Skeletons in the Closet

[Ashi]

​

"Look... I don't know about the old timers, since they look like they could fall apart any minute; but I'm not going to leave Michael here. He's just a kid; he's got his whole life ahead of him and no kid should have to spend their life, much less eternity, in a situation like this. That goes for Ella, too." Jace said severely, still speaking in a low voice so the Putts' couldn't hear. If anything, he imagined what would happen to the poor kid's grandparents would be something like what happened to Salem. Perhaps they would even turn to dust due to their old age, like Mother Gothel did in Tangled once Rapunzel's hair was cut.

The heated debate ended there as Marten voiced the disappointing news that she had lost the hat box. Not only that, but she left it in the library. Jace cursed under his breath and shook his head. Going back would be dangerous. Milton volunteered to go alone, which was one of the dumbest things he had ever suggested. None knew better than he did that no one should ever split up or go off alone in a horror movie situation. Had he lost his mind? Jace's eyes drifted down to Michael. So he was Butzy, but who was Tam Tam?

There wasn't much time to ask, as it was decided they all would go back to the library together; however, doing so quietly was of the utmost importance. Jace brought up the rear, backpack slung over one shoulder and Lenore perched on the other. The rolling pin was clenched in his hand. The doors were open but blocked by the wreckage the slithering vines caused. Ana went over first only to slip and make noise, which caused him to tense up. Jo then took off barking after a familiar tiny pumpkin.

"Jo! Heel!" Jace raised his voice a little, trying not to holler. Just like earlier though, Jo didn't listen; Milton went after him. London climbed through in hot pursuit of the douche bag pumpkin, who was trying to make off with the hat box. Her attack backfired completely, as it launched itself onto her and tugged at her face and hair. Ethan tried to help her, and in spite of getting hurt, grabbed the pumpkin and threw it hard. The scene was like a circus gone awry. Lenore crowed in protest to the noise they were all making, startling Jace.

"Tch!" He leapt through the door with athletic prowess, sprinting after Joseff. The Inu's direction changed to follow the living doll, and Jace tried to cut him off. He ended up diving towards him in a tackle and wrapping his arms around the Inu in a bear hug. He struggled to sit up with the squirming Jo and wrapped his legs around him. "Shhh!" Jace shushed him, grasping his muzzle to keep him from barking. Joseff whined. "I'm sorry, but you have to be quiet." He whispered and tried to pet Jo with his other hand to calm him, but it was difficult whilst holding the rolling pin. "Marten! Or Milton! Grab the box so we can get the hell out of here."

 

[Fox of Spades]

Collab between @Fox of Hearts and @Fox of Spades

Ah, shit. At this rate they were going to get caught very soon. The Putts had stressed the need for silence, but in the first five minutes, they'd already gone and caused as much noise as humanly possible. Lenore was cawing, Joseff had darted off, and the strange pumpkin doll Kindle had mentioned had made another entrance. The eerie similarities it shared with the "beloved" dolls sold all over Bellwoods made her skin scrawl. Those dolls were everywhere... if they were His eyes, then by extension, He was everywhere - watching all the citizens of Bellwoods before choosing His victims.

Everything went downhill from there.

The little prick launched a full scale attack against London and Ethan, and while he ended up releasing the box, he'd ended up hurting their already injured team tank as well.

"Hold tight," she hissed as she rushed to the scene and scooped the box into her arms. The pumpkin had retreated, but London looked like she'd crawled out of some dark forest and Ethan looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"You two okay? You scared him off good," she whispered. She was especially worried about Ethan's injuries, but it didn't seem like the wounds had opened up again during the brief tussle. "Let's return this before he tries to take it again."

Now that the miniature pumpkin was out of sight, the Shiba Inu had calmed down significantly. He pulled his face away from Jace's grip before turning his head to the side. Slowly, he pressed his wet nose against the boy's cheek. He gave Jace several slobbery kisses before trying to wiggle his way out of the bear hug.

Joseff was horribly oblivious to how serious the situation was.

Kindall couldn't help wondering where the doll went. He regretted not trying to catch it as well. Even if it was fast, he'd have a better chance of catching it than either London or Ethan. "I'd like Jo to sniff around and find that thing," he told Jace. "We need to incapacitate it before it goes back to Peter … Butzy … whoever made it."

Lenore seemed to agree. She circled the room, scanning the entire area for something. Kindle can't help believing she was trying to spot the mini pumpkin doll too. It made him a little apprehensive although he didn't voice it out. That bird behaved like she had near human intelligence and that wasn't normal!

Ignoring his misgivings about Salem's pet, Milton decided to turn his attention towards London and Ethan. He saw Marten already at London's side, so he decided to check on his friend. "Hey bud," he spoke. "Let's get you seated. I think we need to redo those bandages. They are soaked."

"Hey, Marten, Ana, can one of you go get the first aid stuff from Jace? Ethan's gonna need new bandages and a painkiller."

"We have the box," Kelsey finally stated as she held it out to the Putts and Michael. "Not sure what these items will do, but here they are."

Alfonse received the box somewhat hesitantly, as if he couldn't believe what was about to happen. "It's really here… after all this time."

Mrs. Putts and Michael were standing on each side of him, peering at the nondescript box that Alfonse held in his shaking hands. For a brief moment, the three of them merely stared at it. Alfonse finally acted, lifting the cover to reveal the box's contents.

There was Michael's toy soldier, his wife's gloves, and his gold-coloured reading glasses. They weren't items of great value, but they carried a sentimental weight.

George was given to Michael by his late parents, the gloves were a gift from Mrs. Putts' late daughter (Michael's mother), and his glasses had been a gift from the town doctor who'd once been his closest friend. Alfonse found himself tearing up as he stared at the golden spectacles - each item felt like it belonged to an era long forgotten.

He stiffened when he felt his wife's comforting hand on his back.

"It's okay, dear," Mrs. Putts consoled. "It's okay."

Slowly she reached into the box and delicately lifted the golden spectacles from where they were lying, she then proceeded to place in onto her husband's face.

"Here's George, Michael." Kindly, she picked up the wooden soldier and handed it to her grandson. "I'm sure he's missed you terribly, dear."

Michael clasped the toy soldier lovingly with his two hands. Happiness shone in his eyes. George was the closest friend he ever had. They were together since he was five. "Thank you," he whispered. "Mom gave George to me one Christmas when I was little. We spent Christmas together ever since."

As he beamed at Kelsey, tears streamed down his cheeks. He appeared to be both happy and very sad at the same time. The reason behind became clearer as he continued talking. "You know, we were together in the backseat that day. I was talking to Mom and Dad when this huuuuuge truck appeared. Dad tried to avoid it and … the car flew. We crashed into the barrier and went down the hill."

His voice became very small. "I don't remember much. I woke up in hospital. The first person I saw was George. I missed Christmas that year but he didn't mind. He waited for me to get up." At ten, he was old enough to know the actual reason George was there but pretending made things easier. Waking up to a world without Mom and Dad was strange. He couldn't believe he won't ever talk to them again. He won't get to hug them ever again. It was so lonely.

Mrs. Putts wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulders and the young boy responded by burying his face into her side. She held him close then wiped away at her own tears with her free hand. "Losing Cheryl and Darren on Christmas Eve was so painful. We had one child and she was gone." Sobbing came from the distraught woman and she found herself unable to talk anymore. The memories hurt so much.

Alfonse patted her back gently. "I'm sorry. The memories are so vivid to us. We lived together in the house Cheryl's born after the funeral. The three of us trying to be one family. It was struggle for one whole year then Christmas was round the corner again."

"I told Grandpa we need to find the biggest Christmas tree. Mom loved it when we bring a freshly cut tree from Whittle Grove. She said the smell of pine makes her happy. I wanted her to be happy."

Alfonse tried to remain composed as his wife and grandson recounted the worst year of their lives. He stood still and quiet as a statue before finally digging into the pockets of his vest jacket. He pulled out a rosary and cross alongside what appeared to be a driver's license. Wendy Lee was the name written on the small laminated card. Alfonse stepped forward and pressed it into Kelsey's hands.

"This belongs to Wendy," Kelsey commented.

"Yes, and the cross is Charlotte's. Unfortunately, we don't have the power to free each other from His clutches. We belong to the mansion. It's not too late for you."

"You want us to give it to her?"

"Yes, and if you can. Give the scarf to Hans. Poor boy, I heard it was a gift from his fiancee. He forgot about this. He's been obsessing over his engagement ring - we don't have much time left."

