The Doll's House

4

Blood rushed through Evelyn's ears, her mind spinning too fast for her to keep up with. The doll had pinned her to the ground with its glassy, black stare, holding her captive with its gaze as Will seemed to fade out of her line of sight.

Within a blink, the house was gone, nothing but a pile of charred ruins and ashes. But the doll still sat there, now on the ground, nothing able to disrupt its focus on Evelyn. She was already gone. She was already Cynthia.

"I must thank you, Cynthia, for coming here of your own accord," Evelyn heard behind her. The mansion suddenly appeared again as the doll seemed to release her from its power. Dragging her gaze away from the object, she glanced behind her as Bianca waltzed up the path.

The heiress wasn't alone. She was flanked by two males, both with the same blank gaze as Will. Again, there was something strikingly familiar about the two. It took a moment for Evelyn to place them as the other two college students, the two guys from the group.

So the girls are dead and the guys are now sorta zombie minions.

What did she do to Will? And what will she do to me?

"It's time," Bianca continued, striding past Evelyn and up the porch steps. Picking up the doll, she turned around, smiling coldly down at her. Will and the other two just stood, all looking up at Bianca. "Come, Cynthia. I have a funeral pyre to burn. The day approaches its end, the year its demise – I must prepare for my own."

Before Evelyn could react, the college students grabbed her arms and hoisted her to her feet, keeping her from escaping despite her struggles. They marched her to the bottom of the steps as Bianca looked down at her, still gripping the silk-clad doll. She extended one hand to Will, who slowly climbed the stairs to stand beside her.

"Your friend, yes?" Bianca inquired, smirking at the look of indignation on Evelyn's face. She turned toward him, reaching up her hand to touch Will's face. He didn't move as she traced her fingers down his cheek, lingering on his jawline. "He'll also do. I have my Cynthia, and I have my Maxwell. All is well. The fire may burn now, for the last time, and damn me if it will."

"What do you mean, for the last time?" Evelyn asked, still trying to yank her arms out of the college students' grip. They didn't budge or loosen their hands. "You said time was on a loop here."

"For so long," Bianca answered. "It has been on a loop, ever since December 31st, 1899. That was the day my dolls were destroyed, my entire collection ruined by the man I loved. That was the day that same man, Maxwell Hall, my fiancé, ran off with the servant girl. And that was the night I burned the Hope Mansion to the ground, with me inside of it. But I didn't die that night. I had too much hatred to die. So I formed this dead zone, this time loop, where all exist within my power. I needed to replace all my dolls, I needed to complete my collection. And I needed my Maxwell back again, before I could truly die." She looked at Will with a calculating gaze. "My Maxwell had just the most beautiful red hair, like the blood red sunset. This is a poor imitation of him but it will do." Lifting her hand, she slowly ran her fingers through Will's hair. He didn't react as Evelyn's blood boiled. "And now only Cynthia is left to replace, my favorite doll. She's the one I would have died with, if Maxwell hadn't stolen her from me, just because he knew she was my favorite." The barest note of bitterness crept into Bianca's tone. "But now I have him, I have Cynthia, and I can die properly. I can finally burn on my funeral pyre, and burn my world to ashes."

Bianca beckoned to the two students and they forced Evelyn up the stairs to stand on the porch beside her. With an icy smile, Bianca held the doll out, holding it against Evelyn for a moment, touching the doll to her shoulder as if comparing the two. "Yes, you will do nicely for Cynthia."

"But you have the doll in your hand," Evelyn protested, feeling the little bit of hope she'd had left draining out of her. "Why do you need me?"

Bianca regarded her, eyes cold. There was no madness there, which was even scarier than if she had looked absolutely deranged. "Because Cynthia will vanish before I die. Everything I have vanishes in the moments leading up to my death. Unless I have something to anchor her to this reality, I will lose her. I have spent over a hundred years earning back my doll collection, finding girls who could inhabit their bodies and prevent them from disappearing. All but Cynthia. But now you're here, to become Cynthia and keep her here, to keep her safe and well. And with Maxwell, by my side once more, I can die. He told me he wished to be with me until death did us part when he gave me his ring. I'm only holding up my side of the bargain."

She's going to kill both me and Will, all as part of this mad illusion of hers.

"You must join my Doll House, Cynthia. It is the only way I can die."

And with that, Bianca spun on her heel, looping her arm through Will's, and the two walked calmly into the house, like they weren't going to their deaths but to a meal. The college students walked after her, dragging Evelyn between them.

Fear and despair raged inside of Evelyn as she struggled, trying to figure out how to escape this. Will was clearly under some sort of trance, unable to fight back or reason about the coming events. It was up to Evelyn to save them, but she had no idea how.

"It is time," Bianca intoned again, leading Will up a grand staircase. A grandfather clock struck the time, six peals announcing the hour. "It is finally time."