DollMaker

Fear Is The Weakness(Part 1)- Chapter 3

Owen's eyes flickered in complete discomposure as he cradled Hero's bony fingers while she slept. He had no idea how she had gotten the small scrape on her cheek. The blood dried around the tiny wound and her tears surrounded her in a pool. What happened that he had missed? Why didn't he know? He continued to watch her sleep until she awoke.

"Hero," , he whispered loudly. He wanted her to wake up and to keep him company. He had all of his other puppets, but he wanted to spend time with Hero. Little by little he would earn her trust, and soon enough he'd be able to make her immortal. "Hero, wake up. I want to see that scratch on your cheek."

Hero twitched in her sleep, turning over on her side to face Owen, his yellow, almost hazel eyes constantly looking worried for her.

"Yes?", she asked, her voice raspy from not drinking anything the past two days. Owen moved his fingers to make Hero to point to her scratch.

"What is that? Did you hurt yourself?", he said, his voice shaking. Hero noticed the shakiness in his voice, and she wanted to tell him about Teresa, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She nodded, and swung her legs over, standing firmly on the ground. Owen lightly grabbed her hand and helped her up. She mumbled a small thank you, walking closely behind Owen. Owen led her out of the room, his cape tattered and worn out, and his black curls bouncing as he walked. There was nothing ugly about him. Everything was beautiful.

Hero was the complete opposite of him. Her matted emotions created gloomy self, with lifeless eyes that brought out her frail figure. The emotions in her eyes were hollowed out, leaving nothing but pity for others to see. Hero knew nothing of beauty, since she never had it in the first place.

The walls were smothered in a fading crimson; each one had its own signature blood stain. The splashes of blood made her cringe, reminding her of something that should not be spoken of.

"Walk faster.", she said under her breath. She shook violently, her breaths coming out in short gasps. The memory was choking her, the fire burning her heart until it melted into a pond of sorrow.

"Walk faster!", she shouted, her eyes wide and frightened. Owen spun around to Hero, and he kept her arm from shaking. He didn't know why she reacted that way. Her eyes were like ice, frozen and cold. Her lips trembled; each word she tried to say fell from her mouth. Owen jerked his fingers, Hero's hands covering her eyes. He put an arm around her, slowly helping her recover from her small panic attack. Owen pushed her lightly as he escorted her.

Hero knew what had just happened, and with Owen right next to her she instantly felt a small pang of guilt. Although her hands were over her eyes, she could still see the red that surrounded her. Nothing was ever going to change the memory of that day.

How was she ever going to escape this fear that pulled her under?

Simple answer, she wouldn't.

Hero erased, or at least attempted to, all of her memories that swallowed her up and kept her from moving. She let her hands swing back to the sides of her hips, her face completely emotionless. Behind the many frayed curtains that fell over the entire room were lifeless puppets that lay tangled on the stone floor. Their eyes were open, nothing lied within them, and nothing would ever. A skinny figure shuffled through the puppets, its leg being dragged along.

"Owen, what the matter with..?", she asked, pointing at the little shadow. Owen turned his head, his eyes focused on the figure. He sighed, and swiftly moved the figure towards him.

"Max, why are you limping?", Owen said quite upset with Max. Max chuckled softly to himself, obviously amused at Owen's concern for him. Owen ruffled Max's hair, a sheepish smile on his face. "I guess it doesn't matter how you got that wound, I'll fix your leg."

Max shifted his eyes to Hero, his feelings of envy wiped away. He gave Owen a quick kiss on the cheek, and started towards the room where Owen would help him. He paraded oddly, limping madly across the floor. Max's face looked sanguine, but still had the crazy factor. He was immune to Teresa's constant threats, but he isn't able to dodge simple attacks. Max knew Teresa wasn't right, she was a corrupted puppet who didn't deserve to be Owen's favorite.

The feelings of fear Hero had earlier were entirely abolished. Max's small performance cheered her up the slightest bit, seeing as how the boy seemed to cling to Owen.

"He seems like a nice boy.", Hero murmured. Owen flashed a tender smile stealing a small glance at Max who tried his absolute best to walk on his injured leg. "He is gentle but unfourtanetly he only speaks the language of profanity.", Owen admitted.

A colossal flight of stairs stood as an obstacle right in front of Max. Words that shouldn't ever be said escaped his mouth, and ran a hand through his jumbled hair, turning back to Owen. "I'll help you.", mumbled Owen, crinkling his fingers. Max leg dragged across the stairs, his blood oozing out. Several grunts escaped as Owen carried him, lurking up the mountainous stairs. Hero followed behind wondering where they were going.

Hero wasn't too familiar with the place, and so she followed Owen all the time. For the time being, she wasn't going to do anything to harm anyone. Owen's voice in his head spoke softly to him, "Everything is a lie. "