As Alfonse finished his request, Kelsey noticed they were all turning to stone. Similar to Salem, grey flecks were now running up their skin.

"Thank you for freeing us," Alfonse said.

Joyce wrapped her arms round Michael quickly and the little boy buried his face against her. Alfonse hurried over and he wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. He lay his head on her shoulder the way he had been doing since they started dating. The grey spread over their entire body, immortalizing them in stone.

"That seems to be the trend here," Kindall remarked from where he was crouched. He turned his attention back to Ethan's shoulder. His blood stained fingers replacing the soaked gauze with a new one. "People turning to stone. I wonder if that'll happen to us …"

Ana shuddered and hugged herself. "Stop being so morbid." She was tempted to push Kindall but Ethan was leaning against him. "Be like Jo! Say things that make people feel good, please."

As Ana and Kindle bickered among themselves, Kelsey found it impossible to tear her eyes away from the Putts and what had become of them.

Just like Salem…

It left her feeling sick to her stomach, but she realized that for the first time since she'd met any of them, they finally looked at peace - they looked like a normal family carved from marble. "We should go and find Wendy."

"What about Ella? You heard the pumpkin. He said he's going to take the clues from there." Kindall fumed. "That's the priority. Forget Wendy!"

"The hell, Kindle. This was their dying wish." Kelsey threw out her hands in exasperation. "They asked us to do this before they fucking turned to stone."

"Are you sure they are real? They could be some illusion or some hocus pocus shit! Their story is a sympathy grab. It's meant to delay us!" He didn't know why but he was feeling really angry. Nothing pissed him off more thanpeople trying to pull at his heartstrings. The anger cleared Milton's mind and allowed his earlier convictions to return. He had been so fucking stupid! Of course, they were being manipulated by a sick fuck! These people weren't real. How could they? Their stories were obvious ploys to mess with them. Ghosts … supernatural … these don't exist. Scientists would have found evidence by now if they did.

"Why would they help Him? He's kept them here for God knows how long. He took away their lives."

Kindall didn't bother arguing. Kelsey was acting irrationally and he needed to put a stop to it. He crossed the room, snatched the cross and driver's licence out of her hand and threw them away. "There! Problem solved! They can find the bloody items themselves."

As Kindle tossed the items across the room, something inside of Kelsey snapped and she grabbed Kindle by the collar of his shirt and drew him close. "Oh, fuck you, Kindle." She would have said more, but they didn't have the Goddamn time. "You're fucking horrible."

"Look! Let's get out of here then we can continue this stupid quarrel. You'll see that I'm right."

 

[Cartoonicat]

​

By time Ethan came to the rescue, several nasty knots had formed in London's hair. Trying desperately to separate the locks just enough to gain some visibility back, she yanked a cluster particularly rough when Ethan shouted out in pain. "Puta!" she couldn't do it right then, but London swore she'd made that pumpkin bitch pay. She would-

Miss her chance entirely, because once she could see again, all she caught was a glimpse of pumpkin fear running off. Scowling, she made to chase the thing - I don't need my katana; I can crush it with my foot! - when Kelsey arrived, box in arms. London slowed, staring where the pumpkin had disappeared, fists clenched tightly.

It attacking London herself, she could understand - London had attacked first. But Ethan? No. The surge of protectiveness that had swallowed her at the creek and again when Ana first found Lenore was back. Flared her nostrils. She couldn't go after it. Not now. Not when she and her friends were in danger every passing second they spent in the library. They needed to go; needed to check on Ethan's wound; needed to figure out their next move and get the hell out.

London would not go after it but, God, did she want to.

As she took apart the braid best she could - the newly formed knots made it rather difficult - London glanced towards Kindall. Nodded. "Yeah," she said, running fingers through her coarse hair and wincing when they snagged on the tangles, "making a pinata out of it sounds fun." Unable to brush through her hair properly, London tossed her head forward and piled her hair atop her head in a horrifically messy bun. Her hair was heavy - the main reason she didn't like wearing it up - but it was better than constantly fighting with the knots the miniature pumpkin forced out of her braid. Shot Marten a wry grin, shoulders shrugging; London was part of the "up-do" club, now.

Then she glanced over the grunette's shoulder at Ethan, mouth tugging into a frown. New bandages? The little dirtbag got him worse than I thought... She'd have gone to Ethan's side, but the Putts started talking once Kelsey offered them the box. Glancing at Kindall and deciding to leave the bandaging to him, London kept her eyes on the Henbard servants.

For a little while. They looked so happy having their items back. It tugged at her heartstrings in an uncomfortable way. She felt cruel for wanting to ignore their pleas, just as she had with Salem. Still, even with guilt eating at her, London doubted she'd ever willingly choose to help strangers if it meant putting her loved ones at risk. She glanced at Ethan, eyes softening, and then back to the Putts.

Similar to Salem and his pin, the Putts offered one of her friends - Kelsey, this time, instead of Jace - personal belongings to those of Henbard. And then they began to turn to stone. This time London did not look away. Made herself watch as the three came together like a happy family, human skin solidified as statue.

London felt sick. They're all going to turn to stone, aren't they? We can't stop it. Can't-

She looked over as Kindall and Kelsey started arguing, the former throwing Wendy and Charlotte's personal items across the floor. Just like before, she agreed with Kindall, but leaving the items there seemed... wrong. Picking up her katana first, London went over and collected the driver's license and rosary from the floor. Turned them over slowly in her hands, a pinch forming between her brows.

"I..." Another theory. Another uncertainty. Still, she spoke: "I don't think they can find the items themselves," she said. "Ella had the Putt's items, but Michael and Ella were friends. The Putts had Charlotte and Wendy's stuff, too." Pursed her lips, then, dread filling her core. We aren't part of Henbard. Yet. We might be the only ones who can help them.

London didn't voice her thoughts, however. She didn't want to risk everything trying to liberate His hoarded souls, but also didn't want to live with the guilt of leaving them for the rest of her life.

"I think we should... I think..." London chewed her lip, uncertain. She did not like being uncertain. It made her feel vulnerable, stupid, weak. "I think... we should go to Ella's room, first. If we find Charlotte or Wendy on the way there, we give them the stuff, but... well... our priority should be on getting out, not playing hero."

Because heroes get killed.

 

[Impudimp]

Ah, come on! She was supposed to be Action Marten and somehow never got to get in on any of it! It had to be the late hour. The filing off toward the library was fine, in fact the grunette beamed the entire way feeling like some kind of champion in a Greek myth! Slay the beast! Free the people! It was too early to puff out her chest, of course, but it was the most warmth she'd felt all evening in this forsaken chateau and damned if she was going to let the feeling pass without indulging in it at least a little bit.

As they approached the doorway, she'd stifle her urge to whistle dramatically at the damage done to the beautiful archway and the bedlam that was the library that it opened into. So many tomes and words forgotten in this place... Marten felt her eyes automatically drifting to Salem's final resting place, even as her friends swung into action over the tiny pumpkin-thing that she'd personally only glimpsed once before. A part of her relaxed seeing that the angry Peter Rabbit hadn't destroyed the human statue in his rage. In her mind it was like the equivalent of dancing on someone's grave.

However, her attention was redirected soon enough. What was all this noise about! They couldn't have a quiet squabble? Jo was 'larming everything up, and even Lenore the crow had found her voice again. Ethan helped the struggling London, and she had to wonder briefly at the heroics of normally shy best friend. Leave it to adversity to change someone completely. "Maybe I can get to the box...?" She'd whisper to herself under her breath, keeping tabs on the container, but Kelsey ended up beating her to it. What the heck? Was everyone else moving on a different frame rate as her or something?

Or was she just a fish out of water? Sighing, she did manage to do something to help out in the midst of it all, fetching the gauze from Jace's pack at Kindall's behest. Well, she did look like Nurse Joy anyway, so why not? And as the Putts' turned to stone her heart would clench, but otherwise she felt a strange okay-ness with it all. Maybe a part of her had always known, beneath the unwavering optimism of course, that if anyone were leaving this place, it would just be them. Salem's passing had broken something in her line of thinking. Those attached to this place were not going to leave it alive. "You think maybe they're more spirit than human after all?" She'd ask to no one in particular.


