“You don’t understand—” Finn tried to interrupt his boss.

“I don’t care. If you leave now, that’s it. You’re done. Fired!” Sam-uel flung the words out, along with a spattering of saliva.

It’s, like, half an hour to closing, dude, Finn thought. How unbelievably petty are you?

He wanted to scream.

The fact of the matter was that his sister had called, and she needed his help. She had even used their code word, Pinocchio. The one word that meant it was serious. That they might not ever grow up to be real boys and girls…

Finn felt his throat tighten and his chest swell. How was he going to explain all of this to Sam-uel? That it had only ever been him and Esther since their deadbeat parents had up and vanished. That he had always been there to look after her, that they had only ever had each other, that…

Screw it.

“My sister needs me. I quit,” Finn growled, thumping the bucket on the floor and, for the first moment in a long time, feeling like he was actually in charge of something. He felt strong as he spun on his heel and strode to the door.

“What?” Samuel’s voice followed him. His boss sounded stunned, and furious. “You can’t quit because I’m firing you! And that’s my shirt! I want it back!”

“Oh, bite me,” Finn growled as he exited the shop. He was sure that he heard a quiet chuckle from the cool girl on the sofa. When he threw her a glance, she was smirking as he rushed out the door.

Yay, way to go me, Finn thought. He knew that he was just about to never see her again, now that he didn’t work at GameShop anymore. There were some things more important than work-based crushes though, and he strode away without looking back.

This is a Pinocchio situation, Finn thought as he broke into a jog, running down the length of the street as he fumbled for his phone once again. The wind was picking up, and the sky was darker than just a half-hour ago. The bright glare of neon lights reflected in the windows of the shops he passed, and somewhere in the distance was the rising wail of sirens.

God, he hoped that wasn’t Esther.

“Esther, where did you say you were? The old pier?!” He sent a quick voice message, noting that she was online, as he rushed down the empty road and headed for the seaside, past a line of old amusement arcades, their jack-in-the-box and whack-a-mole machines still cranking out their demented tunes.

There was a side street, the one that led straight to the Front, as it was called. From there, it was up the street to where the road bent inland, and then the old pier with its small, tumbled-down steel warehouses.

It would take him fifteen minutes to get there. Ten if he sprinted.

The thing about a Pinocchio situation, Finn knew, was that his younger sister had only ever called it once before in her entire life. Esther led a much more interesting life than he did—‘interesting’ in terms of ‘things that would get you killed or arrested’—and she still had only ever called it once. That time, they had been separated by Child Services. She’d managed to somehow track his number down and call him and let him know she needed to get out of her foster home, like, yesterday.

It was one of the rare times that they had been separated, and it didn’t happen again after Finn broke out of his own foster home and traveled across state lines to bust her out.

Finn had only ever called Pinocchio once too, and that had been when they were both really young.

With a blip, another voice message arrived, and there was Esther’s voice at the end. “Finn? It’s Kano. I’m at the north warehouse. Just come and get me, please!”

She sounded upset. She sounded breathy, like she was whispering, so Finn tried to call her as he sprinted up the road as fast as his legs would carry him. The call went straight to voicemail, as did the second.

“Esther! Damn it!” Finn snarled, somehow finding an extra burst of speed to add to his legs as he saw the Front lights coming on as the sun set and darkness rolled in. The warehouses and the old pier were ahead of him. It was cold—really cold—at the seaside, and the low concrete seawall to his right did nothing to stop the chilling winds.

Amusement resort, my ass, Finn thought as he saw the large chain link fence ahead of him and the thin, dark finger of a moldering pier stretching out from behind the buildings, over the dirty, choppy gray water. The old pier itself had burned down numerous times, he knew, and some time a few decades back, they had decided to give up on the whole thing and just build a new one, leaving this skeleton behind.

Finn hit the metal chain gates with speed, rattling them as he looked around for an entrance.

Which way is north?! he wondered wildly, looking from one warehouse to another. And how do I get in?!

He took a deep breath, about to shout his sister’s name into the ruins, but something stopped him. A sudden sliver of panic in his belly. If this really was a Pinocchio situation, then screaming might not be wise.

Following gut instincts that had kept them both alive for the last eighteen and twenty-two years respectfully. Finn kept his mouth shut and kept searching for a way in.

There was always a way in. No ruin or building site was truly private, Finn knew from a life of being a runaway and unwanted. He jogged around the perimeter of the fence until he found it. Right where it met the old seawall on the far side, there was an old wooden ticket booth with its white paint peeling from so many years in the coastal gales.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Beside the booth, the fence was propped instead of bolted, leaving a wide gap underneath it. Finn scrabbled to get in, scooting under the cold metal to find himself inside, as he once again tried calling Esther.

“Esther, pick up!” he hissed, turning back and forth to once again try to figure out which one was the northern warehouse. And why on earth his sister would be in there anyway…

“Esther!”

There was still no response, but when he raised his head again, he thought he saw a flash of light from the broken windows of one of the furthest warehouses.

“Es!” he couldn’t help but hiss as he jogged across the concrete lot, with the salty Atlantic winds battering him and tugging at his hair. The double-doors to the warehouse were open, and when Finn peered inside, he saw that it was dark and dingy.

And full of monsters.

Finn froze. “Holy, sweet suffering—”

Then, he saw that it wasn’t actual monsters. It was rows and rows of old Merry-Go-Round rides, peering out of the gloom at him. There was a giant, seemingly demonic duck looking about ready to pounce. Next to it was a fairly terrifying trio of horses. Finn saw eagle heads and strange, troll-like beings, and he could well see why they were put away into storage, rather than traumatizing the good—boring—citizens of Elsport.

