The DollMaker Returns

Chapter 26: The Final Ingredient

  "We need to get the flesh before Halloween." Lisa rushed. "Otherwise, the DollMaker might win this year." "So we have to hurry up and find Christopher and make this potion." Caleb agreed. "You shall never find the final ingredient and solve the riddle!" Mason yelled. 

  "Why do they keep mentioning a riddle?" Jackson asked. "None of us know what they're talking about and none of the dolls have given us any instructions since Rosemary revealed who's side she's on." "I don't know of any riddle, and I'm starting to think that's on purpose." Rachel replied. "The dolls don't want us to solve the riddle so they're not telling us what the riddle is because they know we'd solve it." "There is no riddle." Phil protested.

  "There is a riddle." James explained. "But the DollMaker doesn't trust me enough to tell me what it is." "So there is a riddle, you just don't know what it is, and therefore haven't told us." Amelia guessed. "Correct." James responded.

  "Amazing how you went from not trusting James whatsoever to believing every word he says Amelia." Rachel commented. "James is a naughty boy." Phil scolded. "Most of what James says is actually believable unlike what the other three dolls say." Amelia explained. "Thank you Amelia!" Jackson replied. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys the whole time! James is easier to believe than the other three."

  "I appreciate you standing up for me Jack, but I don't believe it'll change their beliefs." James told him. "James is a bad boy." Mason agreed. "Change of subject, where is Christopher?" Anya asked. "I'm right here Ana!" The boy yelled, making Jackson jump.

  13-year-old Christopher Nelson was one of Kenji's wizard friends, alongside a couple others who lived in Massachusetts. He had black hair, very dark brown eyes, was tall (about 5'4), and seemed to be of asian-american descent, although nobody was sure since he was adopted as a baby.

  "Don't give them the flesh Christopher!" Gavin protested. "The Master demands it!" Christopher got a strange sense through his magic. "This is worse than I thought." He said. "You now have until 8PM on Halloween instead of midnight like what Kenji told me." "Lord, save us all." Jackson mumbled, helplessly. "We have got to stop this, and we need to do it fast."

  Rachel's soulmate sense started tingling. "What's wrong Jack?" She asked. Jackson turned to her with a scared expression. "The DollMaker's trying to get to me." "How do you know that the DollMaker's trying to get to you?" Amelia asked.

  "Because I was almost turned into a doll before." Jackson explained. "I guess I'm able to sense when he's trying to get to me now." "That's definitely useful." Amelia commented. "It is, trust me." Jackson responded. "That's how I was able to stay uncontrolled for so long. I was successfully fighting him off." "The master would not be pleased to know of your resistance." Mason threatened, unhappily.

  "Anyways, Christopher, do you have the flesh for the potion?" Rachel asked, changing the subject. "I do actually." Christopher answered. "Great, because it's becoming a little difficult to fight this man off now that Halloween is getting close." Jackson replied.

  "We have all the stuff for the potion." Anya announced. "Now we need to make and make it fast. I can see cracks forming on Mason's face." "Let me help you then." Christopher suggested. "I'll make the potion and you give me the instructions from the spellbook." "NO!" Gavin protested. "The Master always wins! You will not and shall not defeat him!"

  "Rachel, I'm trusting you with the spellbook." Jackson said, suddenly. "Why?" Rachel asked. "You were doing just fine." "I'm turning into a doll, remember?" Jackson reminded her. "Well, yes. I know that." Rachel responded. "But why are you giving me the spellbook?" "I can't guard it if I'm turning into a doll." Jackson pointed out. "Listen, I need you to protect the book from the DollMaker. If I ask for it, keep the book and say no. Do not give up the book until you know it's safe! I'm trusting you Rachel." "I'll do my best Jack." Rachel promised. "Don't worry; we'll get you out of this." "I hope you do." Jackson replied. "I don't want to be a doll."

  Jackson gave the spellbook to Rachel and she helped Christopher make the potion. "We made the potion, with Christopher's help, but how do we use it?" Anya asked. "Great question Anya." Caleb responded. "I'm assuming we have to make them drink it somehow. That or splash it on them." "So, now what?" Rachel asked. "Do we have time to make a plan?" "You let the DollMaker take control, despite your best efforts, that's what you do next." Rachel turned around at the familiar voice what she saw shocked her to the core.

  Jackson was already transforming into a doll.