Chapter Text

✨🎀 AN INVITATION FROM LAINA BUTTONCUP 🎀✨

HEY YOU.

Yeah, YOU.

Ever wonder why the hell you're just marching along the same dumb street to the same dumb places doing the same dumb crap every damn day, wondering:

“AW WHAT THE HECKING HECK SHOULD I BE DOING TODAY?!"

Hah!
And then guess what?
You STILL end up doing NOTHING NEW! Ain’t that just the world's dumbest joke?!

(And they say us dolls are boring and still. PFFT! Have you seen you guys?)

Broken human souls and dolls? We got a lot in common.
We’re cracked. The only difference of course is that us Doll’s don’t need to apologize for being broken!

Have you ever thought:

"Geez, why is there no place for someone like me?
Someone who wants to design my own life?
Make my own little shoes, little eyes, little hair, little legs,
and all that neat lil’ shit that would actually make me happy?"

Like seriously
"I wanna hide in trashcans!
Play dead in front of people!
Sneak into buildings unnoticed,
Giggle and run with my smol doll dress flapping in the wind!!"

NO I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT BEING CREEPY OLD HOBO

WELL GUESS WHAT, YOU SILLY LITTLE PAL.
THERE. IS. A. SOLUTION.
TADAAAAAAAA 🎀✨

INTRODUCING:

THE PORCELAIN ORDER

(Editors note. Heh I originally kinda wanted this to be a video for a cool marketing stunt but turns out being a doll kinda limits your ability to work with computers… huge ass keyboards...)

Trust me
It’s NOT as serious as it sounds...
(Unless you botch the process and just, y'know, fucking DIE or something. LMAO)

So you precious goblins on the other side of the screen,
You might be wondering:

"What the actual hell is this unhinged gal talking about?"

LET’S CUT THE CRYPTIC SHIT:

• You need to wait.

• You need to think.

• You need to design your own perfect dream doll.
  (The one you wanna inhabit. The one you wanna become and be inside of. The one that just SCREAMS freeeeeeedooooom! 🎀)

THEN
HAUL YOUR ASS OVER TO US
where we cut you open,
drain your only important fluids,
and pour ‘em into your perfect lil’ vessel

Your NEW. FOREVER. HOME.

(Also, everybody gets free girlfriends and boyfriends.
Hot stuff, you know...)

OH SHIT WAIT!
I totally forgot the address...

uhhh

well...

JUST LISTEN FOR THE BELL. 🔔
When you hear it...
YOU'LL KNOW.

K BYE LOVE U ALL 💀🎀

OH FUCK! WAIT AGAIN!
forgot to introduce myself lol so awkward HAHA whoops

I’M LAINA BUTTONCUP
Look at my pretty hair swing whuuuuuuuuu!!

(shit, I forgot I wasn’t recording.. but I have a neat long hair that goes all whirling in the air, You can see it yourself once we meet for real.. I may even let u touch it (The Hair)!)
✨🎀✨

🖤 JOIN US. 🖤

Chapter Text

Save as PDF

A small doll hand tapped the screen of a smartphone, balanced precariously against a wall. The full written file was saved. The doll crouching beside the phone wiped imaginary sweat from her brow and stood tall, well... As tall as a doll could.

“Pheew! Jeez, who would’ve thought writing a freakin’ invitation letter would be such serious business... But I’m sure this’ll be my masterpiece. Oh yeah! Me go gurl!”

With a flourish, she swung her long black hair dramatically and raised her fist to the air, nearly toppling herself over with excitement. The energy faded as she blinked around the room.

“Oh yeah... I don’t exactly have a base of operations yet... And this place? Well...”

She spun slowly in place, observing the scene: A single bed, bloodied and chaotic. The air was thick with the scent of something long dead. Flies crawled across the ceiling and around the dirty window, where blinds barely held out the midday sun. The door hung slightly ajar, sealed with bright yellow crime scene tape with text written on it saying: “CRIME SCENE – DO NOT ENTER.”

“I mean, I kinda dig the vibe,” she said with a shrug, “but the guys in blue suits keep showing up to poke around. I’ve been hiding in a hole in the wall, which is so not the classy girl lifestyle I deserve. Ugh... and the idea of getting shoved into some plastic fucking evidence bag along with who knows what? Just... ew.”

She pouted, kicking at the dust.

“And I can’t fucking leave by myself either... Can’t reach the door handle, and it's probably locked anyway. If I could just jump high enough, maybe I could crash through the windo—”

BZZZZZ

The phone vibrated.

“Argh! SHIT, what the hell!?”

Her head whipped around a full 180 degrees with a cartoonishly fast snap. In her panic, she tripped and smacked face-first into the filthy floorboards.

“Fuckfuckfuck OW!!” she groaned, spitting dust and wiping off fly poop from her face as she pushed herself up. Her long hair, now grime-streaked and sticking to her face, flopped forward like a heavy mop.

“Ew ew ew ew EW! I’m like a fucking swiffer for this dumbass floor! This better have been something worth to ruin my hair over! Jump-scaring tech monster! OH-”

She finally locked eyes on the phone. And then her entire expression lit up like a disco ball.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD!! THERE’S A SIGNAL. THERE’S. A. SIGNAL!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH FUCK YES!!”

For a whole week of her tiny doll life, she’d been stuck in this crime scene apartment with no signal to outside world. Now the screen filled with updated ads, pings, and messages like a long-forgotten spirit suddenly brought back to life.

She leapt into the air with uncontainable joy, her long hair fanning out midair like a torn, frilly umbrella.

But halfway down, her smile collapsed into dread.

“OH FUCK FUCK FUCK! IF THERE’S SIGNAL THEN THE COPS CAN TRACK IT!! NO NO NO I GOTTA DO SOMETHING FAST, THINK THINK THINK...”

She frantically scrolled through the contacts list.

“C’mon… someone… someone dumb enough to trust me… naive enough to let me out…”

Her eyes froze on one entry:
“Little Bro ”

"...someone small like me, huh? He’ll do."

She slammed her tiny finger on the screen.

The call began to ring. She paced in tight circles in front of the phone, nervously playing with her filthy hair, muttering nonsense to herself. The ringing stopped.

A voice answered. Young. Nervous. Familiar even:

“Hi… who’s there? How do you have my brother’s phone? Didn’t— Isn’t— You didn’t die, right?! Is it you?! I knew it! I knew they lied to me! This is all just a birthday prank, right!?”

The doll froze and began to sweat.

“mm... uh... yeah... I... am…”

Brain racing. Heart pounding (or the doll equivalent). She was running on sheer improvisation now.

And then genius struck.

“I’M A LIVING DOLL. I LIVE IN YOUR AUNT’S OLD PLACE. I’VE BEEN HIDING IN THE WALLS. PLEASE COME. BYE-”

She smashed the End Call button and dropped the phone like it was a live grenade. It bounced off her small feet. She winced, but her grin only grew wider.

Her body trembled like she’d just pulled off the world’s greatest heist.

She stood, breathing heavy, laughing under her breath.

Victory.

Then—

SMACK.

Her tiny hand collided with her forehead in a facepalm so loud it echoed.

“FUCK! I still forgot to introduce myself!”

Chapter Text

Atmosphere of the room was still and tense.
The doll paced back and forth in anxious little circles.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

Her black shoes made tiny, rhythmic taps against the cracked wooden floor as she muttered nonsense under her breath and threw glances at the door like it might grow legs and come for her.

“How long does it take to follow extremely suspicious instructions from a probably-dead relative’s phone?” she hissed, tugging at her tangled hair. “Kids these days have no respect for urgent supernatural emergencies...”

She froze.

Movement. Footsteps scuffed down the hallway. Sneakers. Shuffling. A hesitant pause at the apartment door.

Her body stiffened.

She dove behind the broken leg of an overturned nightstand, crouching like a panicked little opossum. Only her enormous glassy eyes peeked out from the shadows.

Knock knock.

“Hello…?”

A boy’s voice. Muffled. Curious.

“Is... someone there? I came like you said. I don’t see anyone. Is this... Am I being pranked?”

The doll bit her tongue to keep from popping out dramatically. Instead, she inhaled, and spoke in her most mysteriously charming voice (which, in all honesty, was a cringe-worthy impression of Billy the Puppet from the Saw movies).

“Go to the living room. To the left at the end of the hallway, just before the toilet. Sit in the single chair at the center of the room. Close your eyes. No peeking.”

The boy hesitated, sneakers squeaking as he moved in cautiously. Closing the door behind him. He was wearing gray shorts and orange shirt.

“Uhh...”

“Steady… steady… And do not look into the other room on your right. You can see the police tape, right? Respect the law like the good citizen you are… You are good, right?”

“…Okay, okay, geez! It smells.. terrible In here...”

He shuffled into the living room, stopping in front of the ancient chair that creaked like it hadn’t held even the weight of dust in decades. He sat down, hesitant.

“Eyes closed?” the doll’s voice whispered from somewhere closer now.

“Yeah…”

“Swear it.”

“I swear.”

The doll grinned.

She crept from the shadows, tiptoeing with deliberate grace , silent as dust, mischief in motion. She slipped under the police tape, passed down the hall, and emerged into the living room. There she paused, hands on her hips, planning her grand debut.

With a gymnast's balance, she climbed the chair leg, walked the armrest like a tightrope, and with one elegant hop:

She landed squarely on the boy’s lap.

Right between his knees.

Then, with theatrical poise, she planted her feet firmly on his thighs and stood tall (or, well, as tall as slightly above 2 feet tall doll could).

The boy blinked. He could feel the weight of something cat-sized on him.

He opened his eyes.

And there she was.

A living doll girl. Red dress. Black undershirt peeking through at the shoulders and chest. Extremely long black hair which reached to her knees. Wide, glassy glowing brown eyes staring straight into his soul. Like a silly cat frozen at sight of a cucumber. Her size may have been tiny, but her presence filled the room... or maybe that was just the oddly sour smell she emitted.

“Heyyyy,” she said softly.

“...Huh?”

His mouth hung open.

The doll leaned in, resting her tiny hands on her knees. Her massive head cast a slight shadow on his chest.

“Hi! I’m Laina Buttoncup!” she chirped. “And you’re... my very lucky chosen human boy for today!”

He just stared. “...You’re real?”

“Unless you chugged some killer cough syrup on the way here, then yeah, pretty damn real!”

Her proud, slightly smug expression twitched with excitement.

“You’re… like, a robot or something?”

“Aww!” Laina clutched her chest. “I wish! Then I could be a tiny terminator! Pew pew pew!”

She paused, suddenly awkward, her grin faltering with twitchy nervous energy.

“So um... you got, like, hobbies ‘n stuff? Oh! What do you think of me? Do I look nice?”

With a wink, she slightly lifted the hem of her skirt, showing more of her thighs above the red socks that reached her knees. The shoulder straps of her dress teetered on the edge of slipping, but before anything too bold happened, she dropped the skirt again and blurted out:

“Oh! Where was I?! Hehe—OH WHAT’S YOUR NAME, SILLY BILLY?!”

The boy, flustered and blushing, rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um… I’m Bill. Yeah.”

“OH MY GOD I KNEW IT I’M TOTALLY PSYCHIC, FUCK YEAH!!”

He blinked. Taken back at Laina’s sudden usage of harsh profanity. “...What?”

Laina froze, caught.

“Oh, uh… Sorry! I just get excited sometimes. Small body, too much energy. You get it, don’t ya?”

She looked up at him, cheeks flushed, hair frizzed with static, and said with disarming sincerity:

“I can promise one terrifying transformation, unlimited freedom, cool clothes, cursed magic, and maybe a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Or weird shadow-creature companion. We.. or well.. currently just I don’t judge! I mean... I could give you a little kiss if that makes you happy.”

Bill went red in the face.

“Huh? I don’t... I don’t get it. What is this? Are my parents behind this? Is this some weird way of teaching me some kind a lesson or something?”

Laina gasped, then giggled. “Aww, you really are silly! That’s okay. You can trust me! I’m like… your new parent! But cooler! Or like... a sequel to your parents. Parent 2: Vengeance Edition. Or like... a complete family pack!”

“Is… Benedict in on this? My big brother. I heard... something bad happened when he visited Auntie's place. Then everything got confusing, and my parents told me to stop asking…”

Laina’s grin faded.

For a moment, her eyes lost their cartoon sparkle.

