TriXter

TriXter is a mischievous, malevolent spirit that long ago found its way back through the looking glass, so to speak. He, or rather it, found a way to enter our world through a mirror. For centuries he had watched our kind slowly evolve and trip through existence. He visited us in our sleep and tormented our dreams. Once he broke free of Limbo, he took on substance and shape. The shape he chose was that of a child’s toy, a harlequin jester in a handmade Jack in the Box. The name painted across the front- TriXter, its face pale white porcelain with empty eyes. The only noticeable detail on the dolls face was a painted tear beneath one eye and a stripe that stretched above and below the other. Once he had shape and form, his tricks became much more sinister and macabre. Now in our world he took pleasure in tormenting and torturing us through our fears and reveled in our torment and terror. Although considered BREED this spirit, TriXter, knows no master and follows no rules.

Allow me to tell you a story of one young man’s undying love for his mentally challenged younger brother. Sam Anderson and his brother David have been raised by their bitter, abusive grandfather for the last 7 years. The boy’s parents died in a tragic fire and they were entrusted to their grandfather, Mason Anderson.

Mason was as mean as they come; a hateful vicious old man. His wife died of a broken neck from falling down the stairs over 20 years ago. It was said to be accidental, but there are those who think otherwise. The nasty old man has lived in seclusion in the same house ever since. The house itself, once a magnificent vibrant Victorian, has seen better days. It now mostly resembles a scene from a horror film. Mason himself was a strong and healthy man for his age. People of Spring Grove avoided him like the plague. They all feared the consequences of crossing him. A glance from the old man could burn right through you, and chill you to your soul. He was known to carry a skull headed walking stick that he would wield relentlessly on any man, woman, or even child. This would explain the deep scar that stretched an inch above and below Sam’s right eye. This too was explained away as an unfortunate accident. Sam knows better, and has a constant reminder of his grandfather’s wrath.

Sam and David did all that they could to stay out of their grandfather's way. This was, at times, extremely difficult, given the fact that David was autistic. He needed constant care and supervision. This did not phase Sam at all; he loved his brother so much that he dropped out of school to take care of him round the clock. It wasn’t too much of a loss for Sam; he was an outcast because of his scar. More than the boy’s grandfather picked on and abused his young brother, so they were more than comfortable on their own. One time while cleaning out the attic, Sam came across an antique Jack in the Box.



The box itself was carved out of wood with silver caps on all of its corners. On the front of the box was the name Trixter, hand painted in bright red. The X in Trixter took up the majority of the center of the box. The other letters were much smaller. There were symbols carved into the lid and other panels of the box that Sam just couldn’t make heads or tails of. On a small silver label on the lid, the date 1642 was stamped. After sitting and admiring the box for a while Sam started to turn its crank. The melody that played was not what you would normally imagine when you think of a Jack in the Box. Instead it possessed a more eerie or ominous tone. The music stopped there was a moment of pause and up popped TriXter.

The doll inside was an amazingly detailed white faced jester. Its costume was a Harlequin; bright green and purple. It had small opals for eyes which gave an unsettling glow when you looked at it just right. His face was carved with a twisted little smile. Not exactly a child’s toy is what Sam thought. Regardless of what he thought of the toy, he took it to his room anyway. That night, David got hold of the toy and would not let it go. He sat in quiet contentment as he stared at the box. He grew the biggest most angelic smile that his brother Sam had ever seen. The look of peace on David’s face made Sam start to cry. With everything that the brothers had been through, this small box made his brother happier than he had ever seen him.

Suddenly David spoke, he said, "Thirteen", and then giggle. Over and over, he chanted, "Thirteen, thirteen, thirteen". There David sat, smiling and laughing, repeating the word thirteen. Sam could not figure out what was going on. Why on earth was David saying thirteen, he thought. When he tried to take the box to take another look, his brother clenched it tighter and tighter. He looked up at Sam and smiled, then said, "Me and TriXter friends.". The loving brother just nodded and left him alone. After a few hours his brother fell fast asleep, releasing the old toy. Sam picked up the box and studied every inch of it for the better part of an hour. He scratched his head, puzzled and wondered again why thirteen? Then like a ton of bricks it hit him, and he smiled as he looked at the date on the lid of the box. 1642 equals 13 when you add up the numbers.

