Kiara's whole body ached as she regained consciousness. She blinked her eyes open, her vision blurred at first. After a few moments it cleared as she rose to her feet, gazing around at her surroundings with wide eyes.
The room she seemed to be in was enormous, the walls and floor completely black. On the floor were many crayon drawings of different things; a pink cat, a clown, footprints, and an assortment of other random scribbles. As she looked around a bit more, she saw Trevenant, Duskull statues, and many of those creepy dolls as well as Banette dolls. The dolls all seemed to be smiling. Some of the Duskull statues had red tear stains that had trailed from their eyes sockets.
Kiara took a few steps back from the sight, attempting to clutch her doll protectively and search for the comfort of Garry's body, but found neither. She looked down at her hands frantically, seeing no sign of her doll. She checked around the area where she had woken up for any sign of the toy, but found nothing. Where is it?! she thought, desperately scanning the landscape for any indication of the fabric sticking out against the rest of the room's contents. She wanted to call out to Garry, but she wouldn't dare do that with all the dormant creatures sitting around silently. I have to find Garry and keep an eye out for my doll in the process…I hope he's close by… she thought, hesitantly taking her first steps deeper into this dark room.
Kiara wandered around a bit aimlessly, trying her best to avoid any of the objects as much as she could. Suddenly her eyes flickered towards a familiar body lying on the ground. Garry! She quickened her pace until she was crouched next to the unconscious man. "Garry?" she called quietly, nudging him awake.
"Oof…" Garry grunted, his eyes blinking open slowly. "Ow…ugh. I hit my head…" he complained as he rose to his feet. Kiara noticed his doll was still safely tucked in the pocket of his coat. "Kiara…Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone, though he still looked as if he were in pain.
"I'm fine…" Kiara insisted, trailing off as she shuffled her feet anxiously.
"Ah! That's good…" Garry blinked with relief, his mood brightening a bit. "At any rate…" he began to gaze around at their surroundings. "This place is full of scribbles…Is this the toy box?" he wondered, gazing up at the pitch blackness above them. "We fell in from the upper floor…after she pushed us…Well, let's look for the key and get out!" he said determinedly as he returned his gaze to Kiara.
"Right…" Kiara mumbled, almost not listening as she was filled with the anxiety of where her doll was.
"…You look kind of pale. Are you really okay…?" Garry asked as he examined Kiara a bit more closely. Giving in, Kiara quickly explained the problem. "What? You lost your doll?! That's not good at all!" he exclaimed in shock. "You had it before, so it must be in the toy box somewhere! Let's find it!" he said quickly, taking Kiara's hand and beginning to lead her in a different direction.
Kiara's anxiety didn't waver, even with Garry with her. She had a dreadful feeling about all of this. Hope flashed in her for a moment as she spotted something foreign lying on a spot on the ground that wasn't covered in scribbles. "Look!" she pointed towards it and began to pull Garry in that direction. However her hope faltered as she realized it was just a pink key.
"Well, at least we found one of the items we were looking for…" Garry said positively as he crouched down and picked up the key, putting it in his coat pocket. "I'm sure your doll is somewhere around here too," he promised.
Before Kiara could reply, a familiar voice could be heard nearby. "Ooh? What's this? A present for me?" Kiara and Garry both turned in that direction to see Mary. In front of her was one of those creepy dolls. However, it was moving, and handing something to the girl. "Yay, it's so pretty! Can I have it? Oh, thank you!" Mary cheered happily while the doll bounced up and down in delight.
"That…It can't be…" Garry mumbled before suddenly taking off towards the girl with Kiara at his heels. "Mary!"
"Oh! Kiara and Garry! Did you find what you were looking for?" Mary asked casually with a tilt of her head. However, Kiara's eyes widened upon seeing her carrying her missing doll. When Garry remained awkwardly silent, Mary continued. "But anyway, look! I just got this! Pretty, isn't it?" she smiled, holding out Kiara's doll.