It could have been like in the Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy. The people were just trapped spirits in the end. Break the curse and they finally get to go to Heaven? Somehow she thought she might have preferred them to leave behind dust over the statues though. The statues were pretty bittersweet and more than a little heart wrenching. She'd reach over, to try and help London with her hair at least somewhat. That pumpkin was an evil hairdresser. "Well, you're pretty so you can rock any style anyway hehe." She'd give her friend a smile back, internally agreeing with her plan. She would have picked up the items if the dark-haired girl hadn't. They really should give everyone their things back...

Shit on a shingle! Her thoughts would halt and backtrack, "Um... The key to leaving here is stuff right? We don't have all ours... not everything we came with anyway... What if Peter has already hidden it? And if someone else has to find it, and half the house is stone now, what the heck are we gonna do?" She hated being a Buzz Killington, but it felt like something that needed to be shared.

 

[Ashi]

​

Much to Jace's relief, Kelsey swooped in to grab the hat box. The tiny dirt bag that was the miniature Butzy had gone, either hidden amongst what remained of the maze of bookshelves or disappeared entirely. With the box safely in their possession, the commotion died and all was for the most part quiet. Jace's grip on the Inu loosened and he was able to free his muzzle to press into the young man's face. He scrunched his face up at the slobbery kisses, patted Jo's head, and released him.

"You're welcome to try. So far, Jo hasn't been the most cooperative dog." Jace said softly and shrugged his shoulders. Of course, there was a bit of a bias now. Both times that he had tried to get Jo under control were in the midst of a crazy situation, in which Jo was less inclined to obey as compared to calmer circumstances. Again, a longing for his own dog panged in Jace's chest. He could almost see Kenai sitting on the porch, eyes piercing the dark, waiting for him to return home. Kenai was the better of the two for tracking purposes.

"Maybe it went to Ella's room? It said that it was going there next." He proposed as he stood up, recalling the curious way the pumpkin squeaked to itself in an almost poetic manner. He dazedly watched the Putts' as Kelsey handed Alfonse the box. The look in their eyes as he opened the box was a tearful one that jerked at Jace's heart strings. The way they were each reunited with their long-lost belongings was like meeting an old friend after years apart.

"You don't need to apologize." Jace assured them with a sympathetic smile. After all that they had endured, losing mother and daughter, son-in-law and father, and having to live in Henbard Hell, they deserved an emotional moment like this.

"You..can't free each other?" He asked, puzzled. Was Alfonse implying that they could literally not give each other their "keys"? Jace thought back to the note Marten found with the box in Ella's room. It had said to give the items to her friends. Even though Ella had the box of items, she only hid them in her room. She never gave them to the Putts'. It dawned on him then that that note was meant for them, so they who were not part of Henbard would give the items to their owners. Creepy.

Jace came to stand beside Kelsey, inspecting the items that Alfonse handed to her: Wendy's driver's license, Charlotte's rosary, and Hans's scarf. When he looked up again, stony flecks were forming on their skin. It happened quickly, just as it had for Salem, barely leaving the family time to group together in a last loving embrace. That same sadness that Jace felt for Salem crept up on him, as well as a realization.

"There is no saving them. All we can do is free their spirits; they can't physically leave this place." Jace murmured, his gaze fixated on the stone figures. He listened to the conversation going on behind him for a moment, while Marten got the medical supplies out of the backpack. Only once she'd done did he turn to his bickering friends. He put on his big brother face.

"So help me, I will knock the both of you upside the head if you don't chill." He scolded, glancing between the two. "Milton, whether or not this is real or some sort of twisted shroom dream, we're stuck here with - so far - one way out. I stand by what I said before: We have to play the game to get out of here. Finding these 'keys' is part of the game, but so are the people. Helping the NPC's is part of the game. Kelsey is right; we should give these items to their owners. I think it's like London said, they can't do it themselves." Jace spoke in an overly calm tone, like one might use with small children, hardly thinking about the video game references.

"Kelsey, I believe that Milton is right that we should go to Ella's room first. That little shit head is probably headed there now and I believe that those dolls might be our best clues to those keys Salem talked about. We need to get them before it does. Ella's room first, then we find Wendy, Charlotte, and Hans. Can we agree on that?" He looked at them both severely, clearly trying very hard to be patient. He didn't give them much of an opportunity to answer though before he turned to London. "I'm sorry, London; but I disagree. Wendy, Charlotte, and Hans - everyone in Henbard - is part of the game. We have to play to win."

"Now, let's finish fixing Ethan up, put the items in the backpack, then we'll go." Jace turned to Ethan and Marten then, to help finish patching up his gym buddy. "I don't think that'll be an issue." He thought a moment about Marten's question, thinking back to what Alfonse said. "We were able to obtain some of our things, unlike the residents. I think it's because we're not part of his world, at least not yet, which is why we should put some pep in our steps."

 

[Fox of Spades]

As usual, Jace was their group's go-to voice of reason. He was quick to shut down the impending argument, and he did so with a sternness that rendered both Kelsey and Kindle silent. She was still fuming, still upset by the fact that Kindle had lobbed the Putt's precious keepsakes across the room, but she scowled and bit back the venomous words that threatened to spill out of her mouth. Later. She'd give Kindle a piece of her mind later.

"Fine. We'll head to Ella's room."

She allowed herself a moment of calm as Jace left them to tend to Ethan. He'd enlisted the help of Marten, leaving the remaining four of them standing idly in the torn up library. Kelsey kept her eyes averted from Kindle and instead stared at her shoes. She'd only heard Marten's question in passing but it left her feeling sick.

The lack of one's identity and belongings seemed to be a reoccuring theme in Henbard, and they were missing almost all of their stuff. It seemed plain, correlating everyday objects to some haunted mansion in the woods... but there was a pattern there - somewhere if she squinted hard enough. If Marten's theory proved true, they were horribly screwed.

The group stood in tense silence for a more moments as Jace continued to tend to Ethan's wounds. It was quiet in the library, at least until a soft thud echoed throughout the empty room.

Fuck... what did it want now?

Standing atop one of the shelves was the miniature pumpkin. The pumpkin's hands raised atop its head in triumph and a mischievous shadowy gash of a smile stretched across its face until it looked like it would break in two.

It eyed them for a moment, hopping from one foot to the other in a mocking jig.

It brought both it's hands to its mouth and whistled loudly.

"Guys, we should go." Kelsey snapped the moment the sharp sound echoed all around them. However, before she could motion for her friends to leave, consecutive thuds resounded as dolls rolled out of the shelves and into the room.

It was something out of a horror movie. One by one, dolls started picking themselves off the ground and pushing themselves to their feet. They weren't the happy or colorful dolls one would expect an eight-year-old to own. Instead, they were old and tattered and manikin-like in the stiff disjointed way they moved.

The dolls were mostly uniform in size, but each came with their own distinct set of features - there was doll with long dark hair and a white hospital gown, a doll dressed up as a sad clown, a doll in a raincoat, and doll with a steel mask and more. They multiplied with each thud until there were about eight of them in total.

Kelsey immediately reached for the box, pulling out Han's scarf as the doll army assembled.

As the dolls approached, Jo's ears flattened against his head. Confused, and quite aware of everyone else's fear and discomfort, Joseff pulled back his lips and snarled angrily at the approaching threats.

"Shhh, it's okay, Jo."

The situation was far from okay, but Kelsey was horribly scared that they would attack if Joseff so much as barked.

Her worst fears were realized when Joseff finally began snapping his jaws at the threat. In a split second, the dolls were upon them - tiny monstrosities launching themselves at frightening speed.

The doll with the mask pulled out a knife as it ran towards them.

"RUN!"

As all the dolls began to wreak chaos upon the library, they also got to work separating the group.

---

GROUP ONE - CELLAR

London and Ethan were the first to be separated and sent on their merry way. The duo found themselves cornered in an isolated part of the library by a slew of gathering dolls. Things were looking bleak, and they tried to step away only to find themselves with their backs pressed firmly against one of the huge ornate shelves.

As the dolls gathered in front of them, one doll in particular began to mount one of the many book shelves.

The doll blew a flying kiss their way before pulling a nondescript book out of its location. Similar to the secret passage from earlier, the shelf they were leaning against spun around and propelled them into darkness.

Instead of a horizontal path however, they found themselves descending down what felt like a dark and musty slide to nowhere. Dust and cobwebs smashed into their faces before they found themselves exiting the darkness and crashing into cold cement. They were back to square one - the cellar where they'd awakened after dinner.

Before they could get up, a heavy weight was sent crashing into them.

