The DollMaker Returns

Chapter 9: Here We Go Again

  "Rachel, Lisa just texted me." Caleb said, looking up from his phone. Rachel looked at him through her round, golden glasses with a confused expression. "What did she say?" She asked. "She says that Jack is acting really strange and that she needs us to come and help." Caleb explained, reading the words from the text his girlfriend sent him. "Strange how?" Rachel asked.

  "He's been super protective over James and he's been getting really violent every time she brings up the DollMaker." Caleb answered. "I was planning on going to pick up Mason and Amelia, you wanna come?" Rachel and the twins shared a glance. "Sure."

***

  "For once, Mason isn't being controlled by the DollMaker." Amelia commented as she saw Caleb's car pull up in her driveway. "That actually worries me." Caleb replied. "What do you mean?" Mason asked.  "Lisa texted Caleb, saying that Jack is acting kind of like he did last year around this time of year again. But much more violent than usual." Rachel explained.

  "That's concerning." Amelia commented again. "That's why we came to pick up you guys." Caleb finished. "You interrupted us for that?" Mason asked with a bored tone. "Amelia, I thought you said he wasn't being controlled by the DollMaker?" Rachel asked. "He's not." Amelia answered. "He's just mad I didn't coil him last night." "No I'm not!" Mason protested. "Alright you two, we need to head over to Lisa and Jack's house." Caleb interrupted before getting in the drivers seat with Mason sitting next to him and the twins in the extra seats.

***

  "I am so glad you guys are here!" Lisa said, before pecking Caleb's lips. "Jack has been acting really weird for the past two days." "Amelia said that Mason hasn't been controlled by the DollMaker yet today, I don't think." Caleb replied. "Em, isn't that what you said?" "Yes." Amelia answered. "But you said that fact worried you."

  "What made Caleb worried?" Jackson asked while turning the corner, James held tightly between his arms and his chest. "N-Nothing." Mason replied. "You know how Caleb is. He gets worried for no reason. H-He's worried about nothing important." "Your stuttering does not help support that fact." Jackson responded, suspiciously. His grip around the doll tightened, seeming to remember what they did last year. "Stuttering is not always controlled." Lisa explained. "How do you know that he controlled it and that it didn't happen by accident?"

  "How come everybody's in a foul mood today!?" Jackson complained. "That's just how things go sometimes I guess." Alexander explained. "I guess so." Jackson responded, sounding a little sad.

  "Jack seems really bummed." Alexander commented once the other teen was out of hearing range. "Well don't forget, the DollMaker's controlling him." Max reminded his twin. "He won't be acting like himself." "I guess that's true to." Alexander replied.

  "Okay Rachel, you're our current resident genius." Lisa pointed out. "How do we fix this?" Instead, Rachel gave her a scolding expression. "Just because I'm Jack's female counterpart doesn't mean I replace him as the intelligent one when he's not around and I am or when he's being mind controlled and I'm not." She responded. "How does that work?" Alexander asked.

  "It's kinda like how Stacy 'replaces' you as the curious one when you're not around and she is." Rachel explained. "She's always saying that she's not your replacement. It's the same argument." "I guess that makes sense." Alexander replied.

  "Jack is being controlled by the DollMaker." James said as he appeared into the room. "I cannot keep him from the DollMaker any longer. I'm sorry, my friends." "What's that supposed to mean?" Max asked, nervously. "I think it means that James can't hold Jack away from the DollMaker anymore. I think we may have to protect the targets on our own from now on." "That could be." Lisa agreed. Then, there was a loud banging noise and Jackson came out from the kitchen holding his head.

  "Why does my head hurt?" Jackson asked. "You somehow banged your head on what sounded like a metal pot." Mason explained. "That makes sense." Jackson replied. "Also, Lisa, why are there so many people, including two dolls in our house?"

  "Do you not remember us or something?" Mason asked. "Remember?" Jackson blinked in surprise. "I know you, but..." he paused, taking a second to scan his brain cells, "I don't know anybody else, or where we are for that matter." "We're in New York City." Rachel explained, slowly. Mason watched as Jackson's face heated up a little before he had a minor freakout.

  "How did we get from Miami to New York City?!"

  Max and Alexander went into shock-mode. "We need to fix this!" Alexander whisper-yelled. "Ya think!?" Max agreed, not caring that he probably made Mason's hearing worse. Caleb sighed frustration.

  "Okay gang, it looks like we have a little bit of memory loss on our hands. Hopefully this blows over within the next couple of days. I don't think we can handle memory loss and the DollMaker at the same time."