Page 17 of Dollface

“Well, if it isn’t the big bad Boogeyman himself, coming to our little town,” he drawls as he looks past me to see the dead man behind me.

“Always were one for the theatrics, weren’t you?” He places his hands on his narrow hips, delighted by my unexpected visit.

“You’re one to talk,” I huff out while squaring up. He may have the height advantage, the man standing at almost seven feet, but I’m faster and stronger. “Give it to me, and I’ll go.” A smirk graces his mouth as he gives me an amused stare.

“Why, give you what?” He cocks his head to one side.

“You know what I’m here for,” I hiss out. “You stole something. A... pet, from the doll. Give it to me.”

Stingy Jack snorts as he snaps his long fingers, and a short, pudgy man rushes over with a satchel. “Well I must say, I didn’t expect a toy to go enlisting the Boogeyman’s help to getthisback,” he muses while reaching into the bag and pulling out the dead thing. “What an odd task for such a big man,” he mocks.

“She didn’t. I’m here on my own.” There’s a loud howl off in the distance, and the amused look on his face drops. My own stomach twists as we all stop and listen.Nightmares. Nightmares are dangerous, haunting creatures that take no specific form but hunt every soul present all the same. They’re loyal only to themselves, killing any and all in their path with no care other than to soak this wretched world in their evil darkness. Even the Spinster herself struggles to control their endless killing, thus casting them here for the rest of us to suffer the evolution of her mistake while she pulls their strings from the safety of Dreadmoor. There are many nightmares plaguing this world, but there’s one in particular I strive to avoid, the largest and most dangerous nightmare of them all: The Widow.

“You and your stupid glowing marks are bringing them here! Fucking monster!” he roars, throwing the bag and rat at me while he and the rest of the town panic, running to hide. They snuff out their fires, bar their windows, and lock their doors, leaving me, the only source of light, out in the open.Fucking perfect.

I grab the satchel and look at the rat. “Fucking gross,” I shiver as the flimsy, rotting thing flops over when I pick it up. Never again. After this doll is gone, I will never help another woman again. New rule: everyone dies. I’mnotsaving men, women, children, or floppy rodents anymore. Stuffing it into the satchel, I strap the bag across my body and run to the entrance to put on my suit, but it’s too late.

A sudden, heavy force slams into me as I feel a clawing slash across my chest, so quickly that I can’t react. I step back,groaning as I face a shadow nightmare in the form of a giant wolf staring back at me. The creature snaps its sharpened jaws, drool dripping from its mouth as it falls to the ground like smoke, its black button eyes locking onto me. The wolf-like nightmare raises its head and howls loudly, the sound hurting my ears at the high pitched screech. I know exactly what it’s doing—it’s alerting the others.

“That doll is going to owe me after this,” I grumble to myself, bracing for what I’m about to do.

I dive onto the large, shadowy creature, grappling its back as it snaps at my face. We wrestle for a minute, both of us straining before I’m finally able to use my strength and body weight to twist its large body around as we roll down the hill and land with myself on top. The nightmare tries to claw at my face, continuing to bite in my direction as my fingers curl along its slimy jaws, forcing them open wide. It begins to whimper, desperately trying to break free as I strain, groaning as my muscles burn and I use every ounce of my strength to rip its jaw open as it releases the most unnatural cry, calling the others near. I need to kill it now. I lift the nightmare’s head and slam its skull into the hard earth as I begin to slam it against the rocky surface, over and over again, watching as bloody bits of its brain begin to drip out from its ears and eyes, its muffled cries choking on its own blood as the sound of its bones crunch and crumble beneath my strength. I ram the nightmare’s shadow-like face into the rock one last time as it shatters within its smokey skin, its life quickly fading away.

Fucking finally.

Sitting back, I take a breath before grabbing its lifeless throat and looking into the black button eyes.

“You lose, bitch,” I pant before ripping the eyes out with my bare hands. The eyes allow the Spinster to see into this world, to see what her creations see, which is why I always take them. Once they are removed from the body, they’re useless. Call itsick and twisted, but I prefer to keep them like little trophies, in jars tucked away in my treehouse. On various occasions, I like to pull the glass containers out and line them up, all eyes on me as I jerk off, imagining that the old Spinster can somehow still see me through the lifeless buttons, taunting her with how alive I am and enjoying my time in the world she cast me into, coming all on my own. Without her. Because I never needed her.