Garry took a step forward. "Mary…that…That doll…"
"Huh?...Ah! You mean this is Kiara's? I thought I'd seen it before!" Mary blinked in understanding as she examined the toy.
"Mary, please…Give that back to Kiara," Garry said in a cool tone, obviously trying not to provoke her.
"Huh?...You want this back Kiara?"Mary asked disappointedly. Kiara nodded and took a step forward so she was next to Garry. "Well…Hmm…Wanna trade Garry's doll?" the girl offered. Garry's eyes widened at this. "The buttons on Garry's doll are pale green, right? I like purple and all, but I like green even more! See? This doll's wearing a green shirt, too!" Mary pointed to the creepy doll standing next to her. "Isn't she cute? Even Kiara said she was cute earlier! Remember?" she asked as the doll bounced up and down excitedly even though Kiara remembered no such thing. "…So? Wanna trade?"
Kiara and Garry looked at each other, both feeling conflicting emotions. She couldn't possibly ask Garry to take such a risk! Instead she simply stared at him silently with a lost look on her face.
Garry met her gaze with a grunt. "Don't look at me like that…" he muttered. He was silent for a moment before sighing and turning back to Mary. "Understood. Please give me Kiara's doll in exchange for mine," he said in a somber tone.
"Really? You sure?" Mary stared at him in surprise.
"Yes…" Garry answered, removing his doll from his coat pocket and walking towards Mary.
No! Kiara wailed in her mind. She wanted to say something to stop him but something felt like it was constricting her body and vocal cords.
"Heehee…Yay!" Mary smiled as she received Garry's doll. "Pretty pretty dolly…" Suddenly her expression turned wicked. "Ahahaha!" she laughed maniacally before taking off down the room, vanishing after a moment.
Garry watched her go in silence before heading towards Kiara and kneeling in front of her. "Be careful with it…" he told her gently as he returned her doll.
Kiara blankly took the doll from him, unable to meet his gaze. She felt like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry…" she said no louder than a whisper.
Garry chuckled. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong," he promised. "So don't look so down! And my doll…well! We'll just catch Mary and get it back! Let's do our best! I know we're almost there!" he said surprisingly optimistically as he got to his feet again.
Kiara took Garry's hand again absentmindedly, clutching her doll tightly. Suddenly the lighting inside the toy box darkened a degree, and Kiara felt Garry stiffen.
"What's with these guys?! Be careful Kiara…" Garry growled as all the dormant creatures came to life. The dolls started walking towards them like the other doll had. The Duskull statues seemed to drag themselves across the ground, making scraping noises in the process. The Trevenant headed toward them just as they had before the first time Kiara and Garry had been ambushed.
Despite the current situation, Kiara didn't feel as scared as she'd normally be. For one, it wasn't hard for Garry to navigate through the bodies, since even though they were mobile now most of them didn't have a clear sense of direction. Not to mention Kiara's mind was focused on something else. She was more afraid of what Mary was going to do now that she practically held Garry's life in the palm of her hands.
Within moments Garry led Kiara to some crayon-drawn stairs and headed up them. None of the creatures in the toy box followed them up. Kiara found herself in a rather normal looking hallway that led to the left. In the distance, she heard a sickening rip.
"Loves me…"
Kiara and Garry took a few steps forward in the hallway, immediately spotting one of the arms of Garry's doll lying on the ground. In the distance, there was another rip followed by the sound of Mary's voice.
"Loves me not…"
Kiara flinched as she realized what was going on. Mary was using Garry's doll to play that game she had told her about before! She quickly picked up the doll's limb and continued down the hall, spotting the doll's other arm lying on the ground as well. As she picked it up, she heard yet another rip and Mary's voice again.
"Loves me…"
Kiara turned her attention to Garry as the tall man took his hand away from Kiara's and placed the palms onto his knees. His breathing had gotten rather rough. He was silent for a long time before sadly looking up at Kiara. "Kiara, um…Sorry, but…could you go ahead? I'm….uh…I'm sorry…I don't know what to say…" he said awkwardly. "…I don't want to lie to you…But I…don't want to tell the truth either…If you need help…I'll come running…Go on…ahead," he told her, seeming as if event the effort to speak was too great for him.