---

GROUP TWO - GOING TO THE ATTIC

"Hey! Where's London and the Milk Man?" Ana kicked and fought as hard she could. But try as she might to give the dolls hell, the group was easily outnumbered. What started as a handful of dolls had turned into a growing army, and the longer they lingered in the library, the larger the group seemed to grow. "Why won't they stay dead! We should really, really get out of here now." Ana screamed as she kicked at a doll that tried to block her path.

If they didn't leave, they would be overwhelmed.

"Guys, guys, just run. Ethan and London already left." The voice was unmistakably Kelsey's. "We need to leave."

Ana didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed Jace and Marten - the people closest to her - and bolted. Kelsey was screaming something about regrouping outside, but there was no time to shout back an answer. The moment the three of them barreled out of the library doors, dolls began chasing after them.

---

GROUP THREE - ELLA'S ROOM

"Ana, we'll catch up!" Kelsey yelled out as Jace, Marten, and Ana disappeared through the library doors. "Kindle grab your stuff and let's go!" As much as she hated splitting up, there was no other choice right now. London, Ethan, and Joseff had disappear in an instant, and while Kelsey hadn't noticed where they'd gone to in the chaos of it all, something in the pit of her stomach told her they hadn't ran outside of the room. Still, there was no way to search for them right now.

Shit...

A moment of panic as she worried about their well being. Ethan could hold his own in a fight, she was sure he could protect London too, but he was hurt. London had her katana, but she could never really stop herself from worrying about her jumpier friend. Ethan's with her, she'll be fine. They'll be fine. We need to get out of here then we can find them.

Kindle was pushing her along, saying something about Ella's room, the clues.

Crap. They still had to grab those. "Just keep going! I'm behind you!" Kelsey kept her eyes trained on Kindle's back. Similar to Jace, Marten, and Ana, they exited the library and barreled down the hall. Dolls chased after them. However, instead heading towards the attic like their friends, they began making a beeline for Ella's room.

 

[Cartoonicat]

At Marten's theory, London looked at the katana in her right hand. She'd brought much more than just that and her Cryptodex; more than just the canned coffee and bags of junk chips. They all had. "I think…" She trailed off, letting her brain catch up. "We're not part of Henbard yet, so I think we can find our own stuff. I think, anyway. We… we definitely need to find our things, though." Swallowed dryly. Before it's too late.

The thought of never seeing her mom again hurt. Or, possibly even worse, leaving Henbard without some of her friends. What happens if we don't find everything? What happens if not all of us can get out?

Like with all things London found hard to process, she ignored the train of thought. Cut it off at the root. Running wasn't healthy but neither was dwelling on something that hadn't happened yet. May not even happen at all. There was still hope; they had found Kelsey and they were all together, now. Trapped and in danger, but together.

She turned to Jace as he addressed her. Disagreed with her course of action. London opened her mouth to protest, but closed it quickly. What Jace said had made sense, in a way. They're like side quests, London thought, and, in some games, the side quests unlock different endings. Her thoughts rolled back to games like the Mass Effect trilogy. She'd learned the hard way what happened when you ignored companion quests; those characters died in the end.

With a sigh, London relented. "Okay," she said, "okay, fine. If it… if it gets us out of here, let's-..." A thought struck her, then, inspired by all of the boss game mechanics she'd dealt with in her MMOs. "The more people we free, the fewer he has to protect him…. Yeah!" Now they were talking. "Yeah, let's do it."

While her friends busied themselves, London took the opportunity to retrieve her Cryptodex from Ana and scribble down a quick entry or two. It wouldn't do to fall behind on her entries, lest she forget something vital.

The entry was brief, however, because right as she signed her initials in a sloppy scrawl of crayon taken from the backpack, a thud sounded. She looked up. Atop one of the shelves was that damned miniature pumpkin. It mocked them.

London groaned. Gripped her katana. "I hate this thing." Before she could act on its reappearance, however, the pumpkin creature let out a loud whistle. London's brows raised. "Uh…"

That can't be good.

There are few times when something that small gets so cocky; either reinforcements are on their way or it knows something you don't. London likened the pumpkin to the low-level players she used to gank online for fun. They'd run and kiss ass until someone bigger and badder was on their way to the rescue. Then, it was all fun and games until the cavalry arrived.

And, in the miniature pumpkin's case, the cavalry had definitely come through. London stared in horror as dolls lined the shelves like a haunted army on the horizon. The disjointed way they moved reminded her of Sid's abominations in Toy Story, their ghostly aura like that of Chuckie.

Gripping her katana with one hand and holding onto her Cryotodex and Wendy and Charlotte's items with the other, London put one foot forward. A show of force, dominance, a way of saying "get away from us" without using her voice - something London didn't have complete faith in at the moment.

Then Jo snipped at the dolls and one whipped out a knife. Her breath hitched. It wasn't made of wood; wasn't blunt like her own sword, or Jace's rolling pin, or Kindall's baseball bat. London's knees buckled, frozen to the spot at the sight of real danger - just like before, with Salem - until Kelsey's command to run jump-started her internal wiring.

London spun on her heel and ran in a random direction.

Which, she soon realized, hadn't been the best of ideas. Within seconds London found herself and Ethan cornered far from their friends. She couldn't see them.

But she could see the dolls. So many dolls. London gripped her katana with both hands this time, pressing the Henbard objects into the wooden handle, and swung frantically. The dolls kept coming whether she hit them or not, forcing her back into the bookshelf behind them.

"M-Mie-Mierda," she cursed, voice trembling as much as her fingers. They had survived an angry poltergeist, electroshock torture, the emotional trauma of watching who they thought was Matt die, and Salem's bird transformation only to die by dolls. Dolls.

"I don't- I don't want to die-AYE!" The world spun and suddenly the dolls, the library, their friends were gone. The floor disappeared beneath her; in a flash, London descended down a dusty slide. She screamed, mouth catching spiderwebs. Stupidly, she screamed louder.

London didn't stop screaming all the way down. She crashed into cold cement with an "Oof!" The wind knocked out of her and she felt the painful sting of a bruised tailbone and back. London didn't care about that though. Didn't even care when Jo landed on them heavily. Did not care about anything but the spiderwebs.

Struggling to roll on her stomach, London spat out what spiderwebs she could. Wheezed in place of a cry. Tried to stand up, to run, to get away. With the feel, be it real or imaginary, of spiders crawling up her skin London had half a mind to chuck her shirt and windbreaker off. Actually, she didn't have a mind at all at that point.

Hiccuping through the lack of breath, London started screaming again - this time in short, breathless intervals. "Help- Help- They're on- Help me!" She cried, tousling her hair and fighting with the hair tie to release her knotted locks. Batted at her shirt, trying to drive away the creeping sensation of spiders.

They were in her hair, in her clothes, in her skin and she could just feel them everywhere.

"Ethan!"

 

[Haru Nyan]

Ethan couldn't help but grumble, here he was trying to play hero again and it landed him in the same spot; band-aid practice. He sighed, he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up looking like a mummy by the time they were out of Henbard. Though he wouldn't mind the thought of being a bandaged babe, even for just a short while. He glanced at Jace and turned to Marten, giving both of them a heartfelt smile and expressing his genuine thanks at patching him, again in Marten's case.

Not even a moment soon after he had been healed did the little pumpkin bastard from before made his oh-so gracious return, he scowled, swearing that if he wasn't recovering from the little shit's injury from earlier, he would've pounced then and there. He only stopped when Kelsey said that there was something amiss, saying that they needed to boot it. "Why? I can take him!" Yet, he still didn't move from where he was standing, only when the thunderous echoes of something approaching them made itself audible did uncertainty began to creep up in his mind. He gulped, fearing for the worst.

"D-Dolls?!" Of course, of fucking course it had to be dolls. Nothing sets the shivers quite right than an inanimate object uncannily designed to look like a human being, just a cursory glance at their appearance sent a tingling sensation down Ethan's spine, and when one of them drew a knife when Jo barked, he knew that they were in deeper shit than before. He stepped back trying to protect himself and London, farther and father until his back hit one of the shelves. Aloud, he cursed at their luck. Things were getting really shitty, really fast, he quickly and hesitantly adopted a fighting stance, but even he knew that he wasn't going to last as long as he would with his fresh batch of bandages, and before he could even put up a fight or throw a punch the world around him began to spin.

He didn't know what was happening anymore, all he could hear was London screaming her lungs out, and he found himself doing the same all the way towards their dark descent. Eventually, he felt his butt coming into contact with the ground, he was about to say something about how this wasn't the first time his ass felt dirty but was cut short when he familiar furball decided to join them. "Glad you could join us, ya little rascal." Ethan pet Jo and gave him a knowing grin, the joy was short-lived however when London began screaming started to freak out, calling out his name and urging him to help.