I stumble over to my suit, hissing at the burning sensation as I look down at the gash across my chest. It’s superficial but still fucking hurts. I slip into my suit, the material irritating my chest, and throw my mask on before getting ready to take off when I see the fucking rat has fallen out of the bag now under my suit, laying on the ground, fucking taunting me.Goddamn it.It must’ve fallen out of my bag while I fought the nightmare. Exhaling, I raise my head and groan.All this work for a fucking doll.I snatch the rat from the ground, my chest aching as I do so. It flops as I stand, causing me to shudder. I get it; I live with and eat bugs. I just slammed a creature’s brains out without batting an eye.Thisshouldn’t bother me, but we all have our limits, and this limp dick, stinky-ass, partially decayed vermin is the thing I can’t handle.

“I’m so glad you lack every emotion possible! Must be so nice not to care!”I mock while shaking the semi-stuffed rat. When I get back, I’m literally rubbing this rodent in her pretty blue face. Don’t care? Ha! I don’t see anyone else out here risking fucking death just so she doesn’t feel sa?—

I stop running as my thoughts hit me. Do I... actually care? No, no, I don’tcare.I just... She’s pleasant to see naked, and I feel like I’m going to see less of that if she’s sad. Yeah, that has to be it. I don’tcare. I am not made to care, to love. I feel nothing but anger, and all I want is to win the Spinster’s game.

With that decided, I begin to walk through the woods. I need to drop this dead thing in my hand off to her withouther knowing I did it, and then go home. The last thing I need right now is her thinking I care, especially being a needy little virgin. However, Blue thinking such a thing might actually be beneficial. This would get me closer to her, enough so that she may even start to fall faster, and then, I can find out what she knows.

Despite the logic behind it, something in my gut twists and tells me this isn’t the way to go about it.

As I approachthe door of her bedroom, I hear another voice, stopping me in my tracks as I lean against the wooden barrier and listen.

“Please, Havoc,” Blue’s voice is urgent and desperate. “I need to learn. I’ll do anything you ask, just please, have sex with me.” My body immediately jolts and stiffens at her words.What the fuck? Blue’s asking Havoc to sleep with her? Why?

My fists ball at my sides as my muscles flex with anger, the stupid rotting rat still in my grasp. I had gone all the way to Stingy Jack’s and rescued her precious fucking vermin, and she’s here, playing with Havoc—playing me!

“Hush, dolly,” Havoc hisses. “You speak in nonsense. Havoc will do no such thing. Havoc does not share toys, and you are not my toy.”Damn straight she’s not yours. “Silly dolly, boss said no more orgies.” She cackles as I growl quietly to myself.

“What’s anorgy?” Blue struggles to say the word, her innocence obvious and oddly soothing. Havoc booms with laughter, taunting Blue. It upsets me, knowing Blue must feel embarrassed by the whole conversation.Enough of this bullshit.

I swing the bedroom door open, startling both women as they stare at me. Havoc’s grinning, her sharpened teeth fully visible as Blue gawks at me, her cheeks burning a bright red as she sits on her bed, her dress unzipped and her shoulders bare. I quietly approach her, reaching my hand out as I offer her the stuffed rat. She gasps, quickly fixing her dress as her hands snatch the ridiculous dead rodent up. Squeezing it tight, beaming with joy. I can’t help but grin at the pure joy and happiness washing over her face.

“Oh! Mr. Whiskers!” She hugs the gross dead thing tight, stroking its sunken face. “You seem to have a little split here,” she states. Blue pulls a needle from her bun and a spool of thread from a pocket in her dress, intending to mend the dead rodent.

“You just... keep a needle and thread on you at all times?” I question as she threads her needle with ease while crossing her right leg over her left, causing the hem of her dress to slide up.

“Of course,” she hums and taps her stitches on her thigh. “Never know when you might need to be stitched up.” She beams up at me before biting the thread off the rat. I want to fucking retch, but fuck, she looks so cute...

Cute?Goddammit it, that’s it. I’m driving my fist into something and then having Havoc kick my ass.

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