A/N: What? This is still a thing? Okay.

Edited 3/20/2013

Once a Doll

A fanfiction by MidnightResWri

Adopted from Jeanette9a

A beautiful doll was found in the attic today.

Chapter One

The sun fell beneath the horizon as the train slowed to a stop, surrounded by trees and brush. Black smoke billowed from the single engine in its dying moments. A rush of frantic voices followed the untimely delay in their travels. Two men jumped off the train, running to the first car, toolkits firmly in hand. Others filed off the train, hoping to catch a glimpse of the commotion. It wasn't often the train broke down.

Frederich stepped off a middle car; a small figure tried to follow him, but he held up a hand. "Stay inside," he ordered. "I don't want you wandering off. Lock the door behind you, won't you?"

He glanced over when the door slid shut and the locking mechanism clicked into place. "Well, now that little detail is out of the way," muttered Frederich. He strolled along the side of the train, scowling at his 'hired' hands, and twirled his staff. He raised his voice, "What's the damage to the engines this time?"

"Something was blown out," said a mechanic, poking his head out of the window. He coughed and waved a hand around his head. "There's a lot of smoke in here, so we won't know what exactly until it's mostly clear."

The ringmaster ground his teeth, "I don't pay you to wait around. I pay you to fix my things!"

The man fell back into the engine room and out of sight. Frederich scoffed and took out his pocket watch. The Circus Gothica was already late for their opening ceremonies in the next town. "Dreadful," he spat. "But, not a total loss. We can play this off. We have before."

Frederich glanced at his people, barely taking notice of the occasional, involuntary flash of red in their eyes. "Get back inside," he snapped. "I want us ready to move the millisecond that engine is back up and running."

The performers nodded and moved slowly back to their own cars, not sparing another glance to the damaged engine.

The windows of the train cast off a soft glow on the grass beneath it. Silhouettes of the performers shifted along the cars. The engines were still down. Just as planned.

State police waited in the surrounding trees around the downed train. They said nothing and kept as still as possible to minimize the chances of discovery.

Vlad Masters, flanked by two officers assigned to bodyguard him (meaning they were there to keep him away from the action so the rest could do their jobs), crouched and held a pistol close to his chest. He didn't need it, but he couldn't have the officers knowing that.

The police nearest to him performed last minute checks of their gear and equipment, waiting for the signal to move in and begin the raid. Vlad felt the tension of the gathered forces. His own shoulders tightened and his back ached from the lack of movement. The silence rang in his ears as he waited with bated breath for the signal to move in. Then, the radios crackled to life, "It's time, move in."

As one, the unit stood and began stalking toward the train. The billionaire followed an officer assigned to keep him safe. His other babysitter walked behind him. Vlad was only there because he made sure his presence was ordered by the Wisconsin governor. The man was far too easy to persuade. The police, of course, would have rather left Vlad behind.

But, Vlad was the reason the raid was even happening and he wasn't going to miss a moment of that petty thief being ruined.

They arrived at the train, silent orders through hand signs directed the men along the length of the train. Men moved, their equipment rustling, and kept close to the cars, out of immediate sight of the passengers. Vlad and his two escorts positioned themselves in front of a darkened car. Likely, no one would be inside. That suited Vlad just fine. He would rather look for his stolen property than deal with the criminal scum that worked for Frederich "Freakshow" Showenhower.

Once every man was in position, the signal was given and the raid began. Officers forced the doors open and entered the interior. Surprised cries and the sound of barked orders soon filled the night air. Vlad's group of three tried the door, finding it locked. "This must be their cache," said one officer.

"That's the best bet," grunted the female. She tried the door a second time. "It's locked from the inside."

Vlad put a hand to the door, feeling the repulsion of a ghost shield on the other side. His frown deepened. The car definitely held something the freak wanted no one to have access to. "What is inside that's so valuable?" he voice, tapping a hand to his chin.

"Masters," the male placed a hand on his chest, voice authoritative, "we're going to kick the door in. You need to step back."

Vlad did as ordered, knowing full well they would not hesitate to force him back if he hadn't complied. Moving over the connector between cars and standing by its door, Vlad watched the officers prepare themselves. They lifted their legs in unison and kicked at the wooden entrance. It gave only a little from their combined effort and they kicked it again, this time succeeding.

The mechanism keeping the ghost shield active must have been broken. The usual green from shields wasn't present. Rows of boxes and crates stacked haphazardly could be seen from the scant light pouring in. The officers clicked their flashlights on and entered.

The billionaire followed after them, intent on staking out what was his. The police stopped near the entrance, examining the locks on the containers. "Must be hiding something pretty important," muttered the female.

"No kidding, Laney," said her partner, tugging at the combination lock. "Shame we didn't bring any bolt cutters."

Vlad ignored them and moved deeper into the car. He stepped over boxes in his path and pretended that he knew exactly what he was doing. A hand brushed some of the locks long enough for him to make them intangible. If the officers made it that far, they'd be quick to notice some containers open. They'd be able to start confirming their guesses about the contents of the boxes.

Of course, if they should find his property in one of those freed boxes, Vlad would be more than happy to reclaim it.

Cloth rustled somewhere to his right. Turning quickly, Vlad clicked on his flashlight, shining it into the darkness around him. He frowned when he saw nothing and turned his attention to unlocking more containers.

A box moved along the floor—again from the right—and caught his attention. A sharp intake of breath followed that. Curious, Vlad navigated the cluttered mess of the car until he reached the space the noises originated. He spied a quick movement of what he suspected to be a hand behind one of the larger crates. Vlad narrowed his eyes at the spot.

"Masters," called the male officer, "you okay back there?"

Vlad scowled. He didn't want to answer them. There was someone else in that car with them.