Her mind flashed back to the cold, rotting bedroom. To the body on the bed, barely covered by a sheet. The source of the smell. The owner of the phone.

Benedict.

Laina stepped forward. Looking up to Bill, She reached up and placed her tiny hands on Bill’s cheeks and looked at him, gently.

“Something did happen,” she said quietly. “Someone hurt them. They’re gone. Dead.”

“What? No! Why would you say that?! Did you do this!?”

Bill jolted to his feet, launching Laina off his lap. She hit the ground hard, her back thudding against the floorboards.

Pain flared.

She almost cursed him out, almost. But when she looked up and saw the tears brimming in his eyes, her anger drained away.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I just... I just-” Bill stammered, lip trembling.

Laina sat up slowly. Her hair was a mess again. She wanted to be mad about it. But instead, she exhaled deeply.

“Listen,” she said, voice low. “I didn’t cause this. I appeared because someone wanted to be like me. I heard a sound — like a big bell ringing. I didn’t make the rules, Bill. I am the proof that things can be brought back. Benedict. Your aunt. They’re not gone forever.”

Bill stared down at her, tears still clinging to his lashes. He wanted to believe.

“Brought back... like you? As a doll?”

Laina nodded. “Sort of. I’m something in between. A hybrid. Flesh and dollstuff. I’m not just stitched-up plastic, Bill. I’m real. And so is this possibility.”

Bill wiped his face, still trembling, but steadier now.

“Do your parents know you’re here?” Laina asked.

He shook his head. “No. I slipped out while they weren’t looking.”

Laina gave a grin that was part-proud, part-conspiratorial.

“Clever boy... So what do you say? Wanna figure this out together?”

She offered her hand up.

“You can trust me! Just remember — I’m your new parent girl! But not like ‘mommy,’ because ew, that would sound weird. Just call me Laina!”

Bill stared.

Then slowly, hesitantly, he reached down and took her tiny hand in his.

“…Okay. Laina. I trust you.”

Chapter Text

“And welcome to my small, humble, dirty little hideout! You can rip off the police tape now!”

Laina beamed as she led Bill inside. He hesitated at the doorway, then peeled the police tape away like it might bite him.

The smell hit instantly.

“What is that reek?!” Bill gagged, stumbling back. “I feel like I’m gonna pass out...what’s... what’s that on the bed?”

Laina’s expression twitched. “Uuhhh... excess meat. Rotten excess meat.”
God, I suck at lying on the fly, she thought bitterly.

Bill stared, hand clamped over his mouth. “So… i-it’s a body?”

“Aaaaaanyway, you should focus on this beautiful little package just below your feet,” she cooed, flipping her filthy hair with a dramatic flourish. “Trust me. It’ll be fiiiiiine.”

She strutted to the bedside, placed her tiny hands on the sheet and with a theatrical sweep, flung it aside.

The corpse stared back at them, eyes frozen open, face bluish and bloated. Blood had seeped from its mouth and pooled down its chest, dark and dried, soaking the clothes down to the waist and rest was leaking onto the uncomfortably squishy looking bed.

“I-I-I can’t, oh god, I’m gonna be sick-”

“Hold your precious fluids, Bill!” Laina snapped. “Didn’t you say you trust me? Listen. I need to grab something from the cellar. Just wait here, okay?”

“WHAT?! No! You can’t just leave me here with that! I-I-NO!!”

“C’mon, silly Billy, it’s just a- oh crap”

With a dull thud, Bill fainted dead away, sliding down the wall in a heap.

“Well… that works too,” Laina muttered, brushing a dust off her skirt. “Sleep well, sweetheart! I’ll be back sooooon~”

She hopped out of the room, her tiny feet pattering toward the dimly lit bathroom. The door was ajar. She pushed it entirely open with both hands.

The bathroom was a wreck. Shower curtains lay shredded on the cracked tile, and in place of the drain, a ragged hole was open, dark, and reeking. Rust colored stains lined its crumbling edges.

“I hate this part,” Laina grumbled, eyeing the rope tied off at the edge. “But if I left it down there with that crusty old “pal” of mine... better hope the rope still holds.”

She bent down like a sprinter, butt in the air, hair brushing the tiles.

“Laina Buttoncup, professional doll gal, most epic and hottest runner of the World-Wide Doll Olympics, ready at position 7… One… two… three… GO!”

With three precise hops, she leapt forward, somersaulting into the hole. As she plummeted, her tiny hands grabbed the rope-

“YEEE-HAAAA-oooh shit!!”

only to slip down the damp line like a wet noodle in freefall because the rope was slippery.

CRACK.

Her butt slammed into steel flooring.

“Owwwwch… holy shit, my precious ass… There goes my dreams of modeling career…”

She staggered upright. The room around her was dim and metallic, some sort of rusted maintenance space. Against one wall slumped a desiccated corpse in gray overalls, skeletal, jaw unhinged. Beside it lay a closed laptop and a strange, miniature version church bell, just the right size for her. Suspiciously right size.

“I really didn’t wanna see YOU again,” Laina muttered. “I left this shit behind. Well... you left it behind. Don’t you try and guilt trip me about it.”

She crept toward the corpse, crouched, and carefully lifted the bell. It felt… odd.

“Didn’t it used to be bigger?” she murmured. “Eh, small brain, small memory.”

The bell’s surface shimmered strangely, covered in sphere like textures within circular shapes, It’s surface was full of other similar geometric patterns, the steel-like surface rippling like a liquid hologram. A single drop of gray fluid oozed from it and splattered on her foot.

“Um... is this thing broken?” she asked aloud.

She gave it a gentle shake.

CLING.

The chime echoed unnaturally. The bell vibrated in her hands. Pulsed. Then-

“OH SHIT, SO THAT’S HOW IT W-”

Agony.

Something tore through her. It pulled from every pore, every orifice, her blood sucked out as small particles toward the bell in invisible streams. Laina shrieked and flailed.

“GET!! THE FUCK!! OFF MEEEE!!”

With one desperate push, she flung the bell away. It hit the wall with a clang and bounced to the floor.

A shockwave followed the second chime, rattling the floor. Laina stumbled, dizzy, her vision swimming. She looked down at her hands, they were paler. Grayish. Something was still being pulled from her, barely visible: thin wisps of transparent red.

“Oh you bitch bell,” she wheezed. “You blood-leeching little shit-”

Then she puked.

A splatter of red-gray slime hit the floor. She coughed, staggered, and glanced toward the corpse. Something floated above it. She was unsure if what she was seeing was real or illusion:

It was a spiked sphere.

It hovered, oozing that same liquid, this time deep, dark crimson, dripping down onto the body’s skull. The corpse moved.

“No, no no, this is like a bad trip. Is there gas leak down here? Fuck this, I can barely stand...”

The skeletal form stirred, its head lifting, empty sockets locking on her. Its mouth didn’t move, but a voice filled the air, a man’s voice, distant, trembling with confusion.

“It worked… it worked! You’re there! But...why do I feel like I have done horrible things? They can’t find me like this, no! We can hide, sweetheart, we’ll fix it, this world… this world…”

The corpse moved it’s hands to take firm hold on the floor besides it and lifted itself up. It stood.

Laina gaped. “NOPE. Not the kind of fan interaction I signed up for. You’re already better off! Just drop fucking dead again and give me back my juice!!!”

She spun toward the rope. Still there. Still leading up. Only chance.

“Alright. One last run… Professional Doll Gal! Most tired, most drained, most hottest something-something- FUCK IT. I’m going up! EAT MY DUSTY ASS, CORPSE GUY!”

She sprinted for the rope.

Behind her, the thing moved. Its feet scraped metal. Its voice howled:

“THIS WORLD WON’T TAKE MY SECOND CHANCE! NEVER AGAIN!”

Chapter Text

Desperate little doll hands grabbed the slippery rope. Laina clawed her way upward with the panic of a cat tossed into water. Halfway up, she felt a weight, something enormous, yanking the rope beneath her. A guttural roar echoed from below, a sound of rage and pain.

“FUCK!”

She shrieked. The bathroom’s entrance was in reach. With a burst of strength, she hauled herself up, only to see a decaying hand clawing onto the ledge just after her.

“Fine! Let’s get dirty, then!”

With feral instinct, she launched at the hand and sank her teeth into its middle finger.

“RAWR RAWR RAWR! THASTE MHY THEEETH ZOMBIH BITCHH!!”

The words slurred through her clenched jaw as she gnawed through rotted flesh. A shriek erupted from below, and the corpse thrashed, flinging Laina backward. She slammed onto the cold bathroom tiles with a sickening thud.

“Air. Fuck! Just breathe.”

She gasped like a fish yanked from water. No time. No time at all.

She scrambled to her feet, stumbled into a sprint down the hallway. Behind her: the awful drag of bones on tile, the corpse crawling, rising from the hole, hungry for pursuit.

She careened into the room where Bill lay, just beginning to stir from unconsciousness.

“ZOMBIE ALERT! ZOMBIE ALERT! WAKE THE FUCK UP, BOIIIIII!”

She kicked him, tiny doll feet slamming into his ribs. He jolted up, eyes wild.

“What... Where?! Laina? What is that-?!”

“OH SHIT IT’S COMING. CLOSE THE DOOR! HOLD IT! USE ALL YOUR MIGHT AND STRENGTH YOU CUTE LITTLE SHIT!”

Bill’s eyes snapped wide. From the corner of the doorway, he saw it: a skeletal hand slithering in like a spider.

“Please, Bill... I love you. I need you!”

Something lit in him. He lunged forward and slammed the door just as the corpse reached it. Laina pressed against the door at the bottom of his feet, helping him hold it back.

Behind the door came a distorted howl:

“It’s my dream! It’s my dream! You can’t steal my dreams! NO!! GIVE IT BACK!”

Laina froze. “Dreams...”

She glanced at Bill who was terrified, shaking. She wrapped her arms around his leg.

“I know it’s scary, Bill… That thing, that monster, is why I exist. It used a bell-like artifact, something that grants wishes. Because of it... I’m here. I tried to take it back, but I woke him up. Within the bell there is a being. It grants dreams... Mine was to become what I am now and share my gift to others. But when I touched it again, it tried to pull me into that... thing. It holds a part of me now. Along with the Bell.”

Bill’s eyes filled with tears.

“I don’t understand... I just don’t.”

“You will, silly Billy. Just think about me. Focus on me... Let it touch you. I’ve already made my wish, There is limit, only one shot is allowed, I can’t fix this by myself. It’s all on you now, my boy.”

Chomp.

Laina bit his leg. Bill screamed and crumpled to the floor beside her.

The corpse burst in, its stench overwhelming, a rot that bent the air. It pounced on Bill, pinning him beneath its filth, heat and hatred.

“I’m going to die,” he thought.

And then, a warmth on his neck. Laina. She was clinging to him, shielding his face with her hair. A whisper echoed in his head.

“Dream come true.”

A bell chimed.

Time stopped.

No sound.

No fear.

Just... silence.

Through Laina’s shimmering hair, Bill saw the corpse’s face, its hollow sockets ringing with the sound of chimes. Something pulled him in.

And then—he was somewhere else

Between The Worlds

Once a hope.
Now behold.
One shot from the barrel.
Full throttle.

“Where am I?”

You're on an endless highway.
Over the limit. Lost and enraged.

“Who are you?”

Dimeris Mira.
I’m a leaf in the wind.
Just like everything that passes you.
But for this moment, you’ve chosen to see wider range.

“I want… I want everything fixed. My brother. My aunt. They’re hurt.”

Is hot drink burning away?
Is frozen lake truly dead?

“I don’t care! I just want them back. Please... you’re the bell thing, right? The one that grants dreams?”

Loudest and fiercest of all.
The road to dwell keeps dancing.
You're out of time, deal with the crime.
The blood is on your hands, still commanding.

I can give you a choice. One shot from the barrel I gave to the first.

And the doll came to be, She defines her dreams and spreads them till world unwinds.

One shot from the barrel

Full throttle.

“I want to stop it. She caused this. You helped. So I wish… I wish you’d bring my brother and aunt back!”

I cannot undo what's been written.
Only layer new ink over old scars.

“Then... then I wish she never did what caused this!”

Paths are entangled.
Your wish is not absolute.
You don’t hate her.
You want more.
A deeper part of you hungers.

“No! I’m terrified! Everything is screwed up!”

Aren’t you tired of life?

Tired of learning?

Deeply upset?

Lonely?

