The Doll

The door

The dark shadow in the corner was laughing hysterically. But it's laugh wasn't normal, it was as if multiple laughs were merging together, but not exactly in sync.

"What are you?" There was another bang at the door. Hal was trying to drag me somewhere, but I shook him off. The shadow kept laughing.

"Will pay." It spoke in a raspy and breathy manner. I looked at Hal, he looked just as shocked.

"Pay? What will pay?" I said frantically. The police were almost in.

"Will be paid." And with one final laugh, it vanished.

And just at the moment, the door to our sewer home fell to the floor with a loud thud. Police officers dressed in black, and covered in armor, came flooding into the room. There was shouting and loud noises. In moments, they had surrounded us. With one final look at Hal, I put my hands in the air.
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A cell. The last time I was here I at least didn't have to wait in a cell. It smelled like sweat and body odor. Nor did it look clean. Hal and I were in separate cells, but at least we were close.

I began to think about the last time I was here. What was I even in for? Killing some kids mom? Oh yeah. My thoughts then wandered to my mother, or even Hal's or Fey's mother.

"Hey Hal?"

"Yeah?" He sounded sleepy. Perfect timing.

"Do you remember what your mother was like?" I knew I didn't remember mine at all, but at least he might remember his.

"I do. She was always stern, but you could tell she cared. You know, way back when, you were simply another hand to help and another mouth to feed. But I could tell she and Dad were a bit sad to see me leave."

"When you died?" I asked. He just laughed.

"No, when the Knight order-"

"A knight?!" I said in amazement.

"Yep." He said smugly. "Anyway, when the Knight order at the time dragged me away to be trained.

"Did you serve under the king?" I asked.

"Yep." I could hear the smile in his voice. I mouthed 'wow'.

"Did you know a princess?" I asked as a joke.

"Sure did. Her name was Clairece." He answered seriously.

"Sounds like a bitch." He snorted out of surprise.

"She was a bit of a bitch." He laughed.

"What about Fey? What was his life like?" I wondered about our missing friend.

"He is very touchy on the subject. But, I believe he had a little sister that he adored."

"Did you have any siblings?" I can't believe I never asked about these things.

"I did. But you never got too close to your family. My mother gave birth to 9 children. Only three of them survived." He sounded distant when remembering that fact.

"Oh." That must have been hard.

"It was just the fact of the time really. It wasn't heart breaking and what not. It just was." He states, unaffected.

"Do you remember anything else?" I asked curiously.

"I was a Knight. Then I was waking up as a doll to the toy maker. That's about it."
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I remembered this room. One damn light and your reflection staring back at you. At least I can actually feel my hate for this room. Last time I was just curious about it.

Not a few minutes later, she walked in. The woman who was here the last time I was. She didn't look well. Something was off about her. Something...unsettling. I couldn't help but smile at the thought that I'd help her with new damaged demeanor.

"You look broken." I stated boldly. She sneered at me.

"What are you?" She hissed. I smiled a bit. "Last time you were here, you couldn't even tell me your name, let alone smile. What happened?"

"Which do you prefer I answer?" She opened her mouth to speak, but I stopped her. "Think carefully on your decision, for one could cause you even more distress. I can see you sanity slipping through the cracks." I said evenly. I saw her eye twitch slightly.

"Both of them you ass. I don't want your games anymore. You ripped my men apart like they were-!"

"Puppets?" I offered.

"Shut up!" She smacked her hands on the table.

A man came into the room. His skin was dark, unlike any kind of skin I'd seen. He wore a stern face. His clothes were neat and pressed. He wore a suite, at least I believe that's what it was called.

"Lila. My office. Now." He said authoritatively. She sighed heavily and followed after him. I was left in the room for several minutes.

How did I escape last time? Oh yes, I simply summoned a door and left through that.

I summoned the door. I wondered if I could still summon it. I hadn't even tried. I reached out for it like I had done so many times in the past.

At first, nothing happened. So I concentrated harder.

I was reaching down into a place I had left behind. A forgotten toy factory. Something seemed to pop.

Opening my eyes I saw the old wooden door before me. I stepped towards it. My hand trailing the rough surface. I grabbed it's worn knob and whispered, "take me to Hal."

I opened the door to see the familiar blackness that I would step through to go to my destination. I took a deep breath and placed my foot through.

It was chilling to go through the door. Goose flesh spread across my entire body. But once I was through the door I could see I was in Hal's cell. He looked at me with wide eyes.

I offered him a smile.

Once I was through the door, it vanished. Leaving me trapped in a cell with Hal.

"I know how to get to the toy maker." I stated.

"Well I can see that. I didn't think-" he trailed off.

"Neither did I. But I got to thinking about it, and did we actually ever find out that we couldn't summon the door? I mean-" I began babbling on. Hal reached for me. He quickly brought his lips to mine, silencing me. The heat of his lips make my chest ache, like it had last time.

"Well that was rude." I pushed him off of me. He offered me a sly smile.

Just then the alarms in the building began to go off.

"Shall we?" He asked. I nodded and reached for the door once again. It appeared before us. I could feel the anticipation, and fear flow through me. Hal grabbed my hand.

"Take us to the toy maker." I said to the door. I opened it, and stepped in.
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Random thought: friends who rot together, haunt together.