F
Fox of Spades
Guest
Joseff didn't fully understand what was happening, but he wanted to go home - he wanted Matt.
"Sorry, Ethan, I'm with them. Even if He - god forbid - takes control of them, I'd rather we risk it with the grandparents than find whatever is out there. Jace is onto something though, we shouldn't eat the food. I don't know about you guys, but last I remember, I was eating dinner with the family then bam, I'm in a guest room wondering if I'm going to die."
Perhaps it was a little too morbid, but Kelsey had never been good at watching her words and it was always worse when she was nervous. The pacing continued, only to stop when both boys brought up the dolls, One Man Hide and Seek, and Matt? "You guys saw an illusion of Matt?" There was a quiet reverence in her tone, as if she were in awe at how low Henbard could go. Fucked up, that was the only way to describe it. "Did it... did it act like him? What doll are you talking about?"
It seemed like plenty of things had happened during their group's separation.
Kelsey wanted to know more, but had enough sense to know it wasn't a good idea. They had just been through hell in the library and the world-weary look on everyone's faces made her drop the subject entirely.
She focused on the dolls Jace had mentioned instead. "The one they sell to tourists?" Her parents sold those exact dolls at their convenience store. They had been selling them for as long as Kelsey could remember. But how could He spy on the town with dolls? The theory didn't quite hold water just yet, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The pumpkin dolls had been a part of Bellwood's Halloween tradition for a very long time, the same way He'd apparently been taking people for a very long time. It was possible. "It's just a dumb game," she finally said in response to Jace's question. "London and I tried it once, but it doesn't work. Not sure what that has to do with us or Henbard."
Even as everyone started to sit down, she continued to pace around the room.
"Might be best if you get everyone caught up with the clues, London. There's some very concerning stuff in there. Salem said He liked to play games, right? What if this is Him trying to reach out? Like Marten said, he doesn't want us dead. If he did, we'd be dead by now. We all saw what He did to Salem."
She wasn't sure if playing His game would be the best idea - if He'd even play by the rules or give them a fighting chance, but everything Marten was saying made sense in some twisted horror movie logic kind of way.
"Marten, remember what Salem told us in the library? He made them play house for who knows how long. What if he's trying to do the same to us? Take us and keep us here like Salem and everyone else. He didn't kill the Hayes or the servants either, he's just keeping them here. I wonder why. Jace, Kindle, you mentioned the dolls. It might sound dumb, but Salem went missing over fifty years ago, and the dolls have been in Bellwoods for forever. Salem said He had eyes and ears everywhere, didn't he? And if he conjured up Matt just to fuck with you guys..."
It was a LOT to take in.
Kelsey would have said more about the dolls and Salem, but she lost her train of thought. It felt like she was grasping at straws while simultaneously watching them slip through her fingers. They had the puzzle pieces, she knew they had - but haphazard puzzle pieces scattered around didn't exactly equal a finished picture. It didn't make sense, not yet.
Keys... something about the keys.
She focused on the words Marten had said before her head snapped up. "Jace, when Salem gave you his emblem, do you remember what he said? He said they were keys and that the one he'd given you was his key. That means the rest of the keys most likely belong to everyone else in Henbard? Not only that, he only gave us half of his emblem. Where's the other half? Salem turned to stone when he gave us half, what happens if we had taken the whole pin?"
So many damn questions. Kelsey paced back and forth, stopping to kick the wall. "Fuck, if only we could figure this out. Kindle, if you could maybe channel your inner Sherlock right about now?"