Page 42 of Dollface

A slight panic seeps into my core as I quickly shoot up, searching around the dark room. My bugs are oddly quiet, their glow faint and flickering as if they have little to no power or energy. They’re weak, but why? Everything feels off. Wrong.

“Blue?” I call out again, sleep fading from my brain as I realize I’m alone.

A strange pain throbs around my wrists, as if something is wrapped tightly around them, pulling tight.What the hell?I scan my skin, noticing no marks or reasoning for the pain. Deciding to ignore it, I grab my suit and race up the stairs, searching the treehouse, but there’s no sign of her.She must’ve gone home, but why didn’t she wake me? I would’ve taken her.

I dress in my suit and step outside into the dark, haunted woods, listening to the nightlife. A new pain begins to press against my temple as if someone is piercing it slowly. The ache is becoming all too consuming and disorienting. I grab my head, groaning.What the fuck is happening?An odd sense of fear washes over me briefly before rolling away. I try to shrug it off. Something tells me I need to speak to Havoc, but where is she?

I continue around the forest, searching the trees with no sign of her. Maybe she’s near the portal? Has she snuck away to Dreadmoor again, to bring back another lost soul to torture in one of her many games? Who knows with that little clown. Nothing about her is sensible or predictable.

Voices carry from ahead, whispering through the trees: Charisma and Sullen. If they’re out here, then Havoc must be lingering nearby. The three minions are always lurking about together.

“Where is she?” I demand as I approach them, leaning against a tree trunk. I try to ignore the itchiness of my mask, the feel of it uncomfortable and annoying. The material has always bothered me, but since being around Blue and not wearing it as much, putting it on now is almost too much. It’s like putting on another person’s face, and I don’t like that person.

“Gonna have to be more specific,” Sullen states boredly while flipping a black button eye with his thumb like a coin. He seems frustrated, half trying to ignore my presence.

“Yeah.” Charisma hums a tune as they polish their boot with... wait.

“Is that my fucking shirt?” I growl as Charisma flashes their bright teeth.

“What can I say? You have a non-abrasive fabric, perfect to get that perfect shine.” They raised their boot high, the moonlight reflecting off the lavender leather as if it was a tinted mirror. “Anyway, who are you asking for again?” I give them a glare that, even though it can’t be seen, I know they can feel, because a shudder runs over them before they cross their legs and continue polishing their boot. “Havoc isn’t here,” they quip. “She left early this morning, muttering something about toys, bugs, and big kid games. She was really frazzled, more than usual, and hasn’t been back.”

“Did it not occur to either of you to mention this to me before now?”

Sullen scoffs while shaking his head. “Why would we?” He raises the button high, widening his jaw before swallowing it whole, licking his lips. “You seem perfectly content with your new toy. Charisma and I aren’t even sure what, if anything, we should tell you anymore. You don’t act like our boss, not like you used to. You’re always gone, playing with that doll, and now, the game is fucked. Havoc—believe it or not—still had marbles left in that ridiculous brain of hers. That is, until you started fucking that doll, sending what little sanity she had left flying out the window. Something’s wrong with her, and if I were you,” his tail points in my direction, “I would be worried about your little friend. Havoc is already a loose cannon, but light her fuse, and she’s a bomb of chaos just waiting to explode. No one’s safe with her running loose.”

A grunt is my only response as I shift uncomfortably. The idea of Havoc becoming even more unhinged is something I don’t particularly enjoy or welcome. I do, however,needto find Havoc. There was something happening with her. Havoc and I need to have a serious discussion about what happened the other night with the Spinster getting into my head. It all started with Havoc’s chattering, and with Sullen’s eerie warning, I’m starting to think she may not be as dedicated to this side of the game as I initially thought. A scary thought to consider.

“I’m going to check on Blue.” I push myself off the tree and start walking, ignoring their groans. “If Havoc shows up while I’m gone, sit on her until I get back.” Sullen’s tail salutes me as I walk off, leaving the couple behind me.

Cockingmy head to one side, I stare through the thick glass at the dark room in confusion. Usually, she has a candle, or her fireplace lit, but there’s nothing that shows she’s in there. The room is deadly silent.She wouldn’t be wandering around by herself, would she?I’ve told her before that it’s dangerous for her to be traveling out here alone– not that she’s known for listening.

Cracking my neck, I reach for the window, pushing it slightly open. I slip inside with ease, the immediate, eerily odd silence unnerving me. “Blue?” I call out, receiving no response. I remove my gloves as I cautiously walk to the small fireplace near her bed and grab a stray match, igniting the small twigs, watching the embers grow into a simple fire. I listened to the crackling wood as it pops, my eyes searching, finding everything as it should be, except no Blue.

No sign of Blue, or my dragonfly that usually follows her.

Where has the little dragonfly gone?

I listen for the fluttering bug but hear nothing. Strange, seeing as they’re an extension of myself and under my influence. They always obey my command. They would never leave unless?—

I immediately halt, dread and shock shooting up my spine as I notice a pair of torn and tattered wings at my feet, the glimmering membranes reflecting in the moonlight. My heart rate quickens as I bend down, carefully picking up the tattered pieces of the iridescent wing, examining them closely, as I instantly recognize them. My dragonfly. Blue’s dragonfly.

“What happened?” I whisper, as the tip of the bug’s wing begins to faintly glow, flicking with the faintest hint of life. The color of the wing changes from blue, then... a familiar magenta that strikes fear into my very soul.

Havoc.

I stand up, my body feeling heavy as I drop the body of the dragonfly on the bed. Havoc was here. Sullen was right; she did something with Blue, and must’ve stopped my bug from telling me, knowing I would stop her. I turn to head back to the treehouse, the thought of Blue being in danger making me physically ill, when I notice something out of place from the corner of my eye.

“What the fuck!” I scream as I’m met with the horrific site of Blue’s fucking rat, pinned to the wall above Blue’s bed with a nail driven fiercely through his throat. Its button eyes are missing and its limbs are hanging on by the thinnest of threads. That bitch destroyed her stuffed rat. “You’re a cock sucking psychopath, Havoc!” I roar, hoping that psychotic clown hears me.

I try to leave, but God fucking help me, I can’t. Blue would never forgive me if I just left Mr. Whiskers there for her to find later. Sighing, I march over to the rodent and carefully pry him off the wall, the smell of its half-preserved insides mixing with its usual rank stench, making me gag.

“I. Fucking. Hate. You,” I grit out as I carefully tuck the limp, mangy creature into Blue’s nightstand before making my way back to the window and out towards my treehouse.

Immense pain shoots across my back, as if someone had kicked me hard, followed by an invisible punch to my face. I rubbed my cheek, confused by the strange pain and fear I feel as I’m alone and unharmed.

What the hell is happening?

“Unacceptable!”I roar as my arms fly over my desk, causing all the jars of my collected buttons and needles to shatter. Sullen is unfazed by my temper as Charisma simply rolls their eyes, annoyed by the mess I just made.

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