80: The Dollhouse – Pt. 2

Victoria looked around at her surroundings. She appeared to be inside of a toy store, at a height that would mean she was considerably smaller than she should be. Without much time to consider her situation, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. “Hello, you’re a new one,” she heard a tiny voice speak. Turning, to face the owner of the voice, Victoria was taken aback when she saw it was a bear…a talking a bear. “My name’s Cuddles. Who are you?”

“Victoria.”

“Ohh, you’re the one!”

“‘The one?’ Which one would that be?”

“The one Dolly Darling was talking about.”

“And who is Dolly Darling?”

Before he had the chance to answer, he appeared to spot something just over her shoulder that spooked him. Turning to run, he hid behind a large dump truck in the corner of the store and did not make a sound.

“Oohkay.”

“NAME, RANK AND SERVICE NUMBER!” A stern voice shouted behind her.

“Hey! What?” she said, turning around to see a green man dressed from head-to-toe in similarly colored military garb. “Why are you shouting?”

“NAME, RANK AND SERVICE NUMBER!”

“I’m Victoria. I don’t have a rank or service number.”

“Stand down, Soldier,” a new voice entered the conversation. This one belonged to a statuesque blonde with a smoldering smile. “Can’t you see she’s not army?” The green man looked Victoria over once again, sighed and marched away. “Sorry about that. The soldiers around here are pretty high strung. I’m…”

“Ken,” Victoria answered.

“That’s right. I’m sorry, have we met?”

“No, not…really. Where am I?”

“Warner and Son’s Toy Emporium, where all the best toys are!”

“Oh no, no, no, why? Why do these things keep happening!?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not a toy.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ken asked, looking her up and down. “Come with me.” Ken led her toward a large, colorful dollhouse.

“Oh my! Is this Barbie’s dream house?”

“The one and only. The girls are out at the moment. They’re preparing a huge window display. You’ll love it,” he said, leading her up a flight of stairs. “Take a look.”

Victoria moved in front of a mirror and to her amazement, she was staring at the old doll Derrick had just donated to Warner’s. “What? How? Why am I Annabelle?”

“Annabelle? No. You’re Dolly Darling.”

“I had a feeling something like this would happen,” Derrick sighed.

“And you couldn’t have warned her?” Mike asked, following Derrick inside his house.

“Victoria?” he shouted up the stairs and waited. “I did, after I found out what she did for you anyway. I was too late to stop her.”

“What does that mean? What did she do?” Mike asked to an exasperated Derrick. “Look, that is the second time you’ve let it slip Vik did something for me. No more games. I demand to know what it is!”

“Your ability to walk again,” he nearly screamed. “She used blood magic, something she never should have done, to heal your spine. Victoria accessed an element of dark magic she had no business fooling with. In the magic world you give something to get something; nature insists on it to remain balanced. That kind of magic has consequences; there is ALWAYS a price to pay; a high one with dark magic. A soul would be about the cost.”

“Jesus, Vik,” Mike sighed. “Well, I—I didn’t know. I knew she had a hand in my ‘miracle’ but I never would have let her if I knew what it would cost her.”

“I know, Mike.”

“So, what? You think her soul’s been taken to maintain some equilibrium? How does that even make sense?”

“Trust me, the things I’ve seen…this is far from as bad as it gets. Victoria?” Derrick looked toward the stairs in confusion, she hadn’t made it down and he couldn’t hear anything either.

In that same moment, the scent of something familiar touched his nose and he was flying up the stairs before Mike had a chance to ask. “Oh, hello!” Dolly Darling smiled as Derrick burst through the door of the magic room.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, staring at her in disbelief. On the floor in front of her was a book of dark spells beside a chalice of blood.

“I’ve decided I like it here and I don’t want to leave.”

“Who the hell are you and where is Victoria?” he asked, stepping closer to the person seated on the floor. “ANSWER ME!”

Mike stepped inside the room in time to see the end of the spell as Dolly Darling slit open her hand and placed it in the center of the circle. “That doesn’t matter. I told you already, silly,” she said, turning to look at Derrick. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“WHERE IS VICTORIA?!”  

“Probably at the bottom of a trash bin. The same place you tried to send me.”

“Who are you?”

“Well, unlike you, your dear friend actually gave me a name, but then she threw me away just like you did this morning. AND MY HAIR IS NOT GROSS!”

“Annabelle?” Derrick gasped.

“Um…who’s Annabelle?” Mike asked, butting into the conversation.

“A doll; one that I donated this morning to a friend’s shop.”

“YOU THREW ME AWAY!” Dolly Darling screamed. “And now, you’re both going to see EXACTLY how that feels!” Derrick rushed Dolly Darling, grabbing her around the arms and holding her tightly. “Mike, get the book!”

Jumping into action, Mike snatched up the spellbook as Derrick restrained Dolly Darling. “It’s too late! Your dear friend is never coming back,” Dolly Darling laughed maniacally.

Derrick dragged her downstairs and threw her onto the couch. “Don’t move.”

