Porcelain

Porcelain Part 3

The light was bright as it came back into Jack's vision. Adrenaline shot through his chest and he stumbled up and latched to the wall. He picked up the baseball bat that got kicked away on the ground and used it to crutch on. His Achilles tendon bit through and ripped half out. Pain, confusion, hate all circled around his head like a carousel. Jack limped out into the kitchen writhing in pain. He made it out of the house and into his driveway before he fell onto one knee. It took all of his might to get back up to his feet and get into his truck.

  Jack started to remember where Bianca lived in bits and pieces, but he knew it wasn't too far. His truck sputtered for a second before it cranked up. He tore out of his drive way with both hands clutched to the steering wheel. What started as a slow drizzle that night had gotten heavy as the rain blurred his windshield; his windshield wipers unable to keep up with how fast he was going. Only two more miles, he thought to himself as he sped past the mile marker. Trees and sporadic road signs flashed by him.

Jack veered off the main road and onto the secluded path to her house. It was different than before. Only a month had passed the last time he came to her house. The various flowers that were strung all the way down the road to her house in bloom, were now on the ground completely wilted away. The view of the sky was now shrouded behind the dead and wicked trees that were constricting over the dirt road. Everything that was full of life and vibrant, had died and darkened.

His headlights reflected off of the back of her car as he tore into her driveway. Jack stumbled out of the truck, trying to maintain balance as he limped to the blood red wooden front door. He shook the door and beat his fists on it hollering for Bianca to let him in. The two windows, identical on both sides of the door were boarded up and there was no light peering from the cracks of it. He finally took notice that the house looked like a condemned shack. It was slightly overgrown and worn in color. There was an emptiness engulfing the once beautiful home Bianca's great grandparents built, or so that's what she told him.

Jack's focus on the house was broken by something moving behind the house, he caught only a blur of what it was. A child's laughter followed as he went to peek around the side. He inhaled deeply and conjured up all the strength and kicked the door in off of its rusted hinges. There was a heavy staleness in the air. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. It seemed as if nothing had moved in this room in fifty years. The light yellow wallpaper had chipped away off the wall in some areas of the living room, with stark red markings on a grey wall underneath. Jack walked up to the wall to his left, using the bat now as a crutch to keep weight off of his ankle. He peeled more chunks of the dried wall paper off, revealing more writing that looked ancient and various symbols and markings.

There was a cackle that eviscerated through its own echo from the other side of the house. Jack staring deep into the dark hallway that seemed to stretch for a mile. The house seemed exaggeratedly much larger on the inside than it did on the outside. The decrepit shack had transformed into a mansion, decayed by time. Candles were decorated along the wall like small torches. Jack limped down the corridor, looking back at the living room that was slowly shrinking away. The yellow wallpaper faded as he continued. It eventually dissipated, all while revealing more and more of the stone wall behind it. The markings of something ancient growing bold and frequent.

The only door appeared before him at the end of the dimly lit hallway. Jack turned back to the living room, thinking of what to do next. The living room now looked like it barely broke his horizon. The door opened by itself. He looked through and it sucked him in, slammed itself shut, and locked from the other side. The long hallway before him now was bright and elegant. A Victorian style crimson red with black and gold lacing. There were also doors down this hallway. They were evenly spaced and of dark polished oak. However, a deep emerald green light crept out from underneath the last door on the right. Jack slowly took three steps before the door opened by itself, casting a beam of green across the hallway.

"Jack. Come see us play." A serene voice called from the room. It was a little faint but loud enough for him to hear clearly. He limped from painting to painting along the wall towards the door. The green light grew brighter as he peered into the room. It wreaked like death, and Bianca stood in the middle of it. She had no expression as her face loomed downwards. The Annie doll stood beside her as well. There was something small covered in a white sheet to her other side.

A sudden shock of adrenaline shot through Jack; he had snapped. He lunged at Bianca with both hands, and he slung her hollowed body against the wall. She shattered into pieces like a vase that had dropped. Jack stood there speechless. The white sheet was blown over a little from when he ran past it, and a shoe stuck out from underneath it. The same shoe Carson was wearing when he was taken. He crouched down, and grabbed on to the sheet. Darker spots formed on the sheet from the drops of tears free falling off of his face. A porcelain doll that looked exactly like Carson laid under the sheet.

Jack held it eye level in his hands as he still stood crouched. He studied it over and over. The dolls eyes suddenly went from pale to the same emerald green eyes Bianca had; it inhaled deeply and let out a piercing cry. It rang through Jack's ear, hitting every single nerve in his head. He dropped the screaming doll to cover his ears that felt like they were going to start bleeding. It shattered as it hit the now concrete floor. Jack limped back slowly, horrified by what was happening. He looked down at the Annie doll as it stood there lifeless. It's head snapped up at him. The pale, glazed eyes gazing at him.

The dolls eyes shut, but as they opened they had turned green. Its mouth slowly opened wide, and the same agonizing scream followed. Jack, without hesitation, lifted the bat and smashed the dolls head. Pieces of the doll flew across the floor as the dust from it flushed in the air. He dropped the bat, and then to his knees. Exhaustion and pain had numbed his entire body as he started to blank out.

Jack tried to get off his knees and back onto his feet, but was swallowed by a blue light and what felt like the life sucked out of him as it rushed through his nose and mouth. He couldn't move anymore except his eyes. His completely stiff body fell over and as he laid on his back, unable to even speak, he saw glowing green eyes from the dark corner of the room of what was now the decrepit shack.

"Mortal fools have always fallen for my tricks." Called a raspy voice to him. Broken cackling followed after.

Jack closed his eyes and tried with every muscle to move, but he couldn't even wiggle a finger. His skin began to tighten and he could feel his blood flow slowing in his heart. Spreading from his toes all the way up to his neck, his skin transformed into porcelain. Jack screamed out in anguish and hate. The last thing he saw were those same green eyes in the shadows as it whispered, "Welcome to my collection."