My New Pet

Chapter 8: The Shy One and Her Doll 🧁

Late August 2020

It was a few days after Irene went to stay with Donna and her puppet Angie. Always quiet and hardly anyone to bother them, usually spending time together in the workshop Donna was in most of the time. She'd show Irene how to make the puppets she always used, going through each step carefully with the red head. It was fun to teach someone her trade instead of being alone all the time anymore. Around the fifth day that Donna returned from a meeting with Angie, she immediately went to her workshop and continued to work on the puppet that was laid on the table. Irene noticed that Donna hadn't said a word when she came in the door, going to make some hot tea for them on the stove. Once the kettle whistled, Irene went to get a couple cups from the cabinets and set them on a tray gently. She poured the hot water while holding a small tea leaf strainer to make the flavor come through. As she finished pouring the two cups, Irene took the tray and made her way down the hall to the workshop where Donna was busy working. She was more quiet than she had been when they first met, obviously focused on something in her mind.

"Donna? Are you alright? Did you want some tea?" Irene softly spoke out to the woman sitting down in front of the stiff puppet on the table, walking over with the tray carefully held in her hands. The woman raised her veil on one side to look at Irene and smiled gently, taking the cup from the tray. She sipped on it slowly and sighed, Irene going to sit beside her on a chair she pulled up nearby. "Is it alright if I sit near you?"

"You don't have to ask, Irene. It's perfectly fine with me. I'm just having to get things around as quickly as possible. Mother Miranda has plans you know...she needs me ready for when we have everything ready to go."

Irene looked away, a tear falling and knowing how Miranda didn't want to see her for a while. How long would it be? A few more days or a couple weeks? She felt a little lost without Miranda but honestly it felt great to be away from her crazy behavior. She sipped on her tea a little before feeling a gentle hand wipe away the tear that streamed down her pale cheek. Her eyes looked over to see Donna concerned and kissing Irene on the cheek as she held her around the waist with one hand. Irene's grip on the handle of the cup got tighter, freezing at Donna's touch. She didn't want this to be like with Miranda. Not at all.

"Are you afraid of me? Like you are with her?"

That's what snapped Irene out of her thoughts, hearing Donna whisper in her ear softly but her words more genuine. It eased her heart a little more, resting against Donna's body while holding the tea cup in her hands still. "I know I shouldn't be...I'm just used to it with Miranda. She just wants so much from me..."

Donna pet Irene's hair gently, her fingers brushing through the strands slowly. "Don't you think Miranda is just trying to show you love?"

"What love...? You mean the forced love that comes out of this necklace? Love that means probably absolutely nothing just so she can bed me when she wants to or feels like it?"

All Donna could do was soothe Irene more, shushing the girl so she could calm down. Irene was scared to be around other people romantically or friendly because of Miranda. She could only think of one idea that would actually make Irene more comfortable around others. Donna set the cup on the work table and moved her hands to the back of Irene's neck, fishing around for the clasp to get the necklace free. Once she got the necklace undone, Donna set it down on the table beside the tea cup and pulled off the veil so that she fully revealed her scarred face. One of her eyes had been taken over by the Cadou parasite and Irene couldn't believe what she saw. Donna's hair was in a messy bun tied back, some strands falling in front of her face.

"Miranda has a weird way of showing her love and I would know. I want to show you a different way than what she can do. I want you to know love that's not earned by doing favors but just showing it with gentle care. It's like working with my dolls and puppets. You need to have care in love." Irene shakily put her hand close to the eye that was messed up on Donna's face, the woman taking her hand and intertwining her fingers gently. "I want you to be able to trust me, Irene. I know that's what is missing between you and her. Give me a chance, please."