"E-Easy there, easy!" He held London in place, trying to calm her down. Patting the frightened girl all around, he swept all around, trying to get the cobwebs off of her, "Relax, okay? There aren't any spiders...I mean, at least I don't think so." He was fine with the arachnids so as long as they weren't giant-ass horrors hellbent on destroying the human race or enslaving them into becoming breeders or some shit. "See? Nothing to be scared of." As he said that however, he found himself mortified when a large spider made itself comfortable on one his jacket's sleeves. He gazed at the insect, petrified and instinctively he let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched scream that probably resounded throughout the deepest crevice of the cellar right now.

 

[Impudimp]

She'd give Ethan a genuine smile back. It felt nice too. As often as they encountered the perfect shit storm in Henbard was about as often as her smiles were fake, namely too often. So it was nice to just have a small moment to share with her friend. As she and Jace finished patching the big guy up, she almost wanted to pat his shoulder good-naturedly before she stopped her hand mid flight. That would not be a good idea, even if Ethan's wound probably looked worse than it actually was-She prayed at least- there was no need to irritate it.

Of course, it was around the time that she spoke her peace that the rest of the peace was broken as well. God damnit! Dolls?! Really?! Oh she hated that pumpkin. She was going to eat so much fucking pumpkin when they left this place. It was going to become her favorite fucking dessert! Her gaze turned positively acidic at the snickering thing while all hell broke loose on the floor. Kelsey screamed for running, and so there was running, Marten included.

The girl would intermittently kick at gross, fucking demon marionettes while cursing like a sailor under her breath. Each one that went flying made her smile just a little sadistically... just a little. She hadn't been on the Powderpuff Football team in high school for nothing. One flew through a break the shelving and she smirked evilly. And it's good! Needless to say she got many a field goal before she found herself being pulled out the door with Ana and Jace.

"Kelsey! London! Everyone! We'll catch up! L-let's meet-- oof!" She grunted as she stumbled with Ana's haste. Where the hell were they going anyway? They hadn't been this way yet. The walls didn't look familiar. "Ana! Wait, where the heck are we?" She'd whisper uneasily, not willing to shout again. She had tried to figure out a rendezvous point, but Ana was freaking fast. Her suggestion would have been the common room or something, but...

Of course, her brain must have been scrambled in the chaos seeing as she had promptly forgotten that they had all been planning to go to Ella's room before, but miracles happened all the time. Maybe she would remember easily enough to tell Jace and Ana?

 

[Ashi]

​

Thud. Jace's brows knit close together at the noise behind him as he finished patching up his friend. It was undoubtedly the little pumpkin douche, up to no good. He turned as he stood, eyes traveling up the rows of shelves until they landed on the tiny orange menace. It stood atop a bookcase, arms raised in a seeming gesture of victory with an eerie grin on its face, and danced as if it needed to use a toilet. Then it whistled and the silence was replaced with a noise that Jace couldn't identify.

"What the..?" He muttered inaudibly and squinted. The sound was definitely one of movement; and after a moment, it became clear exactly what was moving. Dolls appeared from anywhere and everywhere amongst the maze, moving in a broken stop-motion kind of way. They didn't look like any dolls that belonged to a little girl, rather they looked like the dolls one might find in an abandoned house.

"One Man Hide and Seek..." Jace recalled with a tone of increasing dread. Jo snapped at one of them and it promptly produced a knife. This was definitely One Man Hide and Seek gone wrong, only it wasn't one man and one doll. It was a handful of people and a seemingly endless number of dolls. The dolls started forward. So the strange new entry in London's Cryptodex had some merit after all. If he had had the presence of mind, Jace might have felt vexed at this. Kelsey had dismissed his suspicion back before they left Salem's room. He might have also wondered if she connected those dots. There wasn't time for that though.

Jace drew his leg back and plowed the toe of his boot into the doll nearest him, sending it flying into the horde. One after another, he kicked them; and yet more came. It was impossible to get them all. He took a staggering step back towards Ana and Marten. They had been separated from Kelsey and Milton and London and Ethan. Ana asked where London and Ethan had gone, but Jace wasn't sure. He hadn't been looking anywhere but down. Kelsey called to them to run, but only Ana moved. She grabbed him and Marten and pulled them along.

"Go, go! Stay in front of me!" Jace told the girls as they started up the stairs straight ahead. Every now and again, he'd pause to kick a doll or two that got close. The three found themselves on the third floor and Jace herded the girls down the hallway off to the side. There was a corridor extending off of that one and another set of stairs going up. They opted for the stairs, which he assumed went to the attic. Where else could they go? Ana reached the top step first and shoved the door open. They crammed through it, dolls hot on their tail.

As the attic door slammed shut behind them, the group found themselves drowning in darkness. The room was old and smelled of dust and decay. It was a sea of pitch black, and for a moment they fumbled around blindly in search of a light switch. Behind them, tiny doll fists thudded persistently against the shut door. It was the same banging noise over and over again.

"Found it," the voice was ragged with fear but unmistakably Ana's. The lights above began to flicker before a soft yellowish glow bathed the room and allowed the group to finally see. The attic was much bigger on the inside than it appeared, it was filled with an assortment of furniture and used belongings - a storage room of sorts. However, the most interesting thing about it were the colorful pictures etched onto the walls with markers and crayons, drawings of rainbows, of happy families, and of little girls who lived in the trees.

"That's... just plain fucking creepy." Jace breathed as he inspected the pictures. He remembered hearing that Tam Tam lived in the trees. Was she one of the girls depicted? As the group looked around, there came muffled and panicked cries. Jace tensed, listening, and cautiously searched for the source. In a desolate corner of the attic was a cage; and inside the cage was Wendy, tied up and gagged. "What the hell? Wendy?" He was incredulous. Who would do this to her? A very Ethan-like thought crossed his mind then.

"Please don't tell me there's a BDSM dungeon in this house."

 

[Fox of Spades]

Collab by @Fox of Hearts and @Fox of Spades

Wendy's eyes snapped shut the moment light flooded into the attic. She'd been in the dark for awhile now and the yellow glow emanating from the lights above caused her eyes to burn. Had someone come to her aid? Did He know about their plans to help the young master? The last thought made her feel sick to her stomach. He had to know... why else would she be in this cage? She'd agreed to help the Putts and the young master merely moments ago, had agreed to meeting the group and delivering some useful items to them before the night was through. However, before she could rendezvous with the group, the dolls were upon her and she was overwhelmed by their numbers and stuffed into a cage.

He liked to play games, and Wendy could only guess he had interesting things planned for her and for all his guests.

She'd failed the Putts and the young master... she needed to help them at the very least.

Unable to speak, and bound by her wrists, she looked up and shook her head repeatedly. Stay back. Don't alert the doll. No. She hoped and prayed they would understand.

Wait. Why were only three of the guests present? Something was very wrong here.

On any normal day, Ana would have been wary about grabbing onto Jace - today was not a normal day. Without hesitation, Ana yanked Jace back by the arm and clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Wendy's trying to tell us something," she whispered.

The doll that was waiting in front of the cage was limp, it's head bowed low as if it were in a deep slumber.

"There's three of us, but she doesn't want us to get close."

It had to mean something? Realistically, they would easily be able to kick that doll into the opposite wall. The sheer look of panic in Wendy's eyes, however, it told Ana otherwise.

Electricity filled the air. Disembodied children's laughter echoed eerily in the room, as the lights began flickering. They pulsed wildly before the bulbs shattered, plunging the room in darkness once again. Lenore landed abruptly on Jace's shoulder. She didn't know why but she sensed she could trust the young man. He felt safe. Safe enough to soothe her nerves at least. There was something here and she didn't like it.

Hide and Seek​

"Cawwwwww," she whispered. "Caw, caw!"

"Ding, dong, I know you can hear me,
I wanna play a little.
Ding, dong, don't let me catch you.
Let's play a little game and have fun."

A little girl sang. Her voice was closer at times and sometimes it sounded far away. Gradually, Jace and Marten could hear footsteps. The uneven steps gave the impression that someone was skipping along the walls of the attic. As the invisible entity neared the window, the curtains fluttered violently.

"Ding, dong, you know I can see you.
Why don't you run? I wanna catch you.
Ding, dong, you know I mean it so why don't you run?
Let's play this little game and have fun."