For the next four years David and TriXter were inseparable. Mason glared with discontent at the boy and the old Jack in the Box. "Keep that dam thing away from me, you hear?" the old man said the same thing every time he saw it. Sam was curious and asked his grandfather what the history was behind the toy. "You just not worry about that, it keeps the little bastard quiet and that’s all I care about." Sam began to notice something in the eyes of his grandfather whenever he would see the box. It was something that no person on earth has probably ever seen in the wicked old man’s eyes ever before. It was fear. Pure unbridled terror. Something about that little wooden box scared the old man. That fact alone brought a smile to the boy’s face. He had absolutely no idea why on earth this monster of a man would bat an eye over an old child’s toy. He didn’t care in the least either. The old man knew fear and that was enough to keep him grinning 24 – 7.

One year for his brother’s birthday, Sam went all out and dressed exactly like the doll in the box. He had secretly created a full size TriXter costume; complete with white cotton gloves and little jingle balls. Mason was gone for the night so Sam put on a show for his brother. Before he quit school he was involved with gymnastics and martial arts. It was no chore at all for the young man to back-flip or tumble around the house. He sat his brother down in the living room then proceeded to do cartwheels and back-flips and handstands and so on. Try as he might, no matter what he did David would only pout and shake his head no. Puzzled at his brothers response he tilted his head to the side and began to pout, himself. With his shoulders dropped in defeat he turned to walk away. Then he froze in place, turned back, and began to smile. Now David was confused. Sam remembered there was something different about the doll that he had not added to his costume. TriXter had pale white eyes, so to go the extra mile he rolled his eyes back in their sockets. Then with a twisted grin on his face, he heard his brother clap and cheer. He then flipped backwards then forwards, all while his eyes were rolled back in his head. As he set his eyes back to front, there stood his brother who wrapped his arms around him and said, "I love you Sam". From that day on it was not just David and TriXter, it was Sam, David, and of course, TriXter.

On the night of August 29th 1985 Sam went out for a night of his own, leaving his brother home alone with their grandfather. All was well until 9:40 that night. David was wandering the house holding tightly to his precious Jack in the Box when he ran into Mason at the top of the stairs. "What the hell do you want", Mason asked with a look of disgust on his face. The boy just looked up then held out the box in front of him. With an innocent smile on his face, he began to slowly turn its crank. The old man pulled his head then shoulders back, as if he were being pushed away. "What are you doing? Stop!" he shouted. "Stop, don’t stop," David shouted even louder. The music stopped, and the box did not open. The boy’s grandfather relaxed, and with a sigh of relief, he began to move closer. Just as he stepped forward, TriXter sprang out of his box. With a scream, the old man lunged out, pushing his grandson down the stairs. His small body folded and twisted violently down the stairs. There, at the top of the stairs, Mason muttered softly to himself, "I told you to stop you dumb bastard." At his feet there sat TriXter looking down at the boy's broken, lifeless body.

A few hours go by, and Sam comes home to police cars and an ambulance. As he gets closer he sees the E.M.T's loading a small body bag into the back of the truck. He screams out and runs to the house. Once inside he sees his grandfather talking to the police. He hears him say that he heard the boy scream and by the time he got to the stairs it was too late. Accidental death is what they put down in their report. Sam knows that it was no accident as he sees his grandfather look back at him with an evil grin on his face. The following day, Sam sits alone in tears clenching a picture of his brother. "Why, why, why?" he cries.

Two weeks go by, and he ventures out into town. He soon comes across a group of kids he used to be in school with. A boy from the group laughs and says, "You should have taught the little retard how to use the stairs." The whole group starts to laugh and make more comments. Sam clenches his teeth and fists, then lashes out at the spiteful mob. He is outnumbered and subdued by four of the boys. The instigator starts to punch Sam repeatedly in the face and ribs. The rest of the group laugh and call him freak. The girls of the group take turns spitting on him as they all walk away. "Stay out of town freak!" they shout as they walk away.