Dreamer?

Desire builds upon desire.

You’re grasping at pages and screens, yelling out to invisible receivers.

Beginning needs an end to be defined. Ebb and flow.

You want adventure. You want something else than what this world has to offer.

Dwell with her, you belong in this world to behold.

All the carnage inside, you’re meant to be.

“I CAN MAKE MY OWN CHOICE!”

Of course.
It’s all the same.
I’m only here to tell the truth.
My judgment is absolute.

“Then I wish... I WISH YOU BECOME PART OF ME! No one else will ever make wishes again!”

Throw out the trash
Before you crash.
The road is unforgiving as it takes you down.
One shot from the barrel.
Full throttle.

Just another day a t the bottom of a bottle.

Reality.

Blood red vision. Burning lungs. The stink of rot.

Bill screamed and shoved the corpse off him. It hit the floor with a final, heavy thump.

Silence.

Breathing. Heavy painful gasping for air. Panicked. But alive.

The body twitched, then began to melt. Its limbs detached. The head rolled, mouth twitching.

“Oh god... can’t this ever be-”

But before the worst was confirmed, from beneath the corpse, a small doll hand emerged.

Then a filthy, scratched face.

“Ah... ah... HOLY FUCKING SHIT. THAT... was RADICAL!”

Laina crawled onto Bill’s stomach and collapsed on top of him, grinning like a hyena.

Bill stared at the ceiling. Voice flat.

“It’s done. The Bell is inside me now. No one can use it anymore. I wished for it to be forever tied to me.”

“Oh. Uh, you do know wishes layer, right? My essence-transfer thing? Still active. Just... through you now!”

Bill’s face crumpled.

“I can’t... I can’t believe this. It’s over for me.”

“But hey! We’re a team now! I was gonna turn you into a doll too, but this is even better! You’re like, my Bell Boy now. And with your wish? We’re secure! No more dream thievery by anyone else.”

“I don’t...”

He started crying. Deep, defeated sobs.

“Heyyy… don’t be like that, lil baby.”

Laina climbed up and sat on his chest, hair draped like a ragged tent over both their faces.

“My promise still stands. Your brother. Your aunt. We can bring them back. And guess what? Thanks to you, I’m healed too.”

“I... I didn’t?”

“You did. Subconsciously. The corpse is dead-dead. All of my stolen essence is back where it belongs.”

She winked.

“Take a minute to calm down. I’ve got the rest handled.”

She kissed his forehead.

Bill passed out.

Cold. Dark. Trash everywhere.

Bill woke up in a garbage room. Ripped bags. Metal cans. Glass. Decay.

Laina’s face popped into view.

“Hellooo, Bell Boy!”

“AH! don’t DO that! Where are we?!”

“We had to leave. Too hot back there. But look what I saved!”

She pointed at two bloody, dirty bags.

“What’s in there?”

“Duh. Your brother and aunt. Well... what’s needed for their resurrection.”

Bill’s stomach turned.

“This is a nightmare. It has to be...”

Laina knelt beside him. Her tone changed—calm, real.

“Bill... The Bell is part of you now. You have the power to fix things. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I’ll explain everything tomorrow. But for now, we hide. Police will be at the apartment soon. You can’t go back. You’d be a suspect. And... you’ve changed. In ways your family would never understand.”

She placed her small hand on his chest. She could feel it, the hum. The Bell was inside him. And it answered her.

Her eyes gleamed.

“You’re mine now, Bell Boy.” She said with deep affirming tone.

Then with silly mannerism:

“We’ll make a great team! We w-oh.”

Bill was asleep.

Laina sighed.

“Sleep well. You deserve it... I gotta keep an eye out so that no one will enter and find us here, your parents must surely be worried already, soon there will be a missing person alert..”

She shuffled off into the shadows of the garbage room. Her stolen smartphone still with her in the corner, laying on top of soft plastic bag. It’s SIM card removed. Off-grid.

“I was lucky that I could control your body when you passed out, no way I could not had carried all this stuff out if not, I have to figure out how to maximize effectiveness of the Bell’s power within you… Once I bring your dead relatives back, you’ll see the upsides of this all”

She opened a text file with the phone:

“The Porcelain Order – Basic Concepts”

“It’s all getting closer to- OH NO I FORGOT IT’S COMPLETELY FUCKED!! not the plan of mine of course BUT MY DRESS!! MY BEAUTIFUL HANDMADE DRESS I MADE SPECIFICALLY TO BE MY GO TO FIT!! MY LIFE IS RUINED!! For… at least a week until I can make a new one :(.

Laina would then begrudgingly tear off the torn remains of her dress which was barely hanging on after the fierce encounter with the corpse, Laina’s face was like that of a recent widow.

“Excuse me, I’ll cry myself to sleep tonight…”

Chapter Text

The bell rang, yet there was no sound heard by outside.

At least, that’s what it felt like. Somewhere in the center of his chest, where the air turned heavy and breath seemed more deliberate, Bill could feel a hollow chime, not with his ears, but with something deeper. As If it was his very “soul” that received it. It didn’t ring when he moved, not like a physical object, but more like... a dream echoing after waking up. The memory of sound. The sensation of resonance.

He would often lay in the garbage room, eyes half-lidded, palms on his chest, wondering if there was literally a bell inside him. A tiny cursed relic tucked between ribs and organs. Or was it just something spiritual? A concept more than a thing? He couldn’t tell. And frankly, part of him didn’t want to know.

What he did know was that nothing had been the same since he made that wish.

“Bill! I can’t live without my dress! I feel naked!! The world is cruel!!”

Laina had stomped around dramatically that morning, looking like a soot-covered ballerina from some post-apocalyptic stage play. Her black shirt had two torn holes on the front and her bottom was only covered by small black panties, the grime hadn’t stopped her from trying to repurposed a trash bag into a makeshift skirt. It looked horrible, miserable for the needy doll girl and didn’t even stay on, so she ditched it.

She'd been in and out of the garbage storage a lot since their escape. Sometimes bringing back half stale food with a triumphant grin. Sometimes carrying tattered books or people’s old stuff, radios, tools, even a mirror once, to look at her own poses at nights.

And she was always, always talking. At one point, Bill had snapped at her, demanding she explain when they’d be bringing his dead relatives back. The parts in the bag were obviously rotting by each day, and Laina had to wrap them in some kind of protective sheets to keep the smell from giving away their hideout.

“Oh, Bill, you promised you’d trust me, remember?” she said with infuriating sweetness. “Trust your new bestie, honey~!”

As much as Bill wanted to argue,wanted to kick her down and just run away and it would’ve been easy. She was just a doll, after all. But some part of him was tired. Maybe even intrigued. Or maybe paralyzed by the surreal absurdity of it all. Logic didn’t matter anymore. The rules had collapsed.

And speaking of logic...

“Um… So…” Bill hesitated. “You said you’re like… A mix of flesh and ‘doll stuff,’ just like you told me right? But I can see your joints, like your hands and knees. So… How does it work? Can you, like, switch between “doll mode” and... ‘fleshy mode’?”

An awkward silence followed. Bill instantly regretted how weird his question sounded. He grimaced, trying to mentally rewind it.

But Laina only giggled, gently covering her mouth with her hand.

“Yep! Just like Chucky!” she chirped. “You’ve seen those movies, right?”

Before he could respond, her voice began to slow down unnaturally, like a cassette tape dying in an old player.

“I can be aaaaalll stillllll…”

And with that, she froze, arms outstretched, face blank, standing in a stiff T-pose with wide, lifeless eyes boring into him. Her skin looked more like plastic. Her presence, eerily silent. Like animatronic straight from Five nights at Freddy’s.

Bill leaned in, unsure if she was breathing. And just as he began to wonder if she’d broken-

“OR I CAN BE A LIVING, BREATHING CUTIEEEEEE!!”

She sprang back to life with a scream, flailing jazz hands and bursting into laughter. Bill flinched, heart leaping. His reaction made her laugh harder, wobbling as she wiped her tears of joy.

Laina would continue to laugh until she suddenly stopped, her eyes gleamed mischievously. Slowly, she stepped closer as Bill sat against the wall. Placing one hand on her hip, she tilted her head and said in a low, velvet tone:

“But I didn’t know you were that interested in my extraordinary body, don’t worry, I can let you play with me in time.” She would say, swaying her hip once and flipping her hair in charming seductive fashion, causing Bill to blush and quickly stare away from her.

“I-i’m gonna take a nap now…”

As time would pass, during casual small talk, Laina would open up more about her actual plans.

She spoke of those plans like they were promises. About building something called “The Porcelain Order.” A community, she said. A place for people like her. “People who’ve made contact with their innermost dreams. With truths.” Bill had stopped trying to interrupt her whenever she got too poetic or wild-eyed. He didn’t have the energy for it and just accepted her rambling as if it was simply a background radio. Partially he enjoyed hearing at least something, otherwise he’d be driven to ruin by The Bell inside him.

Honestly, the garbage storage had become… Something of a strange home. It reeked of decay, but it was theirs. Laina had decorated her corner with hanging candy wrappers and safety-pinned fabric. Bill tried not to think about what parts of his missing life were slipping further away with each passing day.

At night, he lay awake and felt the Bell. Not as a curse, but like a doorway that would never fully close. Sometimes it pulsed when Laina stood near him. Other times it felt like it was sleeping. He hadn’t dared to speak to it again. He didn’t know if he could. Or what it might say if he did.

Tonight, the air was colder.

They were sitting behind the storage building now, backs against the wall, peeking around the corner at the road beyond. Cars whooshed by in glowing streaks of red and white. The city felt distant, like it didn’t belong to them anymore. Or maybe they didn’t belong to it.

“There!” Laina whispered, crouching low as a police car passed by, its lights humming quietly in the distance. She tugged Bill’s sleeve down instinctively.

When it passed, she slowly stood back up. Bill followed, eyes fixed on the highway of passing lives.

“They don’t even see each other,” she murmured, arms wrapped around herself, face lit by a passing beam. “Like ants on rails. All hurrying. All thinking they’re going somewhere. But never really wondering why.”

Bill glanced at her. “You’re talking about the cars?”

“I’m talking about everyone.” Her eyes were strange in the streetlight. “You know what I think? I think people are scared of stopping. Because if they stop, they have to feel. And feeling... feeling is messy.”

Bill let that sit. He thought about school. About teachers who always asked about the future, about careers, college prep, long-term goals. Where do you see yourself in ten years, Bill? They always asked.

He never had an answer. He didn’t even know what he wanted next week.

“I guess…” Bill started, unsure, “I never really liked thinking about the future.”

“That’s because nobody told you it could be yours.” Laina said it like a prophecy. “Not their version of it. Not society’s fake checklist. Just yours.”

A delivery truck roared past them. Bill flinched at the noise.

“But is this real?” he asked, almost to himself. “You. The bell. All of this. Or am I just… broken? Dreaming?”

Laina didn’t respond right away. She placed her small doll hand on his knee and squeezed gently.

“Does it matter?” she whispered. “Real or not, it brought you here. You’re feeling something now, aren’t you? That’s more than most people ever do.”

The hollow chime pulsed again. Not loud. Just present. Like a heartbeat made of distant metal.

Bill closed his eyes and listened.

He didn’t know where this road was going. But for the first time, he knew he was on one.

Chapter Text

The laundromat was a ghost by night.

All the chrome and pastel warmth from daytime had dulled into blue static under the flickering streetlights. The buzz of a failing neon sign overhead blinked SUDS N’ SPIN like a haunted heartbeat. Bill and Laina crouched in a thin alley behind the building, pressed between damp brick and a metal fence webbed in old plastic bags. The final employee, a lanky man in a maroon vest, locked up and trudged off toward the main road, yawning into his phone.

Laina grinned, one of her little hands clutching something shiny.

“You stole a key?” Bill hissed.

“Not stole. Borrowed,” she said sweetly, twirling it on her pinky. “It was practically asking to be taken. Besides, we need this place tonight.”

Bill shifted, nearly dropping the bloated duffel bag at his feet. The zipper pulsed with dark moisture. He had to clench his jaw to keep from retching. Every step with it felt like dragging a fever dream. Inside were what was left of his brother and aunt. Bones. Flesh. Wrong smells.

His arms were starting to tremble.

“Laina,” he grunted. “Why the hell do we need a laundry?”

“To make the transfer easier,” she replied simply, as if that explained everything.

