THE HORRIBLE WEIRD STORY THAT TOOK LONGER THAN 10 MINUTES.

MY DOLL HAS A SECRET

At a certain place, there was a beautiful pair of dolls. They were two, but they existed as one. However one day, they were suddenly separated...

I’m Haine Cheiko(16).

“Here. I’ve finished mending it.” I called out to a customer, who wanted to mend his granddaughter’s teddy which had a hole in its butt.

Ah it looks nice. Thank you miss......Also tell that her house has a lot of moisture. My body itches.

I smiled as I handed the newly repaired teddy bear back to the customer. “please air your teddy in a place with lots of ventilation in future.”

“Grandpa, I want that doll.” A little girl said to the old man. I looked at the doll she was pointing at. The doll sat on a ledge in the shop, sitting majestically on a chair. The chair next to him was just as splendid and fine in detail, but it was empty. The doll sat there, a smile on its face, its wavy black hair giving it a playful look.

That’s cruel, master. Her teddy said, looking at the girl.

“What? Didn’t we just get your teddy mended? Plus that doll looks expensive.” The old man said.

“No way! I want it!” the girl cried.

I looked at her. “I’m sorry, that doll isn’t for sale. He has to wait here. For his ‘important person’, who was separated from him a long time ago, to come back.”

“Pair dolls huh?” said the old man. “So that kind of that thing does happen...”

“This is a doll that has been handed down from generation to generation. For a long time now, we been searching for his partner, and wishing for his happiness.”

The girl looked at the doll. “....it’d be great if you can find the other doll.”

I turned the sign from ‘open’ to ‘close’.

What do you mean by my happiness? How hypocritical. Why don’t you just honestly say that its your ‘duty’? the doll seemed to stare at me accusingly.

Our family is a family of ‘doll makers’ that has been in existence since the Kurokachi era.

I just looked back at it. “....if you say that, I wont look for ‘Ryo-chan’ for you anymore.” I took the doll’s little tiny hand.

We, who have the power to hear dolls’ voices, have been making an occupation out of ‘saving’ them, for generations.

I raised the doll’s hand to my lips.

I looked up in wonder and watched the doll turn into a human being. I smiled at him. “Hello Leo.”

He is Leonardo Bloodangel. He’s a special ‘doll’ that turns into a human only at night. Along time ago, a genius doll maker called Cheiko Choushichirou created the two guardian deities for our family so that we can ‘save’ the many dolls in the world. ‘Leo’ and ‘Ryo’. But I had lost Ryo when my parents had died.

“...But having to kiss you in order to wake you up.... my ancestor was so playful, or should I say, weird.” I said walking to the back of the shop.

“I think that’s the easiest way to convey your ‘deep affection’ for me. Anything wrong with that?” Leo said off handedly. Then he smirked at me. “Dolls constantly want ‘love’. Even if its from an inexperienced doll maker, like a certain someone.”

I switched on the television. “...the doll exhibition house near XXXX has been discontinued. However many accidents have happened when XXXXXX company has tried demolishing the property. Some claim that they were attacked by the dolls inside....” some pictures of the dolls were flashed alongside the broadcaster’s face. “....there is also a doll that can assume a human form, which is rare in this world....”

Leo looked up, staring intently at the television. “Its Ryo!”

*******

We went to the abandoned factory site. We walked tentatively into the building. The dolls were in such disorder, randomly scattered over the place.

It humans. .....Humans.....Horrible.........Treat us like trash..... we heard the whisperings of dolls, that lay abandoned on the floor.

“Did you come to hurt us?” a china doll came out. She had big black eyes that stared straight into my soul. Her gaze pierced straight into my heart and sent chills shivering down my spine.

“No we came to save you all.....“

We hate humans. The doll replied. The other dolls came into view. Their eyes had hatred reflected in them, staring at me in disgust. A clown stared at me, its big fat lips curled sneeringly at me, a knife in its hand.

humans.... thinking that they can just throw us away after we become useless to them... a doll with a ripped dress glared at me. a Barbie next to her curled her lip at me, and fingered a hammer.

Dolls have souls. Show them love, and the doll would be happy too. When a doll gets mistreated, its soul will become twisted. They might also come alive and start attacking humans.

I closed my eyes. The only way to cure these twisted dolls who hated humans was to purify them.

I held out my hand. And something hit it.

I opened my eyes in surprise. Ryo was in front of me. I recognised her instantly. Her pretty face, long flowing hair and serene face. I lifted her hand and kissed her.

The doll transformed and pushed me away from her.

“Haine!!!” Leo cried, catching me., before I fell. We both stared at her in surprise. She glared at us, an expression of distaste evident on her face. Her face had transformed in that instant.

I reached out a hand to her.

She pushed me away again. “you are just the same as the rest of the humans. Throwing us away when you don’t need us. You don’t deserve the power to purify our souls! You are a disgrace as a head of the Cheikos! You should be ashamed to even show your face to me!”

I looked at her. “It wasn’t voluntary! They-they had died! I accidentally lost you during the inheritance and passing down of the family business! Anyway you should be happy! You are finally reunited with Leo! You can finally get back together with each other!”

“Why would I do that?” Leo said questioningly.

“Arent you guys a couple?” I asked.

“No... Even though Ryo looks like a girl, we’re both guys.”

“SO what?” Ryo cried. “Piss off! I hate you Cheiko! You never even bothered trying to find me after all that time!!!. Im not letting you become the next head of the Cheiko family! I will never be your guardian doll!!”

She raised her hand. It swilled with dark crackling energy and aimed it at me. I threw up my hands, trying to release as much energy as I could. But there was a limit to how much power I could summon.

But all I knew was the world exploding in bright and dark energy, which slowly enveloped me, and I felt myself fading away into the light. I bowed my head and yelled but nothing came out. Ryo..... I was sorry for all that I had put her through. She was right. I didn’t deserve to be the head of the Cheiko family. No one had ever lost one of the guardian dolls before. Add the fact that it took me 7 years to find her again. No wonder her soul had become twisted. But it was all too late now. I felt my innards explode from within me and I disappeared into the light.

*****

The light cleared. All the dolls sat around, with cleansed purified souls, smiling happily at him. The clown now looked as if he were smiling from his soul. Leo stood up and looked around.

He saw Ryo, but it wasn’t him. It was just an empty doll shell. There was no soul. Leo could tell by the blank stare of the doll.

He had failed. He was supposed to protect Haine, but one of the guardian dolls had turned against her. Even though their power when together was invincible, Ryo alone was powerful enough on his own.

Leo walked out into the morning darkness and revelled in the ashes floating in the air. Ashes.... Haine.... she had been reduced to these ashes. No one else would search for them like Haine had. No one would even bother.

The wind slowly blew the ashes away and they disappeared into the distance.

It would be much later that Leo would find out that and that Ryo would come back to him, and that they could transform into a human anytime they wanted during the night, and that they would continue ‘saving’ twisted doll souls together without the head of the Cheiko family. And that Ryo would look just like Haine.

Leo watched the sunrise until he transformed back into a doll.