𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋

Chapter 18

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"But hey, I guess that's us"

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The next thing I knew, I was waking up on a soft bed surrounded by dolls. Dolls that looked so real and so lifelike with features... features that looked identical to my own.

Each doll had auburn hair as well as deep black eyes. Everything down to their clothes were identical. They all seemed to stare directly at me with gazes that were really too lifelike for my liking.

There were absolutely no windows in the room. All the lighting was coming from the lamps and dangling lights. The walls were all painted in a rosy pink and the furniture consisted of all modern rustic pieces laminated in a chocolate brown. Sitting on top of the wooden table was a large vase full of fresh sunflowers. Not a single one was wilted. It seemed like I was in a young girl's bedroom. Perhaps the strangest thing about the room was the overall pristine cleanliness of the room. There was not a speck of dust lying anywhere. It was as if someone was consistently living in and/or cleaning the room.

I stood up, walking towards the dark acacia door that was the only opening of the room. To my surprise, it was unlocked. It revealed something I did not expect to see on the outside of a girl's bedroom. Instead of the interior of a house, like I was expecting, I found myself staring into a dimly lit lab room of some sort. There were vials on the table, both cracked and whole. There were stacks of books in piles as high as the ceiling along both walls. It was as if the only room that had been kept organized was the room I found myself waking up in.

"You're awake."

I quickly turned around, finding the familiar silver-haired boy staring back at me. It looked as though he had just come down the stairs, not expecting me to have woken up so soon. Judging from the platter of food in his hands, he went to grab something to eat while he worked.

"What is this place?" I muttered, "And why did you take me here?"

Cartaphilus put down the silver platter on one of the lab tables, then grabbed a seat for him to sit on.

"It's been so long! Why don't we have a chat, like old times?"

Like old times?

"I've kept your room tidy for you, just the way you like it! Don't you like it?" he smiled, head tilting in a curious manner, "The walls are pink just like how it was back then! I missed you, why did you leave Emilie?"

When I didn't answer him, his smile waned.

"It really hurt hearing that you left me alone.. I didn't like it. But I thought I would just make everything as it was back then, then everything— everything would go back to normal!"