“The transfer of what, exactly?!” Bill snapped. “You’re telling me you’re gonna shove their remains into a goddamn washing machine like it’s a coffee maker and, what? Cook a soul?!”

Laina turned to him with a mock gasp, placing her tiny hands over her chest like he’d just insulted her sacred temple.

“You’re so dramatic, Bill! Think of it more as a womb for a baby”

“That sounds even worse now!”

But even as he said it, he was following her toward the back door, because nothing made sense anymore, and maybe that meant everything was possible.

The laundromat interior was soaked in artificial calm. Rows of machines stood like pale, humming shrines. The air was warm and slightly soapy, still thick with the scent of detergent and old dryer sheets. It almost masked the scent from the duffel bag. Almost.

Laina wasted no time. She scurried toward the largest washer in the back corner, the industrial kind meant for blankets and bulk loads. She pulled a lump of faded polyester from another bag: a tattered Trollz doll, its wild hair scorched and eyes half-melted, smiling as if in defiance of death.

“This is the vessel,” she said proudly. “Her name will be… Poxibelle.”

Bill gave her a look that said what the actual hell are we doing.

“Now, unzip the bag.”

He hesitated. The zipper felt hot in his hands. His stomach clenched.

“Do it gently,” she added. “We don’t want to bruise the assembly parts”

That was the last straw.

“What is wrong with you!?” he snapped. “Do you hear yourself? These were people. That’s my brother in... there! My aunt! And you’re acting like this is... some kind of project?”

Laina didn’t flinch.

Her smile was soft this time. Sad, even.

“They were people. But now now they’re just parts, parts that will be part of something new. You’ll see. Just trust me, one more time.”

Bill was angry, confused and frustrated, but Laina spoke truth, about contents of the bag being nothing but leftovers, body parts. He still had hard time comprehending what they were trying to achieve but he had gone this far already so there was no point turning back now.

He opened the bag.

The contents slumped forward like wet clay, dark tissue, greasy hair, shredded scraps of clothing. Laina scooped them with dainty hands into the waiting drum of the washer, cradling the doll in the center like a holy relic.

Then she turned to Bill and motioned for him to come closer.

“Place your hands on the machine. Both palms. Like it’s an offering bowl.”

He grimaced but obeyed.

“Now stay still. The rest is... up to the resonance.”

Laina pressed the start button.

There was a low whirr, then a grinding churn as the contents began to spin. The water hissed. The drum rumbled.

And then-

Nothing.

No light. No spark.

Just silence.

And then, Bill’s mind slipped.

Darkness.

He was standing in a field of hands. Not trees. Hands. White, jointed, reaching hands sprouting from soil like flowers.

And a voice.

“To create life… That is the highest act of all . Or so my father claimed.”

The voice was not inside his ears. It was behind them. Beside his lungs. Speaking through the Bell in his chest… Dimeris Mira

“You must be proud, Bill. Power of creation through your very being is allowed by my hand . It hurts, doesn’t it? Creation is a painful reminder that the old will pass and be eventually swept away by a new ”

The voice shifted. Became less poetic. More mechanical. Disinterested.

“I always wondered why he cared so much. My father. But then again , he wasn’t the one who had to clea n up the aftermath ”

Bill opened his mouth to ask who it was.

But the world burst.

A SLAM from the machine door blasted him back into the present, just in time for a geyser of thick, bloody fluid to shoot out from the washer, soaking his face, his shirt, dripping into his shoes.

“AAARGHHHH!” Bill staggered backward, sputtering. “WHAT THE-?!”

Laina clapped her hands in glee.

“Awww! We did it! Look! It’s beautiful!”

Bill turned, slowly, reluctantly, and saw the washer door had swung open.

Inside, something was moving.

A pair of tiny hands. Plastic, pale, delicate fingers wriggling like roots in the drum’s red foam. From within the washer came a warped, multi-toned cry, not quite male, not quite female, pitched like a skipping record. It sounded like mourning.

The doll body twisted and vibrated. Its red shiny eyes fluttered with twitching life.

Laina was glowing.

“Bill, look! She’s alive! Our little troll… skull..! baby!”

And Laina would excitedly jump and clap her hands.

Bill’s vision blurred. His knees gave way as he took one last look at the being that had formed before him, he could only mutter out: “Sk-skull?…”

And as the newborn screamed again, an awful, glorious, garbled wail- It would then adjust it’s tone. Cough out blood and take a direct stare at both Bill and Laina. It’s newly formed face, or lack thereof came in, The head of the doll was huge, skull like, it’s face would have a mask like surface resembling two skulls forming up a whole face. It’s blacked out eye sockets had red glowing pupils gazing at Bill. It’s typical doll body had also grown in size a bit, and was overall more mature in shape.

“Welcome home! Poxibelle!” Laina would say gleefully as she turned to her side to console Bill.

“Exactly as intended! Right?!- oh…”

Bill had passed out on the tiled floor.

Chapter Text

“Have you found anyone y-y-y-yet? Surely-y-y, a sweet y-young m-m-man like yourself can find… a p-p-p-pretty... gi-gi-girl?”

Poxibelle’s head twitched erratically, her shifty eyes checking across the dim room like a bird searching frantically for a branch to land on. Her voice echoed like broken recording, mismatched and disoriented.

“No... no. This is horrible! You didn’t say it would be like this! What about my brother?! What happened to him?! Why is there only… one of that thing?!”

Bill clutched his head, still recovering from his earlier collapse in the laundromat. His voice cracked with grief and panic.

“Whaaa?! This is your brother and aunt!” Laina said cheerfully, making silly faces at Poxibelle, who gurgled softly. “They just… merged into one perfect little gal. Isn’t that right, you silly baby? Isn’t it? Aww, look at her, or them...”

“Benedict… My brother is in there? In that… that thing?! And Aunt Mary too?!”

“Probably,” Laina shrugged. “Only time will tell how they stabilize in one body. And please, they’re a life form, not a thing.”

“You... You didn’t tell me it would be like this, Laina!”

“And you didn’t specify how you wanted them back, Billy boy.”

“N-No! This is all wro-”

“We need the mo-mo-money today so we can p-p-pay bi-bi-bills. I’ll use that fancy site for it... I need your bank card, ho-ho-ho-honey...”

Poxibelle spoke again, her voice infused with static like tone, like a distant echo from a memory that didn’t belong here.

Bill sank into an old cheap plastic chair, hands over his face, barely holding himself together. Laina studied Poxibelle with curious eyes and slowly approached her. As Bill wrestled with the chaos in his mind, Laina whispered something to Poxibelle, inaudible to anyone else.

Poxibelle’s body stiffened.

Then, in a sudden jolt of clarity, she spoke in the unmistakably sharp, weary voice of an older woman:

“Always the same. You never change, do you? You and your wasteful hobbies, fancy words don’t bring money to the table! And running after someone else’s crush? Really? You say he’s lazy, but at least Benedict can hold a job, unlike you! He’s more of a son to me than you ever were!”

The room fell still.

Then, without warning, Poxibelle’s head snapped in a sharp, unnatural motion. The tone of her voice dropped, deeper now, angrier. A young man, snarling through her doll-like lips:

“DO YOU STILL PLAY WITH YOUR DOLLS?! DO YOU TAKE THEM OUT OF THEIR CASES AND PLAY WITH THEM?! I HOPE YOU DON’T AND I HOPE YOU NEVER DO. JESUS, YOUR MOTHER IS SICK, VARDEN! FOCUS ON HELPING HER OU-o-o-o-out!”

Laina stumbled back, the color draining from her usually confident face. Even Bill was startled, not by Poxibelle, but by the voice.

“Wh-What? Big bro?! B-Benedict?! Is that you?”

Bill sprang from his seat, kneeling in front of the grotesque doll-creature, gripping its shoulders.

“C’mon!!! Bro!! It’s me, Bill! You remember, right?! Please… please tell me you’re still in there… I’ve searched everywhere, done everything… please… I-I looked for you for so long…”

But Poxibelle didn’t respond. Her glowing eyes slowly shifted past Bill, landing on Laina. Her lips moved once more, in Benedict’s voice:

“Don’t you fucking touch her. Stay away from Emilia, you creep.”

Then her head fell limp.

“No, no!! Please! Laina! Help!! Is he alive?! Did I kill him?! Oh God—no, no, no…”

Laina blinked as though snapping out of a trance. She clapped her hands together and sauntered forward, back to her usual whimsical self.

“Oh, yeah! I can feel it, they’re just asleep. ‘Doll Mode,’ so to say. Poor Poxibelle probably still isn’t used to her new body… and the powers that come with it.”

“H-He’ll be okay, right? That was his voice! And Aunt Mary’s too!”

“Well… it’s definitely a good sign,” Laina said thoughtfully, then added with a teasing tone, “Sooo… your family had some drama, huh?”

Bill gave her a confused look. “What? You mean my brother and aunt?”

“Well yeah. Poxibelle’s echoing memories. Those arguments, they’re definitely from their past. And this… Emilia? Who was she?”

Bill scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. “I think… she was his girlfriend or something. I dunno. He didn’t talk much about her.”

“Ooooh, a girlfriend,” Laina cooed. “She picked quite the character to fall for.”

“Don’t diss my brother, Laina. He… had reasons to be angry. I think. He was never angry with me. He was supportive. He was... kind.”

“Either way,” Laina grinned, “I think it’s time we paid his gal a little visit.”

“What? Why would we do that? You still haven’t proven it wasn’t you who hurt my family in the first place. And now you want to visit her? For what? another freak accident?!”

Laina looked up at him, unfazed by the height difference or the accusation.

“Because,” she said calmly, “Poxibelle is reliving memories. If that argument Benedict had with someone happened recently, Emilia might know what led to… all this. Maybe she was involved in what happened in that apartment and how I came to be. I woke up in that trashed apartment, remember? Surrounded by corpses.”

Bill looked uneasily at Poxibelle, now sitting on the floor, stacking small stones with childlike interest.

“Even if Emilia did know something… I don’t know where she lives. I didn’t keep up with Benedict’s… personal life. He only mentioned her a few times. Maybe I’m wrong. Let’s just drop this-”

But Laina was already crouched next to Poxibelle. “Hey! Poxie! You know any cute gals named Emilia?”

Poxibelle froze. She began to tremble, babbling out something strange, yet, a familiar name from before.

“Varden…”

Laina scoffed. “Ugh. That name sucks ass. Always hated... names like that.”

“Varden?” Bill echoed. “Why does that sound so... familiar?”

Laina’s eyes lit up. “Familiar, you say? That’s right!!! You're a genius, Bill! Ask Poxibelle where Emilia lives! Maybe your big bro inside there will respond if you really try!”

Bill knelt beside Poxibelle, eyes soft with guilt. He placed his hand gently on the bone-like surface of her head.

“I… I’ll try.”

Laina watched quietly, arms folded, her eyes narrowing with mischief. “Emilia… Of course. Things are finally lining up.”

After a few whispered words, Bill rose and turned to Laina.

“I’m not sure of the exact location… but they mentioned the local church. Something about ‘bringing her home to the Street of Angels.’ I guess it’s somewhere near the church?”

“That’s our best lead!” Laina chirped. “C’mon, my bell-boy! Let’s get moving! We can’t squat in this public cleaning supply room forever. Besides, it’s a miracle I was able to puppet-walk you after you fainted in the laundromat. You’ve really gotta work on that!”

Bill stumbled slightly, feeling a strange pulsing in his chest, like a bell echoing within him.

“I’m sorry... this still feels strange. Laina…”

“Oh? What is it, hun?”

“When we get there… let me do the talking, alright? A walking, talking doll might not be great for Emilia’s mental health… especially if she’s already lost…”

He trailed off. Poxibelle had wandered over and gently clung to his leg, looking up at him with unblinking eyes.

“I don’t even know what to say to her once we’re there.”

Laina looked at Bill, seeing the fatigue in his eyes. The boy had matured, worn down by grief and surreal horrors, yes, but also sharper, steadier. She knew the Hollow Bell was waking up inside him. He would need rest soon.

“Bill... Remember what I said back in the garbage storage? About how people are like cars, always rushing, never stopping to think?”

He nodded slowly.

“Well, I’m telling you now: stop. Just for a second. Clear out the what-ifs and doubts. You’re alive. Your brother and aunt are alive, in their own weird way. We’ve got a lead. We’ve got a destination. So let’s just… follow the road, okay?”

