Doll Face

It was a rare moment for Toby to have your apartment to himself. He was usually out on missions, the Operator always finding ways to keep his idle mind busy with a new target, and yet here he was, surrounded by the gentle quiet of your cozy home while you were stuck at work. It had always been difficult for him to sit still for long unless you were next to him, you just had a way of calming the frenetic energy that clouded his mind on a daily basis. He had no idea how you managed being alone when he was out playing puppet. There had to be a secret, a method to dealing with the madness of being by yourself that he felt time and time again without you. 

That train of thought led him to his current position, snooping through your room like a low level cat burglar. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, just that he'd know when he found it. Pillows were overturned, dresser and bedside table drawers rifled through, closet boxes tipped, spreading their contents all over the carpet floor. While he made sure to clean up as he went so you weren't crossed with him later for dirtying your room, he couldn't find anything that outwardly screamed coping mechanism to him. He was starting to think that maybe, you were just better equipped for handling isolation than he was, but considering you were dating an axe murderer, he kind of doubted that.

He wedged his way under the bed, groping around in the empty dark until he felt something. His hand met plush fabric, striking a chord of interest in him. Picking up the soft object, he came face to face with his stuffed doppelganger, almost a spitting image dressed in his favorite hoodie. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. This explained everything. He wasn't dumb, he had seen the number of online stores selling mini versions of the world's most wanted, and while it always kind of struck him as odd, he was certainly thankful they existed if it meant his partner would purchase something that reminded them of him. It smelled strongly of pine trees and mint, with a hint of resin and moss, the exact scent of the cologne that you had bought for him for your anniversary. That explained why the bottle seemed to drain just a little bit faster than he expected it would. 

Despite him finding it incredibly sweet, he would definitely not let you hear the end of this when you got home. He couldn’t blame you though, he would make a whole shrine to you if you gave him the space to. He glanced over at the alarm clock on the bedside table, taking note that you would be off work in a couple of minutes. Had his snooping really taken that long? Quickly, an idea formed in his mind, one that made him snicker to himself in amusement. He rushed into the kitchen, placing the mini him on the table, making sure to support the back of the stuffy with the napkin holder so he didn’t fall over. Toby grabbed a sauce pan from the cabinet and put it on the stove, setting the burner to low heat. Pulling the milk from the fridge, he measured out two cups to pour into the pan. It took a little longer than he had liked, his frequent tics resulted in quite a bit of milk to end up on the ground.  

Setting himself a timer since he wouldn’t be able to tell when it was hot enough by temperature, he stirred the milk while frequently looking up at the clock on the wall, doing his best to suppress his tics so he didn’t have too much to clean. Easier said than done though, his giddyness did not help in the slightest. Eventually, the timer went off and he poured the milk into two mugs. He pulled out two packets of instant hot chocolate mix and emptied their contents into the mugs, stirring each and setting them on the table. One in front of the chair he would be sitting in, and one in front of the plush. He let out a laugh as he admired his work, the little goggles from tiny him peering over the rim of the mug brought him even more joy than he had expected. Another glance at the clock told him you would be home soon. He rushed to clean the spilled milk, completing in time to hear the door unlock. A shit eating grin plastered his face as he took his seat. 

“Toby, I’m home.” You called out from the doorway. He listened intently to the sounds of you setting down your things and taking off your shoes. 

“I’m in the k-kitchen.” He called out. 

Your footsteps padded against the floor as you approached. “Hope you weren’t too bored without me-” You stopped in your tracks when you saw the scene in front of you, eyes wide and a pink hue blossoming on your face. He watched you do the mental math, trying to figure out how he found it. Trying to figure out why he was looking in the first place. It was exactly the reaction he was hoping for. Someone should really be giving him a pat on the back right now, this idea was ingenious.

“What’s wrong b-babe?” He leaned back in his seat and took a sip from his mug, arm leaning against the top of his chair like an armrest. He really hoped he was coming across as smug as he felt. “H-he seemed so lonely under the b-bed, figured I’d keep him company.” 