“Or what? You won’t hurt me; you can’t. I look like the one you love and as long as you think you can get her back you won’t harm me.” Again, the evil doll laughed and Derrick moved over to where Mike stood.

“How could this even happen in the first place?” Mike asked. “There is no way Annabelle did the ritual as a doll is there?”

“I don’t know, Mike. But I think it happened while Victoria and I were practicing this morning. She felt dizzy and the next thing I knew, she was gone,” he said, sparing Annabelle a glance. “I have to make a phone call. Do me a favor, don’t let her out of your sight.”

“I need to figure this out,” Victoria said, backing away from the mirror. “I’m not a toy!”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a toy. And life at Warner’s is one of the best you could ever ask for. Kids come in and play with us. We put smiles on their faces, it’s great!” Ken said, puffing out his chest with pride. “The only downside, sometimes, they might pop off a limb or two. But Fred is great about getting us all patched up again.”

“I don’t want to lose my limbs. I don’t want to be a child’s play thing. I don’t think you’re understanding me. I am not a toy. I’m a real person. A living, breathing human being.”

“Oh! Well then, you’ve got big problems.”

“You think?” Victoria replied sarcastically.

“Not often, but I’m getting the picture at least. Do you know how this happened?”

“No clue. One moment I was practicing spells with my boyfriend, and the next, I was here.”

“Um, I might have an idea.” Victoria heard Cuddles speak. He peered his head from behind the wall closest to Ken and slowly started toward them. “I overheard Dolly Darling talking earlier. She was pretty upset about being sent here. She said she was going to get even if it was the last thing she did.”

“But I didn’t do anything to her! Why am I here?”

“I don’t know,” Cuddles shrugged. “All I know is Fred gave her the initial inspection he gives all the new toys: checking for damages or ownership labels. I heard him read something on your foot.”

“My foot?” Victoria quickly sat and removed her shoes. Examining each foot, she came across two different lines of text. “What is this?”

“Beats me. But after Fred read it, you were here and Dolly Darling was not.”

“Thanks, Cuddles! That is very helpful! I don’t suppose you know a way I could get a message to someone outside of the store?”

“Fred’s coming!” A warning shout came over the room, “Quick, everyone into positions!”

“What’s happ…” Before Victoria could complete her question, Ken grabbed her and forced her onto the floor.

“Just sit. Pretend to be a doll!”

Victoria froze, holding herself perfectly still as the elderly toyshop owner came into view.

“Oh! Well, hello there. And how did you get over here?” he asked, plucking Victoria up from the dollhouse. “I see you’re making lots of new friends already.”

“Dad?” Victoria’s eyes moved slightly at the sound of a familiar voice and Fred gasped, taken aback by her sudden movement.

“What on earth?” he jumped, nearly dropping Victoria in the act.

“Dad?” The voice yelled again. “You have a phone call. It’s Derrick Constantine; he said he has an urgent question.”

“I’ll be right there. Very strange.” Placing Victoria back into the dollhouse, Fred headed for his office.

“Phew!” Cuddles sighed a huge breath of relief. “That was close. Remember, you’ve gotta remain perfectly still. We can’t go spooking the humans!”

“Has every toy in creation been able to move and talk before?”

“Oh absolutely! Have you never wondered why a toy you played with was suddenly not in the same place where you left it?” Cuddles giggled. “We all have a life of our own.”

Victoria sighed and closed her eyes, concentrating on her magic. “What are you doing?” Ken asked, as she began muttering under her breath.

“I have to get into the office. I’m trying to see if I have access to my magic as a…doll.”

“Wait, you have magic?”

“Yes. In human form, I’m actually a witch.”

“Oh yeah. Barbie’s been a witch before; several times, actually. She gets all the good jobs.”

Victoria looked over at him curiously. “Yeah, well, I’m seeing if I can possibly teleport myself.”

“NO!” Cuddles shouted, startling both Victoria and Ken. “If the humans see…”

“I’ll be careful, I promise. But I have to hear that call. That’s my boyfriend. I need to alert him. I need his help to get out of here.”

“We have ways of passing messages without magic,” Cuddles said. Nodding toward a doll standing near a train track, Victoria watched as the toy activated the engine and hop onto a car. The motorized vehicle took off toward Fred’s office. “Chaz will get back with us once the call ends.”

“Ok, Fred says he’ll hold onto the doll for me. I told him it was a family heirloom that accidentally got mixed into the boxes of donations,” Derrick said, looking around the room in panic. “Mike, where’s Annabelle?”

“She’s right…” Mike turned toward the couch where Annabelle was last seated and gasped. “She was just there! I swear. I only looked down for maybe a second, Derrick!”

“We have to find her.”

“I’m on it. Also, I think I may have figured out which spell Annabelle used to swap bodies,” Mike replied, pointing to a line of text within the grimoire.

“Wait a second,” Derrick growled, reading lower on the page. “It says to make the transformation permanent in the new vessel, the old one must be destroyed.”

“What’s the old vess…oh no. You don’t think…”

“I do. And that’s exactly where Annabelle is headed. We need to get to that toy store and find the doll before she destroys Victoria’s soul forever.”

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