He gave her a soft, tired smile. Forced, but real.

“Alright... let’s just go.”

Laina glanced down at her torn shirt and ragged overalls.

“And hopefully Emilia has some doll sized clothes. I can’t walk around in my panties forever!”

Bill chuckled, and with Poxibelle skipping beside them, the trio stepped into the gray daylight.

The Street of Angels awaited.

Chapter Text

Carrying a worn out backpack slung over one shoulder, Bill crept through the maze-like alleys of the city, choosing the most secluded routes he could find to avoid drawing attention. The distant silhouette of the Church’s spire pierced the sky like a silent monument, not too far now.

A thin drizzle had started to fall, and the rain clung to everything, soaking his shirt, sticking to his skin, blurring his vision like a foggy lens.

From inside the bag, a voice muffled through the fabric:

“Walk a bit more stable, sweetheart! It’s getting crowded in here!”

Laina’s voice, unmistakably snarky. She and Poxibelle were crammed into the backpack, a makeshift hideout to avoid drawing unwanted attention. To any passerby, Bill looked like a wandering hermit, clothes frayed, shoes deteriorating, and his once-bright orange shirt now stained and dulled to a muddy hue. His short, sweat-matted hair clung to his forehead. His patience, like his clothes, was fraying thin.

“How the hell am I supposed to show myself like this... to a girl…”

His voice cracked with fatigue and defeat.

“Well duh, you’re talking to me, and I’m a girl,” Laina chimed. “Besides, we look like a matched set with our tragic outfits. We could be a dynamic duo... like Hobo Boy and his Sassy Puppet Gal!”

Laina tried her best to cheer Bill up with her charming banter and surprisingly, for first time, Bill did smirk, unbeknownst to Laina of course as she was within the bag.

Then, abruptly, thud. Bill slammed head-first into something, stopping dead in his tracks. Laina peeked out from the flap of the bag, startled.

“Whoa! what the hell?! You okay? Is there, like… a bear ahead blocking the way or something?”

“What? No, I-”

Bill tried to step forward, only to feel an unseen resistance. It was like walking through molasses. His foot dragged, halted mid-step, stuck against nothing.

“Whaaa?! Either you’re pulling off an amazing bit of physical comedy or you just proved the Matrix is real,” Laina gasped. “It’s like you hit an invisible wall! What is this, Level 99 Spiritual Barrier? It’s like invisible wall from a video game huh?”

“It’s not funny, Laina! I’m serious. There’s something here…”

Bill squinted ahead. The church loomed larger now, its stone frame solid and unmoving through the curtain of rain.

“Ooooh... Maybe The Big Man upstairs is real,” Laina teased. “You think we’re too wicked to step on holy ground or something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bill muttered, but even he wasn’t sure. “There’s no actual wall, but… It feels like one. Heavy. Like air turned into cement.”

“Face it, Bell Boy, it’s either divine punishment or you’re mid-heart attack.”

“WHAT?!”

Laina burst out laughing, her cackle echoing in the bag.

“Hah! Gotcha! You should’ve seen your face! Priceless.”

“Ugh, stop doing that. It’s not funny…”

“You’re smirking though,” she whispered, smug and sweet.

He didn’t reply. Instead, he leaned forward again and slowly, heavily moved through the invisible pressure. One step at a time. Something unseen still pressed down on him, but he refused to let it win. The walk continued in silence, the rain drumming harder against him, weighing him down as much as the guilt about everything that clung to his his very soul.

And yet, a gentle voice was heard from the backpack through it all. Laina’s voice, soft this time:

“Stop. Stop! It’s here. The Street of Angels.”

Bill came to a halt, gasping slightly as he leaned against a thick tree trunk. Ahead of them, just past the church’s flank, stretched a narrow road, quiet, modest houses lined both sides. At the road’s end sat a circular cul-de-sac, a humble little court for turning back.

A faint smile touched Bill’s lips as he muttered:

“Grove Street… home.”

Before he could finish the quote, Laina cut in, her tone suddenly solemn, dramatic:

“At least it was before I fucked everything up.”

There was a pause, brief and awkward, before both of them cracked up at the same time.

“I didn’t know you were into video games,” Bill said, still laughing. “And well... A doll, too. Must be tough to use a controller at your size.”

“Oh, please. I know all the classics,” Laina replied proudly. “Gaming was my thing back in, uh, back in the day. Y’know. When I was…” Her voice trailed off.

It struck Bill then, he’d only known Laina as a doll. But once, she must’ve been a real human girl. That past, shrouded in mystery, flickered like a candle behind her banter, albeit only briefly as she continued:

“You’re lucky to have a pop-culture queen like me with you, Bell Boy. Compact. Cuddly. Deadly, If-uh.. Needed to be! I’m like a living portable tamagotchi with a hot and flashy personality!! Oh! and I am cute, right? Say it... My hair’s a mess, isn’t it?!”

Laina started fussing with her wild mop of hair, muttering curses under her breath. Meanwhile, Bill approached the road’s edge and ducked behind a faded bookstore. The back wall was plastered in weather-worn church posters. He tried to lean back and hissed in pain alongside voice from the bag behind him.

“Hey!! Watch it! You trying to crush me?” Laina shouted from inside the bag.

“Oh, sorry, sorry! You guys okay in there? How’s… uh… Poxibelle doing?”

“For a half-naked, greasy gremlin? I’m... sniff... fine.”

Laina still seemed preoccupied with her appearance, but Bill’s concern shifted. He realized something.

“She’s been quiet… The bone doll, I mean.”

“Oh, Poxie? Yeah, she’s...uh… wait. Wait.”

“What?”

“She’s… Not here anymore. Oops.”

“WHAT?!” Bill nearly yelled.

“I think she slipped out when you were too busy fighting the invisible force of God,” Laina said with a nervous laugh. “She’s got legs, remember?”

Suddenly, a panicked voice echoed from the street nearby:

“OH MY GOD, IS THAT A DEFORMED DOG OR SOMETHING?! HOLY SHIT! GET THE CAMERA, BOYS!!”

Screams followed. Phones out. People ran. Bill and Laina froze.

“She’s been spotted. We need to move now!” Bill hissed.

“Hold it! Let’s follow her. If you run out screaming, you’ll blow your cover. That guy thought she was a messed-up dog. No one’s going to believe they saw a haunted doll. The internet will make it a meme and forget it by morning.”

“I don’t care! She’s my brother and my aunt! I can’t let them get away again!”

But Laina’s tone turned serious for a moment.

“Bill. Think. Maybe Poxie recognized these streets. Maybe Benedict’s memories are guiding her. She’s trying to find Emilia.”

That didn’t calm Bill, in fact, it made his stomach twist and stress him even more.

“Oh no. We have to stop her before she reaches Emilia!”

“No, no! That’s the point!” Laina countered. “We follow her. Let her lead us to Emilia. We just need to intercept her before she gets to the front door!”

“Argh! Whatever, Laina! we’ve gotta move!”

“Correction! you’ve gotta move. I’m riding first-class back here,” Laina quipped, grinning wide.

“Shit shit shit shit shiiiiiitttt!!”

Bill broke into a full sprint, Laina bouncing in the bag, the rain smiting Bill’s face with full force. The morning air was filled with panic from the boy, laughter from the doll, as the chaotic chase after the bone-jointed doll with two souls inside her began.

Chapter Text

Jumping through backyard to another, over the fences and bushes like dog chasing a Frisbee, Bill was on dire chase.

“Laina! She disappeared into the yard of that big house I can see from the distance!” Bill would yell out.

“Hop hop! Like a bunny, do not talk! Focus! Focus on the task at hand!” Laina would clap her hands inside the bag.

“I.. huff… am…”

Bill was feeling the strain of sprinting trough the streets as if he was Usain Bolt. Sweating, feeling sore from his knees, barely holding on.

And there it was, final fence, too large to just jump over, there was a small hole on it, conveniently size of something that Poxibelle could fit through.

“Dammit! L-Laina!, I can’t pass through this fence quickly, there’s a small hole on it that Poxibelle must had used to get in!”

“Really?! She’s such a clever girl! Show me that hole!”

Laina would peek out from the backbag and quickly come up with solution.

“Sent me in, Bell Boy! when you find your way in you can join me to help me later!”

“What?! You’re going to spook her and anyone else who might live there to death!”

“Bill, Poxie will do it by herself if she gets caught! please! Drop me to ground and start circling the area, surely there’s an entrance for big boys like you!”

Bill, hesitating for a moment would grab Laina with both of his hand and lower her to the ground, not saying a thing, Laina would then wink at him and say:

“Good job! Don’t worry sweetheart! I got it all planned out!”

“It would be really nice if you shared that plan with me!!”

“No time to waste! Go! Go! Go!”

With a quick burst of speed, this small creature dashed through the little hole on the fence, leaving Bill to his own business.

Inside the large house, was eerie sight of clean, perfectly fine rooms and hallways, yet sense of aging was apparent, as if the house had not been cleaned for months. Dust having culminated on the floors and objects, there was however one singular room, clean and fresh, with lights still on, with sound of spinning ceiling fan freshening the air, within the room, on a computer desk was a laptop, a girl sitting on the chair was pressing the keys in rapid desperate fashion, huge paper tower on the side of the machine implied she has been working hard on something. She would briefly stop and hold her head with both of her hands, breathing heavily, counting by herself and saying:

“It’s okay, it’s just.. money stuff.. money stuff.. money stuff.. I was taught this.. my mom taught this.. I can take responsibility! just have faith in the Lord and it will be fine...For he will take care of the lost and confused sheep.. he will… he will..”

Her breathing was slightly more calmer now as she resumed her work on the laptop.

Suddenly a slight noise was heard, as if something was crawling. The young woman felt chills, jumping out from her seat.

“Aaah! Sweet… Christ!!… Stupid floorboards.. Ventilation system already bothers me at night and now it feels like whole place is falling down.. I can’t deal with this for too long.. This world already felt too big and noisy for me but now my own.. home too... Terrible I say out loud! Terrible!!!”

She would slam the desk, papers slightly flying upwards from the impact yet landing perfectly on place, chaos was controlled.

“Stupid.. silly Emilia… abusing her poor desk… how have I become like this? I’m sorry Ben.. I truly am, if you only were here to see me in this.. pathetic state… you’d laugh out loud… But I would love making you laugh at least, hah! Yeah..”

She would take look around her empty room

“Yeah.. your laugh would fill this room with life…hah..hah.. I can’t believe I’m talking to myself! I need to get a grip and something to drink”

The woman, Emilia revealed as her name would leave the room, leaving the door behind her open.

Presence entered, from under the bed which was within the room, little grayish dusty hand emerged first, then entire body, rising itself up, It was Poxibelle. She had been curiously listening the conversation. And confidently taking her steps outside the room, following Emilia. This little gobbling like doll would walk on it’s fours as if it was Gollum after the ring of power.

And there by the fridge in kitchen, The girl, Emilia was crying.

“How can I just lose everything like this, there’s NOTHING good about having all these when everything is gone!! everything is gone!!”

She would drop to her knees, as she was weeping, she had barely managed to snatch a water bottle from the fridge, holding it in her left hand.

Poxibelle’s red eyes would widen inside the skull like structure they were in. As she was about to reveal herself from the corner of the hallway, doorbell would ring, prompting her to stay low. She was surprisingly calculative now, as if there was clarity to the situation.

“Oh shit!.. but who? The estate is completely secured by fences…i’m not ready to take in quests! If it’s the damn priest union boss again I swear...”

Emilia would rise up and wipe her tears as she began to walk towards the front door.

“Fine.. fine… dealing with the lectures about healthy commune life again I suppose.. just.. what I needed.. heh”

She attempted to disguise her obvious mental anguish with snarky humor. As she was about to place her hand to on the door handle- *THUMP THUMP THUMP*

Noise louder than hell itself would emerge as someone began to knock.. or more so bang on the door, yelling from the other side.

“Hello?! Huff….ANYONE HOME? THIS IS EMERGENCY!!” Puff….”

Tired, drained out and desperate voice of boy would yell out, the sudden knocking, would spook Emilia, almost causing her to fall backwards.

“Jesus! I mean…. Good lor- dammit! I’ll open, you don’t need to smash through it!”

She would unlock the door, and in front of her would stand a boy, dirty somewhat torn orange shirt on him, messy hair, and slightly scarred face would greet her.