“I-” You couldn’t even get a word out, embarrassment that he managed to find the plush etched into your features. A tied tongue told him that he had struck gold. How long could he keep this bit going. Your flustered face was adorable, cherry red and wide eyed. It made him want to pick you up and spin you around in his arms. It made him want to smooch you all over your searing face. Most importantly, it made him want to fuck with you more.

“You’re welcome to j-join us.” He gestured to the chair next to him. “He was j-just about to tell me h-how cozy it is when you cuddle h-him while I’m not here.” 

“Toby-” Rapidly you moved across the kitchen to snatch up the stuffy, but he was a little faster. Studying the tiny Toby, he cocked his head to the side before looking back at you.

“T-there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He waved the plush in your face. “I think it’s a-adorable you miss me enough t-to buy a stuffed version. Really, I should be t-thanking the freaks of the internet.” 

You snatched it from his hand. “Hush you.” His smile only got wider as he stood, placing his hands on your hips to bring you closer. Soft eyes melted his heart when you looked up at him. While he wanted to continue to toy with you, he was becoming increasingly aware how much he had missed you while you were away. The teasing could continue later, he had different priorities right now. 

“W-why don’t we show him how it’s r-really done?” Swiftly, he scooped you up, legs dangling over his arms. He felt you bury your face into his shoulder. “Actually, on second thought, m-maybe we should turn him around. I don’t think he’s r-ready to see this kind of cuddling.” 

Darkness enveloped you, seeping into every pore and coaxing out the anxieties that festered in your nerves. You were alone in the mess hall, a quick grope around the floor at the empty pallets told you that much. Where had everyone gone? They had been there when you went to bed that night, all sleeping near each other like a twisted slumber party. Maybe they were playing a sick joke on you, waiting with baited breath in the dark for you to turn on the light so they could jump out at you. The kids had done something similar for prank day during the camp season, you just had to find the light. Fumbling around in the dark, you felt the cool surface of the wall and traveled along it until you found one of the lightswitches. You flicked it, once, twice, three times. Nothing. The bulbs remained mortuary cold in their fixtures. If you hadn’t been worried before, you sure were now. The air felt heavy and oppressive, like the pitch black room was closing in, trying to trap you in its maw and swallow you whole. 

Somewhere out in the void, a muffled popping sound, like joints threatening to leave their sockets, filled the space. It was uncomfortably close, as if it were right behind you, but turning around proved fruitless. You couldn’t see shit. The popping didn’t stop, it only got closer. You tried to retreat, but every step back was met with two steps forward, accentuated by heavy bootfalls. You could practically feel the warm breath of your shadowman directly on your face. The floor felt like it was shifting as whoever was out there started to whisper your name, raising its voice every time it said it. It took all you could not to lose balance as the building danced under your feet, threatening to toss you to the side like last week's leftovers. Your name on its voice was deafening by now, threatening to burst your poor eardrums, but that was the least of your worries. Two hands clamped down on your arms.

You gasped, eyes flying open to the headache inducing fluorescent lighting of the mess hall and sat stark straight up from your pallet. Green eyes met yours, Quinn staring down at you with growing concern, head tilted and pierced eyebrow raised. You took a moment to catch your breath. Another nightmare, another reminder you couldn’t even escape the hell you were in in your dreams, another night of restless sleep. You took a look around the room where everyone was getting up, settling in to eat the pancakes Parker had made for breakfast. The saccharine scent of syrup and the warm bitterness of coffee clung to the air, doing wonders at pushing away the horrific imagery that haunted your mind. You ran a shaking hand through your hair, pushing stuck pieces of sweat-soaked strands away from your face and looked back at a very worried Quinn.

“Are you okay?” Quinn’s voice was soft when they spoke.