He stumbles home only to find his grandfather on the porch grinning at him. "Dumb shit, got your ass beat didn’t ya? You just couldn’t leave well enough alone could ya?" Sam looks up and stares right through the old man. Mason grabs Sam’s shoulder tightly and says, "Let it rest, what’s done is done. Let it rest, you can’t change it boy." Sam pulls free and says, "I might not be able to change it, but I can make it right." Mason shakes his head in disbelief, laughs and says, "Whatever boy."

The next several days Sam heals and plots the perfect revenge for his brother’s death. He waits until his grandfather is asleep, then sneaks off with his walking stick. Shortly thereafter, a crude 13 is carved into the forehead of the skull. He dons the TriXter costume once again, with the addition of a single painted tear under his left eye. Mason wakes to strange laughter and wanders half asleep into the upstairs hallway. He heads towards the stairs when he kicks something. There at his feet is the Jack in the Box. "Ha ha ha!" he bellows, "you sure think you're funny, don’t you boy? This doesn’t scare me, it’s just a toy, you stupid shit." He reaches down and grabs hold of the toy. He stands and stares at it for a moment and says, "Just a toy, nothing but a dam toy." He then starts to turn the crank and winces at the eerie tune that plays. The music ends and he braces himself for the creepy doll to pop out. The lid pops open, but the doll is gone. His heart starts to race, and he drops the box to the floor.

From behind him he hears sinister laughter that echoes and fills the entire house. The sound is almost deafening. He turns, and there in front of him is Sam dressed exactly like the jester doll from the Jack in the Box. "What the fuck do you think you’re doing boy?" the enraged old man shouts. But there’s something unsettling about what he sees. The figure before him does not speak, merely shakes its head from side to side, smiles, and wags its finger as if to say "naughty, naughty." "This isn’t funny you little bastard, I’m going to kill you!" he screams in a cracked voice. Just as he reaches for him, the boy does three back-flips, then a cartwheel back in front of the old man. "I’m not scared of you, you’re just a boy!" As soon as he says that the boy freezes in place then leans slowly forward. Now, face to face with the man who killed his brother, his eyes slowly roll to the back of his head. Mason moves his head away from the sight, but strangely his grandsons, or rather the jesters, head follows. No matter how he moves the jester is able to move with him. "I don’t know how you’re doing that, but the game is over. Stop!" "NO!" the jester shouts, and with a crooked smile and a voice seemingly not his own, says "Let us play." With that, the house goes silent except for the sound of the old man’s heart pounding hard and fast in his chest.

Mason tore off down the stairs, headed to his study. TriXter was right behind him. He went for his walking stick only to find it missing. He looked back at the jester, and with a wave of his hand, out of thin air, was the old man’s walking stick. With the push of a finger, a long hidden blade was released. Mason falls back into his chair. The wicked jester leans in close to the old man; strangely his breath feels cold on the old man's face. "What are you; you’re not real what are you?" he screams. Then from the lips of this thing before him, he hears, "It's me, TriXter. Let us play." His hand grasping his chest, his face frozen in fear, Mason took one last breath. Now the once strong and fearless man, sits dead in his chair, overcome by sheer terror.

Several people, now dead by the hands of the TriXter. The sun slowly starts to raise on the town of Oak Grove Pennsylvania. With the rise of the sun comes a fog that rolls into the now dead town. You look down an empty street, panning from shadowed house to shadowed house, left to right back and forth then slowly pull back. From out of the fog, TriXter starts to flip and cartwheel. Close up, you see his pale white eyes. Pull back slowly, he then moves his head around as if he is looking for a new playmate. Then he pauses, looking straight ahead. A twisted grin curls across his face and he says, "Me TriXter. LET US PLAY!" followed by evil laughter echoing in the empty street, TriXter flips and tumbles back out into the fog.

In Film
Trixter is played by Jason Crowe