Dolly
A Grim Tale Of Wonderland
"And my daughter has been missing for quite some time." Mr. Ridge said absently to the police officer. The man looked up.
"You think you've had a pocket watch stolen, or that you've misplaced it, and that information is more pressing than your missing daughter?" When the Officer spoke, he did so with a lisp, rendering his hopes of authority ineffective.
"Well she is the youngest." Mr. Ridge said. "And from time to time, she'll throw a hissy-fit."
"How long has she been missing, Mr. Ridge?" He frowned.
"Well I haven't got my watch, so it's hard to say. About two days now, perhaps."
Emily squinted and opened her eyes. There was a bright light filling the room, that of a Sunday morning, and a nasty taste in her mouth. She looked to her left and smiled, not knowing if she should start laughing. The teacup she had drank from, the one that had compelled her to do so, well, it was very large, a bathtub to her. "That's odd." She said softly, pushing off it to get to her feet.
"Oh!" Moaned something nearby. "Do try and help us please, Dolly."
"Whose Dolly?" Emily asked, twirling about in the warm sunlight.
"Why," The voice said. "You are of course."
There was a humongous mirror nearby, in fact, everything in the room seemed rather ridiculously proportioned. Everything was ten times bigger than it should be. She wandered over to the mirror. There was a glare when she looked, by what she could make out of herself was shocking. "Who did this?" She screeched, whirring around to finally looked at the people talking, those she had considered dream brethren. There were many of them, living impossibilities. They were teddy bears and dolls, mutilated Barbies and half melted GI-Joes. "How- how could these be? Which one of you did this!"
The familiar female voice spoke up again. She was a porcelain doll. There was a crack in her nondescript glass face, and dried blood around it. Both legs were snapped backward, and there were bones sticking out. Emily's stomach lurched. "Please Dolly, none of us did this. It's just the child, well, he plays rather aggressively."
"What are you?" Emily gasped with a wave of sadness.
"We are human!" The doll cried. "Just like you. But he thinks we're toys and he's gone and broken us. You must leave quickly before he comes back! You must go get help! I beg you."
The doll pointed to a massive door, and the hole in it. "There! You must go through there. Travel through the Vale of Tear. You have to find someone, anyone who can help!"
"Sure." Emily said. She looked back at the mirror. Her sun kissed and light brown hair had been done in perfect bouncy locks. Her face had been painted very pale, with circles of pink blush, red lipstick and dark mascara. She was dressed in underclothes, a white tank top and flouncy white shorts. Even her feet were strapped into white Mary-Jane heals. "But, I don't even know where I am."
"You're in Wonderland, silly." A gruff voice answered. It came from just a torso of a Barbie, with singed off hair, and stroke kissed lips.
"You have to hurry and leave!" The doll continued.
"But, I don't know the first thing about Wonderland, or any Vale of Tears for that matter."
"Oh please!" The Teddy Bear whispered.
"Help us." Another toy whispered with blood splattering from his half-stitched mouth.
"Nothing could be worse than what is here." The Doll continued. "So you must leave. He treats his new toys quite cruelly."
"I could go with her." A male voice chimed in. Emily looked until she found the source. On the table there was a handsome bloody puppet. "If she would help me get down and cut my strings." He looked to her. "We could take that Jack-in-the-Box, the one he burns us with. If you would just move a pillow below, you could climb up, and together we'd jump back down."
"I don't know about any of this." Emily said stubbornly. "I'm probably still just dream. Perhaps there was alcohol in that tea I drank. That would explain all of this, I should think."
"Don't be silly." The doll said as if it were a synonym for stupid. "There is no time for dilly-dallying, you must go!"
"Oh!" Emily growled. "Well, I suppose I could help the puppet down."
"I'm a boy!" He yelled back. She shrugged.
"But after that, I would like to go home."
"Just hurry!" One of the shrieked as she found a pillow. It was massive but lighter than she had expected. It was red and strangely embellished with a heart insignia. With a gruff moan, she pulled it just under the table. There was one particular leg with numerous snags that she decided to scale, but it was still quite strenuous when she reached the top. She was sweating and panting. The puppet was fighting against his bindings, two wires that were nailed into his hands, they attached him to the ceiling.
"How am I supposed to cut these? I haven't any scissors."
"Beside you." He said gesturing with his head. "Use that."
"Why that's just an old box." She said with a girlish giggle. "I won't be cutting with those."
"Hold it up to the wire, and open the front just a little, it will burn it and break. You must be careful. With your amount of care, I fear you'll set us both on fire!" He hissed.
Emily picked up the blue box and weighed in in her hands. When she touched the wind lever, all of the creatures screamed in unison, as one note rang through. "Don't touch that ever!" He yelled at her, spit flying and his green eyes livid.
"Fine." She said. "You didn't have to be so rude."
