Playing Favorites

Chapter IX - The Broken Doll

Not much else was reported about the case of the murdered bodies. Nothing has been found that can reveal the identity of the murderer, only more evidence of the past murders. A dress covered in blood was found in the closet of one of the local psychiatrist's office. When found, the doctor was immediately brought into custody. He was assumed to be the murderer behind the recent crimes, but DNA samples prove he has never come in contact with the dress. The blood on the dress confirms it was worn by Sophie Zuñiga.
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It's been hours since the lights turned off and I was left in the dark.
Complete darkness.
I wake up from a deep sleep, feeling disoriented.
It's cold, and my body is numb in different places and hurting in every way possible after laying on the cement ground for who knows how long.
I breathe in.
There is a distinct metal-like scent in the air.
Staring blankly into the dark, I hear something.
The sound of someone knocking on the other side of the wall, the pounding getting harder and faster.
The hitting against the wall goes on for about a minute. The noise echoes through the room, banging as if the person was trying to break through the wall. It then stops, followed by a scream.

"I'm going to die." I think.

"Mercy." I hear someone in the room say.
I abruptly breathe in.
My mouth is no longer taped together.
Without a second thought, I start to scream. "Help! S-Someone please, help me! I'm-I'm going to die in here!" I scream with everything I have.
"You won't die as long as I'm alive." I hear the voice talk again.
But I ignore it.
"Please someone help me! Please get me out of here!" My throat is dry, and my voice starts failing me.
"Please, listen to me." The voice says again, this time sounding a bit more irritated.
Tears rolling down my cheeks, I can't stop coughing. "It's so dark. What is happening?"
"If you stay quiet for a bit longer, everything will be okay." The voice says from across the room. "She will eventually be done with that and will turn on the light." The voice says, indicating the noises that were going on in the other room.
I swallow my saliva and stay quiet for a bit longer.
"Just relax." The person says.
The voice seems child-like.
I do my best to stay quiet, trying to ignore my urge to cough as I feel a huge lump in my throat, making it feel as if my insides are being pierced with it along with an unbearable pain.
A buzzing sound comes from the ceiling, and the room is lit up with an overwhelming LED light.
I squint my eyes and cover my face with my hands, realizing they are not tied up anymore.
After a couple of seconds my eyes get adjusted to the light, and I look in front of me.
I am in a closed, small room. Different than the one I was in before. This one only has one door, and it is completely out of my reach.
On the door, the word "No" is painted out with red paint.
I check my body, now only tied around my hips. My skin is exposed to the light due to my lack of clothing, and is covered in the dust of the dirt from the ground.
The rooms seems empty, except for a tray in the middle of it.
On the tray are a couple of cold hard-boiled eggs and two glasses of milk.
My stomach starts hurting, I'm starving.
I quickly get up and crawl towards the food. The feeling as if my stomach is being twisted on the inside, I salivate as the sight of the food is so near me.
Reaching out for one of the glasses of milk, a voice stops me.
"Stop!" I hear someone cry out. "Please don't do it... At least, not yet."
My heart skips a beat, realizing I am not alone.
Closing my eyes, I try my best to resist the temptation and look upwards.
The smell of metal grows stronger on the other side of the room.
She lays her body on the floor and against the wall.
Covered in blood, the body of a little girl sits before me.
My eyes widen.
The insides of her shoulders are exposed, along with missing legs.
She is completely amputated, leaving her with only the upper area of her body, covered with a thin layer of fresh blood.

"Is she alive?" I think as she carries the look of death on her face.

