The Doll Maker

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"My best dreams and my worst nightmares have the same people in them."
-Philippos

Sarah desperately attempted to move in her restraints, the ropes so tight that they cut off the circulation from her arms, to her now numb hands. She could see the red lines that circled her wrists where the restraints were tied tight; the skin on her hands turning a sickly blue color. The mans calloused palm grasped her face, his rough and grimy finger tips leaving residue on her pale, porcelain looking face. His touch sent shivers of disgust down her spine, the coldness of his finger tips making her skin crawl. His hand grabbed a tube of red lipstick and pushed it onto her lips,  applying a fresh coat of lipstick onto her already ruby stained lips, making her pale colored face look much paler and perfect against the redness of her lips. The man was precise with his work, almost as if the girl before him was his canvas, and he, the artist. His movements were slow and had emotion in each twist; and it sent shivers up her spine. Why someone cared so much about making their artwork on humans so perfect was beyond her; and she only hoped that this was all just a bad dream.

Each twist and turn made the girl's stomach turn and twist along with it, making her feel as though she were going to vomit. She could feel her throat begin to burn with the strong and foul bile starting to rise up from her lurching stomach; she wanted to cough and let the vomit leave her mouth, its burning and foul taste almost too much to bear, but instead she sat still and unable to move.

Sarah desperately wanted to thrash and cry, to tell the man to stop; but she couldn't. Her mouth didn't dare move, it just hung open awaiting the arrival of a fly with how still it sat. All Sarah could do was move her eyes about the room, but they always landed on the horrid man before her; and what scared her the most was that she couldn't see his face; all she saw was the outline of a man; and felt his horrid touch on her cold skin.

Sarah jumped in her bed, her eyes wide and her breath ragged and fast. She desperately searched for the horrifying man in her nightmare, expecting him to be standing before her in his shadowy likeness; but instead all she was was her big pitch black room, the only light seen from the window behind her that cast a blue hue of light into the room through the light curtains. The blue light illuminated the contents of her room; her dresser, closet, two doors and various miscellaneous objects seen under its blue color.

Her eyes scanned each dark corner, thinking that if the man was in her room, he would be there; but he was no where to be seen, all that was there was her walls and furniture that stood as still as a corpse.

Sarah slowly pushed herself off of her large bed, her feet touching the cold floor hesitantly, instantly sending cool shivers up her back causing her body to give a small shake. She couldn't get the image out of her head; the image of the featureless man. His shadowy appearance haunted her eyes and he seemed to show his form every time she blinked, his likeness seemingly branded onto her eyelids; or lack thereof.

Sarah let out a breath of air before landing in front of the sink in her bathroom that sat beside her bedroom. She turned on the water, the cool, clear liquid swishing around the sinks porcelain tub emitting a 'swoosh' sound before going down the drain causing the pipes to yell a loud groan. Sarah held the water in her palms, the cool liquid seeping through the small cracks in her fingers slowly, and splashed her face. She was hesitant at first, scared that if she closed her eyes to do so, the man would appear to grab her; but with constant reassurance that it was only a nightmare, she finally splashed the water on her face, cooling her her already damp forehead from the sweat that pooled from her pores.

Sarah let out a low moan at the feeling of the water hitting her face before drying it off with a hand towel that sat hanging over a towel holder beside the sink. The white towel left her face slightly damp and cool to the touch, only taking away small water droplets that dared to cascade down her features.