The Dollhouse

As they watched, the strange executioner stood up from where she had been lounging. It was gracefully done, as if she was being set on her feet molecule by molecule, somehow seeming boneless. When she was standing, she seemed ridiculously relaxed; her hands resting on her hips, her head tilted back, her eyes only a sliver.

 

"Are you ready to die?"

The men stiffened when they heard her speak. Her voice sounded like two voices speaking at once; one the silky-smooth alto of a teenage girl, the other a softly guttural growl. It was creepy and addictive, strangely musical.

 

They got in position now, one on her right, another on her left, the third in front of her. She didn't move. 'Ready,' They tensed, she closed her eyes. 'set,' she took a breath. 'go.' They lunged, she disappeared.

 

The criminals fought with frenzied, desperate abandon. She danced, playing with them until Danzo seemed to get bored. She started singing then.

The students of Mr. Hatake's advisory class leaned forward, holding their breath as they watched the public execution play across the screen.

'Take a breath,

Take it deep.

'Calm yourself', He says to me

If you play, you play for keeps.

Take the gun and count to three.

I'm sweating now,

Moving slow,

No time to think. My turn to go'

She was singing a song as she fought, the two strange voices she had melding to one.

Mari and Lucas walked quickly down the hall, changing as they walked.

'And you can see my heart beating

You can see it through my chest.

Said I'm terrified but I'm not leaving

I know that I must pass this test

So, just pull the trigger'

Her eyes slid closed.

 

'Say a prayer to yourself

He says 'close your eyes, sometimes it helps'

And then I get a scary thought

That he's here - means he's never lost'

 

She was crying as she spun.

 

The twins turned the corner.

'And you can see my heart beating.