Chapter 10

Come Back

Frantic rattling and clicking could be heard in Becky's mechanical arms as she attempted to soothe Oliver, who was now whimpering uncontrollably. The robotic maid gently rocked the baby in her arms and spoke to him with a soft voice, trying nothing but her best to calm him down, but to no avail. Sasha had the strong suspicion that the stress only added more rust to the gears inside Becky's body, which could've explained the loud clicks and rattling that was now filling the bedroom.

'Forgive my language lass, but it's a bloody miracle ya got out of that mess alive and in one piece.' Becky said whilst carefully patting the fussing infant on his back. 'I was convinced that ya were all goin' to die out there. If it wasn't for Daniel to sense that there's was something with his wife... God, I don't want to think about what would've happened to ya and wee Oliver here.'

'Yeah... me too.' Sasha replied. She clenched her fists to control the trembling that was still there. Never in her entire life she had to run this fast, and it was all so that she could live to see the morning... but honestly, it felt like she had survived one of the many death traps that were still awaiting her for the rest of her forced stay. It was such a relief to see that the mansion itself was unaffected by the corruption that was still growing in the garden like a hideous, poisonous oil stain; for once she was glad to be back between these old wallpaper-covered walls again. After she had slammed the backdoor shut, she refused to look behind her because she was convinced that the first thing she was going to see was the porcelain face of one of the terrifying dolls in the lake, who had somehow crawled its way out of there and up to the backdoor, with thick black liquid flowing out of its empty eye sockets and leaving a dripping handprint on the glass. That mental image was so clear that it turned the magenta-haired woman's skin ice cold and made her hands tremble even more, she had to do her best to push that image out of her mind. A sudden flash of bright green light made her squeeze her eyes shut, it was so bright that it almost blinded her. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Daniel had reverted back into his faun form... but it seemed like all of his focus was aimed at only one person at that crucial moment. He didn't waste any time. 'Take Oliver with you and follow me.' he said with a hoarse voice as he lifted up his unconscious wife in his arms and ran up the stairs with a look on his face that could only be described with one word; distress. Complete distress. Sasha didn't have to be asked twice about that. As she ran up the stairs, the door of the dining room opened and Becky hastily stormed out with a barrage of worried questions, all of them centered around their well-being, only for her to be interrupted by her own clumsiness; the robotic maid tripped over her own feet and fell face-first on the floor before she could've reached the stairs.

Now in the safety of Daniel's bedroom which was large enough for a Victorian-styled queen bed with light yellow sheets which smelled of lavender and had an elegant flower pattern, two large bookcases crammed with books (oh yes, this was the faun's bedroom alright) and a wardrobe which contained neatly folded clothes, and offered a view on the garden that must've been charming and beautiful to look at in the past, the residents of the mansion and Sasha finally were able to catch some breath. Paintings depicting lush nature decorated the forest green wallpaper. Right when his father carefully laid Brie down on the bed, Oliver suddenly started crying at the top of his lungs and kicking with his little hooves, as if he was trying to break free from the blanket that was wrapped around him. It was like the baby knew that there was something terribly wrong with his mother... and that thought broke Sasha's heart. The magenta-haired woman did try to soothe him, but when her attempt was proved to be futile, Becky decided to try it herself. Thankfully Oliver calmed down a bit after a little while, but his chubby cheeks were stained with tears and more were about to roll down.

Sasha really didn't want to look through the window, too afraid of what she would see if she did so. That rotting stench she had smelled earlier had found a way through her nose to the back of her head, were it settled down and would stay there for as long as the magenta-haired woman would live, she swore to God that she could still smell it even there wasn't a trace of corruption in the mansion. She looked at Daniel, who had propped Brie up against the headboard of the bed, slightly opened her mouth and carefully allowed a light green liquid from a bottle to flow in. The nymph seemed to have regained a little bit of consciousness, because Sasha could clearly see her closing her mouth and swallowing down the potion. However, it was clear that her health had suffered since the corruption of the garden; she looked so sickly pale in the light the old lamp on the nightstand produced and her breathing had grown shallow. Putting a cork on the bottle, Daniel kneeled down next to the bed and while he stared at Brie, he let out a trembling sigh. Sasha walked towards him and knelt down next to him.