You offered an unsure smile in response. “Just a nightmare, I’ll be okay.” Quinn looked like they had far more to say, but only nodded, picking up on how you didn’t really seem to want to talk about it. Relieved, you pushed yourself off the floor, groaning at the soreness your wooden mattress massaged into your muscles while you slept, and joined the rest of the group at the tables. Paisley stared at you from over her pancake stack, hazel eyes picking apart your body language like a hungry vulture, though you could tell it wasn’t malicious. You wondered if she’d been having nightmares of her own, you were certain yours would be worse if you had seen what she had. You made a note to ask her about it when you could talk to her in private. Parker set a stack in front of you, along with a warm cup of coffee. You thanked him as you watched the steam rise in the air, curling and twisting like snakes slithering in the grass. 

Tony cleared his throat. “Should we pack our things up before we head out to the cars?” 

“No.” You shook your head, swallowing a bite of the pancakes that you were greedily devouring. “We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. If the cars have been tampered with we still need a home base.” 

He let out an exasperated sigh, but before he could argue, JJ spoke up. “Would you mind if Lacy and I stayed back?” Lacy hadn’t improved much since yesterday. Her already pale face looked as if it had been slathered in clown white cream paint, her eyes puffy, giving the blue irises a glass-like quality. Her pancakes had been picked at, though barely eaten. 

“Of course, we’ll come get you if things go well.” Quinn smiled.

“Thank you.” He returned the smile, wrapping his arm around Lacy’s shoulder. “I’ll take care of breakfast cleanup.”

“Can we go now?” Tony grumbled, checking the watch on his wrist. “We all woke up late, it's past noon and we’re burning sunlight.” You all consolidated your plates to make things a bit easier for JJ and headed out to the trail that led to the councilor parking lot. It was a good thirty minute walk, to ensure that kids didn’t have easy access to modern day death traps. Especially on prank day. You fell back a bit to fall into pace with Paisley, classically behind the rest of the group. 

“Did you have a nightmare too?” It was better to not sugar coat anything, Paisley was the type of person to skip straight over small talk. 

She gave a slow, deliberate nod. “It woke me up while everyone was still asleep.” She stilled her thoughts for a moment, deciding if she wanted to continue. “He was watching us.” 

“Did you see him again?” 

“He was standing in the window by the door you came back through when you were done smoking. It was definitely a guy.” You were thankful for Paisley’s knack for a hushed voice, you really didn’t want to scare the others anymore than they already were. You just had to know more. Maybe you could stop him if you did, unravel his plans and save the day. At least that’s what you told yourself the morbid curiosity was. The stone from the night before felt heavy in your pocket. He really was out there, it was him that dropped the stone, it was him that was watching you from the trees as you killed your lungs in spite of the clean air they provided. But why had he dropped the stone in the first place?

“How can you be sure?” You asked. 

“The light from the building outside made him easier to see. He was tall, the orange goggles were definitely there, and some kind of muzzle or face mask was over the rest of his face. He had a hood over his head so I couldn’t make out much else on that end.” She sighed. “I have really low hopes about the cars.” 

You felt a chill at the word muzzle, remembering the part of his note that mentioned biting into peoples’ arteries. He had made it perfectly clear that he had cannibalistic tendencies, and yet hearing that he wore a muzzle made it feel too real. How did he have that much self restraint to play with your group like a toddler with a new toy? Deep down, terror blossomed into something deranged, something about his hunger for your blood lit a strange fire in you. You couldn’t really explain it, the thought of gnashing teeth trying to reach tender flesh through metal electrified you. Shaking your head, you tried to quell that by thinking about the cars. There was no way in hell he’d made it as easy as getting in your cars and driving off into the sunset. 

It wasn’t long before the familiar sight of your green Mini Cooper came into view. Not exactly practical, it took a lot of money to upkeep her, but your car was your pride and joy. You rushed to your baby, hopeful you wouldn’t have to make a dent in your wallet, and popped open the hood. Even with the foresight of things not going the way you hoped, that didn’t soften the blow when you opened the fuse box and came face to face with the missing fuel pump fuse. You let out a pained noise, throwing your head back in frustration. If it wasn’t for the fact that your prisoner was a killer cannibal, you’d march up to him and demand the money it would take to fix it, Mini Cooper parts didn’t come cheap and you’d be damned if you had to shell out a pretty penny because some psychopath wanted to get his rocks off seeing you all panic. The groans let out by the rest of the group indicated that they were in the same boat as you were.

