Chapter Three Is Here! Hope you're enjoying it!

Chapter Three - " Those Are Your Hands?"

A few times, Peg thought, What am I doing? She was driving up towards the enormous hill at the end of the neighborhood No one ever went up there. It wasn't that it was off imits, but sometimes people were jus afraid or uninterested to go up to the castle that stood on top. Peg had heard about the inventor that lived up there years ago, but she never heard if he died or moved or whatever. All she knew was that the castle existed and that she was going up there to sell Avon products. Her car made the climb up the mountain surprisingly well. It wasn't really a car that was built to go up extreme distances, but it fought well to get to the top. A gate blocked off the entrance to the castle's courtyard. It was broken open. Peg figured that some local teens broke it open to get inside because it looked purpously torn open. She parked her car in front of the gates and stepped out, looking up at the enormous castle that was in the stages of decay. Bricks had fallen from the tall towers, but the structure itself was still incredibly well put together.

" Oh, it's so beautiful!" Peg said to herself as she slipped through the open gate. Incredible topiary stood around in the courtyard, trimmed to perfection. Everything was surprisingly beautiful for such an old place that no one ever visited. Birds hovered in the sky, a squirell ran past Peg. It was all like a fairy tale to her. " Oh, how cute," she said as the squirell passed her. Dominating the other shaped hedges was a very large piece of artwork in topiary. A pair of hands stook out of the grass and were reaching out towards the sky Everything about it was in complete detail. Finger nails were perfectly visible on the ends of the fingers, the palms of the hands stretched out to get something, but that something could be anything. Peg smiled in spite of herself. This was all so incredible and nobody in town had ever seen it before. Why, she would have to tell all of her friends about this! Everyone in the neighborhood would be so pleased to see these incredible works of art! Peg had even forgotten why she had come, to sell cosmetics. She stepped up onto a large porch where she came face to face with two large door knockers on two large doubledoors. This was the main entrance to the huge castle. Peg knocked on the door, hearing the loud banging echoing within the castle's walls.

" Hello?" Peg called as she opened the door a crack. " Is anyone home? This is Avon calling!" Peg reached out to open the doors. Surprisingly, they both swung open to reveal an incredible foyer with stone stairs leading up to a tower high above the ground. " Avon calling!" Peg repeated as she stepped into the magnificent foyer. Her voice echoed through the cavernous bulding, but there was no answer. Peg herself was awestruck by the incredible place. A workshop neighbored the foyer where old, dusty equipment sat, untouched for years. The machines would probably never work again, but Peg assumed that the inventor who lived their before made them. Another thing that caught her eyes were the statues that stood aroun the room, dwarfing her incredibly. The stairs wound up to a tower where Peg noticed a moving shadow.

" Hello?" Peg repeated. " You don't have to hide. I'm Peg Boggs, your local Avon representative. I was just stopping in to see if I could interest you in some of my new products." Peg started running up thestairs, noticing the huge chandelier that hung above the foyer. She couldn't believe how huge this castle was.

" Why, this sure is one big house, isn't it?" Peg called out. " I would get lost in here if I didn't have a map!" As she came to the top of the stairs, another small stairway led up to an attic where Peg heard a scraping noise. " Hello? You don't have to hide. I won't hurt you." Peg was atually beginning to get somewhat frightened by this huge place. It was incredibly large and there could be anyone ready to jump out from a dark corner at her. However, she gathered her strength and went up to the attic where a huge hole in the ceiling let in enough sunlight to see the whole room. Pieces of wooden debris were scattered about on the dusty floor and there were scratches along one side of the wall. Peg scanned the room and while she was, she noticed a small bed in the corner with dozens and dozens of newspaper articles and papers scattered around it. The bed was quite small, small enough for a toddler. The matress was bare and scratched in many different places. An old, funky pillow sat on the bed, covered in dust. The newspaper articles surrounding the bed all had to do with disabled people and some even had to do with hands and surgeons who help people born without arms. Peg chuckled, amused by the strangeness of this place.

That was when she heard the scratching again. It was coming from behind her somewhere. Peg turned and noticed a shining metal coming from a dark corner on the other side of the room. However, it was too dark to see who was hiding back there. Peg started walking towards the corner when she smiled.

" Why are you hiding back there?" she asked. " You don't have to hide from me. Why, I'm as harmless as cherry pie!" Suddenly, she saw the figure walking towards her with sharp blades glistening in the light. Peg's face turned from happiness to worry as she started backing up. Realizing that she may be in danger, she gulped.

" Well, I can see that I've disturbed you," she said with a chuckle. " How stupid o me. I'll just be going now, I'm sorry that I came in here like this. I really shouldn't have come here." She started heading for the stairs when the figure said something.

" Don't go." Peg stopped and turned around, still looking a little nervous. She gulped again and spoke to the man.

" Who are you?" The man put out his hands, showing sharp blades of metal sticking out towards Peg.

" I'm not finished," the man said as he stuck out the blades. Peg jumped back and yelped. She was still somewhat frightened.

" Oh, no!" Peg cried. " You just stay back, okay? Put those down! You're gonna hurt somebody with those! They're sharp!" The man sighed as he put his hands down. The sharp blades were actually his hands, the unfinished parts of him. Peg's mouth dropped as she looked at the man and his disability.

" Those are your hands?" Peg asked as she gulped. " Oh, God," she continued. " Those are your hands. But where are your parents?" The man did not respond, but just starred at her while he made his scissorhands go back and forth. Very slowly, Peg approached him and noticed that there were many scars on his face. Some of them looked like they had been there for a very long time. " Your face," Peg said as she reached into her Avon briefcase. " I think I should give you some stuff to prevent any infection." Pulling out a cotton ball with anti bacterial liquid on it, Peg began rubbing it onto the man's scars. He flinched at first, but finally allowed Peg to do her job. " Do you have a mother or a father?" Peg asked as she continued her work.

" He didn't wake up," the man said as Peg finished. She nodded, understanding what he meant.

" What's your name?" she asked.

" Edward," the man replied.

Peg nodded. " Well, Edward," she said. " I think you should just come with me."

I hope you're enjoying it! Please review!