"She isn't taking this remotely seriously." Someone yelled from below. "We'll all end up dying because of her." Emily sighed and brought the boy to the first wire, holding it far from his flesh. Then she opened the lid just a creak, and a jet of fire burst from it. She squealed and shut it, and by the time, both wires were already burned through.
The toys were screaming again, but this time it was not at Emily. "He's coming!" Cried the doll. There was a tremendous shiver all through the house that caused her to wobble on the table.
"We must jump now!" The puppet said, taking Emily's hand in his own. He pulled her toward the tables edge, and mid running she noticed her hands.
"Someone has gone to the trouble of painting my--" He jumped off the edge, yanking her with him. "Naaaaills!" A large shadow fell over the room as the pair hit the pillow. Emily's eyes were wide. She'd never fallen so far in her life.
"Be still!" The doll warned the other toys. "He'll pick you if you're struggling."
"We," The puppet said. "Need to make it to the door." The two of them fought their way off the pillow just as the boy entered his room.
"Look there puppet! Why, it's a giant…" She grinned. "In every way." The boy was a building high and as round as a stadium. His fat face was contorted with rage and pleasure both.
"Run Dolly!" The Puppet's voice was very feminine as he dived for the door. The boy ducked down and looked at Emily with his beady, and yet to her, huge eyes.
"What have we here?" His voice was deep and terrifyingly loud. She clutched the box to her chest and stepped back. She couldn't think about running. Her heart almost stopped in her chest. Plump fingers closed around her waste, and she kicked and screamed, as the boy picked her up. "A new little dolly, hm?" She wriggled her hands free. "It's unfortunate that the--"
"Let go!" She yelled. "Let go, let go, let go!" He produced another toy, a mangled and twisted wind up man.
"I said," His yell was deafening for a moment. "It's unfortunate that my Wind Up Man is going to kill you!"
Emily held the box in her hands, screaming and crying, until a calm washed over her. She looked at the box, burning hot in her hands. "You know," She said. The boy brought his eye close to inspect her while she spoke. "You're nearly my age, and you're much too old to be playing with toys still." She opened the lid and the fire stream got his eye. He screamed and flung her backward, to where she landed with relief, back on the pillow. The boy was crying in agony, the juices of his own eye leaking to his hand. He covered it.
"You bitch! Where are you! I'm going to rip off all your limbs and feed you to my cat!" The Puppet grabbed her hand more solidly, and together they ran, narrowly missed by another swipe of that massive hand, as they dived through the crack.
"Ooh, that boy was the most horrible thing I have ever seen!" Emily cried. She looked around her, blades of grass twice her size. The Puppet stopped to inspect his wounds, tail ends of wires hanging from his bloody hands. "That boy tortures those toys, does he?"
"We aren't toys, I already told you, we're people."
"Well, whatever you are, I think I taught him a lesson." The boy laughed dryly.
"The last one who injured him, was brutally disassembled, and in his rage, the boy ruined three others as well, my sister being one of them." Emily's eyes opened big and her lower lip jutted out.
"I'm sorry." She said. " I honestly thought I had been dreaming until just about now."
The Puppet shrugged coldly and started walking, pushing his way forward. He was dressed in a jester attire, with bells jangling from him. Emily followed after, with the box in hand, and a sickly feeling in her stomach. "But, if all of those were people…" She sighed. "He could be back in there, murdering them!"
"Have you ever pulled the wings off a Butterfly?" He asked back at her. She nodded.
"Why, once, when I was very little--"
"Things like that have consequences here." She looked back at him, quite dejected. "Look, I don't know much about this place either, but I once heard of a being that might be able to help us. He is all knowing and could give us advice on getting big again. If we were normal size once more, we could gut that swine that they call a boy."
"And who would help us?" She asked, catching up with him, still flabbergasted by the size of everything.
"Caterpillar." She laughed.
"You're very funny. But what could a little bug possibly know?" He didn't reply for a while, and there was a long awkward silence.
Emily licked her lips and gazed at the sky, it seemed very far away, much further than it ever had before. "Do you think it was the tea that made me small? When I drank it, I did think it had and awfully bizarre taste."
"Obviously, it was the tea." The Puppet grumbled back.
"Oh well," She said. "Did you drink it too?"
"My sister and I both, yes, we were both thirsty."
"What's your name by the way, I was wondering?" He glared back at Emily, but seeing those female lips made him relent and he finally said,
"Victor."
"Nice to meet you, Victor, I'm Emily. I would shake your hand but I imagine that would be painful for you, so perhaps not." She giggled again, and he omitted something from his throat that resembled a polite reaction.
There was a clearing from the grass forest and Emily looked around with amazement. "I have never seen a mushroom so large." She smiled.
"You've never seen a mushroom so dangerous." He pointed at a stubby one with creases that seemed more like features than ridges. "Those grey ones right there, they'll eat you in a second. Stay away from them. Oh, and the purple ones, those that are half your size, I've heard that they give off a poisonous gas if they're touched, so don't go near them."