The song stopped so did the footsteps. A tensed silence filled the room. Ana bit her lower lip. Unconsciously, she looked in the direction of the cage. The doll was gone. Where'd it go?

She spun around panicky before it hit her. Shit, shit, shit! That voice! It must have been the doll! She sputtered. "G-guys, I think we shouldn't stay here. The room's too small! I-I don't like this."

"Awww don't you want to play with me and Jerry?" the same voice mocked. "We're going to have so much fun."

Ana froze. She didn't have time to put her actions into words when the three heard a sharp, grating sound. A bolt had been drawn, locking them inside the room. Ana gulped. Her mouth had become so dry that it was hard to talk.

"You made Jerry sad! Let's continue the game and cheer him up, okay? I'm going to count to fifty. Remember don't let us catch you!" The unseen girl started humming the tune from the song she sang earlier. She barely finished humming the first stanza when a little boy spoke up.

"Fifty."

***

The Cellar​

Someone had been down here. The large, empty spaces were filled with towers of junk. Most of them covered in greying sheets. The color suggested that dust hadn't been disturbed for a very long time. This seemed at odds with the fact that they were here twice and both times the room had been clutter free. There were even large trunks left half open, different types of mannequins and racks of musty clothes. Not too far from London was an elegant mirrored table. The piece looked newer despite its antiquated design. The only thing that remained the same was the large round table they'd been chained to earlier.

​

"Borf, borf?"

Jo trotted away from London and Ethan and he ended up about two feet away when he began whimpering. The Shiba Inu dropped onto his belly as his ears and tails flattened against his body.

Humans ears being less sensitive than Jo's took awhile to register the soft pitter-patter of tiny feet. The sound stopped beyond their field of vision. It was in this direction that Jo refused to look. His eyes were screwed shut.

"Uuuuuuuu uuu uuuuuu."

A small red balloon floated towards Ethan and London with note tied to its string. The message was clearly for them since the message "We're going to play a game of hide and seek" was scrawled on the envelope. The writing was loose and childish but way more legible than Kindall's. Clearly, the person writing this note wasn't the miniature pumpkin.

 

[Cartoonicat]

​

At first, London jerked away from him. She didn't like being held in place, not when she needed to run from the spiders. Then Ethan started patting her down and pulling away the webs. It calmed her, somewhat. "Get them-" London's screams had dissolved into broken sobs, "get them off of me, please." Once the two pulled what seemed to be all of the spiderwebs away, she sniffled. "T-Thank you."

Her head swam with the fade of adrenaline and she wiped away her tears. "Nothing to be scared-SHIT!" London instinctively smacked the spider from his sleeve, prompted by Ethan's screaming, and scurried backwards clumsily enough to fall on her ass. She shook her hand, feeling the ghost-weight of the spider still on it, and gagged. "Fu- I just- Ungh..." I touched a spider. I touched a spider. I touched a- "fucking spider."

Realizing that there could very easily be more creepy crawlies on the ground, London scrambled to her feet. Grabbed her katana and Cryptodex, shaking out the latter warily in case any spiders had nested between the pages. Her stomach churned with nerves, the protein bar and canned coffee not sitting well anymore. "Are you okay?" She asked Ethan, voice shaky. Maybe she shouldn't have had the caffeine - it definitely was not helping now. "I didn't, um, hurt your shoulder doing that, did I? I didn't mean- I only-... I'm sorry."

The sound of whining caught her ear and London glanced at Jo. A pinch formed between her brow - What is he doing? - and then a small, red balloon floated out of the dark. London paled ghost-white. Oh no. "That's... that is not good," she whispered. "That is so not good."

Having watched It more times than she could count, London did not have to look at the message to know they were in serious danger. Still, she glimpsed the crawl of We're going to play a game of hide and seek on the envelope. It only heightened her fears. Part of her wanted to take the envelope - see what might be inside - but another part of her told her to leave it alone lest touching the object started the game. She listened to the latter.

"We need-... we have to hide. No, no, we need to run," she whispered. Only when she scanned the room for an exit did she realize the cellar was different; London hadn't noticed it during her freak out. She frowned deeply. The shriveling, black vines had been replaced with dusty boxes. There was no black goop of Fake!Matt on the floor - at least, not from what London could see - and, unlike before, a mirrored table of antique design accompanied the one they'd been chained to. The table's newness in contrast to the dust around them beckoned her curiosity. She'd never read anything about a mirror being used in One-Man-Hide-And-Seek, so she assumed it was relatively safe. Chewing her lip, London stepped forward.

I shouldn't. Another step. We need to go. One more. Curiosity killed the cat. London reached out to touch the mirrored table, to look in it at her own reflection.

Don't be the cat.

 

[Fox of Spades]

Collab by @Fox of Hearts and @Fox of Spades

Kindle was going to lead them to an early grave. That was the thought that ran through Kelsey's head as they skidded into Ella's room. Kindle made a beeline for the bed while Kelsey slammed the door shut behind them. "You can grab the ponies later! Help me barricade this Goddamn door!" She could feel the dolls throwing themselves against it - hear the thumping of wood as the dolls gathered round and pushed. They probably wouldn't be breaking down the door anytime soon, but it was still a frightening thought and they were still fish in a barrel. There was only one way out as far as she could tell.

Kelsey pressed her back against the door and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

She could feel a headache coming, and the constant thudding against her back did little to alleviate the tension. Breathe in. Breathe out. The same advice she gave to London whenever her friend started freaking.

God... London and Ethan.

They'd just vanished. A part of her wanted to believe they'd run out the door before the dolls could get them, but she knew neither of the two would have left them in the library. The knot in her stomach tightened.

"How the hell are we going to get out of this? You better have some sort of scheme."

She wanted to bring up the others and how they might need help, but thinking of them while she couldn't do a gosh dang thing only made her feel worse. They'd deal with it when they left. If they could even leave.

"Kindle, are you listening? Just grab the ponies already!"

"Calm down. Like chill already! I'm trying to look for them. They aren't where you left them."

Kelsey was starting to get on his nerves. He found it extremely hard to think when she was yelling at him like that. Urgh! He sighed loudly. Something was amiss in Ella's room. Not only were the pony dolls missing from the bed, the toys they found scattered on the floor had been arranged neatly in the toy box and on the shelves. The rocking horse and the toy train were missing as well. He pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. Focus! Observe and see whether something else is different.

He began spinning around slowly. Finally, he stopped and stared at the toy shelf standing at the foot of Ella's bed. The cupboard with the Charity Gardens picture faced this shelf from the opposite side of the room. Kindle's frown deepened. Now was really suspicious! There were gaps among the rows of the dolls seate on the shelves. Eight gaps to be precise and under each missing doll was a label. He took a closer look. Mother, that sounded normal. Little girls loved to play family. Freddy, Morgan, Georgie, Penny, Tiffany and Peter. He blinked. Peter? That name seemed to be another recurring theme in Henbard.

"Kels, how many dolls were there in the library?" he couldn't help asking. His flu addled memory was worse than a sieve. He couldn't remember much save the small pumpkin and running. He wasn't even sure what happened to the rest, but he was confident they beat the pumpkin and his minions to Ella's room. When Kelsey didn't answer fast enough, he decided to prompt her. "Eight dolls are missing from Ella's shelf. Mother, Freddy, Morgan, Georgie, Penny, Tiffany and Peter."

He crossed his arms and frowned. "Do you think that little orange nuisance is called Peter? Makes me wonder what sort of doll Mother is. Georgie … that name rings a bell. Some media reference?" he asked with a shrug. "This is more your thing than mine."

"What? I don't know how many dolls there were. I didn't exactly have time to count." Kelsey snapped. "There were a lot, I'll give you that."

"Still not answering every question, Kels," he reminded her. "Who's Georgie? He sounds familiar. I believe you mention him recently. Your blog?"

"You're seriously trying to link this to some horror movie? Georgie and Peter could be anyone. Those names could belong to people who've gone missing over the years, they could be literally anyone who stepped foot into Bellwoods. If anything, we should be trying to link this to something big… not some summer blockbuster about a frigging demon clown."

"I'm not. It's the first thing that crossed my mind. That red balloon in the hallway didn't help … Kels, this is your fault," he retorted. "I blame you for trying to get me to watch all those horror movies."

After everything that was happening, Kindle was blaming her for making him watch horror movies? The suddenness and how normal his sentence was amid the craziness made her stop for a split second. Well, Kindle was Kindle. She would have smiled a little had dolls not been banging against the door in an attempt to kill them. "Well, if the dolls aren't here, we should focus on finding a way out. The door should keep them out for now."

