Just Friends (Dan Howell)

Chapter Forty-Three

Dan and I stepped out of the elevator, giggling. We dashed out of the hotel and hailed a taxi. Before long, we were at VidCon. It didn't start till tomorrow, so they were just setting up.

"So," I said slyly once we were out of the taxi, "Are we gonna use our VIP passes or are we gonna be bad and sneak in?"

"Phil never let me try and sneak in. I vote we be bad!" Dan grinned evilly, rubbing his hands together.

"Bad it is," I decided. Then, we rushed around the building until finding a door that said Maintenance Entrance.

"This seems good," I said. Dan agreed, so I heaved the door open and we stepped in. Dan cast one last, furtive look around before shutting the door. We were enclosed in darkness.

"Well, this is just great," I whispered sarcastically. "Now what do we do?"

"I don't know," Dan hissed.

"We can't just fumble around!" I spat.

"Wait, wait, wait-- give me a moment!" I could tell Dan was thinking hard, so I didn't reply. Then, I heard him snap his fingers. "Alright! Here, I'm gonna turn on my phone."

I heard him tap something, then suddenly a beam of brilliant white light was shot past me, illuminating a box full of vintage baby dolls.

"Ack!" I heard Dan yelp, but whatever he swore next was drowned out by my scream of terror. I just couldn't hold it in. Dan clapped a hand over my mouth.

I managed to turn off the shriek.

Dan removed his hand. "Shut up!" He hissed.

"I'm sorry," I whimpered. "It's just... why is that there?"

"I dunno," Dan replied. "Here, let's find a light switch. Promise not to scream again?"

I promised, and he turned his torch to the walls.

This whole room was freaky. It was full of creepy props that would have fit in wonderfully in a Horror Movie Attic. Other than the box of dolls, there were puppets, ragdolls, fanged stuffed animals with tiny, black eyes, and (my personal favorite) dolls that looked like YouTubers but with buttons for eyes.

Dan walked over to this box. "Noooo, Dan!" I moaned. "Don't touch them!" I pulled on his jumper, but he ignored me and rooted through the box.

There was a Joe doll, a Marcus doll, a Zoe doll, a Phil doll, a Jenny doll....

"Hey, it's me!" Dan cried, forgetting to keep his voice down, and pulling out a limp doll with brown fringe and black clothes. The button-eyes were a warm brown color.

"Dan, that thing is gonna possess you." I said this in a very confident tone, leaving no room for doubt.

"Nah," Dan said, tossing the doll over his shoulder. On reflex, I caught it and swallowed a shriek as it stared up at me. I dropped it, and it hit the ground with a terrifyingly loud THUD.

"Hello, Lillette!"

I looked up, confused as to why Dan was speaking in a falsetto. I was not ready for the sight that greeted me.

It was a doll wearing a sweater dress. It had slightly wavy, reddish auburn hair that went to the middle of where its ribcage would be, and a muted green color for the button eyes.

I was staring at a Coraline Lillette doll.

I don't really remember what happened next, just that Dan shook the doll, then I was falling, and the next thing I knew, Dan was kneeling over me, concern dotting his features.

"Lillette, can you hear me?"

"What happened?" I asked, my voice cracked.

"You passed out," Dan said. "I showed you the Lillette doll, and your eyes just kinda rolled up in your head and you fell over. You've been out for about three minutes."

"That was freaky," I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of my head where it hit the ground. I looked around. "Why are those dolls there?"

"I think they were prop or decoration ideas," Dan said, "but we're rejected."

"For obvious reasons!" I blurted.

Dan smiled. "Yeah."

"Hey, don't let me passing out ruin this," I said. "We were gonna do some snooping, remember?"

"Yeah, let's get out. Forget finding a light switch."

Dan helped me to my feet, and then looked around the room for a door. He found one, but it was just for getting back out. "How do we get out?" He asked.

"I don't know!"

Suddenly, a voice was heard from the other side of the wall. It was a man, saying, "...just gonna pop in to check on the demon props. I'll be right back! If I don't get possessed!" He laughed then apparently replied to someone. "Right, right..."

Dan and I shared a terrified look. I dove behind a stack of boxes, and Dan crawled into a giant, empty box. Yay, box forts!

The bookshelf we'd been standing by suddenly slid to the side, and a shaft of light poured into the room. A large, burly man stood in the doorway. He looked around the room. I held my breath.

"Nothing here, Craig!" He called over his shoulder.

"Alright, we gotta finish up setting up those booths!" A faint voice said in the background. "Hurry up, before you release whatever demon resides in that place!"

The man laughed, and slid the bookshelf back into place.

As soon as he was gone, I yelped, flailed around, and fell, knocking over a stack of boxes.

"Sorry, musta slammed the shelf too hard!" I heard the man call. "My bad!"

Dan sighed in relief. "I thought you just cost us."

"Where are you?" I asked him.

"Here," came in voice, and he appeared, standing up inside a box. He was rubbing his eyes. When he put his hand down, I swallowed hard. "Dan... Dan, you're eyes... they're..."

"What?" He asked. "What's wrong?"

"Your eyes are..." I whimpered. "They're plastic!"

"What?" Dan yelped.

It was true. His eyes were hard, and shiny. Like the kind you'd see on a... on a doll.

"We need to get out of here," I said.

Dan staggered over to the bookshelf, and together we yanked it open. Light poured into the room. I stared in horror at the freakshow.

"Close the door, quick!" Dan cried.

We pulled with all our might, trying to shut the secret door. Dan's eyes glittered in the stuffy, dusty light. We finally managed to move the bookshelf. It slid closed, and I caught one last glimpse of the freaky stuffed animals.

Three bear toys were leaning over their boxes. They seemed to be watching us as we shut the bookshelf. In fact, I'm pretty sure that right before we sealed them off, the middle one twitched its head to the side, staring at us with its sick, twisted grin permanently stuck to its furry face.

Then, they were gone.