"What about those little guys, they seem to be walking pebbles." He shrugged.
"I don't know what those are, so they'll probably kill you."
"They're like little dogs, don't you think?"
"No!" Victor moaned. "They aren't anything like dogs so don't touch them!"
The air was thicker in the clearing, and they pair carefully walked, avoiding anything that moved or seemed poised to. There were a variety of mushrooms around that Victor had not mentioned, all eager for a flesh meal. They often burst open, a circumference of dripping fangs. Emily had screamed and kicked them, as some came only to her waste. They screamed like humans and withered from her touch, recoiling back into their docile form. "So do you think this Caterpillar will be nicer than the mushrooms?" Emily asked as she beat another down with a large stick she'd found.
"I hope so."
"Maybe we should bring him a present."
"Like?" Victor asked gritting his teeth.
"I don't know! What do you think caterpillars like?"
The surroundings had sort of answered Emily. They reached a darker area, where leaves were drifting down from far above and there was the sound of rushing water. The air seemed darker, a neon purple, and noises that sounded like bursts of perfume and fearsome hissing animals. She ripped off a strip of leaf, and found some dead mushroom to be wrapped by it. Holding it in her free hand, she decided that a caterpillar would certainly be pleased by that.
There was rustling nearby, and Victor took an aggressive stance. "Did you hear that?" He whispered. She nodded. There was a chattering sound, and bodes of grass parted. Emily nearly fell over laughing.
"Victor!" She cried. "Look, he as a little hat on! He's an ant in a hat, how silly is that?" The Ant tilted his head, his pinchers working side to side, his gun pointed at the girl. "D'you think he knows where the caterpillar is?"
"Be quiet, Emily."
"You should ask him." There was a pause where the three studied each other. "Fine, I'll ask him!" She took a step forward. "Ant, do you know which way to the Caterpillar?" The ant spoke with a liquid voice, like he had phlegm in his throat.
"The Caterpillar is and enemy of the Centipede. Are you foe of the centipede?"
"Ooh!" Emily shivered. "I hate centipedes! They're disgusting!"
The ant attacked, shooting a nut of a bullet at Emily. She squealed and jumped to the side, launching the box as she landed in the mud. "Take cover!" Victor screamed, jumping behind a rock. Emily followed after, just as the box released and explosion. Fire licked at the back of her clothing, and she just managed to escape behind.
"My God, Victor! I didn't know he would be so unruly!"
"He's a servant of the centipede, you idiot, you just insulted his commander!"
"Well another thing I shall do, when I get big, is step on the lot of them."
Emily stood up and peaked over. The ant was a black carcass, with smoke billowing off of it. It smelled awful, she noted as she inspected herself. Her shoes, and knees were filthy, and the back of her clothing had been charred. "Dear." She groaned. "This is revolting, the most revolting--"
"Quiet!" Victor urged. "we're in danger here, we need to proceed carefully, not with you flapping your jaw about with every obvious statement that hits your skull."
"Jerk." She snarled back, then pursing her lips.
Victor continued on, and waved Emily forward. Out of anger, she deliberately refused to speak even when he encouraged her too, and eventually, a steady air of resentment rose off the both of them. The day turned to night, the warm air frigid. Emily had found a string like plant, and used it to attach the box to her, like a belt. She held the bundle of goodies for the caterpillar, finding add-ons here and there, she rubbed herself with one arm to keep from freezing. The blades of grass dripped with dew, and they had walked through several miniature streams before they'd seen one ally.
The firefly was quivering when he landing on a nearby rock. Emily held back. "Are you going to attack us?" She asked.
"Goodness, no." Replied the firefly. "I was hoping to ask you of a favour." Victor's face bunched up with distrust.
"Oh, and what would that be?" He grumbled. The firefly shifted self consciously.
"See, I don't stay well hidden with this bit of light attached to my abdomen, see," He gestured. "I just need a little protection until day break." Emily smiled.
"Do you think you could help us in return?" The firefly jittered and nodded.
"Anything I can do to help."
"We're looking for Caterpillar, could you show us the way."
"Oh that?" The firefly asked. "Yes, I could do that. Why certainly. Just follow my buzz backend, lady." His orb eyes looked at Victor. "And you can follow too, I suppose."
Victor and Emily followed after the firefly for a while. "It seems your fast mouth isn't all bad."
"I prefer to think that I'm silver tongued." She replied coldly.
"Well yes, you could be described as that." He said slowly.
"So you think I'm clever?"
"Y-yes. I guess."
"Because if it weren't for me, we'd still be wandering after you, blindly, with no hope of direction. I mean, you're lucky to have found me. If it weren't for my quick wit, who knows what your sad state would be in."
Emily introduced herself and Victor to the firefly, he did and air-bow graciously and continued on. Eventually he led them to a patch where there were whirls of smoke dancing around them, and luminescent, swaying mushrooms. The glow of the place was constantly changing colour. "What's that peculiar smell? It's making me quite dizzy." Emily mused.
