The Awakening of the Dolls

Chapter Fifteen

Oddly, what caught Akira's attention first was her hair, even though the black strands were almost camouflaged with the dark soil. It was such a mess now, she almost regretted having to cut it earlier. It was much shorter, shorter than it had been when she had first found the doll, and less sleek and shiny, probably from being dragged around the hospital. She also looked more like... well, a doll. Cracks and smudges marred her porcelain skin, along with the black paint in her eyes, which lacked their human-like gleam. The sight relieved Akira slightly after her initial terror.

Maybe it was all my imagination, she tried to convince herself while tightly gripping the leaf of a different potted plant out of anxiety. Maybe it is just a normal doll.

Then she jumped as she spotted a flicker of movement near the plant. But not from Rosemary. It was coming from the leaves of a neighbouring pot. Her slight curiosity won her over as she stepped forward to get a better look. And then she gasped in shock as she saw what was moving under the leaves.

It was Amelia. The plain rag doll, climbing over to the next pot on her cotton legs. Her button eyes gleamed with the same life Rosemary's had used to. Gleamed with concern and worry as she gazed at the larger doll. Akira felt her heart sink as her worst suspicions were confirmed. She should never have doubted her instincts, should have thrown both dolls out at the first opportunity.

"Get up. Please get up." Akira watched as the smaller doll bent over the larger one's stiff, lifeless body, pleading in a desperate, almost saddened way. Despite her terror, the sight almost saddened even her slightly. It reminded her of the terror she had felt when she saw her mother lying there with her eyes closed, how she had hoped and prayed that she would be alright. Except they were just dolls. They couldn't feel anything, could they?

"I'm sorry." Akira watched as Amelia stared down at Rosemary, her voice filled with sorrow and her black eyes glistening. Dolls couldn't cry, so this was the closest they could get. "I knew nothing before you brought me to life. I couldn't feel, couldn't think, couldn't move... you were the one who taught me everything, taught me to speak and walk and move. Who gave me life, even if it was just to use me."

Akira remembered the ways the dolls had always seemed to be embracing or holding each other when she and her mother played with them, like they were mother and daughter too. How Rosemary had healed the smaller doll, the same way her mother healed her.

"But I don't think it was," Amelia continued. "I remember how you healed me when I got burned, even though it meant giving away some of your life. How you hid me when the girl wanted to take one of us to get washed and went instead, even though you'd probably lose your hair. You were the closest thing to a mother I had... and I'm sorry for what I said."

Akira lowered her head, remembering the same way she had regretted the last words she had screamed at her mother before storming away. The terror and guilt she had felt when seeing her mother lying lifelessly in the hospital bed. But they were just dolls. They couldn't feel anything, could they?

"I'm sorry, Mama," Amelia muttered.

She jumped as she saw Rosemary's eyes twitch slightly at the words. Her chipped hands brushed past a leaf as they reached up to grasp the rag doll's softer ones. Amelia trailed off, staring at her creator in astonishment as she slowly regained life. Rosemary blinked up at the rag doll, her glassy eyes shifting to the shortened strands on the sides of her head.

"You... you're alive!" Amelia exclaimed, her own eyes glistening brighter at the sight. She sounded like a normal, excited child.

Rosemary's voice was low and strained as she spoke, without the menacing undertone that had vibrated in Akira's ears last night. "Am I really alive again?"

"Not entirely," Amelia admitted, throwing her body on top of the larger doll. "But I'm so pleased you're back. I thought you lost all your life, and the last words I said to you would've been spoken in hatred."

"I... I worried the same thing," Rosemary admitted in surprise. "That was my last thought as I felt my life being taken. Not anger that I wouldn't be able to be alive, but regret for how I treated you."

Rosemary slowly raised her arms around the rag doll. "I never knew other dolls like me until I gave you life, either. I was just using you to end my owner's life quicker at first, but I never realized how bringing something to life would make me feel. It made me feel things I never did before. I finally have somebody like me to speak with, to interact with. Not as a toy to be used and played with to the humans' liking."

Akira would find the sight touching, if it wasn't between dolls. Almost like a real mother speaking to her child. She didn't miss what a coincidence it was that the doll had been brought back to life in a hospital for the weak and injured, in a garden thriving with plants. But the doll's next words made her freeze in terror.

"I'm weakened, because my hair was cut off..." Akira's heart pounded at the slightly angered tone of her voice. "But not entirely. I still have some life left." Akira felt some relief, followed by returned terror. "But not enough."

"I'm not entirely alive, either," Amelia pointed out. "I suspect we'll never be. But at least we have each other. Forget about the humans. Come with me."

"Maybe you're right," Rosemary admitted. "I wanted to be alive, just because all my owners were. I would watch them with envy, watch them do things I never could. But I never had a real reason to live until I brought you to life."

Akira felt a wave of relief, which was replaced with terror as the doll's eyes darkened and glanced to the side to focus on her. "Right after I take the rest of this girl's life. Then I'll be fully alive, and I'll be able to protect you."