“Hi- I’m- uh, Bill…”

Bill would introduce himself to her, he was flabbergasted at the sight of the beautiful young woman, Emilia was wearing white dress and her long brown hair was curled and clean, emitting mint like scent.

“I’m.. sorry you’re in such condition, such a poor boy, do you need money? Have you lost your parents? Did something bad happen?”

Emilia’s caring instinct kicked in instantly, using her sweet talking kind voice on Bill, as if he was her son, despite only being few years older than him by herself.

“Umh.. well… bad… is probably the only word to describe the situation.. Hey umh... Are you e-?”

Before he could finished his sentence, Emilia would pull Bill in the house and close to door. Continuing:

“Ahem! Emilia Crowlin! The new an- and…” She would visibly stutter before continuing:

“The only current head of the Crowlin Faith Manor! How may I assist such young and lost soul?”

Bill was both confused by her sudden extremely official sounding introduction and also by the fact he was really here for, he began to think in his mind.

“I want to be honest with her, but it’s not like I can just tell her there’s living doll gremlin running around her home, dammit… I should maybe relate to the fact I’m related to her ex… but then again.. is she ready to tal-”

A smooth hand would slap onto Bill’s forehead.

“Oh sweetheart, you have fever, hot as sun! Hold on I’ll make something warm for us to drink, tea perhaps? and oh please come on in, you can place your shoes over there at the entrance, make yourself at home!”

Awkward silence took place as Bill focused on the back of Emilia as she quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

“Not what I expected… might as well just roll with this, I hope Poxibelle or Laina won’t come up with anything… too radical, I need to take this slowly, I need to know more of what happened to my bro…”

“Did you hear all that distant yelling on the way here? Was it another rabid wolf? We had one week back and everyone was yelling same way.. oh my, there’s already videos about it on facebook! That’s a strange looking animal… oh well, folks here tends to be sensitive about anything mildly aggressive...Are you here to seek shelter from the wild beast?”

Emilia would speak in louder tone as she was fiddling in the kitchen.

Bill would think for a second.

“Kinda.. I was actually.. following that sound.. see it wasn’t wild animal but.. my.. dog you see…the little fella can get quite-”

It stung Bill talk about Poxibelle as a dog, but it came up coincidentally.

“Oh you came to ask for help to find it? She? Him??”

“Well yes I saw her running to this place and.. I know the place was all fenced up but she got in from small hole on it so I had to follow and eh… I jumped.. over a lower part of the fence, I may have.. bent the fence on that part a bit.. sorry about the damage.”

Emilia, would walk out from the kitchen and enter the hallway leading to entrance, she would notice Bill had scratches on his legs from the fence.

“Oh you silly.. you must really care about your dog huh? To go on such rescue mission, you look like you’ve ran marathon”

“Well yea.. I’m glad you let me in.. Emilia.. Honestly I think I just need to sit for a moment”

There was a deep beat in his heart, getting into the building made the pain spike up once more but he held it in to avoid looking suspicious. Now is not the time to fail, now it’s time…

to get answers.

Chapter Text

“Are you feeling any better?”

Emilia would say, sitting at the dinner table with Bill.

“Emilia... I think I may.. know you.. I mean.. you may have been close to someone I know”

Bill would say out loud, knowing he could not hide the true reason he was there for much longer.

“Huh? Know me? I haven’t been outside for a while.. or been around many people outside this community, who exactly are you referring to?”

“Look I’m… I have to just say this that I’m.. I’m brother of… Benedict…”

Look on Emilia’s face would turn serious.

“Is this.. some kind of prank? You… wait… no way, you’re… Bill? Bill Remoir?”

Hopeful look came on Bill’s face as he would answer.

“Y-Yes… You know rest of my family? I heard that you.. dated.. or were like… with.. wait that’s same thing…” As Bill would stumble with his words, thoughts would race within Emilia’s mind.

“Oh.. Bill you.. do you not know you’re being.. looked for? Your parents have been worried dead serious, there’s been missing person alert.. please… tell me you weren’t involved in what happened to…”

Emilia would breath heavily as she would saying it all.

“My.. parents…?! So you are Emilia right!? You knew my brother and… do you know what happened to him?! I went there.. to the apartment where he was…”

“Bill.. you have to stay here… I-i’m going to call your parents.. no, I’m going to call the police, we need to settle this now!”

As Emilia began to take steps back, Bill would notice how confused and terrified she looked.

“No, I had nothing to do with it!! my parents just kept telling me to not talk about it… I had to find out what happened to him!! then… I went there… I found him there.. he was…. “

A tear would drop from bill’s eye and fall down on his face.

Upon noticing this, Emilia would lower her defensive stance, she related to his confusion, because it was the same confusion she herself has felt all this time.

“A-Alright Bill.. I trust you.. I…. he… was important.. to me too, Ben… oh yeah it’s.. short for Benedict.. Your.. Brother right?”

“YES! I loved him too.. I… I just don’t understand why my parents lied to me and refused to say what had happened to him, what happened to Aunt Mary too!”

Emilia felt the shock, this was new information to her too, or at very least confirmation.

“Oh no no… no… It can’t be.. I didn’t want to believe he would.. but he wouldn’t…”

“E-Emilia?” Bill would call her name calmly.

“It’s… they told me it was a massacre… that… it looked like someone had murdered the woman in the house… I didn’t want to believe.. I just.. thought that he killed himself.. not the others…His own aunt.. he wouldn’t do that! He wouldn’t!”

Bill would then make a quick movement forward and grab Emilia’s hand, telling her:

“He didn’t! He didn’t kill anyone! But someone else did! I.. I witnessed things.. I heard… stuff.. from someone who saw it happen and-”

Emila would shake Bill’s hand off and take step back, clearly emotionally taken back by this.

“What are you talking about?! There was nobody.. I heard everything the police told me.. why?! Why are you trying to confuse me like this?!! I’m going to call the police!”

Bill panicked, he realized that he had to tell the truth, maybe omit some details tho, especially the truth about the living doll.

“No! Wait! I’ll explain everything, I got a call okay!? Someone was living in the apartment where it all came down in secret after it had happened! I went there and I met them! This person she… she said she had seen something happen! That someone caused Benedict and Mary to die! I don’t know what it is but she sounded genuine i-”

“Bill.. please…”

Emilia would cry, her tone seemed to imply she was done with everything.

“Just.. stop...I know you’re traumatized.. I.. I am too… I can’t believe he would do that.. your brother.. I loved him. But going into the crime scene and.. defying his body… what’s wrong with you?!!”

“Defying his...? Oh no.. has she been kept up at what happened in the apartment after my visit too? Just how much did Laina.. took off from him?”

Bill would think in his mind, feeling nauseous, his heart throbbing his head ringing.

Emilia would rush a bit further away as she prepared to make a call with her phone.

“Is this.. all my fault…?” Bill would think in his mind, he was caught, there was nothing that could be done.

Everything blacked out, the walls were dark and the ceiling lights glowed red.

A voice spoke:

Women.

Confused. Easy to alter.

They follow instinct. They wish to know more.

You can provide knowledge to them can’t you?

All these women, The doll and This Angel before you.

Don’t you wish to be more than their pawn?

Bu oh… you don’t, in your heart.

This is where you belong.

This is what you want.

You want them.

Take it.

Blink and he was back, the room was back, the vision was back, Emilia was shouting something further away.

“God.. Why isn’t there any signal?!!! UGRH!! WHY IS THIS ALL THROWN ON ME!! WHY!!!!???”

She would fall to her knees, crying, the phone would fall on the floor, cracking, little pieces from it’s screen shattering.

Cry of broken angel filled the room. Bill looked in awe. There was something beautiful in this sadness, only for a moment, it felt like there was something. What could this feeling be?

Chime

It was heard, Bell would chime, it sounded like further away, the church, but Bill knew it came close, close to his heart, from the source of the voice.

Emilia would look up too. Sense of calmness was imminent.

With clear voice, Emilia would ask:

“How did you know me and your brother dated, He only.. mentioned you once briefly”

“He told me once.”

Bill would say, technically it wasn’t a lie.. he did came to know about her from Poxibelle, Who’s technically Benedict to some extend.

“Oh.. I see… I guess he wasn’t that cautious with wanting keeping our relationship secret as he used to let out on.. he was such beautiful silly man…”

She would say in sleepy tone, almost as if she was in some form of trance.

Bill opened his mouth, ready to ask the important questions, finally, he would have his answers, finally he would ask-

“Do you still have the doll I gave for you?”

Voice, in static, no belonging to Bill would say, he would look around in total confusion until he would spot something in front of him, on the floor, between him and Emilia.

Some kind of portable tape recorder / player.

“Wait where did that come from?-”

The recording would continue with more familiar voice, that of Emilia’s:

“Oh yeah, it was such beautiful doll, where’d you get it from?, you know I think it’s beautiful that guy like you isn’t afraid of showing his passion for things like this, haha-”

The tape would began to glitch out.

“V-Varden? What is this… A doll?”

Emilia would ask as she looked towards Bill, over the tape recorder, on the side of Bill’s legs:

Small figure would walk on the side of Bill, it was Laina, who would continue:

“So, sweetheart, do you have the doll you we’re uh.. given by this dude, yeah, like the recording said”

Bill, with heavy breath would feel bit better, seeing Laina again.

“Laina! Where were you!? Did you find Poxibelle?!”

“Hush, Bell Boy, I’m interrogating now!” Laina would say, commanding Bill like mother would her child.

The recording would continue to play:

“Thanks, You know, hanging around with you has been nice, not many people likes being around me you know? they blame and insult me for being silent, wearing same clothing, stuttering at my words it’s just… unbearable at times you know?”

“It’s alright Varden, you’re creative and beautiful soul, I’ll be sure to keep this doll close to me. It’s funny, Maybe I could get Ben to be interested in this stuff too.”

“Yeah Ben.. He can.. be quite strange a times yeah, I don’t think I get along with him that well..”

“He can be rough around the edges and also he’s a quite- *STATIC* aBsoLuTe IdIoT-”

The tape began to glitch, the voice of Emilia that came from it was audible yet distorted.

“He’s such weirdo.. fucking creep just.. understood everything wrong...zzzzz Varden- You’re-- I fucking love you”

“Huh…? When did I say that..? What?”

Emilia would mutter out in confused and tired tone.

Suddenly Laina would point her finger at Emilia and yell:

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!! SHE MUST HAD CHEATED ON YOUR BROTHER, BILL! WITH THAT VARDEN GUY!! THAT IS THE ONLY LOGICAL EXPLANATION!!!”

“Why are you yelling so loud!!?? We are right here, Laina!!”

In his mind, Bill was still confused as he hadn’t truly gotten much out of the situation. No clarity on his brother’s fate.

And behind Bill and Laina, multi toned cry was heard. Stampede of feet and mass crawled past them.

“P-Poxibelle?! Wait!! Stop-”

But Bill’s attempt to stop this creature was in vain, as it charged towards the defenseless woman, Emilia.

“W-What the hell is that thing!!? No don’t come close!! I want to go away!! no plea- PLEASE!! no-NO- N-”

There was a sound of flesh cutting, struggle, yelling, high pitched yell, calls for help, calls for mercy, calls, calls, calls. Crying, like little baby, hopelessly crying, alone with no guardian to protect them.

Bill’s eyes stuttered, watered, there was attempts to move forwards, but little hands, grabbed him by his feet, he felt paralyzed in fear, in death and dying.

White dress now seemed to be stained in red, dotty black lines, covering the ground. Bill took step forwards, he yelled out, called out her name, but no noise was heard by his ears, deep ringing was present.

But despite the overwhelming feeling, Bill clenched his fist. He did not want to give in now, he’s not going to pass out all the time something is about to occur, especially now, he needed to hear Emilia, he NEEDED to know what had happened that led to all this. He took firm stance, prepared for kick and shouted “STOP!!!”

And he kicked the small figure that was tearing the body on the ground, it went flying with painful screech, Bill would pant heavily, he crouched down, checked pulse of the woman laying on the floor, heavy scars on her face and neck. Small hint of breathing. She lived. For now.

“Don’t.. please… you’re.. needed” Bill would say, his words painful and sharp with grief.

Laina would walk to the side of him, looking up to his face.

“Bathroom, there has to be a bathroom here, Bill.. Carry her there.. while I will-”

But again, like lighting, the figure that had assaulted Emilia earlier rushed forward, back on it’s feet, this time grabbing onto Laina sending them both on fight like two angry cats rolling on the floor.