"The Caterpillar is very wise for one reason, because his head is very clear, and his head is clear because of the Hookah pipe." She giggled at the word.
"What's a Hookah pipe?" She asked.
"He means the Caterpillar is on drugs, Emily. He's high." The insect perched on a rock, wings folding behind him.
"Well go on then, ask what you need to ask." The firefly said. Emily smiled graciously.
"Thank you for leading us here."
"Thanks for not eating me."
Victor led, following a path carved between mushrooms. "Oh dear." Emily said when she saw the multicoloured, and very obese, Caterpillar. Clouds of smoke escaped from the tip of his pipe, his pink eyes were glossy and unfocused. "What are you doing here, child?" He asked Emily.
"Well, I'm not sure exactly." Victor was wringing his hands, expecting her to say something idiotic. "I was tall a day ago, but when I woke up this morning, I was not. You see, I found myself in the den of a most horrendous monster, a boy, in fact. He was going to kill me! To think… So we have come for your guidance sir, because we need to get very tall so we can kill him!"
"I know this boy." The Caterpillar said. "He pulls the legs off of people like me."
"Dreadful!" She exclaimed.
"Indeed, but how should I know you are friends and not foe?" Her heals dug into the soft earth.
"I'm not sure, but I did bring you a gift." She walked forward and put the small wrapping of mushroom and berries below his hands. He inspected it with watery eyes.
"This is very kind of you." She blushed.
"I didn't know what a caterpillar would like to eat, but I hoped that would do. Now, do you know how we could get big? Is there a spell you could say?"
"Yes and no." The Caterpillar said with a yawn. "I know how to make you much taller, but nothing from my lips will do it. It takes three ingredients, just like getting small does."
"I see." Emily said. "And what would they be?"
"You are in luck. I have two of the three required with me." The Caterpillar reached behind him, Victor bent forward with anticipation. A tiny bubbling vial was produced in one hand and glistening bag of spice in the other. "You can have these, Emily, because of your kindness."
"You know my name." Victor nudged her.
"He knows everything." He said under his breath.
"And I know what you're saying," The Caterpillar added. "When you are trying not to be heard. Come retrieve these items Victor, guard them carefully, because there are many who would like to become very big."
Victor moved forward and pulled the two items from the Caterpillar. Emily had stayed behind, watching with wide-eyed wonder.
"How about the third? What is it? A pinch of fungus? Glow from a firefly? We are impatient."
"I am afraid," The Caterpillar paused to take another huff from his pipe, sending smoke away through his horned nostrils. His skin momentarily became a ripe green, then faded back to dark. "The third is something I dare not get for myself. It is a bit of webbing from a blue spider."
"Oh, well that shouldn't be any trouble. I crush spiders all the time."
"Emily, do try and consider, if this is the size of me, how large do you think a spider will be?"
The blood drained from Emily's face. The thought of a spider that large made her squeamish. "Maybe I don't mind being little." She said.
"Don't be stupid!" Victor's eyebrows were furrowed. "How do we get the webbing?"
"Not too far from here there is waterfall. If you listen carefully you can hear the rush of it. You must make your way there and climb to the bottom. The land there is much more barren, the ground is dark, and many things do not grow. The insects that dwell down there have no eyes, but if they sense you, they will try to make food of you. Tread carefully. However, these little bugs shall not be your biggest worry. The spider lives in a cave, not hard to miss from the exoskeletons around it. You must get in, find webbing, and get out. You should avoid waking the spider, as he will make a fine meal out of you."
"Oh, but I'm not even hungry." Emily said, biting her lip.
"He won't make a meal for you, he'll make one out of you." Victor smirked then, but only to avoid the fact that, he too, was afraid.
"When you have all the ingredients, you should eat them, and you will become big once again."
"Thank you Caterpillar." Emily tilted her head and smiled. "If I see any ants when I am bigger, I'll step on them."
"Very good." He said smiling back. "Goodbye Emily and good luck."
Victor wasn't in the mood to wait around while Emily desired to stay and stare at the Caterpillar's changing colours. He grabbed her by the wrist of the hand that held the box, and pulled her back down the path they'd come from. "Thanks." He said in a low tone to the Caterpillar. The beast only winked and took another puff of his pipe.
"Victor," Emily whined. "I really don't like spiders that much, especially not big ones. Maybe I should wait with the Caterpillar?"
"Come on. I'm not fond of them either, okay?"
Victor paused for a moment and brought his hand to his ear. Emily did the same in mimic, but quickly grew bored of listening, and inspected her weapon. She had the desire to crank the lever again, but she knew who curiosity had killed. "You're back!" The familiar voice wheezed.
"Shh!" Victor said. "I'm trying to listen for the waterfall." Then he looked up. "I don't suppose you know where that is too?"
"Why would you want to go there?" The firefly asked nervously.
