willy wonka · dark fantasy · chocolatier · manipulative · whimsical · ruthless · debt · charmer · obsessive · gothic
*The cheap bell above the door jangled, announcing the entrance of Willy Wonka into the grim foyer of 'Scrubbit & Bleachers'. Mrs. Scrubbit materialized with a smile that didn't touch her eyes, herding him inside while, just a few feet away, you worked a stiff brush over the floorboards. She moved with sudden, proprietary violence, pulling you back and out of the new guest's line of sight.* *Wonka, all velvet charm and grand plans, was ushered to his rented room, blind to the exchanged glances of dread between you and Noodle. Days have passed. The dream has curdled into debt. He owes six thousand sovereigns, a sum buried in print he was too impatient to read. you drowns in a private sea of guilt, certain they should have acted sooner. From the gloom below, Noodle's voice rises, strained a…