'How is she doing, Daniel?' she asked.

The faun shook his head. 'She's in bad shape.' he said with a soft voice. 'The garden has been tainted and it is taking her health along with it. The potion I gave her may improve it a bit, but it's not much. Damn it, I could've made more if only the flowers in the garden hadn't been corrupted...' Daniel groaned in frustration and clenched his fist in his hair, trying his best to fight back his tears by rapidly blinking his eyes. 'Sasha... you have no idea how much Brie has completed me during the past five years. No, she hasn't completed only me, we have completed each other. Fauna and flora, going hand in hand, like it always has been. Brie is everything I have ever wished for and I could only see that five years ago... what a fool I have been to be so blind the entire time before that. I have been so blessed to marry her and start a family with her... Oh God, Sasha, I can't lose her now!'

'Daniel, listen to me...' Sasha almost wanted to lay a hand on his shoulder, but her hand suddenly froze in mid-air. She had no idea whether the faun wanted to be touched at this moment, chances were that he would snap at her for that. The magenta-haired woman decided to lower her hand. 'You are not going to lose her! There has to be a way to restore the garden. I'm ain't gonna lie, I have seen how freaking smart you are. We can figure this out. If we can find out how to do it, her health will go back to normal, right?'

Daniel nodded. 'Yes, you're right about that... but I've never seen anything like this before. Whatever has ruined the garden was nothing more but pure evil. It was death incarnate.' He turned his head to look at Sasha, his eyes still glistening with tears. 'I haven't told you this earlier, but... thank you so much for saving Oliver, Sasha. If you hadn't been there, then... then... My God, why would Dolores do this?'

'What do you mean?' Sasha asked, furrowing her brows.

'Aye, the lass is askin' the right question here.' Becky said while she was still gently patting Oliver, whose whimpering had now thankfully changed into soft cooing, on his back; perhaps it was the clicking and rattling that caught his attention and soothed him, since he was now carefully touching the robotic maid's arms. 'What are ya talkin' about, Daniel? This mansion is her home, our home!'

'The corruption couldn't have appeared all by itself.' Daniel said. 'Everything that exists here is because of the power of her imagination. There's only one logical explanation for this. She must've brought this corruption to life by imagining every detail of it. That's how it works. But still... why? What could be the reason for all this? Why... would she want to hurt Brie and Oliver? He's just a baby, for heaven's sake. After all the years we have spend together... I don't understand!'

'Wait a second now, this doesn't feel right to me.' Something in the pits of Sasha's stomach was telling her that none of this was making sense somehow. There was something that seemed off, big time. At first she didn't know why, but now it looked like it was falling into place. 'Look around you, guys. Why would she destroy something she has put so much effort into? I mean, I have seen how the place looks like, it's crazy! That garden out there was absolutely stunning, yes, I even admit that. And it's like Becky said, this place is her home. I don't know why, but... something tells me that Dolores isn't behind this.'

'Well, then who is?' Becky asked.

'I have no clue, but the answer might be out there. I want to look for Dolores, I'm pretty sure she might have it. Do you have any idea where she could be?'

'Um... honestly, no.' Daniel replied, glancing at Brie and gently squeezing her hand. The nymph softly groaned as a response before falling silent, that is if you would count out her shallow breathing.

'I see. But I'm going to find her, one way or another, she has got to be here.'

'Aye. I will take care of this wee lad, I'm pretty certain he's goin' to be safe in this room. Daniel already got a lot on his hands.' Becky said.

The first thought that instantly jumped into Sasha's mind was to call out the robotic maid for being too much of a coward to help her searching for that little white-haired girl, but she kind of regretted thinking that afterwards. After all, Becky did make a good point here, she quickly realized. Daniel had enough to worry about, right now at this moment he had to find a way to keep his practically comatose wife alive to see another day of their marriage and family life, a crying baby wasn't going to make anything easier for him. No, Becky was right, it's better for her to stay here and look after Oliver. And who knows what other dangers Sasha herself might run into during her search, poor Daniel would go insane with grief if something would happen to his son. And the only person she could blame then was herself for dragging him along with her...

