Demon Puppet

Chapter 17

Hero stiffens. "You..." He falters, his wings vanishing and the tattoos on his arms sliding upward towards his torso. "You knew..."

Doll-eyes freezes in place, his eyes darting back and forth between his own doll and the other clutched in Leo's hand. He glances back at me helplessly. He hadn't known.

"Leo." I swallow thickly, still on my knees. My eyes froze on the doll in Leo's hand, unable to turn away, as if it had hypnotized me. "Leo, what is that?"

"Odd how you don't recognize it," he murmurs, holding it up towards me. It lt looked almost identical to me, even down to the talons and markings of the Imitators. "It's yours, Noelle. It's your doll."

"I--Impossible," I whisper. "I don't have a doll. I'm not... I'm not--"

"Of course you are," Leo says almost impatiently. "You have a doll. It's right here. You're staring at it." 

Hero's face pales, and he reaches for his chest, patting it as if checking to see if something was still there, tucked away and out of sight.

Leo's smile widens, not happily but more like he is baring his teeth at Hero. "You thought it was safe? You thought she would never know?" 

He pulls at the doll's arm, and I yelp as my own arm lurches, my talons slashing Hero's arm. I whimper, horrified. "No... I'm not a puppet. I'm not a demon puppet!"

"You are," Leo says softly, his smile faltering for a moment. "You always have been a demon puppet, Noelle. I saw everything."

"Shut up!" Hero snarls, lunging at Leo. The doll twitches in Leo's hands, and Hero and I both yelp as he slams headfirst into me. I choke, my eyes widening. I look down as Hero yanks his arm out of my stomach, his eyes wide. Even he looks appalled at himself, staring down at my blood dripping from his hand. I fall to one knee, my hand clutching at the gaping hole in my stomach.

"I was there at that prison longer than all of you," Leo whispers. His hand tightens around the doll, and I gasp, crumpling to the ground. "Long enough to see the prison built. Long enough to see them find Hongbin's puppet. Long enough to see them create Noelle. I was there through it all."

"Leo, this is enough!" Hongbin says breathlessly, reaching for the doll. Leo snarls and throws his doll to the ground, grinding it beneath his foot. Hongbin gasps as his back slams against the forest floor, his body twisting painfully as if an invisible weight pinned him down.

"But--" I squeak, barely able to get the words out. "But I remember growing up--I remember the prison! I remember the village!"

"You're a rather special bit of dark magic, aren't you?" Leo purrs. 

Hero tries to attack again, his teeth lengthening and his skin hardening like stone. Leo moves the doll again, using me as a shield. Hero leaps backward, not wanting to cause me any harm.

Leo raises an eyebrow. "Noelle," he says softly. "I saw how they made you."

"He's wrong, Noelle," Hero pleads, his voice cold like ice. "Don't listen to him. You are my mate. You have always been my mate."

"Mates!" Leo throws his head back in a soulless laugh. "Well, I suppose you could say you were made for each other. Or, rather... she was made for you."

Leo closes his eyes for just a moment, and the world around us melts away. Darkness fills my vision until a dim light breaks through. 

I hear Leo's voice in my mind. "The Imitators were the first to create you, Noelle. They fashioned a baby with dark magic, hellfire, and blood. You were going to be different from any other demon puppet--you were going to be their child, not a slave. You were going to be given away." He smirked. "Given away like a toy to the young prince of the Imitators."

Fire and the unmistakable wet, hot taste of blood fill my mouth. I open my eyes and see the red haze once again, but I can't move. I see Lee and Sunmi, holding me--not as a mother and father hold a child, but as a pair of scientists might hold an experiment. 

"You can't have known that," Hero says weakly, his voice trembling. "You can't have known that!"

The smile drops from Leo's face. "Of course I know," he murmurs. "I'm the one that taught them how demon puppets are made--just like I taught the Wardens."

This time, Hongbin snarls. "You--"

"I didn't expect them to go after Noelle," Leo interrupts. "Simple human ambition, I suppose. They knew they had one of two of the most powerful weapons in the world, and they wanted the second." He turns back to me. "After they brought you back to the Prison, they kept you for years. Every year, they would make a new doll just for you to make you think you were human. To make you think you were growing." 

My heart sank in my chest and the breath left my lungs. "No. No."

"After all," he continues as if I hadn't said anything, "who better to look after a prison full of monsters than an immortal, indestructible Warden who obeys every command without question?" He tilts his head, and the Wardens surround us, their faces blurred out and emotionless. "Why do you think you never aged after the last human Warden died? There was no one there to make you a new doll. No one there to make you grow again. The prisoners all realized it, too--why do you think the Prison was so much easier to run with you in charge? The wolves, the vampires... we all knew you were a demon puppet."

He pauses for a moment. "Well. Except him. He was fairly oblivious." He smirks at Hongbin.

"Leave him alone," I whisper. "Leo..."

Leo kneels by me. "After you and Hero escaped the prison," he says quietly, "you didn't go right back to the Imitators, did you? You wandered for one hundred years. Isn't that right, Hero?" He sneers. "What do you think he was looking for, Noelle? What do you think kept him from going straight home after he found you?"

"Noelle, please," Hero begs. "Please, don't listen to him--"

Leo pulls me up from the ground. I flinch as he leans forward, his lips brushing against my ear. "He was looking for this," he breathes, holding my doll up in front of my face. "He had your doll the whole time, Noelle."

I try to turn away, but something locks me in place. The doll's eyes are glowing red and orange like coals from the hottest fire. I barely acknowledge Leo's voice in my ear. 

Hero screams and lunges for him again. Leo unfurls his wings and snarls, his foot sweeping through the air and slamming into Hero's chest. He brings the doll up, and before I know it, I'm flying through the air. I tackle Hero to the ground, pinning him beneath my foot. I watch as my arms move of their own accord, my talons digging into the flesh of Hero's shoulders. My hands twist through until I feel the dirt beneath Hero's back. Tears fill my eyes as Hero howls in pain.

"You asked him about demon puppets, didn't you?" Leo bellows, appearing beside us. "You asked Hero how demon puppets were made. What did he say, Noelle? Did he tell you anything at all?"

Hero looks up at me, his face white with pain. The fire behind his eyes was gone. "Noelle, please, don't listen to him."

"Something went wrong, didn't it, Hero?" Leo murmurs tauntingly. "She never quite obeyed you, even though you had her doll. She never quite fell for you. She doubted you. She fought you. Even if you had commanded her to love you, she never would. Why do you think that is?"

"Enough of this, Leo!" I cry, tearing my eyes away from Hero's face. "Please--what do you want?"

"What do I want?" He echoes, incredulous. He takes a step back. "I want you to choose, Noelle." His eyes meet mine, so black that I feel like they're swallowing me whole, filling my vision. I realize that his wings are unfurling, folding around us until both of us are enveloped in black.

He tosses something towards me. I move without thinking and glance down at what I've caught. It's my doll. The eyes dim and the marks of the Imitators fade until an almost-blank canvas face stares back at me.

"You are in control now," Leo murmurs. "I still have Hongbin's doll. I want you to choose. You can spare Hero, and I will destroy Hongbin's doll--or I will give you Hongbin's doll and destroy Hero."