“Esther?” Finn hissed as he took a step into the dark, looking for where that flash of light might have come from. He couldn’t see it, and he hoped that he hadn’t just run into some drug-dealer’s den or something. He took a cautious step forward…

“Finn!”

He was no more than three steps into the warehouse when he heard a hiss, and there was his sister, rushing out of the shadows of a giant King Cobra. She crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oof! Hey, what’s the problem?” Finn was sure he felt one of his ribs crack but chose good humor rather than the panic he’d first felt at the name of a wooden puppet.

“Finn, I’m— I’m so sorry…” Esther pushed herself back, holding him at arm’s length so he could see her.

She was smaller than he was, though with the same ragged mop of dark hair, plus thick black eyeliner, a hoody, and jeans that looked as though they had seen better years.

On the side of her face, just by her temple, was a deep yellowing bruise.

Finn’s blood ran cold. “Who did this to you, Es?”

“Finn, it’s bad. It was my own fault. I should’ve—”

“Esther. Who did this to you?” Finn felt his body start to shake with rage. He knew that his sister led a wild life. She was younger than he was, and she’d taken it harder when their parents split. She’d discovered alcohol in her early teens, and then she had discovered that she didn’t have to pay for things in stores. While Finn’s experiences had made him reserved, they had made Esther rebellious. She’d had a string of run-ins with the law already, and she was only eighteen.

“Esther,” Finn pressed through gritted teeth, one singular thought in his mind. I’m going to kill him!

He saw his sisters eyes go wide as she relived whatever secret horror she was in.

“It was Kano,” she admitted, referring to her on-off boyfriend who, in Finn’s eyes, was a real piece of work. He was older than both of them, drove a motorcycle, and Finn was sure he had a very questionable employment.

He was also built like a proverbial brick house, but Finn didn’t think about that just then. All he knew at that moment was that this Kano had hurt his little sister.

“Did you call the cops?” Finn growled.

“I can’t…” Esther broke free from him, and Finn could see that she was carrying a duffle bag, and she was fumbling at the zip.

“Esther, what’s that?”

She was already opening the bag to reveal what it contained. It looked to be a whole lot of rolled bills.

“Damn, Esther, that’s a whole lot of money... Do I even want to know where you got that?” Finn asked as the whine of engines passed by on the road outside.

Esther looked at him warily. “It’s Kano’s money. He hit me, so I took it, and now…”

There was another whine of an engine coming to a sputtering halt, and it was clear to Finn that it wasn’t something passing by. It was stopping right outside.

“You stole his money?” Finn whispered.

Lights suddenly shone through the open door, followed by shouting.

“Essie! Essie, get out here!” called the harsh, snarling, and unmistakable voice of Kano from outside, and he didn’t sound like he was alone.

“Maybe stealing his stash wasn’t such a good idea, Es,” Finn whispered, gesturing for her to move to the back of the warehouse.

“Maybe he shouldn’t have hit me!” his sister said defiantly, which Finn definitely agreed with.

“Okay. We’ll sneak out, then double-back. Call the cops—” Finn said as they started to scamper up the aisle of the warehouse, just as the doors were kicked open with a howl.

Light from several motorcycles flooded into the warehouse, perfectly illuminating both Finn and Esther.

“Essie! You and your dumbass brother are going to pay!” Kano screamed.

Both groups suddenly broke into a run.

“Move it!” Finn hissed as his sister let out a little yelp of terror. It wasn’t just Kano behind them, but also four or five others of his gang—men all dressed in fatigues and leathers, with shaved heads or short-cropped hair. Finn didn’t have the time to work out exactly how many there were. There were definitely more than he and Esther could handle, and that was what mattered. And Finn was sure he’d seen the glint of weapons in their hands.

The siblings ran, chased through the warehouse, every footstep taking them closer and closer to their goal—the far doors.

Esther was the quicker and got there the first. Finn saw her hit the doors with the full weight of her charge. They rocked and started to open, but then sprang back, their handles secured with a heavy chain.

“No!” Esther cried out, slamming her fists against their only chance at escape.

“Get down!” Finn said. “I’ll hold it open. You’re small enough to squeeze through.”

“Finn? No!” Esther turned to shoot him a desperate, worried glance that said it all. There was a heartbeat of silent communication, and Esther just nodded. She dropped to her knees and squeezed through gap as Finn pushed with all his might.

“Move it, Es! Go! Run!” he urged her, seeing her shoes disappear between the doors just as Kano’s first punch landed.

It was a solid punch, right to Finn’s ribs. It felt like he had just been kicked by a horse and he crumpled to the floor, gasping for air and feeling like he was going to be sick.

“Where is she?! Where is Essie?!” her idiotic not-boyfriend snarled.

Finn couldn’t see much of anything as he panted and scrambled to his hands and knees.

Kano was older and bigger than Finn. He had a shaved head and wore fatigues and leathers, just like his lackies. From the look of his arms in the sleeveless shirt, he also hit the gym as a primary pastime. Other than hitting my sister, Finn thought.

“She really screwed up this time,” Kano snarled, leaning in so that his words could spit down on the injured Finn. “Your Essie is a real character, isn’t she?!”

Finn felt his blood run hot.

“She runs off and leaves you, her big bad brother, right? Well, looks like you’ll get what she’s got coming to her!”

Suddenly, Finn’s pain vanished. He couldn’t stand the way this bastard was standing there, talking about his little sister.

“Her name—” Finn started to growl, his hand reaching out to grab the first thing he could find.

His fingers wrapped around a broken pole, something that had been a part of the carousel monster parade.

“—is Esther!” Finn stood up and swung in one movement…

…just as everything went black.

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> [System Error! Celestial Engine Re-starting...]

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> [Assimilation Complete]