Day: 125 (Blood Moon)

Days Left: 5355

Lives Saved: 0

The marionette lunged forward, its legs dragging across the floor as it swung its stiff and wooden arms.

Corinna blocked the attacks with her spear, returning the gesture with a retaliation of her own. Jessica remained unfazed, her painted face unchanged and unmoving as the blade jabbed and sliced at her puppet body.

Due to the janky and awkwardness of the marionette's movements, Corinna easily evaded the barrage of blows, able to predict each strike as Jessica attacked with measured consistency

However, Corinna's own offensive was going just as unsuccessfully. Jessica's body appeared to be impervious, unflinching and unresponsive to every hit, never displaying any pain. Instead, the marionette's body wobbled or almost collapsed when struck, but an invisible thread kept her standing, kept her fighting.

It would have been considered a stalemate; however, Corinna's stamina was beginning to deplete whereas Jessica, being a marionette, appeared to have a limitless supply.

Fortunately, the music from the gramophone continued to blare out, keeping Harmony distracted and preventing her from trying to escape outside. But that wasn't going to last long. The record would need changing soon.

Her eyes darting around the room, Corinna knew she had to think more creatively to win this fight. She looked at the fireplace. Not wanting to have to destroy and build another one, she dismissed that idea, trying to find a new one as she barely avoided a punch to the face, the puppet's fist grazing past her cheek leaving it red and sore.

Something snapped instead of Corinna's mind, something that she had been trying to lock away. Despite knowing that it was futile, she continued her endless onslaught of attacks against the marionette. Despite wanting to end things as peacefully as she could, her strikes became more powerful with more strength behind them.

The thoughts that she had been fighting against all day slipped through the barrier. They urged her body to continue fighting, to kill Jessica.

And she let them.

She let the blood moon affect her mind, allowing the thoughts of violence and carnage wreak through her brain, consuming it until all she saw was red.

Corinna pinned the puppet onto the ground, pushing her spear against Jessica's throat. The marionette's head popped out of its socket, revealing that it was attached and connected to the torso by a string of wire.

A smile crept on Corinna's face as a plan formed.

Something thudded and crashed onto the floor.

Harmony had knocked the armchair over, and laid on the floor, still tied to it, attempting to wriggle out of the binds to freedom.

"Harmony!" Corinna yelled out.

The marionette slipped out of Corinna's hold and wrapped her arms around her neck.

Gritting her teeth, Corinna dropped her spear in shock and clawed at Jessica's wooden hands, trying to prise them off her neck. But she couldn't. All of her energy had been depleted from that last frenzy of hers. Even when she thrashed about, she couldn't shake the marionette off of her. She kicked at the puppet, accidentally hitting the spear, causing it to roll across the floor and over to Harmony.

"No!" Corinna spluttered as she watched the entranced Harmony reach for the spear within her tied restraints.

With even more determination than before, Corinna made another attempt at freedom, yanking at Jessica's arms. She pulled one of them out of its socket, exposing the wire. Catching the puppet off guard, Corinna pried herself free for a second, only to feel something cold wrap around her neck.

It was the wire. Choking as her airways were now blocked, Corinna realised that she had just given her opponent a better means of defeating her. With all of the marionette's strength focused on pulling at the wire to suffocate her, Corinna couldn't escape no matter how much she struggled. She reached out her hand, her nails scraping against the floorboards as she screamed out for Harmony.

The entranced woman did not respond. She continued to use the spear to break free from the armchair. Once the last piece of rope had been cut, Harmony stood up, dropping the spear to the ground and headed towards the broken window.

Corinna gasped, unable to even utter a word as she watched Harmony climb on top of the kitchen unit and then escape through the window.

Her body trembling, Corinna's eyes slowly opened and closed, unable to see as they watered, and her surroundings grew faint.

No...

The wire dug deeper into her skin.

How could it end like this?

The marionette's face remained ever the same.

What will happen now?

There was not even a sign of satisfaction for enacting her revenge.

Jessica will take away all of my memories just as she wanted?

Corinna's arm dropped and lay motionless on the floor.

I'll forget everything...

It still reached out to the window, to where Harmony was.

Harmony...

The puppet's head clicked as it turned to the spear on the floor.

My family...

Believing that Corinna was finally unconscious, the marionette grabbed the spear, her other hand still suffocating the young woman with its wire.

No!

With the last of her strength, Corinna yanked the wire away from her neck, freeing herself. She stumbled upwards, swaying in a daze from exhaustion.

The marionette cocked its head at an unnaturally horizontal angle as it stared at her, the spear in hand.

Wheezing, her lungs aching as if it was being stabbed by glass shards, Corinna attempted to control her breathing. Her original plan returned in her mind. With such little energy in her reserves, she had to get the timing right otherwise she'd be too weak. Remembering what Harmony had taught her, Corinna positioned her feet into a certain stance, one that allowed you to easily use your opponent's strength against itself. Then, she waited.

Jessica lunged forwards with the spear. Corinna barely dodged it, the blade slicing deep into her ear. Bearing through the pain, she disarmed the marionette then pulled at its arms and wrapped the wires inside around the puppet's wooden body. Just like how Harmony had defeated the gorilla creature all the way back in the cave on the first day, Corinna restricted the marionette's movements by tying her up with her own wires.

Unable to break free, the puppet lay motionless on the floor, its limbs wrapped around itself.

Still panting, Corinna unlocked the front door and dragged the tied up puppet outside, chucking it down the slope.

A tear slid down her cheek as Corinna's fingers felt around her neck. There was a deep indent in the skin from where the wire had choked her. Swallowing, her eyes scanned the horizon and saw a figure walking away in the distance.

It was Harmony.

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Recommended Song for Chapter

Song: Tit For Tat

Artist: Swingrowers

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Got roughly 25 more chapters left until the end of the book.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading this far!