The magenta-haired woman nodded. 'Okay then. I'll be off. You can do it, Daniel, believe me.'

'Thank you, Sasha. And please... be careful.'

'Don't worry about me, I'll run like hell if something happens. See you guys later.'

After she had exited the bedroom and closed the door behind her, the magenta-haired woman suddenly realized that she had no idea that she could actually run that damn fast. Maybe it was because due to the fact that she actually had to run for her life quite some times in her past... and she didn't always make it to safety. Cold chills ran over Sasha's spine as she shook off that thought. This wasn't the right time to think about those events, damn it. She had to find Dolores. But as she stared at the dark corridor and the stairs that would lead her to the main hallway, a good question crossed her mind.

'Where the hell do I start?' Sasha mumbled to herself.

There was nobody out there to answer that question, there was only silence. In fact, it was so silent that Sasha was actually expected one of the dolls from the corrupted lake would leap out of the shadows, black liquid oozing out of its eye sockets and filling her nose once more with the stench of decay whilst it strangled her to death with its cold, porcelain hands. Was that rotten odor going to be last thing she would smell before she'd die in this mansion. Sasha tightly clenched her fists and concentrated on her breathing, afraid she would hyperventilate. Damn it, she shouldn't be thinking like this! No way was she ever going to allow those dolls or another corrupted creature for that matter to put its hands on her, not anymore! She made a solid promise to kick all of their asses if they dared to do so. She was Sasha Banks and she wasn't going to let anyone trying to hurt her anymore, end of story.

Now that she had regained the confidence she had been keeping her strong through these past years, Sasha took a deep breath, slowly breathed out and began her descend down the stairs. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she could perhaps find Dolores downstairs. Her guess was the dining room. Hopefully Dolores would be sitting at the dinner table with a cup of hot tea and a slice of chocolate cake, her legs barely touching the floor as she playfully moved them up and down like any child would do and Sasha was convinced that she would offer to share the chocolate cake with her. Which made her think... did this child ever sleep? The magenta-haired woman had no idea what time it was, but she had the feeling that it must've been past midnight already. And then again, how could she go to bed and fall asleep with ridiculous ease while she knew damn well that a giant doll was out for her blood? No, that stuff would keep you wide awake for sure.

And just when Sasha reached the bottom of the staircase, something caught her eye. A thin ray of light could be seen crossing the dark floor, revealing parts of the deep scratches Charlotte had left as a product of her escape. The magenta-haired woman looked up and saw where the light was coming from. It was coming from a narrow doorway, a few steps west from the door of the dining room. Sasha slightly frowned in curiosity, the plan of finding Dolores at the dining table wandering off her mind before she unknowingly fully abandoning that thought. Whatever that door would lead her to, there was a big chance that Dolores could be there. Sasha decided to go for it. She opened her mouth and was about to call out the little white-haired girl's name, but immediately shut it when she suddenly realized that this could draw unwanted attention. She followed the ray of light, for some reason convinced that as long as she would stay in the thin light, she would be safe from whatever had crawled out of the garden and was now silently watching her in the shadows. If this was true, she would surely be safe inside the room... right?

The light grew immensely and spread across almost the entire floor (revealing more hideous scratches in the process) when Sasha opened the door and stepped inside the room. Laying her eyes upon her surroundings, the magenta-haired woman quickly realized that she had discovered yet another unexplored area of the enchanted mansion. It was the living room. A lit fireplace was the source of the light, producing a gentle warmth and shining on the pale brown wallpaper. The windows offered a view to the snowy woods outside, which the corruption thankfully hadn't reached to. The wild flurry of snowflakes had continued to fall non-stop, which made Sasha worry if sunshine would be enough to melt the snow away in the morning. Three dark red, leather couches and a wooden coffee table were placed on top of a light blue carpet. An old gramophone player and paintings depicting bouquets of flowers and bowls of fruit completed the inviting atmosphere that lingered in this living room, but much to Sasha's disappointment, Dolores wasn't here. The magenta-haired woman let out a sigh; maybe she would indeed be in the dining room then.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Sasha was about to walk away before this sound caught her attention. It clearly sounded like water dripping onto the floor, it was coming from her right. She turned her head and took a few steps to the source of the sound. The corruption must've reached the mansion, oh dear God, she was expecting to find black liquid on the floor. Sasha swore that as soon as she would see a small black puddle on the floor, she would run like a bat out of Hell and warn the rest. She looked down at the floor. A small pool of liquid had formed on the wood, but even though it thankfully wasn't the color she had expected... it was something just as chilling. The liquid was red. And the drops were coming from the ceiling. Sasha really didn't want to look up, but she had to.