Her body is soaking in a puddle of blood in her own small corner.
The image of her leaves my stomach turning, I don't want that happening to me.
I scream again, only this time not for my life, but out of fear.
"Please don't scream." She says as her mouth moves slowly. "Please, just... Play with me."
"What?" I answer backing away slowly.
She gives her best smile. "Everything's going to be ok, I'm her favourite and as long as... I don't die she won't... hurt you."
I am speechless as I don't understand what is going on, I can't even look at her in the eye. The sight of her leaves me wanting to throw up, I end up just looking away.
"You see that dress over there?" She says.
I look over to the other direction. There is a long, clean lace dress folded on the floor.
"She wants to you to help me put it on." The girl adds.
She breathes in and looks over at me. "She always wants to see me in that dress."
I look away.
"Please." She begs with a quiet voice. "She's watching."
I want to say something. Like: "Who are you talking about?" But after seeing her body, missing both arms and legs as her bones stick out, I just-- I don't want that happening to me.
And even though I get the feeling it probably will, I still have no choice.
I walk over to the dress and pick it up.
The girl drags herself with what's left of her body, closer to the middle of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind her.
Again I don't want to look at her. She almost does not look human, more like she is already dead, or like a human doll who had fallen apart.
I slowly try and help her put on the dress. Holding her body up, she is so light, I feel as if I could easily break her.
Now on, the dress is covered in blood. Her shoulders disappear under the long empty sleeves which are being dragged on the floor. She slowly approaches the tray of food as she tries not to trip on the dress with what's left of her legs. The girl almost looks like a toddler just learning how to walk.
"She'll want you to feed me now. Just eggs, not the milk." She says looking back at me, sitting down on the other side of the tray, smiling.
I get up and sit on the floor next to her.
"Wait. Take the first egg on the left first." She points out to me as she stops me from picking one out randomly.
"Why?" I ask.
"Trust me." The girl whispers nervously, changing her expression.
I nod and grab the right egg, to which the girl opens her mouth as I move the egg towards her.
The hard boiled egg is cold and wet.
It slips out of my fingers.
The egg falls on the floor and towards the door, now completely covered in dirt.
My heart stops as I look at the girl's face, she looks completely horrified as tears roll down her cheeks and the sclera of her eyes turn a dark red.
"Get away from me!" She screams as she tries to back away, crying.
I can hear loud footsteps go on in the other room, getting closer and closer.
Within just a couple of seconds, the door slams open.
Someone immediately runs in towards the girl and pushes me aside.
The little girl then starts to scream while back in her corner as the person gets closer.
She has no place to run.
It was a women who walked in, wearing black clothes that covers her entire body. Long blonde hair and a doll-like mask.
The person grabs onto the girl's jaw, shutting her up.
"You are such. A fucking. Screw up." She says to the girl who is in tears. Now starting to hold her from the neck with both hands.
"We have a guest and you still don't know your manners."
They are both out of my reach as my rope this time seems shorter than ever. I sit on the corner on the other side of the room as I watch, not really knowing if watching is the right thing to do, I am not even sure if I'm even suppose to breathe at this point.
The woman, with her grip on the amputated girl, starts to lean over, getting on top of her, still holding her by the neck against the corner of the room.
She takes out pliers from one of her boots, and with the other hand she slowly opens the girl's mouth wide open.
The woman looks back at me, as if to make sure I am watching. The empty stare of the mask she wears, focusing on me.
Then, without looking back at the little girl, she stabs the gums in her mouth.
The little girl screams in pain.
One by one, the person wearing the mask pulls out each and every one of the girl's teeth with the pliers, then leaving them on the ground next to her.
Forcing her mouth to open wider and wider, she leans in closer to get a better view of the her mouth, as if she is hard at work.
The woman sticks her hand down the girl's mouth, as it is hard to see with all the blood that comes out from her gums.
After finally getting them all out, the woman gets up and walks towards the hard-boiled egg in front of the door.
Ignoring me, she walks back towards the girl, who's mouth is now overflowing with her own blood and leaking from her lips.
The woman lifts her mask up slightly, uncovering her mouth.
She then puts the hard-boiled egg covered in dirt in her own mouth.
She chews it, the sounds of small rocks cracking in her her mouth as she chews on them.
The woman then leans closer to the girl, putting her hand behind her head, bringing her closer towards her as well.
Both of their mouths, wide open, collide as the woman gives the girl the egg she chewed to her by mouth.
The blood from the little girl's mouth spills all over as the egg moves into her mouth.
After the woman backed away, the girl could no longer close her mouth.
She dragged the little girl closer to the tray in the middle of the room and faces me, pulling her mask back down to its original position.
"Sorry about that." The woman says, looking over at the little girl next to her.
"My little sister Riley here can't do anything."
I am left speechless.

"Did she just call that girl... Riley?" I ask myself in disbelief.

"But you should know that we are glad to have you, I hope you enjoy it here in your new home." She says with a calm voice. "Call me whenever you need me. Just say my name."
My throat is hurting more than ever, I do my best to talk without throwing up my words.
The woman stands up, now holding one on the glasses of milk in hand, slowly walking towards me.
"What... Is your name?" I ask.
She crouches down next to me, holding the glass of milk up to my lips.
"What? It's me, your best friend, June." She says.
She then tilts the glass, pouring some of the milk into my mouth, some dripping down my skin.
And with that, I immediately fall into a deep sleep.

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So that's the end of this chapter.
Two girls one egg amirite
Anyway what did you think?
I also wanted to leave this message here to tell you guys I'm having a short break with this story.
I've just not felt so well lately so I'm going to focus on other stuff.
But I am sure to come back to this since I have a lot planned and trust me my friend this is far from over.

Thanks for reading!