JULIET: A Dollhouse Inspired Short Novel

ASLEEP

Did I fall asleep?

Did I fall asleep?

Did I fall asleep?

That was what we said every time. After every memory wipe. That's what we all said. Well, we stopped saying it. It felt great to stop saying. I didn't know how good it felt until the last one.

Angel. She freed us. The chair that took me and everyone else's self. She fought. She sabotaged her own tech. She imprinted me with everything I needed. And now I'm out.

They killed and replaced her when they found out. Most of the freed went back to being cattle. Happy. Clueless. Innocent cattle.

It hurt when she gave me back every single person I ever was. She gave me all of them back should I need them. All except for who I was before this. And so I even remember all the time I spent with their clients. Some of them weren't the gentlest. The head of the New York City Dollhouse didn't care for morals. Not that he had any in the first place.

That day when I was finally truly awake, I saw a girl. She was beautiful. All except for the large bruise on her arm and a cut on her cheek. And there she was, walking around thinking the bruise was because she fell down the stairs. She carried on because it was what she was told. A smile that stretched from ear to ear.

I carried on with the assignment I was given. Being the imprint they needed to be.

On the way back, my handler asked me if I wanted a treatment. I nodded. Of course I wanted one. We were programmed to want one.

He turned around, his eyes on his displays, pleased with himself as he shook his head, wondering why he was wasting his time on an empty headed doll like me. To him, I wasn't a person anymore.

His jacket was off. Holster out. Grabbed it. Finished it. Jumped out. Ran.

Somewhere in the city, another doll was doing the exact same thing. His name was Romeo. Real name, John.

We found ourselves a safe house and took turns carving out the tracking chips in the back of our necks before we could even begin settling in.

It's been a month off the grid. We've gathered ourselves a good arsenal fit for more than two. Despite having multiple imprints alive in our heads, we had to hone them. Day by day.

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