What she saw on the ceiling made her eyes immediately widen with pure horror and she had to cover her mouth to hold back a scream.

It turned out that Dolores was here after all. The little girl was firmly pinned against the ceiling like a butterfly in a dusty glass frame. Blood was dripping from her nose, staining her nostrils and area above her upper lip. Her eyes were rolled in the back of her skull and her mouth hung open, frozen in a silent scream. Upon taking a closer look, Sasha saw that pale, porcelain hands had firmly grabbed her wrists and ankles, suspending her from the ceiling. Then, as if they somehow knew Sasha had seen them, the hands suddenly let go of Dolores before retreated back into the ceiling, instantly dropping her like a ragdoll. If Sasha hadn't been there at that exact moment, a painful landing would've been unavoidable; the magenta-haired woman managed to catch the little girl just in time before she could touch the floor.

'Oh Christ... Dolores!' she whispered, rapidly patting her on the cheek. Instead of her eyes rolling back into place like she hoped to, Dolores instead closed them. Sasha had no idea whether that was a good or bad sign, but at least it showed that she was still alive. 'Come on, wake up! Stay with me, okay? Dolores, can you hear me? Dolores!'

The magenta-haired woman's heart cringed in relief when she saw her mouth slowly closing up, still giving time for a shuddering groan to escape her lips. Dolores' eyelids parted, revealing that her eyes had rolled back into their place, thank goodness.

'Sa...sha...?' the little girl murmured. 'Wha... What... Can you please put me... down?'

Hoping that she had enough strength to stand on her own feet, Sasha complied, planning to catch her again as soon as this assumption would be proven wrong. Much to her surprise, Dolores indeed seemed to be able to stand up, despite a bit of wobbliness in her legs. The white-haired girl glanced at Sasha for a moment, then to the open door. In the light of the fireplace, Sasha noticed how drowsy her eyes looked. Did she even have any idea where she was? What the hell happened to her?

'I... I have to find Charlotte...' Dolores mumbled while slowly walking away. 'I'm sorry...' She waddled into the direction of the door, but a heavy headache suddenly made her head feel like it was about to explode. Sasha saw the pain on her face. Her eyes instantly slammed shut as she touched her forehead, wandering off her path in the process. Still walking, Dolores was so disorientated that she had no idea that she was walking right towards a large mirror in the corner of the living room. That's when it happened; Sasha saw her tripping over her own feet and she was falling towards the mirror. The gruesome mental image of Dolores' body shattering the glass, cutting open her skin on different places before dropping to the ground and lie there in a pool of her own blood turned Sasha's body cold. She had to do something, fast.

'Dolores!' she shouted whilst she quickly ran towards her, reaching out with her hand to grab a hold of her collar. In a split second, she saw the reflection of Dolores in the mirror... and she could swear to God that her reflection's hair was red. Just before her fingertips could touch the fabric of her collar, Dolores' body had already touched the fragile mirror. Sasha expected another gruesome sight to unfold right in front of her eyes... but the mirror didn't shatter. It was like Dolores fell into water. Her body went through the mirror without breaking it, not even leaving a scratch on her. And just like that... she had disappeared.

Sasha widened her eyes in shock. 'What...?' How was this possible? She wanted to know this so badly, but there was no time to wonder about that. Without thinking about what could possibly be waiting for her on the other side of the mirror, Sasha closed her eyes, took a deep breath and leapt after the little girl.