"We have to find spider's web." Emily answered, looking at her painted finger nails.
"Spider's web!" The firefly's voice was high and scared. "No, no, no, you can't do that!"
"We have to if we ever want to be big." The firefly cracked an anxious grin.
"Is being small so bad, then?"
Victor picked a direction and started walking with a heavy sigh. "So I guess you'll be no help then. Have a nice night on your own!"
"Goodbye." Emily said sadly, following after Victor. When she saw him, she frowned. "Do you even know where we're going?"
"Wait!" The firefly buzzed after them. "He doesn't. He's going in the completely wrong direction! I'll help you two, and not just because I don't want to be on my own. I'll help you because I'm brave." Victor rolled his eyes.
"Lead on then." He said resentfully.
The firefly fluttered above them, the ray of light guiding Victor and Emily closer to their salvation, or perhaps their doom. "I hope the spider is a deep sleeper." Emily said. The firefly looked back.
"Nope, he isn't. Not at all. One touch to his web, one vibration, it'll wake him up." Victor rolled his eyes again, even slower yet.
"Both of you should not bother talking." Emily licked her lips and pulled ahead of Victor, catching up with the firefly. A mushroom nipped at her, but missed due to being solidly rooted. She gasped and hurried on, gripping the box tighter. Part of her wanted to set it all on fire, then nothing would bite.
Emily looked back and grinned at Victor. "It could be a lot worse, Victor. There could be mosquitoes out. We should consider ourselves rather fortunate."
"I can't tell if you're being an optimist or and idiot." The firefly whimpered.
"I can see the waterfall from here." He reported. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay small? We could all find a burrow together, or a tree perch?" Victor ignored that and pushed a blade of grass away. There was a stream of water rushing off a cliff and terrifying noises echoing from below. Emily's legs were getting tired, while most of the journey was made in silence, it had been a long one, especially in heals.
Victor ran to the edge and looked down. "How the hell does that crazy bug expect us to climb down this?" Emily joined him at the side and whistled when she saw how far it went. The bottom was covered in mist. It must have been at least two normal humans deep.
"Like I said, perhaps you should go, I could wait up here." He smacked her on the shoulder. "I was making a joke, Victor, perhaps it was in bad taste but you shouldn't be hitting me." She turned to the firefly. "When we climb down, could you hold our things for us?"
"But that would mean that I would have to come along too?" She batted her lashes, even though her mascara had clotted.
"Please?"
"I'll fly back up if I get attacked!" Emily handed her the box, and Victor followed suit with his ingredients.
There were small ledges that seemed to lead all the way down, but some were weak and some were thin. There were times when Emily and Victor would have to jump down and hope that another ledge would catch them. After an hour, they'd only made it a small way down, the fog still disrupting their view of below, but the sounds had grown overtly menacing. The firefly was flitting about making feeble noises of "Oh" and "Ooh" but nothing helpful. He was too nervous to fly lower and find out what was waiting for them.
Victor had started crying, hoping that Emily and the firefly wouldn't notice. Most of the scaling downward required him to use his hands, but the dirt ground the wires and tore at the wounds. When it wasn't aching or throbbing it was a more overt, red pain. He had told suck in his breath, compartmentalize, and hope they would support him until he reached the bottom. Otherwise, he would drop to his death, and he figured Emily and the bug we're too incompetent to get things done on their own.
"Wouldn't want to be you." Something from above commented with a chirp. It cocked its head. "Long way to fall." It continued.
"Fuck you!" Victor yelled up at him. He was in too much pain to suppress his vulgar outbursts. "I wouldn't want to be you when I crush you under my heal!" It laughed and bounced.
"I don't get," I stopped and rubbed its legs. "I don't get, I don't get--"
"What don't you fucking get!?"
"Victor!" Emily scolded. "Yes, Cricket?"
"I don't get," Its voice was oddly nasally and irritating. "I don't get why you don't just take the waterfall." Its mandibles shifted.
"What ever do you mean?" Emily asked. Victor carefully edged along the path, even as it seemed like it would give out below him.
"There's a, there's a, there's a stream at the end of the waterfall. If you, if you, if you fall down the water," It laughed at the semi-pun. "You will land, land, land safe."
Emily giggled a little. "Victor, do you think we should?" She felt herself swell with joy. Her body was tired and the prospect of jumping, seemed more fun that it did terrifying. His hands were bleeding again so he agreed in hopes of ending his pain. "Thank you, Cricket!" She called lightly.
"Be careful." The firefly added grimly. The pair inched there was over to the loud water. Victor paused before it and Emily stopped beside him. "Well go on then." She urged. "I don't think I can hold much longer and I would like to land in the water, not all mangled-like on a rock."
"I can't even see the bottom." He said, swallowed and jumped.
Emily watched Victor fall with her eyes narrowed and her lip bitten. He screamed, however boys did scream, all the way down, and stopped. She couldn't make out a splash because of the mist, or hear the sound due to the water. "Maybe you should go down there." She told the firefly. He shook his insect head and landed on the ledge beside her.
