Not shit I can do about it until someone comes out swinging.
Ignoring the singing, I forge on. There should be an exit sign hanging over one of the doors in the case of a fire, so guests know where to evacuate. I suspect it’ll be in one of the back rooms. I can camp out in the room opposite, which will allow me to keep an eye on the hallway and I’ll know exactly when Addie leaves.
When I enter the room on the left, I sweep my eyes across the small area, looking for the exit. In tandem, I feel a presence come up behind me—one that doesn’t want to invite me to their tea party anytime soon—while mechanical mannequins burst from an armoire and a closet. My heart stalls in my chest, but I stay calm as I turn towards the malicious presence at my back.
The last thing I expect to see is the broken doll from earlier—the one taunting Mark.
Her brown hair is pulled up in pigtails, with pink bows wrapped around them. Dull, brown eyes stare at me, intent shining brightly behind the makeup on her face. Up close, she’s a lot creepier than I had expected.
Probably because the look in her eyes is murderous. I glance down, taking quick inventory of her. She’s wearing a thin white nightgown, leaving little to the imagination. I barely notice her nipples poking through the thin fabric. No, what my eyes lock in on is the outline of a knife strapped to her thigh.
My blood chills. If this bitch tries to hurt my little mouse…
“Where are they?” I ask, keeping calm. I’m waiting to see confusion bloom on her face, followed by a question on who I’m talking about. But she doesn’t give me that sense of security.
She seems to know exactly who I’m talking about.
“Safe from you,” she snips. Then she turns her head to the side, staring at the wall. “Let the others know two women are being followed and make sure they get away safely. I have this handled.”
I can’t help the smirk that tips up the corners of my mouth. While part of me is tripped up on who she’s talking to, I’m mostly amused that she thinks she can handle me.
Her eyes track something that I can’t see, as if she’s watching them leave.
“So, you’re crazy, huh?”
She rears back, offended by my assessment. Frankly, I couldn’t give a less of a shit.
Anxiousness is curdling in my stomach like spoiled milk. Addie and Daya still haven’t stumbled their way to the back of the hallway yet. And this little girl must think I’m like Mark and here to hurt them and well… she’s not entirely wrong. Except I’m only interested in hurting one of them, and by the time I’m done, she’ll love the way I make her scream.
She snaps, “Don’t call me that. You’re the one preying on women.”
I arch a brow, on the verge of laughing in her face. “That just makes me disturbed. Not crazy.”
Her tiny hands ball into tight fists, and a snarl pulls her face taut with anger.
The doll lifts her nightgown far enough to bring out the knife and kicks the door shut behind her.
I can’t tell if I should laugh or rage. She’s deliberately keeping me from my little mouse, and that makes me very fucking unhappy.
“What are you going to do with that, dolly?” I ask, a mocking smirk on my face. This should be over quickly.
“I’m going to kill you, monster.”
I don’t have time for this shit.
The longer I’m trapped in a room with Chucky’s Bride, the more opportunity handed over to Mark. If the men notice I’m nowhere to be found, and Addie is left vulnerable, nothing will stop them from seizing the moment.
She’s more interested in talking, and time is ticking. I charge at her, but I’m surprised by how much fight she has in her.
I humor her, the sloppy attacks beginning with a knife and ending with her fists. The entire time, she rages like a petulant child. Throwing a fit because she can’t land a strike.
I see the desperation leaking into her expression, just as antsy to take me down as I am her.
Finally, I land one good sucker punch to her nose, causing her to lose her footing and go crashing to the ground.
She screeches out some idle threat, but my focus is on the door. I storm past her, whipping out the door and charging down the hall.
“Jackal!” she screeches from behind me, but I pay her no mind. I don’t know who the hell she’s talking to, but I don’t give a fuck.
I stop short when I look to my left and see the four men of the night packed into a room.
I breathe out a sigh of relief, a small weight lifting off my shoulders with the confirmation that they didn’t get the chance to trap Addie.
Until I hear the words that come out of their fucking mouths.
“Where did she go?” Miller asks, staring at Mark. “The van is already set to go. They just need to know their location.”
I snap straight, and my body stiffens like cement being injected into my spinal cord.
“We’ll find them,” Mark placates. “Zack wasn’t with them, so he must’ve lost them in the chaos. It’s the perfect time.”
“You do realize you’re going to have to handle him, right? When he finds out Addie is gone?” Robert cuts in. “With those nasty scars on his face, I have a feeling you’re underestimating him.”
Mark waves a hand, dismissing Robert’s concerns. His very fucking valid concerns.
“He got those scars because he was weak, Robert.”
I laugh silently, my head thrown back and shoulders shaking as I let his very ill-minded assumption wash through me. And then my laugh bleeds out, rocketing through the small space and blending with the other creepy noises pinging around this house.
The four men’s heads snap towards me, and bleed dry of whatever color was left in their faces. The four of them are sweaty and look like they have watched their worst nightmares come to life. They’ll soon realize that I sit on the fucking throne, and their nightmares bow to me. I’m far worse than any monster they could ever imagine.
I walk into the room, the grin on my face widening when they flinch away.
“Za—” Mark starts.
“You know how old these scars are, Mark? Very old. My opponent was a formidable one, but do you want to know who ended up on the floor with their throat slashed and holes where their eyeballs used to be? Certainly wasn’t me, fucker.”
Mark tries to brush off my story with a laugh, the sound choked and broken. “Zack, please, we weren’t speaking of your girlfriend.”
“Mark, the last thing you want to do is lie to me.”
Just as Mark opens his mouth, a little door in the room springs open and out crawls the biggest fucking nuisance of the night.
“For the love of God, please leave me alone,” I snap. Mark and his friends turn to find the doll straightening, a determined gleam in her eye.
Her face brightens. “God has nothing to do with this, silly.”
Chapter 29
The Manipulator
“I
think if I don’t go sit the fuck down, I’m going to collapse. You’ll have to peel me out of this mud.”
I point towards a bench. “Go ahead and relax. I’m going to go through the House of Mirrors real quick.”
“Fine by me, it’ll take you forever to get out of that thing, and it’ll be time to go.”