[IC] The Girl Who Escaped Reality's Dollhouse { Fabricant & Angel }

[Fabricant451]

When it came to these sessions, the only thing Rachel walked away with was a hatred for clocks. Specifically the way they ticked away every other second. She used to think those were just used for effect in the television or movies people watched, but whenever it was time for another rousing session of therapy and judgmental supposed professionals, all it meant was Rachel would hear the near constant ticking. It didn't do much for the mood of the session; when the doctor asked about Rachel's 'homework' of talking to other inpatients, the question was buried under the anxiety inducing tick-tock-tick-tock.

Of course she hadn't done her 'homework'. She hadn't been a fan of homework even when she was attending what school she did homework was simply a distraction from the other kids and their hurtful words. Having professionals suggest that talking to the other patients at meal time or free time was usually enough to make Rachel scoff internally while externally she simply offered a curt response with a shrug of her shoulders. Today was no different. The doctor with the glasses and the receding hairline asked if Rachel was making progress and inbetween the ticking and the tocking all Rachel could do was bounce her left leg and shake her head no.

What would she even say to the others? What would they say back? She didn't need new friends. She already had friends, and every second of the ticking was just time away from them. When the session came to an end, Rachel had counted eighteen hundred tick-tocks. The longest hour of her day. She gave no word of thanks to the doctor when she was dismissed but felt a small sense of relief that the clock wouldn't torment her until next time.

How she hated that clock.

Rachel shuffled through the hallway, shadowed by a volunteer who was putting on some weight and whose breath hadn't smelled nice since before Rachel's residency. Rachel knew the way around, back to her room, to the dining room, to the overly pleasantly colored walls where the inpatients were allowed to play with puzzles or other harmless toys and tools. At times, Rachel felt like a child again. It was almost ironic, then, that she looked forward to being with her friends. Her dolls.

They were waiting for her in her room, as always. Blade. Peri. Pearl. The only friends she had. The only ones she needed.

"I'm back," she spoke to them as she was let back into her room, after the door was shut behind her. At least the walls weren't padded, that had been a concern of hers, and though the bed was lacking in comfort, it at least had a mattress and blanket with pillow. She made a bee-line for the bed, sitting on the edge while her friends joined her. "I hate it in that office. It's so stuffy." It was nice to have someone to talk to.

Someone that understood her.

The first order of business was to straighten out the twins' hair; it was a formality, really, but if Rachel didn't run the brush over those blue locks they would've lost their lustre and volume years ago. Plus, it gave Rachel that much more opportunity to carry on a conversation with them. Rachel told her friends pretty much everything, even now she spoke to them about the various goings-on in the institution as a means of venting. When the hair was done, Rachel shifted from the bed to the floor, bringing the dolls with her.

The floor had more space than the bed and it was perfect for a playground, of sorts. Blade scared Rachel when she was younger, the knife and hook had a threatening vibe; but it passed in time. Now she knew Blade couldn't hurt a fly. Well. He certainly COULD but he wouldn't; he was much to preoccupied with Rachel and the twins. The four of them were presently enjoying their little session of play. A rousing game of hide and seek where Blade counted and had to find the twins (that game was once a little favorite of Rachel's, but it was so difficult to play in her new room. No hiding spots) or just imagining that they were on a little journey across the room.

Time went by in a hurry when Rachel was playing with her friends. She could, and had before, spend hours in the world of fun with her and her friends. It was likely she would've continued until she was too tired to go another round but the hanging light in her room was dimming and brightening. Flickering on. Off. On. Rachel looked up towards it and blinked. Weird. She would've paid it no mind and written it off as the building being old, but then it started to flicker again.

Rachel stood up as the light continued to flicker. Maybe it was simply on the verge of burning out. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Just as she was going to consider knocking on her door until someone heard and opened it for her, the heavy looking entrance opened slowly, without a creaking. Someone was out there, right? Someone that could fix her light?

There was only one way to find out for sure.

[AngelBites15]

Nine years. Nine years. That was how long they had stuck around the girl. Only on her tenth birthday, was the first time they had saw her. They watched her behind those soulless eyes; empty eye-sockets, cerulean, and ocean-blue. Through these eyes, there was a sense behind their two-inch bodies. And every move she made, was taken in by those seemingly-soulless eyes. Questions. Questions. They were the first thing they had thought when their eyes met with the five-foot girl. Every time they had been picked up, put down, and moved around, they swore there was something between humans and their toys. As far as they knew her, she was theirs; the only person who has ever held them, apart from the girl's mother. No other human talked to her; no one said "hello" to her. Then, there was belief: She chose them, the only companions who have ever listened to her, but never (couldn't) speak back. But, somehow, Rachel understood them. It was a fair trade: She understood them, they return the favor. But, sometimes, it felt like it was never enough.

Sometimes, they just wished to experience her, at great lengths.

Nearly midnight. The clock was ticking, again. The lights were dimmed, and only a few people remained at the hospital. The camera lights blinked momentarily at every second passing by. That one camera was positioned to view the whole hallway of the rooms that the patients have retired. The nearest room in the camera-shot, was Rachel's own, and the door mysteriously opening on its own wasn't caught unnoticed by the security guard in another room. He watched the door strangely opening on the computer screen. Those doors were heavy and they were locked every night. Every window was closed, so air drafts weren't possible. The door, was locked, and something he couldn't see, was moving it! Suddenly, just before he could conclude a possibility, just as he sat up straight, something...something wrapped around his neck, and the pressure was getting heavier and heavier on his throat. A cord was wrapped around his neck, choking him, and then, there was a blade slicing fast across the throat, slitting it. A surgical tool, making the slice, was in the grip of the assailant, and the life essence was leaving the man. There was a twitch, and he fell forward, face-first, atop the desk; the blood leaving him on top of the wooden surface.

