The Clown's Jester

I

Frankly, I don't remember my parents. It's been far too long since that fateful day. But the only thing I need to know now is that he loves me and takes care of me-as long as I trust in him and follow him completely.

Some people would say he's a bad person who does bad things, but I know him as 'papa'. But he's most commonly known as 'Jason The Toy Maker'. He is very possessive and bipolar, and sometimes he snaps, but I understand why. He brings playmates home, but none of them want to stay.

I try to help him to the best of my ability, but the children all seem frightened of me. I have no clue why, papa says I look exactly like a porcelain doll. He says that I was made perfectly. My skin is now porcelain-like and he dresses me in lovely outfits. All in return for being a loyal child and playmate.

My body works exactly like a porcelain doll, my joints are all balls of porcelain, among other differences to humans. I am the biggest doll he's made at the moment. I sit in my room, surrounded by dolls at a tea party, until I hear papa walking down the hall towards my room.

"Magnolia, dear, may I come in?" I finish pouring one of the dolls a cup of tea before sitting up straight and answering him, "Yes papa." I hear the doorknob turn before the door swings open and he steps in. "I have to go for a bit, dear, but I will be back," he walks closer to me, kneeling down in front of me, "I'm bringing back a very special playmate, one with the potential of becoming another doll."

"That sounds like such fun," a wide grin stretches across my face. The edges of his lips curl into a smirk, "But I can't take you with me just yet, dear, you're not quite ready for field work." I feel a small panic begin to build inside of me, "But who will take care of me while you're gone, papa?"
He places a hand on the top of my head, sliding it down my head to hold one side of my face, "Don't worry my dear, I have asked one of my acquaintances to watch over you for me." He smiles, but this time it's a comforting smile. I nod, trusting him, "Okay."

He stands up, "His name is Laughing Jack, we don't really see eye to eye on some things, but he's promised to take care of you." My instincts are to hold my arms out towards him for a hug, but I decide against it. "You be a good girl for him, alright? Who's my little good girl? You are!" He closes his eyes as he smiles wide.

I giggle a bit with cheer before Jack in the box music begins playing. Papa turns towards my door, seeing a thick fog, "Ah, hello Jack, mighty rude to eavesdrop, isn't it?" A very tall man appears from the fog, he looks kinda like a fun party clown only his color scheme is only black and white.

The tall man's lips curl into a smirk as he says, "Bit rude to have me watch your kid-doll thing so last minute, isn't it? Considering..." I tilt my head in confusion, "Considering what, papa?" Papa doesn't turn to face me as he says, "It's nothing dear," he now turns to face me, placing a hand on my head, "don't worry, just have fun and play with your dolls, and Jack will make sure no-one harms you. But you have to be a good girl, okay?"

I nod, "Yes, papa." The tall man looks at me, his smirk still plastered on his face as he crosses his arms, "I don't like children, but misbehaved children are worse. If she tries to disobey me, you might have some glass to sweep up when you get back." My eyes widen with fear and papa closes his eyes, giving a frustrated sigh.

"One; she is porcelain, and two; if you touch a hair on her head," He opens his eyes, an angered look on his face, "and you just might not have hands to make that poisoned candy you so love." The tall man just chuckles, "I'm just kidding, Jason," he looks at me, "but seriously, she better be behaved, I hate children." Papa turns to face the man, walking towards him, "She's very well behaved, and plus," Papa whispers something I can't hear to the man.

The tall man's eyes get slightly wider, "Really?" Papa then says, "Don't start thinking about anything like that, she's still only got the mindset of a child." The tall man cuckles, "Fine, just go, she'll be alright." Papa turns to me, smiling once more before leaving my room, and then disappearing from our home entirely.

I look at my dolls, realizing that the tea had gone cold, "Oh, you guys waited for me, but your tea has gone cold. I'll make some more." I stand up, and I can feel The man's eyes on me the whole time. I pick up the tea kettle, heading over to the doorway, "Excuse me, I need to get by." He raises an eyebrow at me, "Shouldn't you use imaginary tea with dolls?"

I shake my head, "No, papa always told me that my dolls would be thirsty if I only used imaginary tea." His confusion seems to get slightly worse before he speaks, "Ah, Jason made living toys for you, is that right?" I nod, "So, would you mind letting me by?"

As I get closer to him, I realize just how tall he is, especially compared to my small frame. I reach him, looking up, "How tall are you, mister?" He looks down at me and a shiver runs down my back, his glance is like ice, he chuckles, "I'm a little over eight feet." He crouches down to my height before placing a hand on my chin, "I used to be a doll, too, you know?"

My eyes widen with surprise, "Did papa make you?" He laughs at my words as if I had told the funniest joke he'd ever heard, "No, Jason didn't make me. I simply," he pauses a moment, looking over me before returning his glance to my eyes, "came to be." He reaches into his pocket before pulling out candy in every color of the rainbow, holding it out to me, "Candy?"

I hear one of my toys begin to move, and I turn to see a small grey mouse toy moving slowly towards us. "Don't get your gears in a bunch, it's not poisoned." I look back at the man to see him take a lollipop from his hand and open it before licking it. His tongue is long with black and white stripes. I shake my head, "Papa says no sweets until after supper."

"Well your 'papa' isn't here," the edges of his mouth curve into an unsettling smirk, "so what do you say~?" I look down and he watches my every move, "I um," I pause, finding the right words, "I don't think I should. I just need some tea." He looks a bit disappointed as he stands up straight, putting the candy back into his pocket. All except the lollipop he was still eating.

A smile grows on his face, "Let's get you that tea." He steps out of the way and I walk out of the room, I hear a noise behind me before the door is shut. I look behind me to see that he had shut my door, and he now has a smirk on his face, he cackles at my surprise, "I was just closing the door, no need to jump out of your panties."

"Right," I turn around, "to the kitchen then." He follows me into the kitchen and he watches while I make the tea. Once the tea kettle begins to whistle I pick it up, but it was a little too quickly. I hear my skin sizzle before I feel the excruciating pain; I drop the kettle and it clatters to the ground, "Ow!" I pour cold water over the burn, hoping that it won't stain my skin. I look down to see a red mark on my skin, my eyes go wide, "N-no, papa doesn't like it when my skin gets discolored. H-he's going to be very upset with me."

My body begins trembling as the fear inside me grows, I keep trying to scrub it with cold water before I feel the man turn the water off. I look up at him, I would be crying if I could and he seems surprised by this, "I don't think you can wash off a burn, kido." I nod my head, "I know, I just," I pause, a sob escaping me, "I just don't want him to be mad at me. H-he gets so...mad..."

He bends down to my height once more and places his hand on my shoulder, "What exactly does he do?" Everything in me trembles as I remember the times I had soiled my skin. "H-he," I take a deep breath, "he does all kinds of things, whatever he feels like at the moment. B-but his favorite is taking me apart by my joints and leaving me like that, usually until the soiled or hurt skin heals."

For whatever reason, I instinctively hug him tightly, "Don't let him take me apart, I-I didn't mean to, I'm a good girl." I can feel his surprise, and after a moment he clears his throat, he mumbles something as he wraps his big arms around me. I feel oddly comforted in his grasp, and my sorrow begins to fade away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~chapter End~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me: Alright, first chapter here and then gone!

Magnolia: *Quietly*Yay.

Jack: Haha! I got more time than Jason!

Jason: *pulls out knife, a smirk growing on his face*I can change that.

Me: Oh-ho kay! I'm just gonna stop you right there!*nervously smiles* We'll see you all in the next chapter! Bye!