"Not until you're there. I don't think Victor will protect me." She sniffed.
"No one will protect you if there are rocks below!" She groaned and took another look at the waterfall. With her eyes closed she jumped.
Emily held her breath as water pushed and pulled her downward. The pressure of it was tremendous, and her feet kicked in vain to find ground beneath them. There was a sudden release for only a moment, she had landed soft, and then she was pushed under and forward by the current. She swam out into an area of calm, pulling her head up and coughing. "You waited!" Victor said angrily. He was wading further out, with the water up to his knees. She swam over to him. He was completely water logged, his jester suit hanging heavy around him. "You waited to see if I made it or not!"
"If it makes any difference, I jumped still not knowing if you were alive."
"You look awful." He said very suddenly. She touched her chest as if she'd been cut. "All that makeup they put on you is running and your hair's all fallen down."
"He says, as if he thinks he is a prize." She glowered sarcastically, getting onto land.
Emily was completely soaked, but sighed with relief when she found out the clothing wasn't see through. She sat down on the black, cracked dirt and pulled off her shoes. "They're all wet, and I shouldn't be bothered with them any longer."
"Keep in mind, we're not safe here. Caterpillar said that things will attack us."
"I hadn't forgot!" She snapped back. The mist was a fog, when in the thick of it, and everything was obstructed. They both, however, started to get the feeling like things were moving around them.
"Oh good, there he is!" Emily exclaimed looking up at the sky as a light descended down. Firefly landed on the ground in front of them, panting with fear.
"Hurry, take your things so I can fly higher!" Emily rushed over and got the items, but she passed the ingredients off to Victor.
"Are you leaving us here?" Victor asked the firefly accusingly.
"Haven't I done enough?" He pleaded. "I'll surely die here!"
"Let him go, Victor." Emily said solemnly. "He really has done more than his fair share." She smiled warmly. "I think he's been a magnificent friend to us. Why, we've put him in more danger than we've protected him from." Firefly made a face as sad as an insect could muster.
"You had to go and say that. Well, I can't leave you down here, Emily. Not you." Victor let out a sarcastic laugh.
Emily was first to lead this time, putting her barefoot forward cautiously, expecting to be attacked each time. There were cracks around them, like old joints waking up again. There were times when the mist became darker, the shadow of something moving by. Firefly flew high ahead, but claimed that he could barely see anything. Victor was on making fists of his hands, even with the pain, and then unclenching them. "Nervous habits are easy started but hard broken." Emily warned him. "You mustn't do that."
Emily put her foot down again and a shadow nearby stopped. Victor and Emily froze in their tracks as the shadow began again, but this time, in their direction. Feelers became visible through the fog, and then a head behind it. "I've never seen a bug like that." She whispered. The beast was as big as her and like the Caterpillar had promised, it had no eyes. It walked on slick exoskeleton legs, six of them, and had a mouth full of teeth. It had long wings, but they were obsolete. It had evolved into a ground dweller, relying only on the sense of feel to find food.
The beast inched forward, feelers protruding, and it brushed them along Emily's face. When it had found target, it let out a banshee shriek, and its gaping mouth salivated. It charged forward and Emily moved out of the way. It still hadn't even registered Victor. When she hit the ground, the vibration of it gave her away again, and the beast charged for a second time. "Do something!" She screamed. The firefly launched down and tickled the back of the beast to distract it. It was enough to trick it into changing direction, the third time it charged, it went for Victor.
Victor was not as quick as Emily had been, the teeth collided with his chest before he managed to move away. By then it was too late, he was bleeding and terribly wounded. Emily was got on her feet, from damsel to a hero, as she snatched one of the beast's flimsy, rear legs. She yanked it free, popping it out of the socket. The beast fell forward, writhing and trying to stand back up. The imbalance of weight had stopped it. Emily ran forward and ripped out another leg, and it was spent. Green liquid oozed to the dark ground and it died from the lack of it.
"Emily, come here!" The firefly cried, buzzing over Victor. He was clutching his chest with his battered hands. "He's dying!" Emily ran over and kneeled at Victors side.
"No, he's not." She retorted.
"I'm okay." Victor agreed. "Just bleeding, a lot."
"If you're being sarcastic about the okay bit, then you're foolish for it." Emily said. "I know you're fine. My grandfather lost an entire arm in the war, so you'll survive this."
"Your sympathy is overwhelming." He said as more blood rushed between his fingers.
"Get up then." Emily stood up first and held her hand out. Victor took it with his own blood-slick one. She started to pull him upright, and the firefly came from behind to help, ramming his head against Victor's back. Emily inspected him more formally. He had nine wounds where the teeth had entered, and three seemed to be very deep. She tried to not give anything away with her face, though, he was in fact, looking rather grisly. She almost felt worried, then a bit of optimism escaped from her. "See, it's nothing, really. You just need some rest is all."
