My head throbbed as I came to. I sighed as I sat up. Bad idea. My head throbbed even more. Oh God, the last time I felt like this was when Austin kidnapped me and… I let out a small sob just thinking about my past. I hate how scarred it left me. I felt so weak. So useless.
I heard footsteps approach me. I looked up to see Tim, except he was in his Masky attire.
“You’re finally awake, huh? Tranqu (probably not the short version of tranquilizer, but I couldn’t find it so deal with it) must’ve hit you hard…” Tim chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“How… How long… have I been out?” I asked. My throat was dry and my mind kept spinning. It was a miracle I haven’t thrown up yet. Yet.
Tim awkwardly messed with his mask. I’m guessing I’ve been out awhile.
“Tim, how long have…” I coughed hard, causing Tim to look at me. He handed me a glass of water. I drank it gratefully. “How long have I been out?”
“Thirteen days.”
I blinked. THIRTEEN DAYS?!?!?!
“W-What?? Thirteen days?? That’s almost two weeks!” I stared at Tim like he was crazy. There is literally no way I’ve been out for thirteen days.
“Yes, thirteen days. Slender says it might be because he had his Slender Sickness on to help calm you down.” Tim explained.
“Where’s Brian?” I asked. I was a little ticked at Brian and wanted to kick his a**.
Tim put a hand on my shoulder, “He is hiding from you. He knows you want to beat him up like you did Harmony.”
“W-What?!? How did you find out about that?” I demanded.
“We heard her screaming,” A new voice said. I turned to see Brian quivering behind a chair. “Please don’t hit me…”
Tim sighed, “You know you’re being such a wuss. She can’t hurt you right now. She’s too weak from the tranqu. Heh, she probably can’t even kill a fl--IIIIIIIIIIIIYEEEE!!!” Tim was interrupted by me elbowing his ribcage. Hard.
“Can’t kill a fly my foot…” Brian muttered before crawling under the table in a ball.
“Aww, Brian, just let me punch you. Take it like a man.” I said, getting up and walking to the table only for Tim to stop me.
“You should probably change…” Tim said.
“Buh why?” I asked.
“You’re wearing shorts and one of my shirts.” Tim said.
“Okay then. Nice shirt…” I said, looking down at the Green Day design.
“I know, it’s sexy,” Tim said, rolling his eyes. “There should be a black box in the bathroom with clothes in it for you. Also, you should probably take a shower.”
“Uh, okay…” I said. I made my way to the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, I locked the door and was about to strip to take a shower when a thought hit me. Who changed my clothes?
I became very flustered as the thought brought back a horrible memory of what Austin did to me. A few tears slid down my cheeks. What the hell was that boy thinking? I thought as I got in the shower. I got my hair wet and looked around for shampoo and found cherry blossom shampoo. Wait, I thought just guys lived here and not girls--Oh wait, they’ve been preparing, haven’t they? I picked up the bottle and saw a few scribbles on it: Dollhouse’s. DO NOT TOUCH.
Whoever this ‘Dollhouse’ is, I’m guessing she’s a she. I ignored the warning, I mean, she’ll understand, right? I hope so, at least. I finished washing my hair and got the body wash that was also cherry blossoms with the same warning. I was careful to not take too much, but to not take too little.
After I finished rinsing off, I turned off the shower and began to towel off. I looked at myself in the, slightly foggy, mirror and just stared at all the bruises, scratches, cuts, and scrapes. I look like I got in a fight; and lost it, too. I rolled my eyes. I just hope whoever changed my clothes didn’t ogle at me. That would be gross.
I turned around and saw a black box sitting on one of the counters. I opened it up and saw clothes for me. I took out one of the shirts, jeans, and socks. The shirt was a black and purple striped tank top, the jeans were a really dark blue, but not quite black, pair of, slightly skinny, jeans, and the socks were black. I put on the new clothes and began to brush my hair.
My hair had gotten a lot longer. It no longer barely touched my shoulders, but instead was barely to the small of my back. Weird. I put the pair of shorts that I woke up in and put them in the box with the rest of my clothes, since they fit me perfectly so they couldn’t have been Tim’s. I grabbed the box and tucked it under my arm and grabbed Tim’s Green Day shirt.
When I reached the living room, I chucked the shirt at Tim’s face. Tim threw it right back.
“Keep it,” He said, “Think of it as a gift of sorts.”
“Uh, okay…” I said and put it in the box.
“So… What happens next?” I ask as I plop down next to Tim and Brian.
“Uh, you don’t kill me and we live happily ever after like me knocking you out never happened,” Brian said, jokingly.
“Okay. Let’s have party then!” I said with heavy sarcasm in my tone.
“Woo! Raise the roof!” Tim joked.
“You are all idiots,” A new voice said. It was female. “Except for you, my sweet child!” Creepy.
A woman stepped out of the doorway and smiled at me. She had brown hair in a bun, pale skin, like mine, a black dress with red lace, a mask like Tim’s except Phantom of the Opera style, black and white striped leggings, and black knee-high converse high tops with red laces. I also noticed that she had golden claws on her fingers.
Tim groaned, “Hello Veronica…” Tim turned to face me, “Sarah, this is Veronica… Also known as Dollhouse.”
“I already know who she is, Timmothy,” Dollhouse, uh, Veronica, grinned at me. She walked right over to me and hugged me tight. “And she probably knows who I am!”
“Wha--” I stopped myself as I looked at her. She looked so familiar, yet I couldn’t place her.
But regardless of who she was, she knew me and I apparently knew her. Her heartbeat was really calming, too. She broke apart from me and took off her mask, revealing a gash in her cheek and a, almost, healed scar directly above it. I ignored those and just looked in her eyes. Purple eyes. So pretty.
“Veronica… She’s not ready. She doesn’t know who she is...” Tim began but stopped.
I ignored Tim and just continued to stare into her eyes. I’ve seen them somewhere before. I know I have. But where? Veronica took the claws off of her left hand, put them in a pocket on the inside of her skirt, and cupped my face with a smile. Wendy used to do that.
That’s when it hit me. This woman looked so familiar because I saw her in myself. This woman was my mother. My real mother. She smiled at me, seeing the recognition in my eyes.
She embraced me in a hug and held me tightly. She spoke softly, as if talking to me for the first time, “Welcome home, Sarah.”
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