Bill was terrified, looking at Emilia battered on the floor, then back to the two fighting dolls repeatedly.

“Lai-”

“I WILL--- BE FINE…. JUST GO TO THE BATHROOM!! SHIT FUCK-”

Bill would freeze, feeling hopeless, feeling tired, he’d have to flee, flee.. he has always fled the truth, just like his parents didn’t tell him about Benedict, he stayed away and bad things happened, He did not stay away now.

“No…”

Bill would say, then repeat.

“No!

“I have to stop Poxibelle.. I have to… save them both.. Laina.. Emilia…

I have to.. do something… I have to….”

Saturn

There was a giant eye.

There were many circles.

Three of them, two were taken.

Circles were compressed.

Turned into a Cube.

And the Cube became part of one.

“What… Did I do…?”

The fighting had stopped.

“B-Bill? What the hell happened?”

Poxibelle stood still, her eyes open, but was she aware of anything? she seemed empty.

Laina quickly gained her composure, standing back on her feet and ordered Bill:

“Emilia. Bill! Carry Emilia to the bathroom! Now!”

Bill stood still, shook dust of his shoulders, turned around, and grabbed the woman on the floor.

Life was going standstill.

Yet he wasn’t still.

Laina would then walk alongside Bill, catching up to him, Poxibelle not too far behind.

Laina would tap on Bill’s feet and comfort him, saying:

“You did good… sweetheart..Can’t believe that dude your age can carry older gal like that, you sure you aren’t secretly ripped or something? Hah…. Yeah…. Sorry.. No time for jokes right…”

Bill remained silent, he turned his head to look down below, but not at Laina, but at the figure slightly behind him.

Poxibelle who was following, locked her eyes onto him.

He saw what was in those eyes.

It was torment.

Chapter Text

The bathroom was bright, White tiles covered the floor, walls were beautiful light blue, Bill was standing in front of bath tub, full of water, and a body of a woman, Emilia, was laying on the bathroom floor.

Bill’s clothes were wet. Laina would enter in from the half open door.

“Just as I expected, Bill, She still had that doll Varden.. you know that guy from the recording had gifted her while back!”

Laina would drag a big box alongside her, same size as her. She would wipe sweat off her tiny forehead.

Bill would jump a bit due her sudden arrival and straighten himself.

“Oh.. about that… where’d you even get that recording?

How did she even managed to drag to box her size alone like that? Do living dolls have super strength or something? Bill thought in his mind

“Oh that, I found the thing lying around, pretty convenient huh?”

“And the tape recorder player thingy?”

“Yep, that too, pretty convenient right?, I was scouting the place before I found you”

“Alright.. anyways.. why did you ask me to fill the tub? What are you… planning to do?”

“I think you should know by now silly Billy, we got a doll, we got a body, we put her i-”

“No! Absolutely no! Laina! You saw what happened to Poxibelle, and besides, Emilia’s still alive! she was.. breathing, she was…”

“Poxibelle failed because we tried mixing two people in one,” Laina said quickly, her voice wobbling with rehearsed justification. “That was an error. But I felt rushed, Bill… rushed by your hope of bringing your brother and aunt back-”

“Don’t you try make it out to be my fault! I’m not letting you turn any more people into these… creatures!”

“Please, Bill, my sweet boy, trust me, for this once, it will work.. and after it’s done you can talk to her all you want to, she will be like me. Besides, it’s not like we will be dumping just… bodily leftovers into washing machine like before, we have full clean body and clean good bathtub… Besides… The girl’s barely alive, transfer may work better with her still living. She wont have much longer to test that thesis...”

Bill would hold onto his head and ask.

“Where is she anyway? Poxibelle I mean”

“Oh she’s behind the door outside, she’s been kinda gazing into the distance, she follows my lead much better now, so whatever magic you pulled out back there worked. Anyway, help me, you gotta throw Emilia into the bathtub”

Bill would take look at Emilia’s body, laying on the floor, he wanted to protest, but in all honesty, he was actually pretty damn tired, ever since their escape from the apartment, there hasn’t been any moment to breathe and relax. Just constant running, so Bill gave up.

“You know what Laina..? Do what ever you want i-i… I need to rest.”

He would carefully grab Emilia to his arms, carrying her entire weight with last of his strength and drop her onto the bathtub, stream of water would fall onto the floor, hitting his broken shoes.

Emilia’s body would gently float slightly above the filled tub.

“Alright.. sweetheart.. you know Billy, you should probably take Poxibelle to one of the rooms with beds, it was just next to this bathroom, I think she needs rest too, both of you do, I doubt cops knows to find us from this place, this is very secluded community, so we can wind down, for at least little while”

“Th-Thanks.. Laina… please tell me it will be okay…”

“It will… I will come back to you with a new pal you can talk with, as long as you please, and you’ll get all those sweet answers you have wanted since the beginning...”

Laina would grow conspiratorial grin, smiling like evil genius and say in over dramatic accent:

“And my goals… will finally come true too!! HAHAHAHAHA!”

Until she would instantly snap back to her usual and rant erratically:

“New. Fucking. Clothes!!!!! Because this box not only has a doll, but matching clothes too!! and some spare ones too, can you believe it Bill?! RED DRESS!!! EXACT COPY OF THE ONE I HAD BEFORE!!! I’M SAVED!!! haha!! No longer am I just bruised up dirty hobo! The Queen is back baby!”

After saying that, Laina would climb on the edge of the bathtub, barely managing to rise her small body up with her two tiny hands. As she tip toed on the edge, she looked at Emilia in brief silence until her, Emilia’s eyes began to slowly open as she would mumble in confused tone only Laina could hear:

“Where… is..? who is…? Where am I? Mom? Is it bath time? I don’t… like the water so.. cold”

Laina would slowly reach out her small hand on cheek of Emilia’s face, Caressing it until alerted by Bill’s voice:

“Huh? I’m about to leave, did you say something?”

“NO NO, nothing! At all!”

She would comically fall backwards on Emilia’s still surfaced face, sitting on it as if it were a seat, causing her head to be pushed under the water and water sprung out in waves, once again falling from the edges of the tub to the ground, with Laina sitting on top of her submerged face, her legs submerged in the water from her knees on the edge.

“Is she.. surely…i mean can she really not be.. saved anymore?” Bill would ask with tired and defeated tone.

Laina would then gather herself up and jump away from the bathtub, landing surprisingly well on her feet.

“She will be saved.. I know what I’m doing, I want this one to work as much as you do Bill, maybe she can be your girlfriend once she’s done and all doll like!”

“First of all Laina.. That’s sick.. she was my brother’s… and she’s much older.. Why are you even bringing stuff like this up?!”

“I’m sorry Bill! I just gotta think about the brand you know..? My promise for my future.. project remember? I’ll call it… The Porcelain Order! And one of my promises was for everyone to have a girlfriend.. or boyfriend...some kind of.. more than a friend friend at very least!”

Bill would let our nervous smirk, he was too tired to argue or make sense about everything, he truly, truly needed to rest now, he would turn around and head towards the exit of bathroom.

Laina would give Bill genuine smile as she would fiddle with the box on the floor while humming a joyful tune, Bill parted ways with her and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Bill would look below at his feet, Poxibelle stood still, reaching just about to his knees in height, ominous scent came from her, her eyes lifeless as ever. Violent images came to Bill’s mind on what had happened before, Poxibelle had attacked Emilia, leaving her to state she is, now gone, probably forever. Bill felt sense of anger, but he couldn’t direct it at anybody, Poxibelle was.. born from drastic measures.. and despite all that, Bill wanted to believe his brother and aunt was still alive, at least to some extend within her.

Walking carefully towards room next to the bathroom and placing his hand on the entrance door handle, opening it slowly, Bill would reveal big living room with two large beds and a giant bookshelf taking up entire wall on the right side. On the other wall to the north, there was a single window and desk in front of it, giving view of the outside community. It was bit foggy and rainy, the sun was setting down.

Time had already passed quite a bit, so much running around had left Bill desperate for sleep.

Bill would walk next to the desk, noticing old CRT TV on it, with it’s power cord plugged into the wall, it’s remote next to it, Bill would grab it, pressing the power button in attempt to turn the machine on.

Noisy static boom was heard as the picture came to life. White noise with bars of moving images going up and down in hypnotic rhythm covered the screen.

Hissing sound was loud, surrounding the room itself. It almost sounded like mechanical snake was somewhere in the room.

Bill would look at Poxibelle, who was staring at the TV, it was her who was emitting the static noise through her, gazing on the screen.

“Uh...A-alright?”

Picture finally settled in on a commercial break, advertising new flex tape named product. Yet Poxibelle continued to stare the TV and make hissing noise.

“I guess I… leave you at that…”

Bill would say as he began to eye on the clothes drawer, he desperately needed new clothes, the ones he had now were covered in sweat, blood, dirt and dust.

He’d walk up to it, opening the drawer, seeing multiple piles of different clothes inside.

Bras, skirts, dresses. He had almost forgotten, Emilia lived here. There seem to be only women’s clothing.

Disappointingly Bill would shut down the drawer and head towards one of the beds, as he reached it’s side he would look at Poxibelle who was still staring at the TV, now playing episode of the “Ancient Aliens”.

“Uh.. I guess I’ll leave the TV on.. for you?”

Bill would ask, zero reaction came from Poxibelle who stood still watching the screen and mimicking certain noises that came from it. He began to lose hope there was anything left of his loved ones within that obscure being.

Bill would remove his overalls, laying them next to the bed, feeling the somewhat warm air hit his skin, the bed seemed to be calling to him for slumber. As he sank in and covered himself with a sheet, he would stare into the ceiling which was illuminated by the artificial light of the TV, combined with the commentary heard from it’s speaker and Poxibelle’s nonsensical babbling, it created almost calm ASMR like feeling for Bill.

Looking besides him, there was a small stool with three books piled on top of it, Bill would scout through their names:

On the bottom was “The collector’s encyclopedia of Dolls” by Dorothy S. Coleman

On the middle of the pile was “Ghosts of my life, writings on depression, hauntology and lost futures” by Mark Fisher

And on the top of the pile was “Worlds in Collision” by Immanuel Velikovsky

“Huh.. she’s into weird stuff… philosophy and dolls? Everything’s just so strange…”

As minutes passed, Bill felt falling into sleep, image sequence of the happenings of the past few days played in his head. But more than that, memory of his family, and Benedict especially.

Benedict was always much closer to Mary, their aunt. While Bill remained with his side of family, he didn’t really understand the reason between the divide his family had with Mary. It probably had something to do with money and religious beliefs, aunt Mary was also sick, which prompted Benedict to aid her, as her own son was apparently complete slacker from what he had heard from brief conversations between Benedict and her.

“If I only just had paid attention to them, more attention to my brother’s doings, but I was stuck up in my own room… and let all this occur… in the end I was just… not good brother.. just bad.. one..”

As he was thinking to himself, about to close his eyes, until he heard more of Poxibelle’s strange noises, he was about to rise up and tell her to shut it down but in the middle of this, he froze and remembered something about Poxibelle, her echoing words, shortly after her creation. The words that echoed in Mary’s voice:

“Always the same. You never change, do you? You and your wasteful hobbies, fancy words don’t bring money to the table! And running after someone else’s crush? Really? You say he’s lazy, but at least Benedict can hold a job, unlike you! He’s more of a son to me than you ever were!”

And the other, deeper, angrier voice:

“DO YOU STILL PLAY WITH YOUR DOLLS?! DO YOU TAKE THEM OUT OF THEIR CASES AND PLAY WITH THEM?! I HOPE YOU DON’T AND I HOPE YOU NEVER DO. JESUS, YOUR MOTHER IS SICK, VARDEN! FOCUS ON HELPING HER OU-o-o-o-out!”

light bulb lit up insides Bill’s mind:

“Wait… Varden’s.. the son of Mary? My Aunt.. So he’s...my.. cousin?”

He knew now that after the rest, he would have to talk to Laina about this.. and Emilia.. if she truly was fine after Laina’s “operation” of course.

Strangely, Bill’s eyes would shut gently, and his whole being would fall asleep, it was the first night since the apartment incident he didn’t even hear the faint chime of the bell.

Chapter Text

“A cousin? I never thought about it, I heard about him few times but I never knew his name… Varden”

Bill’s eyes would open sometime during night, Poxibelle was still standing up, watching, or more so staring at the TV.

