In the dim light of the forgotten attic, the two dolls sat, motionless yet not lifeless. Dust swirled lazily in the air, settling on porcelain faces and stitched seams. Time had left its mark on them—one missing its arms and legs, reduced to a helpless torso, the other slumped nearby, its once-bright dress frayed and mottled with decay.
The armless doll, a cruel mockery of completeness, named Poppemieke, had been discarded long ago, yet its presence dominated the room. Its glass eyes reflected the faint moonlight filtering through the cracked window, unblinking yet somehow alive. The other doll, who was once called Annabell, her joints stiff with neglect, seemed drawn toward it. There was no reason for her to move, but the emptiness of the attic buzzed with an unspoken tension, compelling her.
"You always stare," the limbless doll said, its voice a whisper in the silence, soft yet sharp like splintering wood.
The standing doll hesitated. Her porcelain hand hovered near the torn ribbon around her neck, a futile gesture of modesty. "I can't help it," she replied, her voice brittle, nearly cracking under the weight of years left unspoken.
"Is it pity?" the torso asked, its mouth unmoving but words filling the space between them. "Or something darker?"
The standing doll tilted her head, joints creaking. "You... fascinate me."
The armless doll's cracked lips twisted into a ghost of a smile. "You've spent decades propped up like a marionette, watching me rot away. Yet here you are. Still watching."
"I feel it, too," the standing doll admitted, taking a halting step closer. Her gaze fixed on the fractured edges of the other's porcelain shoulders. "This... pull. It's suffocating."
"Then don't resist it."
The air grew thicker, almost tangible. The attic seemed to shrink, walls leaning closer, trapping them in the moment. The standing doll closed the gap between them. For a minute they stayed there unmoving. They looked into each other's eyes when the limbless doll threw her whole body on Annabell instantly taking dominance as the kiss grew more heated and passionate.