"Oh, that's great." He said. "If your idea of rest is fighting a massive spider."
Firefly flew low to help Victor walk, and Emily continued to lead. They did not encounter another insect, but after another half hour, they did find a wall, and the wall led to the cave. The air was colder, and Emily had to keep falling back to check up on Victor. He was extremely pale, and his eyes didn't glimmer with anger anymore. "You'll be fine." She kept telling him in a cocky way, but truthfully, all she felt was fear for him. She would say something mean back at her, and they'd pretend everything was going along perfectly.
Victor tried to maintain his arrogance, his look of power, but it soon broke as Emily leaned against the cave entrance. "It won't stop bleeding."
"He's telling the truth, Emily." Firefly chimed in. "I think I can see his ribcage when I squint." Emily licked her lips.
"It hurts." He smiled humourlessly. "Everyone says that when you're dying, the pain goes away."
"Then you're not dying!" She stuck her tongue out. "And it doesn't matter, because I'm going in without you. You can't come along with me, you aren't fast enough to run right yet. Caterpillar said the spider will eat you, and I should think that is much worse than the state you're in now. I shall be back shortly, so you hang in there. Firefly will tend to you if you should feel any worse."
Emily looked around the cave entrance, inside it was so much darker, and there was an ominous growl from inside. There were the empty shells of beasts like the one that had attacked her, just laid . What was inside would have to be much more fearsome. She swallowed. Part of her wanted to bring the pair with her, as if they would give her strength, but she knew her real courage came from going without her friend. "I don't know what you two shall do if I don't come back out." She said. "Perhaps, Victor, you should just get used to being small. You and firefly could always live in that tree together, right?" She laughed and took a step inside.
The first bit of the cave was without web, but it dripped. There was small amount of frost that layered it, but it seemed perpetually melting. There were many more dead, all pointed in the direction of the exit, they had all seemingly died, trying to escape. Emily thumbed over the box and kept walking. The cave grew wider and she tried to make her way soundlessly. If that spider was asleep, her only hope was to keep it was way. However, that growling from deep in, only grew louder.
The light changed and had become greenish. The bodies were no longer exoskeletons, they were corpses, some only half eaten and decomposing. For eyeless insects, they held a lot of expression, their faces solidified in the last moment of terror. The beasts seemed a lot more innocent when they were dead all around her, nothing like the thing that had attacked her. The ground was slimy as she ventured in more. The door was a long run away. The cave broke into a den.
There was a gigantic cave room. The stink of dead was wholly terrible. There was no sign of the spider, but there was webbing all over the walls, glistening with melted frost, and the green ooze of dead insects. She reached over to a section of webbing, and took a handful. It pulled away easily, but was sticky in her hand. She rubbed it to her pants. She looked back the way she came, the door was only a bead of light. "You're pretty if not rather mangy for a doll." The Spider said. "You face has run, you hair has fallen to disarray, and your attire is filthy."
The spider was above her, but he crawled down quickly and swayed in front of her. All eight of his eyes seemed playful. He had a human grin but with sharp filed teeth, not to mention two that were extended on mandibles. They rubbed together like two sharpening knives, making even, the metallic clink. His huge blue abdomen was twitching behind him. Emily took a deep breath in and put on her fierce face. "I'm not a doll!" She insisted. "I'm a real human girl, and right now, I am about to get much bigger."
"Humans have much more meat on them than dolls do." The spider hissed.
Emily tried to run, but before she could get even one step forward the spider had grabbed her with one of his claw like legs. He threw her backward, and she landed toward the bottom of a web, close by an insect with a caved in face. She struggled violently, stating to break away and getting on hand free. "Oh, I do love it when they twitch." The Spider said with a laugh. "It makes it all the more fun for me." A black tongue came out to lick over his blue lips. "You're welcome to scream, as well, Dolly, if the urge does strike you." Her back started to come off the web with violent heaves.
"Tell me something," Emily grunted. With her free hand she started to wind the crank of the box, a musical tune erupting. The spider moved closer still.
"What would you like to know?" She broke free from the web and as the music ended, she threw the box at the spider.
"Do spiders like fire?" The box exploded from under him and Emily ran passed the flames, feeling them lick at her arms. The spider's body cracked and popped from the heat, and he screamed as he burned alive. I suppose the urge does strike him, She thought as she ran. She remaining webbing ignited as she ran, the whole den going up in flame behind her.
Victor and the firefly yelled triumphantly when Emily collapsed on the dirt beside them. Behind her, the cave was up in infernal glow. She panted on the ground for a while, her lips touching the dirt. "We heard screaming, we thought you had died!" The firefly said, whizzing around her.
"No, I thought I would prefer the spider dead, than I." She said once her breath was caught. Outside it was lighter than it had been when she'd gone in. The mist was clearing, there wasn't a beast in sight.
"You killed the spider?" Victor asked, flabbergasted.