Kiara looked at Garry's weakening figure in confusion. "Don't worry Garry! I know you're in pain, so you just rest here! I'll get your doll back from Mary and fix it! Oh, here!" she gently tucked her doll into his coat pocket where his doll used to be. "Take care of mine for me until I come back! I'll be back in a flash! Promise," she vowed as she quickly whipped around and headed down the hallway once more. Towards the end, she spotted the doll's leg on the ground and scooped it up. She turned her attention to the right, where there were more crayon-stairs. She could hear another rip and Mary's voice coming from that direction.
"Loves me not…"
Kiara suddenly heard a thud behind her and turned her attention back to Garry. She saw him collapsed on the ground now and fought the urge to go back and help him. She'd be wasting precious time she needed to get his doll back. Quickly, she turned back around and headed up the stairs. She heard Mary's voice and the ripping sound more frequently now. As Kiara reached the top of the stairs, she immediately saw Mary and took a step back. She carefully peered around the wall to look at her as she realized this was the same room that had held the toy box, though it had changed. Where there was once the toy box was now a doorway that was blocked by green crayon-drawn thorns with yellow crayon-drawn roses attached. Kiara turned her attention back to Mary, who was still ripping apart Garry's doll.
"Loves me…Loves me not…Loves me…Loves me not…" Mary said to herself as she tore off pieces of the torso and dropped them on the ground around her. Finally, she ripped the head off whatever was left of the torso and dropped them both to the ground. "Loves me! Ahah! Yay…Now I can…!" Kiara couldn't hear Mary's last words as she went charging out the door.
No! Kiara ran out of her cover and into the mess leftover by Mary's little game. "E-Everything fine! I can fix this!" she stammered nervously and gathered up as much of the remains as she could, making sure to grab the important parts. Then, as quickly as she could, she exited the house, stumbling down the pink crayon-path back into the section where the pink cube house sat. She recalled there being a sewing machine there that she and Garry had decided to save. She was glad they had saved it or else…The thought vanished from her mind as she spotted the back of the house.
Upon reaching the section, she immediately staggered to the front of the building where the sewing machine still sat unused. Kiara shoved the pieces of Garry's doll underneath the tube all at once. "Come on, come on!" she snapped as the normally fast process to fix a doll seemed to take forever. After what felt like ages, the sewing machine spat Garry's doll back out as if it had never been torn apart. "Yes!" she cheered with triumph as she retrieved the toy. However, she noticed something different about it. The doll's mouth was in a frown now. She ignored the feeling creeping up her spine as she held the doll close to her and rushed back down the path to the house again.
Even though she was going as fast as she could, Kiara felt like it took forever for her to return to the crayon-stairs and back into the hallway where she had left Garry. Panting, she slowed her pace, spotting Garry now sitting against the wall with his head hung and his eyes shut. He's just sleeping cause he's in pain… Kiara reassured herself as she reached Garry and knelt down next to him. "Hey Garry…I'm back…" she nudged him lightly. "You can wake up now. You're doll's all better, see!" she placed his doll next to him, but its ominous frown still gave her an anxious feeling. "Garry? Garry, wake up!" she said a bit louder, nudging more roughly but simply knocking his limp body over from its sitting position.
Kiara felt herself go pale. No…I can't be too late… "Garry, please, you gotta get up…I-I don't remember anything anymore…You're all I have left…Please Garry, I don't wanna be alone!" Tears started to stream down her cheeks as her voice cracked. "You promised we'd get out together…So I'm not going anywhere until you wake up! Oh, why'd you have to give her your doll?!" she sobbed, her body convulsing in the process. I should've been the one to take all this pain… she thought with a sniffle, placing herself next to Garry's rather cold body and curling up next to it. So cold…I think I'll just rest here…