You heard Tony swear and slam his hood shut, the sound reverberating off the trees. “Now what?” 

An uncomfortable silence settled over you all, the air vibrating with a tense unease that settled deep in your heart. You mulled over possibilities in your head. It wasn’t like any of you could fix the car problem without the necessary part, without a fuel pump fuse, none of them would start. It unnerved you how skilled your captor was at ensuring there was no way of escape and it was starting to really piss you off. Still, you tried to hold on to the fact that the note had told you there was a way to get out, you just hoped it would present itself soon. 

Hunter was the first to break the silence, though unfortunately, with one of the worst ideas you’d ever heard. “Why can’t we just walk back to town on foot?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” You countered. “We can’t guarantee our safety doing that.”

“Like we’re so safe here.” Tony snorted. 

“That’s a walk that would last multiple days, and he’s already made it clear that he’s watching us.” As much as you’d like to get out of here, it just wasn’t feasible to walk all the way back to town. “There’d be nothing stopping him from taking us all out at once if we did. At least we have a safe building here.” 

Dayton offered a suggestion. “What about the canoes?”

“What do you mean?” Parker asked. He leaned against the hood of his car, getting ready to light a blunt to share with his sister. 

“I’m pretty sure the lake leads to the forest just outside of town, if we paddle to the other side, it might be faster than trying to walk all the way back the long way.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Hunter mumbled, shutting his own hood. 

“Dayton you’re a genius.” Quinn grinned at him. “We should head over to the lake.”

You all took off, back the way you came, though you found yourself at the tail end of the line rather than Paisley this time. Your brain ran a mile a minute, trying to come up with backup plans if something goes wrong again. Despite your bright ideas, this whole situation made you feel hopeless, made you feel like no matter what you did, you’d still be doomed. You became hyperaware of all the sounds around you, paranoid he was out there, watching. The trill of the birds, the gentle rustle of the leaves, the loud buzzing of the cicadas, all of them felt familiar. And then you heard it, that soft cracking, not that of the forest’s inhabitants skittering across fallen branches, but that of the popping you heard the previous night. You slowed your steps until the rest of the group stretched ahead, before slowly turning around to scan the trees. You really hadn’t expected to see him, and yet your eyes locked onto a figure crouched amongst the branches. 

Feeling your heartbeat start to rise, you sucked in a breath. There he was, orange goggles eyeing you down as if he was deciding whether or not to pounce on you, like a fox claiming a rabbit. The muzzle he wore stretched along his face like a cheshire cat grin and hints of shaggy brown hair peaked through the blue of his hood. Unsettling of all, matching hatchets hung from his belt, sharp and menacing. You watched him in shock as he tilted his head to one side and raised his hand in a small wave. You blinked in disbelief. Was he saying hi to you? What the fuck was going on? You had no idea what to do, you were paralyzed by his gaze, feet cemented to the dirt trail below you. Finding his balance, he brought the raised hand to grasp the cool metal of his muzzle, the other traveling to the back of his head to unclasp it. Time felt like it was moving in slow motion, either that or he was intentionally being snailish in his movements for dramatic effect, though whatever the case may be, it didn’t help the jackhammering in your chest. 

Your trance was broken by Quinn’s familiar voice calling your name. You whipped your head around to see them jogging up to you, face full of questions you could already tell you wouldn’t want to answer. There was a little voice in your head telling you that if you made his presence known to Quinn, it would just spiral out of control in a fury of blood and carnage. There was nothing stopping him from killing you all right now in spite of his own little game and you really couldn’t bring yourself to put everyone in danger just so you could all gawk at the pretty boy in the foliage. What the fuck did you just call him? Isolation was definitely making you lose your mind, you hadn’t even seen his face, not to mention he was plotting to fucking murder you all in cold blood. Maybe if you were lucky, you’d end up the next Truman Capote masterpiece, story memorialized and bound like the Clutter family. 

