The Dollmaker's Son | lrh ✔️

Explanation(s)

EXPLANATIONS

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WHAT DO LUKE'S PARENTS DO?
They are dollmakers, but they make dolls out of the bodies of the children that they kill.

WHY DID THE HEMMINGS MOVE INTO PRESLEY?
Because they are aware that the police force is kind of crappy, therefore it's a perfect little town for their 'business'.

IS PRESLEY GROVE A REAL PLACE?
Maybe somewhere, but I have no idea. I literally just needed an imaginary town name and that was the first thing that came to mind.

WHY ARE THE HEMMINGS HANDING OUT CANDY?
Because there is something in the candy that kills the children. Once they eat it, they fall into a deep sleep and eventually die in their bedrooms; throughout the night, Luke's parents steal the kids from their homes.

WHY DIDN'T ALL OF THE KIDS GO MISSING?
Most of the kids ate the candy they got from trick or treating the same night, and went straight for the Hemmings' candy due to the fruity smell. Therefore, they died the same night and were stolen away.

Some of the kids, like Corey, decided to wait until the morning, which is why some of them are still alive.

WHY ARE LUKE'S LIPS SEWN TOGETHER?
The Hemmings' moved to Presley Grove because in their old town, Luke confessed to somebody that his parents killed children to turn into dolls. His parents found out. Luke's punishment was his father sewing his lips together so that he had no future chance of ratting them out a second time around.

WHY ARE LUKE'S FINGERS SEWN TOGETHER AT THE END?
Mr Hemmings was well aware of Corey being given the poisonous candy, so he naturally grew curious as to how the kid was still alive. He figured that Luke warned Sophie in some way, because of how close they were, and his assumptions were right.

To prevent Luke from communicating altogether, Mr Hemmings used his thread and dollmaking skills to join Luke's hand by the fingertips; therefore, taking away his ability to write, which could be classed as his only form of communication.

HOW DOES LUKE SURVIVE WITH HIS LIPS SEWN TOGETHER?
Like Sophie mentions, Luke hooks himself up to a tube every night to get the food that he needs.

WHY DOES LUKE WARN SOPHIE, AND NOT ANYBODY ELSE?
Sophie was the only one who didn't treat Luke differently because of his lips. They also got to know each other a bit better before Halloween, so naturally they formed a bond.

DOES LUKE LIKE SOPHIE?
Because I am trash for my own characters, I want to say yes. He went through the pain of getting his fingers sewn together just so that her brother would live, after all.

HOW DOES SOPHIE KNOW THE DOLLS ON THE SHELVES ARE THE MISSING CHILDREN?
A year prior to her finding out, she recalled passing kids in ballerina, soldier, astronaut and rainbow/tutu costumes. The dolls that she passes in the Emporium a year later have the exact same costumes on, in different poses, but still the same faces.

WHY DON'T THE PEOPLE OF PRESLEY RECOGNISE THE MISSING CHILDREN AS THE DOLLS?
Most of the families moved away, and the ones who stayed never though about going into the Doll Emporium seeing as they probably wouldn't have noticed their children behind the glass eyes and plastic skin anyway.

The only reason that Sophie notices the new 'stock' is because she used to go there all of the time with Corey, so to some extent, she memorised what used to be on the shelves and what didn't.

DOES SOPHIE END UP TELLING SOMEONE (LIKE HER FATHER'S POLICE FORCE) ABOUT THE MISSING CHILDREN AND THE DOLLS?
I'll leave that up to you to decide :)

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Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you liked this short story, because I loved writing it!

I love you all so much. Please take care, and have a lovely day :)
-M xxx