"What's that?" Milton asked suddenly. He craned his head back towards the cupboard. The doors had burst open without warning, revealing the ponies lying down inside it. Kindall stared incredulously. "Um … you don't think?" He didn't have to elaborate more for Kelsey to start sharing his look of horror. Did one of the dolls enter the room too?

Kelsey practically leaped out of her own skin when the doors to the cupboard swung open. There wasn't a demon doll in sight, but the ponies were scattered about inside the cupboard and the doors had unmistakably opened on their own accord.

"Kindle, I don't like this. We should go."

"Nope! Let's grab the bloody ponies before going. That's what we came for, isn't it?"

Wasn't this how horror movie protagonists bit the dust? Yep, they were going to die. They were definitely going to die.

 

[Impudimp]

Freaking stairs were the worst. Her house of the future was definitely going to be a ranch. Not even one stair, not even a porch! Just perfect, tranquil flatness. Marten would stumble ahead alongside Ana at Jace's ushering. As they hit stairs of course the green-haired girl found herself stumbling moreso than walking her way up to what turned out to be the attic, "Um..."

Dark! Why are we in the dark of all things while getting chased by fucking dolls! " Where are the lights, oh my god, we're going to get picked off one by one if one of those stupid things got in here..." She whimpered , screwing her eyes shut if only to feel a little better at her own self-imposed blindness. It was better than seeing without seeing. Her hands would reach carefully, looking for that long string that was always attached to the attic light. She hadn't been in one yet that didn't have the familiar setup.

Ana found it first, but she was okay with that. At least they weren't in the dark anymore. Marten sadly couldn't get any relief from that fact though. It was an attic with a creep factor worthy of Henbard frankly. Childish drawings on the wall, a fine sheen of dust over everything, and ominously covered antique things. To top it off, one of the maids was in a cage in the corner guarded by- Oh joy, a doll!

"Dear father in heaven... Please don't let that thing move..." She prayed under her breath shifting closer to Jace, because he was big and tall and usually good at protecting. He didn't have a katana like London, but at least his wing span was pretty wide. He could swat before she could. Her heart would start a disconcerting tempo as the situation deteriorated before her eyes. Ana had barely stated her discomfort when the singing started. No God, why... not that... Anything but ghost children...

Marten was officially going to lose her ever loving mind. Hide and Seek? With a ghost? In an attic? Were the dolls really that bad in hindsight? At least they moved in packs. At least you could see them... "We didn't hide. Does that mean we're out?" A frightened shudder made her shake apprehensively as she asked a question she really didn't want to know the answer to. Somehow she was thinking that the safest place in the room at that moment was actually the cage.

 

[Ashi]

​

Jace started to step towards the cage, to outstretch a hand to try to open it, but Ana was pulling him back. Wendy was shaking her head, panic shone in her eyes. Then he noticed it, the doll. It sat against the cage, limp and otherwise nonthreatening, as if a child had set it there. Jace knew better than to assume the doll was just a doll, however, especially after running up two flights of stairs from a horde of dolls hellbent on tearing him and the girls to shreds.

"I don't like this." Jace muttered as he backed away another step. A tingling sensation shot up his back; and the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end. A child's laughter surrounded them and the lights flickered before bursting. He really didn't like this. His gut was churning uncomfortably with a mix of nausea and dread. It was telling him to get the hell out of there, to run as fast and far away as he could. He gave a start when Lenore perched on his shoulder, having completely forgotten about her in the escape.

"For cripes sake, not singing." The young man groaned. It was always bad when the entity to be dealt with started singing creepy songs. "Just.. just stay behind me." If the girls got close enough, they would be able to feel him shaking. It seemed his very being wanted to choose flight, but he had no choice but to fight. It was like his father told him, like he remembered. His father's words echoed in his head.

"If you could fight, but you know you'll lose, it's best to cut your losses and choose flight. If could run, but you may not make it, you should save your strength and energy in order to fight."

"Nine times out of ten, your instinct is right."

"Quiet now. Pretend you're hiding." Jace took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and brought the rolling pin in front of him. He didn't open them again; he didn't need to. The lights were out anyway. This would help him hone in on his other senses. He listened intently to the attic around him, tuning out the frantic breathing of the girls. His grip tightened on the handle and he brought the rolling pin up to his shoulder like a baseball bat.

"Jerry can kiss my ass." He said. Then the boy counted aloud. "Bring it."

 

[Haru Nyan]

"Owwwww." Ethan began to rub on the sleeve where London had hit him earlier, and despite the pain, he was thankful for the help. Knowing Henbard, that spider might've injected a lethal poison inside his system, or transform him into some unspeakable horror right before London's eyes. He managed a wry grin, giving his friend a thumbs up while boasting that he was tough as nails. It was gonna take a lot more than that to topple this cow, he said to himself, proudly. While he was busy dusting off his jacket, he turned his head to their furry friend, Jo, who was giving out soft whimpers that made Ethan's concerns grew bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked by.

"Oh, gimme a break..." were the only words that left the young man's mouth as he saw an out-of-place, red balloon just hovering and slowly trudging towards them in all its ghastly glory. He was tempted to ignore the letter and just pop the damn thing while humming 99 Red Balloons and go on their merry way, "I agree, let's ditch this shindig." He was already picking up a light jog, most probably leaving London to dust, expecting her to catch up with him as they searched for an exit, only stopping in his tracks when he looked back to see her taking in her surroundings, her eyes catching every nook and cranny. "Yo, London, what's the hold up?" He grimaced as he saw her friend taking slow steps towards the most-likely obviously-evil vanity that was just as out-of-place as the red balloon from before.

Not even hesitating a minute longer, he did a quick 180 turn and set his crosshairs on London, picking up speed and praying to the Heavens above that she not take this personal. With all the momentum and grace of a battering ram Ethan launched a shoulder-tackle on his friend, hoping that the impact wasn't too strong and that she was a fair distance aways from the thing. "London, what the fuck?!" Agitation and confusion were apparent in his voice, he demanded a reason why she thought that was a good idea. He glanced at her and back at the mirror, offering a nonchalant apology but not before shortly berating her on how stupid her course of action was. "You better have a good reason why you decided it was a good idea to check your reflection, knowing full well the shithole Henbard has become." Morbid thoughts started to enter his mind, what if her reflection would come to life and start impersonating her? Slowly sowing seeds of distrust among the group.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Collab by @Fox of Hearts and @Fox of Spades

Marten's question left Ana feeling sick. They couldn't be out. Not yet. They had to leave this place together. Slowly, she reached out her hand and grabbed onto Marten's. The grunette and her had never been the closest of friends, but Ana wanted to comfort the younger girl. We're in this together, she wanted to convey without actually speaking.

Jace was standing in front of them, and she reached out for his shirt with her free hand.

He was shaking.

Ana's fingers tightened around the fabric of his shirt. She wanted to help her friends, but what could she do?

Jerry and the little girl fell silent. Fifty? Wasn't there — oh shit! Ana's eyes widened. "Fuck … guys! I think the game started!"

The sound of tiny feet closed in on them from either side. No matter how hard they squinted, no one could see anything moving in the shadows. Should they run? Should they hold their ground?

Their indecision proved to be their greatest mistake. Wispy hands shot out from behind the girls. They wrapped round Marten and Ana's waist and ankles. Ana screamed, as she fought to free herself. Marten appeared to be struggling as well. The grip was so strong that neither girl could shake the hands off them. Slowly but surely they were being dragged into the shadows.

***

On any other day, Joseff would have mistaken Ethan's roughhousing for a friendly game of wrestling. However, today was not like any other day. The red balloon continued to linger ominously in the air as Ethan began berating London.

Joseff understood that they needed to leave, but the humans were taking far too long to reach a decision.

With his ears pressed flat against his head, the Shiba Inu made his way toward London and decided to aid Ethan on his quest to get her moving. "Uuuuuuuu," he whined once more before he bit down on London's pant leg and began to pull her toward him. "Rrrfffff," he insisted as he used all of his weight to try and pull her forward.

She was far too heavy for him.

Frustrated, Joseff released London and began to cry once more. Whining was a technique he often used to make Matt feel sorry for him. It always grabbed his best friend's attention, and over the years, Joseff had mastered the art of manipulative cuteness. It wasn't exactly helping him in this particular situation...

He would have resorted to headbutting one of them, but something strange began to happen.