“Hey, you good?” Quinn asked once they had finally caught up to you. 

You casted a glance back toward where he had been in the trees, only to be met with nothing save for a squirrel clinging to the bark in search of nuts, almost like he had never been there to begin with. You knew what you saw though. “I’m fine, just needed a minute to myself to think.”

“You’ve been off since this morning.” They placed a caring hand on your shoulder, though their smile didn’t reach their sad eyes. “You know you can talk to me if something is up.” 

“I know, it’s just hard to come to terms with the fact that this could theoretically be our last days alive.” 

They grimaced. “We shouldn’t think of it that way, that spiral isn’t very productive.”

“I know.” You sighed. “You’re right, I’m trying not to let that get the better of me, it just takes some work.”

They nodded in understanding before motioning to where they came with their head. “We should head back, check out the boat situation.” 

“Yeah.” You looked back up at the trees one more time before following Quinn down the trail. The walk back was silent, though not uncomfortable. Even though their words were something you had been trying to tell yourself since this whole thing started, it still felt reassuring to hear out loud. When you both rejoined the group, everyone was already crowded around the canoes, irritation present on their faces.

“They all have holes in them.” Dayton filled you both in upon seeing you. “So there goes that idea I guess.”

You had to hold yourself back from screaming in frustration. Of course it wasn’t going to be easy, but you had at least hoped for something to go your way today. You wracked your brain for something even resembling helpful, it felt like your thoughts were being stirred into a giant jumble of cerebral alphabet soup. There was definitely no way for you to swim across, whoever took up that short end of the stick would surely drown out of exhaustion before they made it even close to the other side, and walking the long way was still out of the question. You were starting to wish you had the ability to teleport at will, but alas, science wasn’t there yet. By the time anyone realized you all had been gone far longer than you should have been, there was a very good chance you all would be dead, mauled brutally for the unsuspecting witness to stumble upon. Part of you wished that instead of freezing, you would have yelled at the man in the trees, condemned him for his tirade against all of you, but you knew that would only egg him on. 

“Wait.” You lit up, a good idea finally pushing its way into the spotlight. “I think I remember seeing a boat repair kit in the utility shed a while ago.” 

Dayton inspected one of the boats with the least amount of damage. “That just might work. We’d need some wood though, we used the last of the logs for the end of the season bonfire.” 

“What if we take one of the more damaged boats and dismantle that to use the wood that’s salvagable?” Quinn offered. “It would be faster than having to cut down the trees.”

“Alright. Tony, Hunter, would you be willing to strip some canoes for us? You’re the two strongest here.” You turned towards them. It was better to fluff their egos when asking them to do something, to make them feel important so it didn’t feel like you were bossing them around. 

“It still might take a while.” Tony said, though he didn’t argue which was really all you could ask for right now. 

“That’s fine, we can start working on fixing the boat tomorrow, I’ll grab the kit in the morning.” You took a seat on one of the overturned canoes. “We should store the pieces we collect in the mess hall tonight, I have a feeling if we left it out here, it would disappear before we woke up.”

“Hey Dayton, do you want to come with me over to our cabins? We should grab clothes for everyone so we don’t have to fester in our own filth.” Quinn said. 

“Yeah, I’d be happy to.” 

“Let's meet back in the mess hall when it gets dark.” You gave Quinn a pleading look. “Please come back safe.” They responded in a salute before turning on their heel to head in the direction of the cabins with Dayton. 