Cold chills came to envelop Bill’s whole body, Laina hadn’t yet reported back… maybe she was waiting for the morning… But no, Bill needed to check on her now, no matter what he might interrupt her on. This Varden identity realization had to be talked about now.

Quietly rising from the bed, without any shoes on he would feel the harsh floor stung into his feet, the floor had clearly not been cleaned for a while and the sharp tingling sensation was rather painful for Bill.

Feeling extremely drowsy he would take step towards the door, slowly opening it, the hallway was dark, but the bathroom had lights coming out from the small crack on below of the closed door.

With cautious and nervous steps, Bill would walk up to the door, at first thinking about knocking it but stopping midway, he would then position his ear on the door, trying to hear if anything suspicious was happening inside.

Splashes of water… chatter, like stereotypical image of someone speaking under water and bubbles coming out from their mouth appeared in Bill’s mind, something was happening inside, he was sure of it.

“Alright, I’m coming in! Laina! You there? We need to talk!”

Bill placing his hand on the door handle and opening the door was greeted with the bathroom with lights on, yet not sign of Laina, the bathtub was still there, with red water pouring from it’s sides, blood most likely, washed up blood mixed into water creating spiderweb like pattern streams on the floor.

Bright light having opened Bill’s eyes showed the world in watery foggy dreamlike vision, as he bravely took steps closer to the bathtub, he felt sense of interest. Usually this kind of view would had made him faint but he felt stronger now, or maybe he was just too tired to realize dream from reality.

His feet would feel the blood like water stream around his toes, as he carefully walked to the edge of the bathtub, looking into it, the water inside tub was completely red, like paint, small air bubbles would be popping onto the surface periodically.

“Is she?… is she breathing?!”

Despite the awfully grim scene, the sign of life under the bloody waters triggered sense of hope in Bill.

“H-Hey! You there?!”

It didn’t take long for him to realize how dumb that question was, especially if the receiving end is currently under water.

Carefully he tried to reach his hand underwater, pushing further until he felt something warm and suddenly that something began to rose up, he quickly pulled his hand away and in the moment, splashes of bloody liquid would scatter on his body, he would feel the warmth on his skin, frankly and strangely giving him chills.

“Huh..?” Bill would say as slowly, only a little bit from underwater would poke out a nose of a woman, bit of her body as well, dripped in blood creating a nude red silhouette. Her smooth stomach and breasts caught on Bill’s eyes as mixed up emotions awakened in him.

At first Bill gasped, at the imminent knowledge that she has to be dead by now, he took a few steps back and looked away to the exit door, taking a quick breather.

And slowly turned his head back on the bathtub, taking careful steps closer.

Emilia’s seemingly lifeless body was almost submerged again, Bill couldn’t help but take a look at her naked form. Despite the obvious creepiness of the scene, Bill couldn’t help but blush. She was, despite the blood she was soaked in… beautiful.

Gently placing his hands on side of the hot tub, he felt the warmth of the water radiating through him, like electric shocks all around him, he would stare at the woman, slowly extending his arm to touch her face, unsure of himself, of what the hell he was even doing right now.

Suddenly under the bloody bath water, Head of Laina would pop up, she would swung both of her hands up causing the water wave like minuscule blood tsunami being formed:

“AYYYH BILL, SHE’S QUITE PRETTY ONE ISN’T SHE?!!”

Bill flailed backward in cartoonish panic, slipping on the bloody floor and landing flat on his ass.

“OUCH!! HOLY SHIT! LAINA, WHAT THE HELL?!!”

He would frantically take a footing while slipping until gaining a stance and yelling out:

“What..!!! What are you doi-? I.. uh..”

His gaze would shift from angry to surprised as he tried to look away, as Laina would partially emerge from the tub, looking at bill over it’s side edge, having top of her body unclothed and exposed. She had very human like anatomy, large proportions too for her scale.

“Why are you.. naked…?” he would ask awkwardly and quietly.

“Well duh silly, that’s how baths work” Laina would say to Bill in teasing tone before her own rebuttal:

“How about you? You ain’t wearing much either…”

Bill would fluster with his face red, yelling out:

“That’s cau- cause I was sleeping!!! and- you- you!… how many people has bath in bloody water with.. a body?!”

Despite attempting to sound angry and bothered, in his tone it was evident he almost expected this from Laina, there was certain sense of comedy to the situation they were in.

“Well.. Bell boy… first off” Laina would fiddle with her hair as she continued to talk, she would rise her doll leg on edge of the bath tub, slowly rising from the waters.

“I am not a people, imma doll, so I can bath however I want with whoever I want, and besides…”

She would then sit sideways on the edge of the tub and lay on her back, her long hair floating on the water on the side inside of the tub, and on the outer edge of it, laying down, almost reaching the floor.

“I was conducting very very important experiment… soooo… that’s about it… what do you think?”

She would raise her knees up, her curvy doll body, cleanly shaped on full display, joints all over her body showing her doll properties, joints that weren’t normally visible such as ones on her hips, her waist and below her chest.

Water would be streaming from her doll joints. her surface looked like strange mix of living skin and doll like glint.

She would put her hands confidently behind the back of her head as she lowly tilted her heads looking directly at Bill, waiting for reaction from the flustered young man.

Bill would look all over the room, anywhere but towards Laina, with quiet tone he would try to say something in return.

“I just.. wanted to look around what you were doing over here...and.. AND!!.. What kind of experiment even is that?! There’s… mess everywhere!”

As he eyed back to the bathtub, Laina was sitting with her back turned on Bill, her small doll legs touching the bloody water inside the tub. She was fiddling with something as she took a look back at Bill and winked at him.

“Come check, silly!”

she would then dive back into the tub, disappearing into the depths.

Bill would appear in front of the tub again, unsure what to feel, knowing what was inside, Laina would then pop back up, having clothed herself with doll sized bra and panties. She would look at Bill and smile, saying:

“Heh, I lost these underwater… you know.. science stuff like this can get very serious.. it was quite a battle in here before you came!

Bill would shake his head and say in slightly louder tone, but still flustered:

“Just.. just what the heck is this? speak straight already!”

“Aw this? I transferred our friend into her new vessel, it’s quite a sight to look at, just like this old empty one floating here, I saw you drooling over her body, that’s kinda freaky...”

Bill was taken back, with his face red and had covering his face in shame for few seconds, he would say back:

“I-i wasn’t! I just didn’t expect this… kind of procedure!! you’re the one here playing Frankenstein with bodies and literally swimming in blood! Where is this… vessel anyways?”

“Oh it’s underwater, she kinda came to life briefly like a bold demon, we fought really hard here in this tub, like fierce pair of wet kittens, you might had loved to see that! Hehe! I managed to restrain her and now she’s kinda just.. chilling underwater…”

Any sort of light and humanity seemed to fade from Bill’s eyes as his tone became gray and stale:

“So she… became just another monster...and probably dead…. drowned by now...”

“Ah.. naw naw… let her cook underwater for a while, she’ll come out fine I promise!”

Bill would crouch so that he’d be on head level with Laina at the side of the tub.

He would then in rather violent fashion smack his head on the edge of the tub and keep it there, covering his eyes, the shock spooked even Laina who looked at him for awkward little while, until she would hear crying and little whining noises coming from him.

“Bill? You okay there buddy?”

“No! I’m.. not okay.. nothing is okay… this whole thing is just… it’s scary! Laina, it’s really.. really scary…”

“Bill I get it i-”

“No you don’t! Laina! You.. look at you!! you don’t care how I feel, you.. practically just took me along and said things would be fine! I should had just waited for the police back in aunt’s place.. I should had known better nothing good can come out from this! This horrible shitty…. Mess!!”

Laina would remain silent and hesitantly slide closer to Bill’s head as she was sitting on the edge of tub.

“You just do whatever you want to! Without caring how it feels to me! Now I can’t even return to my family anymore! We have killed people! I just wanted to be with my mom and dad and… I know I didn’t always get along with them but now I just want to be with them! How can I know any of this is even real?! I feel so tired… it’s like.. everything is just… gone.. there is no sense in this! There is no sense at all!!!”

More silence would pass as Bill was sobbing, Laina would finally dare to ask:

“Was there.. something you wanted to tell me, or ask me when you came here?”

“Now you act like you care what I have to say huh? If you cared… you wouldn’t had turned my aunt and brother into whatever that thing is! She… she… Poxibelle.. is not them.. she’s just some… thing with them inside but dead.. a walking...talking grave...”

Bill would say as he would slightly lift his head to wipe his tears… as he would finally look at Laina at his side and yell at her:

“Did you ever even apologize?!! Do you understand that this hurts me! IT HURTS ME!!!”

Laina’s head shook by instinct, for while her doll like expression always seemed joyful and smiling, mischievous. But now for the first time, her giant eyes would narrow ever so slightly, her noses trills flare open and close in tight fashion. Her lips twitching. She felt more… in tune with Bill, Or could one even say:

More human, human inside, forget not the taste of the apple.

“You know Bill.. I.. I’m not sure why I am like this at times… but I do how you feel”

Bill would listen as he had noticed the shift in demeanor of Laina.

“When I was.. not a doll.. I lived with my parents too, they mean’t.. mean lot to me, they gave me reason to be and exist when I didn’t want to follow most common paths that are set out for us you know? Only studies and college I went into was simply because I was threatened to be cut off from the welfare by my local officials… I just needed way to provide for myself.. but mostly for them.. my parents.”

Laina took a deep breath before continuing.

“I knew that surely there was something else and I did found some people important to me, but then I realized those people were just playing around, laughing about me behind my back, my interests were too childish and dumb to them, teachers were worried about me and they would constantly just ask dumb questions…”

Bill would wipe last of his tears and smirk, continuing Laina’s speech:

“Why you all alone by that plant in the corner? Why don’t you speak to others? why don’t play football with them? Do you have trouble remembering things?”

Laina would smile at him back and say:

“So you get it too? Exactly that! we were always broken to them. But I felt something whenever It rained, when I was playing games and watching movies, there was something that came from the human mind which was more real than this thing we have made for ourselves…”

“You can’t.. return to your parents either I assume?” Bill would ask.

“Yeah… it’s… lost game. That one.. But I found something else, hidden knowledge, occult kind of stuff I think, I experimented so... So long until finally.. well.. it chimed in so to say… The Bell, which is now in you, that thing is a proof, there is path not bound by this society, where our wildest dreams can be real”

Bill would smile yet tears would continue to drop:

“So we’re just.. forever outcast now?”

“When were we not? We just passed the tutorial only now I would say, haha!”

“I loved my parents…. They were everything to me.. don’t you miss yours too, Laina? Don’t you miss things being normal?”

“Of course I do, there just comes a point where you cannot let other people’s bothers influence your life, I loved my parents.. but also.. it was such a burden at times too, or maybe I was the burden to them.. either way.. we have new life now.. and I will be with you, Bill… I will be...”

Laina would lean to her side and lay her head on Bill’s, her long hair covering his, like a warm wet blanket as she would quietly whisper:

“And I’m… sorry… genuinely… I promise to listen to you more.. my precious Bell Boy...”

Bill would whimper out quietly, feeling Laina’s warmth on him:

“Thank you…. You’re strange and weird.. but… I’m glad somebody’s here with me”

“Now now Billy boy… so… what was it that you wanted to ask me, when you came here in the first place?”

Bill then remembered, the entire Varden connection of his. He booted up his mind, the lights were back on.

“Oh.. oh yeah!.. that guy.. who was connected to Emilia, Varden.. I think I remember now.. he is my… cousin I think… which makes him Mary’s.. my aunt’s son...”

“Huh? A third guy in the apartment? Well.. we did get attacked by that unknown corpse if I remember right...”

“You mean that could had been-!!”

SPLASH

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Bill would yell out and fall on his back again, Laina would fall down with him too on his side.

“HOLY DOLL BALLS SHE LIVES!”

Laina would also show her surprised but in less scared tone, she expected this.

Just on their side, something else fell to the wet bloodied bathroom floor, nude doll, she was clearly breathing and muttering out words out.

“mom… mom….. home….”

Bill’s expression was filled with shock, disgusts, but also… hope.

Laina was gleeful as ever, this one was perfect.

This experiment was successful.

“She’s alive!! Finally!! such Folly!!!”

Heh… Fina.. Folly… welcome...”