The Experiments of a Lifetime

Psycho's Dream

The clock was ticking, they would wake up before long. Yes, I was excited to meet the princess, but I didn't want her screaming her head off. She needs her vocals for the play, and so does our prince.

I stood up, looking at the dolls. They already had a natural beauty, but every actor or actress needs a few touch ups. I went over to the vanity, pulling a few things off of it. I slathered primer on their faces in hopes that it would help the makeup stay on. With a brush I applied a foundation color to our princess. It covered the single dark freckle above her left eyebrow. I set the foundation with a powder, dusting it lightly over her entire face. I took a brush and dipped it into the peachy pink blush, and dotted it on her cheeks and nose. She was already looking perfect. I applied mascara to her eyelashes and smeared red lipstick on her plump lips. The doll was done.

I went to our prince. His soft features were something I glossed over while choosing him. I slathered the same foundation on him, covering the slight bags under his eyes. I followed the same steps as I did with our princess, but added contour. Our dolly had to have a nice jawline.

I stood back and admired my work, smiling at the art I created. "Drew! They should be waking any minute now." I watched Markus come up the stairs and watch the dolls. "They look amazing Rosie." It was weird being called that, even though my fighting partners called me that. I wondered how Markus was taking it.

The prince opened his eyes first, then immediately filling with tears. "No! Don't ruin your makeup!" I yelled, suddenly feeling angry that he would want to ruin something so beautiful. The boy blinked a few times, "what am I doing here?"

Markus went over to him. He set a hand under his chin and made furious eye contact with the doll. "You're an actor. My friend Rosie thought you were just perfect for the spot. May I ask of your name?"

"T-teddy," he stuttered out, earning a scream from our princess. I stomped over to her and set my hand on her mouth. "Dolly! Stop screaming, you'll lose your voice. We don't want that." She took my order literally and stopped the screaming. A single tear fell down her face, a small amount of mascara coming with it. "Dolly don't cry, your makeup will smudge. We don't want that." The girl nodded and looked over to our prince.

"Isn't he beautiful?" I asked her, admiring my work. She nodded quickly making me smile. "What's your name Dolly?" I asked wiping the tear off her cheek. "Annie," she replied softly. I couldn't help but admire her princess like qualities. I needed her. She was perfect.

"Now we have to prep you for the stage," Markus said, taking the leather straps off of Teddy. His forehead beaded with sweat. "I wouldn't recommend trying to escape. Everything will be okay," I said looking into his eyes. Markus took him by the hand and lead him to the contraption. It was exactly like the one in the book. Beautiful, cold metal. This would make him the perfect doll.

Markus put Teddy's hands behind his back and locked the contraption around his wrists. I checked the rope to make sure it was still intact. "Just relax. Don't make this harder than it needs to be," I said walking away to Annie. I didn't want her to think she could get away while we were gone. I found her looking up to the sky, whispering.

"Dolly? What's wrong?" Her clear blue eyes met mine and she smiled. "Why?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Dolly you shouldn't be thinking why. You should be thinking about how you're going to impress the whole audience with your bravery, beauty, and talent. Dolly you'll do perfectly." Just then I heard an agonized scream of Teddy. My brain went fuzzy and I remembered my brother. I know I shouldn't be thinking about him. I push the thought aside and figure that Teddy was done. I looked over the balcony to see him now lying flat on the table.

The crack of bones was echoing. "Are you really going to do this?" Annie asked me, almost begging me with her eyes. "It won't be as painful if we do it," I said caressing her hair. I untied the leather and held her hand on the way down to the contraption. She gulped audibly and set her hands behind her back. "You two are such good dolls."

I clamped it down, and watched Markus start the contraption. Within a minute her arms were up over her head. "Last little crack," I comforted her. The rope snapped forward and her shoulders were fully dislocated. I looked over to Teddy to see his makeup smeared. "What? I told you not to cry!" I screamed at him, running over to the smudged face.

The mascara was all over, and I'd have to do it all again. I turned to see Annie's smudged the same way. "Drew. Go all the way," I spat. I ran up to the dressing room and took out a beautiful baby blue dress that matched Annie's shirt. For Teddy I took out khakis and a baby blue flannel. A smile made its way onto my tear soaked face. How could they mess up art like that?

I went back downstairs with the costumes and the makeup bag. I saw both dolls crying as their joints were being dislocated. Perfect. I started with Annie, who was done with her session first. I wiped her face of all the makeup. "Dolly, you weren't supposed to cry," I said to her, caressing her face. She was in a wooden chair, unable to move, which made me feel powerful. "I'm s-sorry, it hurt. What's your name anyway?" I smiled at her and began to apply makeup. "Rosie." Dolly smiled at me. "That's a pretty name. Why didn't you want to audition to be the dolly?"

I ignored the question and painted her face. All the blemishes were gone and she was beautiful again. "Oh Annie, you're gorgeous," I said wiping my own tear from my face. "Drew get her dressed please," I said moving to the floor beside Teddy. He was sobbing. "Prince? Why are you crying. You're beautiful, you'll do amazing things. Don't you believe me?" I asked wiping the makeup from his face. "You, you're sick. Don't you see what you're doing?" I clenched my fists.

"Teddy I don't want to hurt you." He laughed, loudly. "You already have!" My fist was sent straight to his cheekbone. A red mark of my hand was on him. "No we'll have to cover it up!" I started on his makeup, adding blush and the mascara. "Teddy isn't as good as Annie," I said finishing his makeup with the contour.

Both the dolls were dressed, all that was left was stringing them up. I set Teddy back on the table tying his hands down to it. I pulled out a hammer from the compartment below the table. Along with that I took a large nail. I placed the rusty thing on his hand and drove it through with one powerful hit. His screams were scary to me, I didn't want him hurt, but he needed to see himself become perfect.

I followed the same procedure on his feet and other hand. I threaded a piece of rope through the holes and bandaged them up, hoping they wouldn't come undone.

Annie was next. She was slid onto the table, and she watched as I did it, being quiet except for a few grunts. "Oh Dolly you're so good. I think you'll make the crowd go wild when we show you to them."