If the two spared a glance at the mirror, they would notice a dark, shadowy apparition darting across the cellar. It was a blurry outline of an image - something that was both there and not.

Accompanying the strange shape was a fleeting flash of crimson.

Joseff ceased his whines, his tail falling between his legs as defensive growls reverberated in his throat. Once again, he was agitated and afraid. He pulled his lips back and snarled, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

The dark shape had disappeared from view, but the soft pitter patter of tiny doll feet echoed all around them.

If they didn't act swiftly, the dolls would soon be upon them.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Hesitantly, London reached for the edge of the mirror table. Why is it new, she wondered, when everything is caked in dust? If he liked to play games, perhaps this was a clue of some sort. Or a red herring. Or... she paused. Or it could be a trap- London's fingertips had barely brushed the smooth surface before a body, huge in comparison to her own, slammed into her side: "Joder-!" With a squawk, London stumbled and almost face-planted on the floor. Before she could process what just happened, Ethan was tearing into her like Abuelita after a few shots of Patrón. London pursed her lips, feeling irritation bubble with each word he spoke.

"Ethan..." Eventually, she blew up, "Ethan!" Threw her hands in the air. "Ethan, tu hijo de puta, are you nuts? At least I can control myself!" Sort of. "You could have tapped me on the shoulder like a normal fu- freaking person!" Realizing what she'd just said, London brought her hands down and made them into fists. Elise is a wonderful woman and Ethan a great friend. She grumbled something incomprehensible under her breath, then inhaled. Looked up at him. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry. But, seriously, you could have really hurt me - not to mention your own shoulder." Really, though, London wasn't one to talk. She'd dragged Kindall through dirt and water over a frog and smacked Jo away from Fake!Matt, which had only made the impostor's wound worse. She was as impulsive as Ethan had just been.

Looking back to the mirrored table, the desire to investigate brewing once more. "It stands out from everything and, I mean, 'magic mirror on the wall' and all that... You know, Queen Grimhilde? Snow White?" As she talked about it, though, London began to feel silly. "I thought that-... Erm, well... I don't know. I thought it might help us somehow. I don't- I don't know..."

Perhaps she wasn't so justified after all.

London opened her mouth to debate it more but she yelped instead; Jo had taken her pant leg between his teeth, the action startling her. "Wha- Jo, wait- stop!" And he did, once he seemed to realize her strength in comparison to his. London frowned. Animals had a sense for danger - not that she suspected they were safe down there with the red balloon and slew of spiders - so she would oblige. She would run.

But not without a quick glance in the mirror, just in case.

What London saw was no benevolent floating head, much less a fairy godmother. A shadow darted across the cellar in her reflection, the dark apparition looking more like a blurry outline of an image rather than something completely corporeal. London inhaled sharply at the flash of red that followed it.

Snow White's apple, is all she could think. Poison. Death. Blood. We need to- "Go!" London jerked away from the mirror. Gripped Ethan's wrist, prompting him to run in the direction of the exit that she hoped was still there. Snapped her fingers in effort to grab the Shiba Inu's attention. "Jo, come!"

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.

London's heart beat in tandem with the echoes of doll feet surrounding them. Making a break for the exit, she swung her katana, praying to whatever deity would listen that they'd get out in time.

 

[Ashi]

​

The game had definitely started; however, it didn't seem that anything was happening. The sound of pattering feet surrounded them, which was greatly disconcerting considering they could see nothing. The doll's humming lulled in his ears along with the beating on the attic door from the dolls outside and the panicked breathing of Ana and Marten behind him. He swung the rolling pin in the direction where the feet sounded the closest, hoping to hit something and hitting nothing. What could they do? Where exactly were they supposed to hide? Finding a hiding place took time that they didn't have.

Holding their ground didn't seem to be the right choice though, as the girls were grabbed from the shadows behind them. Jace whirled around with eyes wide open as Ana shrieked. He leapt into action, wrapping an arm around each girl's abdomen and hugging them close to him. His grip was strong and tight, maybe a little too tight; but he couldn't let go. He couldn't lose them.

"Hold on to me! Don't let go!" Jace growled through clenched teeth, bracing himself and using all of his weight to resist the pull of the ghostly arms. The muscles in his arms and neck bulged with the effort. His thoughts raced. His dad had never told him what to do if his instinct told him one thing and the situation dictated another, but neither option seemed correct. He felt lost. Was this one of those times that his instinct wasn't correct? Or was he supposed to both run and fight? He recalled his own words that he'd reiterated to Milton just before the dolls separated their group in the library, that they had to play the game to get out here. They would have to play hide and seek with this creepy ass doll. But how did one even play One Man Hide and Seek?

Shifting his weight, Jace freed up one leg with which he kicked through the wispy arms that grasped the girls' ankles. There was no guarantee that it would work, but thrashing around had helped with the arms that tried to drown him and Milton in the creek. Maybe this would be the same. It wasn't. The shadows seemed to separate and grab at his leg. Jace cursed under his breath and jerked his foot back enough that he could plant it on the floor, then he started to push backwards, tugging the girls towards him.

"Let... go!" Jace ground out, taking a step back with his free foot. "Here, use this!" A voice called out behind him. He looked back over his shoulder as Wendy, having freed herself, sent a flashlight rolling across the floor. The beam was as bright as daylight in the inky blackness of the attic. Trusting that the girls could hold on to him long enough, Jace let go and snatched the light off the floor, shining it at the shadows. An inhuman screech filled the attic as the shadows parted, sending chills up the young man's spine. The shadowy arms let go, sending Jace falling onto his back with the girls on top of him. The seemingly sentient blackness slithered and hissed as it retreated to another spot in the room.

"Get up. Get up!" He was up on his feet quickly, jerking the girls up with him. "We have to hide." He aimed the flashlight in various places, revealing a king-sized poster bed, some headless seamstress mannequins, cupboards, several "towers" covered with drop cloths, an old spinning wheel, and shelves of books. It was uncertain if any place was safe to hide, as shadow was everywhere; and there was no telling if there were things in the shadows or if they were the shadows. They had to take a chance.

"C'mon!" Jace whispered and led the girls towards the bed, turning the flashlight off so the doll wouldn't know where they were hiding. The bed was against the wall, but there was just enough space between the wall and the mattress itself for the girls to fit. "You two crouch down there." He said in their ears, hoping the doll and Jerry couldn't hear them. Jace was beside them; however, he was too big to crouch. So he stood, hidden behind the curtain that acted as a canopy.

"Do either of you know how to play One Man Hide and Seek?"

 

[Haru Nyan]

Ethan furrowed his brows in irritation, and by Gods was London trying to test his temper or, at least that's what it was starting to sound like from his perspective. If there was one thing to know about Ethan, is that he tended to have...troubling issues when it came to managing his anger, his volatile temperament would often manifest in such a way that he had to take it out on someone, usually in a violent fashion, thus the whole wrestling thing. For a while, he had been coping with it by just trying not getting angry altogether, only in the ring did he ever manage to do it, and even then he would have to turn the knobs down low, just to not risk someone getting completely hurt.

"Excuse me?!" He scoffed, he could barely understand what she just said in Spanish but it made him mad nonetheless, "Get real, London!" By now his voice was taking on an intimidating tone, "You actually think it's good idea to go around poking your head in this place?" Ethan folded his arms, aggravation clear on his face. "Y'know? The place that's dead-set on killing all of us?! Did it even cross your mind ONCE that it MAY have been a trap?" He sighed, both of his palms on his face groaning in exasperation even as London calmed down and apologized. He told her not to worry about his injuries, silence fell upon the both of them until Ethan gave out a long sigh, his eyes closed and a worried look having replaced the indignant one from earlier. "S-Sorry, too, I guess...This place is getting to me..." He shoved his hands into his costume's black pants, his eyes avoiding London's own. "Didn't mean to hurt you like that, was just trying to help is all." With the air and tension between them-hopefully-cleared, their attention was drawn to the vanity once more.

Ethan let out an amused huff, "The queen from Snow White has a name?" All this time he had just known the hag as the Evil Queen or something to that effect. Just as he was about to ask even more questions regarding what a fairy tale had to do with all of this, Jo began to drag London's pant leg. Most likely he wanted to tell them something..."Go?" The confused young man could barely follow the word up when London began to drag him away and ran. At first he didn't even know what the hell they were running from but the pitter-patters that echoed in the cellar made it soon apparent what it was. Not even wasting a moment longer, he darted as fast as his legs could carry him, not once looking back.