The unsub watched the scene with blankness, and with the bloody tool in-hand, he (that's right, it was a "he") walked out of the room, carefully closing the room behind him, and leaving the corpse behind, forgotten. Just as he crossed into the hallway, he then dropped the bloody tool on the ground, just leaving it there, as he moved through the hall, like a shadow (reminiscent to his dark clothing); his boots making light thumps on the floor...just before the lights flickered again.

[Fabricant451]

"Hello?" Rachel called to the empty hall as she stepped outside of her room. This was more than a little unusual. Even if she wanted to, Rachel couldn't open or close the doors at will; someone on the outside did the opening and the shutting. It would've made for a strange asylum if the patients could simply come and go from their rooms as they pleased. Part of her wanted to simply return to the safety of her room. Maybe this was just some weird electrical malfunction? But something else called her forward. More than just simple curiosity.

The hallway seemed empty, but given the late hour that was to be expected. But there wasn't even the hint that her 'escape' was noticed. No orderly shuffling along the hallway to say everything was fine and to return to the room. No voice on the intercom. Not even the buzzing of a security guard opening or closing the door. Was it really okay for her to be outside?

She stood clear of he door, standing in the hallway itself and glancing to either side of her. A gasp danced across her lips as the lights flickered overhead. Quickly she turned; were those footsteps? No. Couldn't be. Maybe she was just hearing her own light steps amplified due to the situation. Confusion was slowly giving way to a sense of fear. What was going on here?

[color=87CEEB"Ohhhh, scary-scary!"[/color] A voice drew Rachel's focus. That was something she heard. It was so distinguishable. It was high pitched but sweetly so, the kind of voice often attributed to small children, but the subtle intonations were that of a woman grown. A woman with a younger's voice. "It's so stuffy in there!"

Rachel turned to the source of the voice, and nearly backed up against a wall. There was a girl there. A woman. With blue hair, but as the light flickered Rachel relented. It was just Pearl. They were still playing together. That helped Rachel calm herself down, even as Pearl laughed devilishly, a lilting giggle sweeping through the hallway.

"Oh, it feels good to change the scenery. The scary-dary hallway looks like fun. But aren't we missing someone?" Pearl approached Rachel, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. Rachel found herself smiling; a familiar face certainly helped her forget about the flickering lights.

"Are we playing hide and seek again? Do we have to go find Blade and Peri?" Rachel was playing right along.

[AngelBites15]

Just as Rachel entered the darkness of the hallway, the form of Pearl just disappeared, as if she had never been there. Her figure disappeared as soon as it came. However, behind the girl, was another figure; though with blue hair this time, instead of white from earlier. Her eyes were a dark blue instead of cerulean. Both of her hands landed on Rachel's shoulders from behind, and she leaned in, inches away from the girl's ear.

"We're playing again?", she asked; in a sound that sounded more like a woman rather a minor girl. It just sounded appropriate for a figure of her physical prime. It sounded slightly sultry, all grown-up. "That's okay. But you're counting this time", there was a smirk behind that voice, almost devious but playful. Peri moved out of the darkness from behind Rachel, and in front of her...in the light. That seemingly-friendly smile was there again, before she took the girl's hand, and led her to the other side of the hall, to the wall. "Start counting", the blue-haired female said, moving a strand of brown hair from her face, and waited for her to cover her eyes and begin.

[Fabricant451]

Rachel jumped up when the voice hit her ears; it was startling, but it was just one of those games they played. It was a little jump scare but Rachel was soothed all the same; it was only Peri, the other of the twins, and Peri was always a welcome sight. So it was playtime again, and this time they had a much larger area to play in; it was much easier when they played inside the room, but now they had an entire hallway! Maybe even more than that! Rachel was nothing if not excited at the prospect to play hide and seek like she did when she was younger, when her whole house and backyard were up for grabs when it came time to hide.

"I always count!" Rachel protested, mildly, her smile suggesting she wasn't actually upset by this. Rachel was guided down the hall by Peri, her steps light and swift, practically a jog; the adrenaline of her excitement was what saw her being swept up in the rhythms being set by Peri. "You better not cheat! It's not fair otherwise." In times like these, Rachel felt like her old self again. She felt happy. These were her friends and they were playing together as friends should.

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna count to thirty!" Rachel brought her hands up to her eyes, covering them and closing them both. "One...two...three..." she began, counting upwards, eager to begin the fun once more.

[AngelBites15]

Peri watched as her human friend covered her eyes and, as soon those hands covered the hazel-colored appendages upon her face, Peri disappeared, as soon as she came; no trace or fragment of evidence was left behind. She just vanished right then and there. Once the brunette opened her eyes from agreeable counting to thirty, a giggle echoed across the hallway...then, the second time.

The lights flickered again...

Peri left an eerie feeling in that one hallway ever since she and Pearl appeared. The footsteps echoed in the hallway again; those boot-like sounds in the distance, just at the end of the hallway; the farthest part that's a few feet away from Rachel. Those footsteps suddenly halted, though no figure appeared. But the source did make itself known: A black figure walking through the intersection at the end of the hallway. He continued to walk, seemingly not noticing Rachel catching sight of him.