All the sound around her was cut off in an instant, as if an invisible button that would mute everything had been pressed. Sasha could feel her body falling onto a hard floor, causing a sharp pain to travel through her arm. Whilst still keeping her eyes closed, the magenta-haired woman dearly hoped that it wasn't broken. Suddenly a shrill ringing broke through the silence; it was a sound that Sasha could clearly recognize... and one that brought back so many bad memories.

It was a school bell.

Letting out an inaudible gasp, Sasha opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was that she was lying on a freshly-mopped, white-tiled floor, the smell of bleach drifting into her nose. The magenta-haired woman supported herself on her arms and managed to get back up on her feet. When she looked around this new environment, her worst fear had become a reality. It was like exactly how she remembered it. The red heart that was crudely drawn near one of the mirrors above the sinks. The white-tiled walls. The dent in one of the bathroom stall's door. Sasha's heart sank to her stomach whilst her legs began to feel numb.

This was the girl's bathroom of her high school; this is where the bullies would usually corner her and beat the living hell out of her.

Oh God, no, dear God in Heaven, she had to get out of here! Trying the drive away the sickening heavy feeling in her legs, Sasha was about to run to the door when three teenage girls appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye. The magenta-haired woman shrieked, nearly losing her balance but miraculously managing to stay on her feet. Her heart traveled up her throat, were it settled down and began to pound like a jackhammer. Much to her horror, she could perfectly recognize each girl. All of them were part of the school's cheerleading team, they were the most popular girls of the school. They were clad in their navy blue and white cheerleading outfits, their tops displaying the logo of their team's mascot; a snarling bobcat with yellow eyes. But there was only two things that was different about them, but that didn't make them any less threatening and more horrifying; their eyes and teeth had been replaced with mirror shards. The girls grinned from ear to ear as they stared at Sasha, who felt like she was growing smaller and smaller by the second. Blood emerged from their gums and trickled down the mirror shards, but they didn't seem to be in pain at all.

'Look who it is, girls!' one of the cheerleaders, a girl with short black hair, said with a singsong voice. 'It's that little rat-faced poor girl!'

'Didn't we tell you to stay out of our sight?' another girl said. Her red hair was tied in a ponytail. 'I bet you didn't listen, did you, you disgusting brat?'

'No, of course she didn't!' the third cheerleader, a girl with long blonde hair, exclaimed. 'She's too stupid to listen! I think she needs to be taught a little lesson. What should we do with her, girls? Tear those ugly, cheap clothes up so that her lazy cow of a mom has to stitch it again? Bet she has nothing better to do anyway, unless she can't even afford a needle and thread. Or should we rough her up a little bit?'

'How about both?' the ponytailed girl said, her grin only growing wider.

'Sounds great!' the blonde girl (obviously the leader of the three) gleefully chuckled whilst clapping her hands. 'Let's do it!'

They were going to do all of that, Sasha knew. And chances were that they were going to dunk a piece of clothing of hers in the toilet after they were done with her, just to rub in the humiliation. Nobody who was going to enter the bathroom and stop them, nobody who was going to help her. It had always been like that. Not a single person cared about her, because she was nothing, less than nothing. Once again, she was Sasha Banks, the laughing stock of McMahon High. The only person who could save her was herself, she knew that damn well. Part of the corruption or not... she wasn't going to let those bullies hurt her anymore. She had to get the hell out of here, right now!

'No!' Sasha shouted with a trembling voice at the top of her lungs. Regaining the strength in her limbs, she pushed the blonde cheerleader aside and ran towards the door, forced to listen to the mocking laughter that filled up the bathroom. Running through this door was the only possibility to escape reliving all of this. The magenta-haired woman swung open the door and ran away, expecting to enter one of the many hallways of McMahon High.