"Sir, do you need assistance?" asked Laney.

"I'm fine," replied Vlad and then mumbled expletives under his breath. Cloth rustled again behind the crate.

Vlad stepped around it and saw a huddled child in a gothic styled dress. His flashlight focused on heels that cut into the feet. Vlad slowly moved the light over the small figure, noticing that she hugged a doll tightly to her chest. Long, black, styled hair, fell over her shoulders and hid her face. He could see one blue eye peeking up at him. The child's pupil was dilated in fear.

This was rather confusing, in all honesty. Why would there be a child in that car? Vlad stroked his goatee for a moment as he studied the girl. When he'd seen the show of Circus Gothica himself some years ago, he remembered one performer, a child, who was rising in popularity. But, she had white hair and green eyes. A simple cosmetic change, really.

Vlad probed his memory for the show name of the child. He smiled the moment it returned to him.

"Hello there," he said, kneeling down to the child's level. "Are you Eidolon?"

The girl looked up at him, using a gloved hand to push some hair out of her face. She bit her lip and nodded. Her eyes flicked down to the doll, turning it carefully. The girl, Eidolon, curled further into herself.

"Eidolon, I'm Vlad," he said. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

Eidolon didn't answer him, stroking the doll's hair. Vlad frowned at the silence and said, "Well, we need to get you out of here." He offered his hand, which she did not take. His frown deepened.

Vlad grabbed her arm and pulled her up by force. He got a squeak of a protest and Eidolon started kicking at his legs and scratching at him.

"Come along, child," he hissed, pulling her forward. His legs ached from the violence she gave them. "I'm sure the officers would love to meet you."

Eidolon continued protesting wordlessly and Vlad looked down to see her blue eyes flash green intermittently. His eyebrows raised closer to his hairline as he stared down at the child. He knew one of the telling signs of possession was a change in eye color, but it wasn't tied to emotional distress. Not like the child's. And not like his own when he lacked experience controlling his own emotions.

Vlad didn't want to believe there was another hybrid out there and especially not one in the hands of a tacky circus like Circus Gothica. There had to be another explanation to the color changing eyes.

Despite the continued violent protests from the girl, Vlad didn't release his grip on Eidolon's arm. He even moved back down to her level and held her neck so she was forced to look at him. Her eyes were still changing between an ethereal green and her natural bright blue. She scratched at his face and abused his thighs.

Vlad's eye color swirled into a very angry and constant red. Eidolon stopped attacking and stared at him in what was likely fear. Her eyes settled on green and white, transluscent rings appeared around her waist. They moved only an inch apart before the girl recoiled, free hand grasping a necklace and trying in vain to pull it off her. Vlad recognized the failed transformation. He also recognized the girl's instinct to transform to run.

He scowled. It was becoming difficult to make rationalizations for the child.

His expression softened and his eyes returned to their natural cobalt. Vlad reached for the necklace and Eidolon flinched away from him. "It's okay," he murmured. "I just want to get a look at your necklace."

The girl was still tense, but didn't move when his fingers curled around the gem of the necklace. The chain connected to the dress, which Vlad discovered when he tried lifting it over her head. Instead of giving up, he examined what he could see of the device, shining his light where his own vision failed him. Along the sides was a thin crack indicating a weakness, which a small ecto-blast remedied.

Jumbles of wires and small circuits greeted him. Eidolon stared down at it, mouth hanging open. She touched a finger to one of the circuits and Vlad slapped her hand away. He needed a better look at its insides.

He pulled at some of the wires and looked over the circuits. It was clear the gem was a means to hiding the wires and the larger circuits of the device. It didn't look like any part of the necklace was attached to the girl herself so Vlad didn't expect any harm to come to her if he disconnected any of the exposed wires.

A spark of electricity jumped from the newly exposed wire. Vlad pulled more of them loose, effectively destroying the device. The necklace whined in efforts to remain functioning before falling silent. Eidolon stared at it for a moment, comprehension slowly dawning on her face.

Evidently, the girl wasn't dim and she proved that by disappearing from sight. Vlad blinked and couldn't feel her arm in his hand anymore. He stood up and brushed at his suit. Well, he thought, the girl could do as she pleased. Even if she was—possibly, Vlad reminded himself—the only other human-ghost hybrid in existence.

Vlad looked around the small space of the car for a moment. He let out a breath and returned to the sight of the officers.

"Masters, we were about to come back there after you," said Laney, smirking at him. She stood over one of the boxes Vlad managed to unlock for them on his way to the back. Gold glittered from within and he took a glance, seeing nothing but necklaces and rings. The woman held a small, thin camera over it, snapping shots of the contents to be used as evidence.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "It seems you were busy enough collecting evidence," he said. He wondered if he should mention the girl, Eidolon. He tightened his jaw and walked to the car's opening. The girl might have fled far from the train by then. It wouldn't surprise him, really.

"Find what you were looking for?" asked the male, taking pictures of the contents of another crate.

"No, unfortunately," Vlad admitted, sighing. He did find something worth much more than whatever Showenhower managed to pilfer. He smiled with that knowledge and clasped his hands behind his back. "I have, however, given a detailed description of the item to the chief of police of the precinct who will receive the evidence. She gave me her word to contact me when it's found and when I will have it returned to me."

"Of course." Vlad didn't have to see her to know the woman rolled her eyes while speaking.

He and stepped out of the car, content to wait for the raid to wrap up. When he returned to his mansion, thought Vlad, he could begin dedicating resources towards finding Eidolon.

A/N: Okay. So...this chapter actually took the amount of time from the moment I started it after the prologue to the moment it was published. Most of it was due to procrastination. But, every time I attempted this beginning, I knew what I wanted to happen, but I couldn't get it on the page.