This is the perfect time for you to hug yourself or another person if one is available. 'Cause that is what Jason and I did. We wrapped our arms around each other and shook in terror. Get it? Terror? 'Cause we were in Territory of Terror. Yeah. I am not that great at jokes.

A man and a woman who were crouched behind the table stood and were shocked to see us. They acted as if they never excepted costumers, which was understandable because this park was abandoned by the humans.

Speaking of humans, both the man and woman were human. They introduced themselves as Kobul Pastings and Winifred Pastings. Kobul had wrinkles on his face and hands. He had long, white hair with a long, white beard and wore a silver robe. Winifred was younger than him. She wore a purple bandana that covered her hair and a purple dress that touched her feet. A blue belt was around her waist, and her lips were as red as a cherry.

"Are you brother and sister?" Jason asked. "Is that why you share the same last name?"

"We are not siblings," Winifred replied in a soft and kind voice. "We are husband and wife."

"Really? Why are you two not wearing your wedding rings?"

"We do not own wedding rings. Just like that traditional marriage is illegal in Forlot, it is illegal in Territory of Terror to perform traditional marriage."

"Hmm. That would explain why my mom and dad are uncomfortable wearing wedding rings," I said. "Now could you please do something with that head?"

The couple was not at all disturbed by the detached head, and Winifred picked it up and set it on the ground and by her. She reassured us to not be afraid of the human head because she and her husband would never do such a thing to somebody so innocent.

"Is it fake?" Margie asked.

"What book do you think that you are in?" Kobul finally said something. "This is Forlot. Anything can happen. By the way, the head is no fake. It is very much real."

Jason and I hugged each other tighter. "And why do you have a head of a man who used to be alive?" I said.

"He was a rude customer of ours that used foul language. It is against the law in Forlot to use such words, so my wife and I used our powers to cut his head off."

I gently pushed my best friend away from me and covered my mouth with both of my hands. I felt like throwing up.

"If you are going to...you know what...could you please do it far away from this tent?" Winifred politely said. "Kobul and I spent the whole morning cleaning up a large puddle of bright red blood that mysteriously appeared right in front of our tent."

I shut my eyes tight and tried to hold it down. I did not want to be sick. Not until Jason and I rescued Ashlee from those dummies.

Margie glanced down at what she was cradling and was stunned that it was Tamara. She demanded to know how the heck the infant got in her arms.

"I gave Tamara to you," I stated.

"That is not right," Margie protested. "The writer never wrote that you gave Tamara to me."

"Are you trying to tell me that our writer is that lazy to leave out that small detail?"

"No. I am just pointing it out for our fellow readers."

"Enough with breaking the fourth wall," Winifred cut in. "Who are you and why are you trespassing this park?"

Margie saluted to her. "I am the Monster Protector, ma'am. I have permission to be here."

Winifred placed her hands on her hips and glared at me and Jason. "What about you two?"

I cleared my throat. "I am Brandon. With me is my best friend Jason. We do not mean to trespass, but we are searching for another friend of mine. She is a girl and as young as me and Jason. She has blonde hair, and her name is Ashlee Garden."

Kobul and Winifred glanced at each other, and then back at me.

"Ashlee Garden?" Kobul said her name. "The Ashlee Garden?"

"I believe so. I witnessed her being kidnapped from her home by three puppets. The puppets were all boys."

Sweat began trickling down their foreheads. Were they nervous? Or just hot?

"A-are you sure that they were puppets?" Kobul stammered.

Yep. They were nervous.

I sighed. "I know that it sounds crazy because dummies are not supposed to walk and talk..." I started.

Winifred leaned forward and slammed her hands on the table. "Those dummies are anything but dummies."

I blinked a few times. "You know them? Or know about them?"

Kobul slowly nodded and stroked his beard. "All the way. After all, my wife and I created them."

"What?!" Jason and I exclaimed in unison.

The Monster Protector pressed her hands to her cheeks. "Oh my gosh," she said. "Plot twist."

"You created those terrible puppets?" I said. "Why?"

"They are not terrible," Winifred defended them. "They are good puppets. Very good puppets."

"What went wrong?"

Kobul ran his fingers through his beard. "What? Nothing went wrong. What makes you think that something went wrong?"

"It is common in fiction worlds for an experiment or a creation to go horribly wrong," Jason explained to the couple.

"Our puppets act the way that we created them to be, and their hearts are in the right place."

Winifred wrapped an around his shoulders. "My husband and I wanted to have children when we were younger, but were unable to. So we combined our powers to bring them to life. They are our sons."

I rubbed my chin. "Do you know why they would want to kidnap Ashlee?"

Kobul tapped his foot. "Hmm...maybe they like her."

"I know exactly why," Winifred announced. "Ashlee Garden is the Lubriem."