.

After that, using the forbidden technique, a puppet with a human soul was created.He regards these puppets as his family, and the originally deserted manor has become lively again because of the puppets.

With the company of his family members, Louis' empty heart was satisfied.

"Mr. Lewis, you are deceiving yourself."

Louis put down his knife and fork.

"In this manor, all the happiness is false."

Louis was smiling, but pain flickered deep in his eyes.

"All puppets are just puppets controlled by you."

"Whitman, your words make me unhappy." The smile on Louis' face disappeared.

"I just wanted to wake you up."

"Honey, I'm always sober. Besides, I'm happy to have my children by my side. You, on the other hand, are always making me angry. Maybe you need to be punished to be quiet."

"If my words offend you, it is enough to prove that you have admitted what I said. So, please let us go."

Louis is angry, however, and he hates punishing abusive children.But he couldn't bear Whitman to continue talking, so he ordered Johnny to carry him down.

After Whitman was taken away, Louis lost his appetite in the face of the delicate and delicious dinner.

At night, Whitman sees more and more demons lurking outside the estate.It was dangerous, but now he couldn't convince Louis.He who couldn't get rid of the doll was frustrated.Even, I hope that Mr. Death can come to rescue them.

The next day, Louis didn't take the puppet out to perform.As if he had forgotten the unhappiness of yesterday, in the spacious hall of the manor, he sat on the ground with a book and told the stories to the puppets.

For my father and his favorite puppets, rely on him, or sit, or lie down and listen to him gently telling stories.Seeing this heartwarming scene, the desire to wake up Louis became stronger.