After running to grab the camp axes, Tony and Hunter got to work, prying wood from its wrecked resting place and tossing it to the group so you could organize it in a neat pile. The glint from the axe blade in the sun sent a shiver down your spine, reminding you of the twin hatchets that belonged to the killer. After this experience, you would never look at a hatchet the same. As time stretched on, you watched the sun travel across the sky, playing peak-a-boo behind the whipped cream clouds. You really wished the boats only had one or two holes in them rather than the multiple thick gashes that ran along the finished undersides. This could have been a one day chore, but the slow progress was making it start to look like it would morph into at least a three day excursion. Three more days one of you could die. That thought brought your attention to the world around you dimming its lights, a cacophony of crickets chattering to life to welcome in their nightly party. 

“We should head back, we really don’t want to get stuck here in the dark for too long.” You stood, dusting off the back of your jean shorts. What you wouldn’t give for a change of clothes. You owed Quinn a cigarette and the biggest hug in the world for volunteering to get your belongings from the cabins. Tired yet alert, you all trudged back towards the mess hall, wood planks tucked under your arms. You spotted the familiar shock of blue that sprouted from Quinn’s head off in the distance. Dayton stood next to them, both of them struggling to drag five duffel bags each across the ground. You and Lexi passed off your wood piles to Hunter and Tony and ran to lighten their load. 

Quinn thanked you, shaking out their clearly asleep arms. “We made sure to grab everything we could.”

“You guys are the best, I’m so ready for fresh clothes.” You smiled. 

“We can celebrate later, let’s go.” Lexi grumbled. Despite it being your respite, the mess hall in front of you suddenly felt sinister. You couldn’t place why, but the looming building seemed to promise nothing good inside and while you didn’t want to find out the cause of this, you still found yourself reaching for the door handle. The scene in front of you instantly made you regret that choice. JJ was collapsed on the ground next to a plastic bag full of toilet paper rolls, face buried in his hands and loudly sobbing. Lacy was sitting on the floor, back to the wall and eyes rolled back in her head. The gold cross that once sat perfectly on her neck was now pulled back, cutting into her pale skin. He had strangled her with her own necklace. Lexi was the first to react, dropping the duffle bags and shooting across the room to grab JJ by his shirt and hoist him to his feet. 

“What the fuck happened.” She snarled.

“I went out to the bathroom supply closet to stock the one in here with more toilet paper.” His voice was soft, cracking here and there as he tried to stifle his sobs. “When I came back, she-” 

“You were supposed to stay here.” Lexi’s voice broke as she yelled. “You were supposed to fucking protect her.”

Tony let the wood in his arms clatter to the floor and moved to stand next to his girlfriend, pulling her off of JJ. “Fighting with each other isn't going to help the situation”

You were a little taken aback by his change of character, considering he’d been arguing from the start, but you knew his main reason was to comfort Lexi. He enveloped her, turning her around and pulling her into his chest so she had a place to cry. You looked over at Lacy again, feeling tears of your own start to well. Once a paragon of kindness, now she was motionless, mouth open in a silent scream and body as limp as the fallen leaves on the ground outside. 

“What are we going to do? We can't just leave her in here.” Lexi sniffled. “She deserves a proper burial”

“We'll have to do it in the morning, we can't really trust the dark right now.” Quinn replied. They were right. There was no point in fighting that, and everyone else seemed to know it too. Lexi pulled away fully from Tony and grabbed one of the extra sheets that Quinn had grabbed from the cabins. Silent tears streamed down her face as she moved her sister to a laying position on the ground, setting her necklace back to its original position on her chest, and placed the sheet over her body. She stayed there for a bit while barricades were moved back into their positions, until JJ came to join her on the floor. 

“Can I say a prayer?” He asked, extending a hand out to Lexi. She looked shocked for a moment, like she didn’t expect for him to still offer her grace after her outburst. Eventually she nodded, taking his hand in hers and bowed her head. You knew Lexi was not devoted to religion like her sister had been, and yet you hoped it offered some kind of comfort to her, especially considering JJ had also lost someone he loved today. He whispered out a prayer, trying to keep his voice steady. After everything was set up for the night you all filtered in next to them for a moment of silence.