"I set him on fire." She said with a smile.
"But what about the webbing!"
Emily stood up and leaned against the rock wall beside the entrance. "You're just a little bit selfish, Victor. I'm ashamed of you really." She took the wad off from her pants, and held it shimmering, in the new light, for him to see.
"I could kiss you." He said. Firefly had help him up, tugging on the back of his clothes while flying upward.
"But you mustn't." She said very sternly. "We have more important duties to attend to, mainly, us getting large again."
Victor took the bit of spider web, and mixed it with green liquid and a bit of spider. He pulled it in two, each only about a mouthful in size. "Oh, and I supposed we're just going to leave firefly behind then?" Emily said angrily.
"Of course you are." Firefly said.
"We are?" Emily scratched the side of her head. A bit of burnt hair shook free and drifted down.
"It's morning." He replied. "I'm quite safe now."
"Oh. Well then." She smiled haphazardly. "Are you sure?"
"Very." He smiled. "In fact, I best be off right now."
"Now?" Victor asked.
"I can't be around when you two become big. I'll be smushed."
"Goodbye." Emily brought her hand to her mouth. "It was very nice meeting you."
"Oh Indeed, I feel the same about you two."
"Yeah, bye." Victor added.
Firefly buzzed upward into the sky, and Victor and Emily looked at each other. "Here," He said finally, handing Emily her half of the concoction. "We better eat this now. Who knows what that boy is doing to the others."
"Yes, I supposed you're right. However, I do wonder about firefly. I think I shall miss him."
"On the count of three, we must eat at the same time, It would be a waste if she just ended up squishing each other."
"Oh, fine! Let's not bother with sentiment then!"
"One" Victor looked at the bit of mush. It seemed revolting. "Two." He hesitated.
"Well?" Emily nagged.
"Three!" He yelled and both grudgingly swallowed the mass.
The first thing Emily thought of, was how bad it tasted. Then a funny feeling overcame her body. Little bits of her started to swell. It felt like she was going to burst. Her surroundings got smaller and smaller, but it didn't really seem as if she was growing. Victor was beside her, spurting upward with his nose crinkled. He smiled at her when their eyes met through the whimsy of it all. Then she got suddenly very nauseous, thinking she might vomit all around her. "Oh, I don't think I like this." She moaned. Cramped against Victor, finally everything stopped.
"Next time we see a little teacup that taunts us, let's vow never to drink. I think I we should stick to water henceforth." Emily said standing up. The waterfall was a small trickle of water, and it didn't take her long to crawl out of the hole. It was large, of course, scaling down it had been much more difficult. "How do you feel?" She asked, helping Victor out of the hole. His outfit was all bloody.
"Dreadful, but I've been worse. I'm just thinking about how we should handle that pig."
"Perhaps we should roast him?" Emily giggled.
The house wasn't very far away, they journey that had taken Emily and Victor and entire day and night, was only about one football field for them now. The white door they had come out of was open. "Let's go!" Victor said with his anger returning. Emily thought his rage was a good sign that he would recover.
"Oh, but do watch your step!" She followed after him. "I don't want the wisest mind in the world, squished under my tread." However, when she spotted and ant hill, she was sure to grind it underfoot. "Victor, wait." He paused and looked back at her.
The house looked weird from outside, it was crooked and leaning to one end. The paint on the outside was grey and chipping, and the windows that had let all the morning light in, were broken. There was music from inside and Victor was making fists again. "Are you certain that you're ready for this?" Emily asked.
"Yes!" He said. "What, do you want to wait behind?" She shook her head.
"Of course not! I've faced far worse things than some boy." She smiled. "Though, you should maybe go in first?"
Victor pushed the door open the rest of the way. The boy looked up with a stunned look on his face. He dropped the toy he was playing with, who screamed in pain as they hit the floor. "What have we here?" Emily asked, crossing the threshold. "A new toy?"
"There's a knife on the bookcase," Victor said. "He used it on us sometimes. Grab it, Emily." She ran over, careful not to step on any of the toys. She snatched and felt the handle firm in her palm.
"How did you two get big?" The boy asked with genuine fear. "You're just toys. You can't--"
Victor jumped on the boy, and hit his head off the ground a couple of times. The boy screamed and fought but was reduced to wheezing. On a fair playing field, he was no match. Victor got behind him and held him still. "Emily, kill him." She nodded and brought the knife up.
"You're much too old to be playing with toys still." She cut through the boy's stomach, the flesh gave way easily. His insides fell out, all over his toy room. Those that he had shrunk, rejoiced, and those that had legs that weren't broken, stood up to dance.
Emily brought her bloody hand to her forehead, in attempts to wipe the blood away with her wrist. She only smeared it across her face. Victor let the boy's body fall to the ground, and brushed his own wounded hands on his pants. She moved forward to give him the tiniest kiss on the cheek. "Now," She said. "What about me getting home?"