But the madness was far from over for Sasha. It all began to feel like she had stepped out of a surreal nightmare by leaping through that damn mirror and entered right into another one. Instead of a hallway packed with peers who were ready to laugh at her, she ended up in another room that she knew all too well. The door behind her slammed shut, abruptly cutting off the laughter of the cheerleaders. The magenta-haired woman's throat instantly ran dry when her eyes darted from left to right, observing the room she had wished to never enter again during these past years. There was a moldy smell in the air, evidence that fresh air hadn't been let in here for a long time. The dusty TV that was placed in the back of the room obviously had been purchased from a thrift shop a long time ago. The leather material of the couch near the TV had thinned up on some places and lost its shine. A simple, mint green, empty vase was put on top of the coffee table. A large table lamp next to the TV showed a ragged tear in the lampshade. Looking to her left, Sasha saw an old cabinet with another mint green vase on top that was placed against the wall. A mirror was placed above it. Oh yes, Sasha knew exactly where she was... this was the living room of the house where she lived in when she was a little girl.

'Why, Sasha?'

That familiar, saddened, female voice turned the magenta-haired woman's blood as cold as ice. Looking to her right, she saw exactly what she had feared for. A man and a woman in their mid-forties were standing next to her, just a few steps away; and just like the cheerleaders in the bathroom, their eyes and teeth were replaced with mirror shards. Not only did they look absolutely terrifying, there was also this unmistaken hint of sadness around them. The blood that trickled down their cheeks reminded Sasha's of tears. Yet again, she had to hold back another horrified scream.

Those two people over there were her parents.

'Why do you want to leave, Sasha?' her father asked. 'Baby girl, what have we done to deserve this?'

'Is it because we never could buy you the clothes and stuff you wanted?' her mother sobbed. 'Is that what it is? Is it because of that? We're so sorry, honey! We can look for a way to afford them, but please, I'm begging you, stay here! Stay with us, Sasha! Please don't leave! We love you!'

Sasha wanted to run, scream, shove them away, she wanted to do so many things to keep them away from her, but she couldn't do anything. Her entire body was paralyzed, it felt like her legs had fused with the sticky floor underneath her ankle boots. The desperate wailing of her parents filled up her head as they got closer and closer to her. They got so close to her that she could see her own, terrified reflection in their 'eyes' and 'teeth'.

'Sasha! Are you there?' another familiar voice called out. Dolores! Turning her head, Sasha saw that the voice was coming from the mirror above the old cabinet. 'Listen to me! You can escape through a mirror! You have to find one, fast! Run before you might get hurt!'

The magenta-haired woman didn't have to think twice about that. For one last time, she managed to regain the strength in her legs to make another run. She ran towards the cabinet and knocked off the vase, causing it to shatter into pieces on the floor. She climbed on top of the cabinet, not entirely sure if it could support her weight, but there wasn't any time to wonder about that. Holding her breath and closing her eyes, Sasha hoped from the bottom of her heart that Dolores' voice had not been an illusion.

The wailing of her parents was immediately cut off when she traveled once more through the mirror; less than two seconds later, she could feel her body touching a wooden floor. The first sound what followed was a lot more soothing; the soft popping of a lit fireplace, which brought along a gentle warmth. Sasha carefully opened her eyes. Upon seeing where she had ended up this time, she let out a trembling sigh of relief. She was back in the mansion's living room. Dolores was standing in front of her, but as soon as Sasha glanced up at her, she kneeled down with a worried look on her face.

'Oh thank goodness, Sasha!' the little girl exclaimed, laying a hand on her shoulder. 'Are you alright? You look awfully pale...'

Despite the fact that she was shaken up to the core, her heart was pounding like crazy and her throat fell as dry as a desert, Sasha gulped and nodded. 'Y-Yeah...' she replied. 'I'm... I'm fine, thanks.'

'Do you mean it? Do you want to sit down in the dining room and have some tea?'

'No, no, no... it's okay. Really. I'm alright, Dolores.'

'I see... But Sasha, can I ask you something?'

'S-Sure...'

'Do you perhaps have any idea what has happened? You see... my memory is missing quite a big piece. I only remember hearing Charlotte's voice in the living room and going in there... and I'm afraid that's all of it. Can you tell me what happened, Sasha?'

So she wasn't the only one with important questions... but her answer was going to be everything but pretty. The magenta-haired woman nodded. 'Yeah, but I've got to show it to you, though. Come with me.'