Green-Eyed Monster

Doll fought hard not to roll her heterochromia eyes. It was just that the sinner before her was so pathetic! True, all sinners were pathetic by nature, but this man seemed to be a cut above the rest. He was a grown man and yet here he was, on his hands and knees, begging her for help. He was so pathetic. He looked up at her with the eyes of a child. This grown man. Seriously, was this the best Hell had to offer her?

"Please, tell me how to get out of here," he sobbed desperately as he approached her. She shook her head mockingly and puckered her lips for a kiss before gesturing to the place at which she sat: a kissing booth.

"Lady, I'm not here for the games. Please, I just need to find my boy," he went on. Just for a moment, Doll was taken aback. Doll already knew that this man, John, was here because he simply would not stop grieving and this dangerous path had killed him. What she didn't realize, though, was that he was convinced that he could still somehow find and save the boy. Even after all this time, John was still looking for his lost son. John continued to beg Doll for her help but her mind was very far away...

Here was a man trapped in Hell and his first concern was not for himself, but for someone he loved, someone who might not even be here. Doll was even sure that John would be willing to go to the bowels of Hell or stay here for centuries and centuries upon end all for a chance just to see his son again. Why, Doll could only hint at where the boy might be and John would go running there, heedless of anything else. Normally, such an idea would fill Doll with a sense of power. Now, however, it filled her with a sense of respect for this man, however stupid he was.

But Doll's admiration quickly twisted into envy and Doll found herself seething silently while this man continued to beg for her help. What did this little brat, Daniel, have that she didn't? Why was a kid who couldn't have been dead for more than a year getting his Daddy to hunt for him in a place where he might not even be? Yet Doll had been in Hell for years and everybody knew it, but nobody came looking for her. Not even the two people who loved her most. The unfairness of how this brat was being looked for while she rotted away swirled inside of her mind until she was aware of John giving in and going to kiss her.

She kissed him gently at first, but then, like a snake, she lunged and bit off his ear, her envy fueling the blow. John screamed in pain and pulled back, eyes wild as Doll spat his ear out on the ground in front of him, dark blood dripping from her lips. She gave him a sick grin while he continued to stumble backwards. As Doll watched John clutching at the injured side of his head, her grin grew a little. Causing him pain made her feel a little bit happier. It made her feel as though she had been avenged just a little. If nobody was coming to Hell to look for her, then nobody was coming to Hell to look for anyone! Doll laughed softly as she realized how bitter and vengeful she had become. My, my, she chided herself, aren't I becoming quite the green-eyed monster? Of course, though, in her mind, the envy was completely fair because her family had left her behind even though Daniel's was coming down after him...

No one was coming for her. A wave of anger and queasiness washed over Doll and she found herself unable to look at John any longer. With a small wave of her hand, she caused her kissing both, with her still inside of it, to vanish. She hadn't gone far, however, standing just on the other side of the carnival tent where they had been located. Doll stood behind one of the curtains, watching John. He managed to catch his balance and, thanks to Doll's magic, his ear was back upon his head. She watched keenly to see what he would do next. He kept looking for his son. Of course. He still hadn't given up! Doll was filled with envy, anger, hurt, and longing as she watched John carry on despite his terror and pain. John might never find his son, but he'd die trying before he surrendered. Doll wanted that so badly, but she was sure her own family had forgotten her long, long ago.

NA: I was inspired to write this story after watching both TDC films back to back and all I could think was, "How do you think June/Doll felt when John came to her and said he was looking for his son?" Imagine that your whole family turned their backs on you and kicked you out and then you meet a man who's looking for his own family. I imagined June actually being envious, furious and admiring of John's devotion to his own family but, of course, she would easily hide those emotions under that trademark smirk of hers.