Her voice crackles to life over the speaker system, as Frank unlocks the doors and allows the line of people to start moving forward.
"Alright, people," Lex announces. "The doors are now opening!" The people in line chatter excitedly. Ashleigh can see Mr. Houston toward the front, surprisingly, chatting up a redhead in scrubs and a heavy winter coat.
"Please enter the store in an orderly fashion," Lex continues loudly. "Those here to pick up a Tickle-Me-Wiggly—" the crowd erupts into whispers again, and many people wave and point to themselves— "you can get those at the checkout counter, but remember: they are first come, first serve, so stay in line."
The customers file in, surprisingly following the directions provided. A few chatter excitedly amongst themselves, but most are quiet as they anticipate what comes next. Lex guides the line to the registers, where Ashleigh's waiting with a fake smile. Frank stands just behind Ashleigh, watching everything like a hawk.
"God, I'm gonna need a bottle of pepper spray," Lex grumbles, joining them behind the counter. Frank shoots her a small glare before the first customer reaches them. It's one they're all too familiar with, a creepy older guy who has no business in a toy store, yet he's in it every week.
"Oh, look!" Frank says loudly. "A valued customer! Good morning, sir, can I get you a Tickle-Me-Wiggly?"
"Yes," the man squeaks, "in fact, I would like all of them."
Ashleigh and Lex's jaws drop, and the people behind the man in line gasp and grumble.
"Wait, what?" Frank asks blankly. "Excuse me, sir, did my ears deceive me, or did you say you want to buy all of them?"
"Yes."
"As in the entire stock of eight hundred and fifty Wiggly's—"
849, Ashleigh thinks, but Frank doesn't need to know that.
Frank continues. "— at $49.95 each? That's—"
"Forty-four thousand, nine hundrend and ninety-nine dollars, plus sales tax," the man confirms, already pulling a wad of cash from the fanny pack at his waist. Frank gasps, grinning.
"Would you like them gift wrapped?" he asks, and the woman directly behind the customer shrieks.
"No!" she wails. "No, no, no! He can't buy all the dolls! Some of us have been waiting in line forever."
There's some grumbling from the other customers at that statement, and Ashleigh has a feeling that this lady wasn't one of those people who had been waiting long. She looked like the kind of woman who had probably bought her spot in line only a few minutes ago. She trades glances with Lex as Frank speaks again.
"Sorry, lady," he says snidely, "first come, first serve. All sales are final. Could I interest you in a gummy bug maker?"
She scoffs at him, before turning on the creepy man who'd caused all the commotion. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you disgusting little pervert. What's a grown man going to do with 850 dolls?"
The guy grins to himself. "Well, one will stay in the box for posterity, and one will be used exclusively for bathtime—"
"This is unbelievable!" the woman yells, and Ashleigh can't help but agree with her, as much as she hates it. The other customers do, too, by the looks of it.
"Lady, if you're gonna make with the hysterics, take it to Macy's!" Frank snaps at her, and her eyes flash dangerously.
"How dare you," she snarls, then speaks into her cellphone. "Are you hearing this, Gerald? Yes, call my attorney!"
Meanwhile, the creepy man is still listing why he wants so many dolls, much to Lex and Ashleigh's mounting disgust. "I will tickle one doll, and one doll will tickle me." He giggles, and Ashleigh tries not to gag.
Other customers are getting restless, too.
"I've been waiting here all night," one complains. "I'm not leaving here without a doll!"
"And I'm in a hurry!" another declares.
Another man makes his way from further back in line, shoving his way past them all. He's got a scarf and large rimmed-glasses, and Ashleigh recognizes him as one of Hatchetfield's only lawyers.
He introduces himself to Frank, holding his hand out to shake, but Frank just stares at him in displeasure. "Hi, Gary Goldstein, attorney at law," the lawyer says quickly. "I was a little further back in line."
"Gary, thank God," the woman drawls, and he goes over to her.
"Are you aware that my client, Linda Monroe, suffers from a rare, little understood anxiety disorder? And that any lasting medical conditions which may arise from stress caused on these premises are your liability, sir?"
Frank rolls his eyes, but Goldstein isn't done. The woman, Linda, looks smug and almost satisfied.
"I hope you have your finances in order," he says threatenly. "Get ready for audits! Audits up your ears, audits in your yin-yang, audits out your wazoo—"
"Alright!" Frank shouts a few times. "We're gonna try and be fair. We're gonna put a limit on how many Wiggly's each customer can purchase. One per person! You happy now?"
Linda's face drops again. "One?" she asks. "Of all the arbitrary numbers, why one? It should be a nice, even number that we can all agree upon— like four!"
That seems oddly specific, and Ashleigh can't help but roll her eyes this time. The other customers scoff and boo at Linda, who turns to them and says haughtily, "Well you can buy less if you want."
"I thought all sales were final?" the creepy guy says frustratedly.
"Look, you're not getting all the Wiggly's, you sicko," Frank snaps, and the man flushes in anger.
"Well now you'll be hearing from my attorney!"
Goldstein jumps in again and quickly reintroduces himself as though he hadn't just done so only a minute before. "Are you aware that my client, Sherman Young, is being discriminated against—"
"Oh, shut up, Gary!" Linda snaps, grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the crotch. He groans, stumbling away and muttering about his 'subpoena'.
One of the other men in line, wearing a trench coat and a blue scarf, jumps out and brandishes his wallet. "Forget this line!" he yells. "I'll give you five hundred dollars cash for one Wiggly."
A smirk slowly works its way across Frank's face, and Ashleigh groans. This can't be good.
"Now there's an idea," Frank chuckles. "Would you like it gift wrapped?"
The guy right behind Linda pipes up with an offer for seven hundred, and Lex tries to restore order. The guy in the trenchcoat shoves her away, and Mr. Houston tries to speak up for her, but the man cuts him off with a middle finger and a brief, "fuck you!"
Frank ignores the practical assault, holding one Wiggly doll over his head. "Show me the money, people!" He declares, and the customers start shouting numbers and waving wallets.
One guy breaks apart from the crowd. "This ain't right!" he yells. "I lost my job when the plant closed. I can't afford five hundred dollars for a doll! A Wiggly is $49.95!"
"Sorry, pal," Frank sneers. "The price just went up!"
"Frank," Ashleigh squeaks.
"Supply and demand is a wonderful thing, isn't it, Ashleigh?"
She trades nervous looks with Lex, who subtly shakes her head.
"Whoever pays the most for a Wiggly, gets a Wiggly!" Frank says.
"Well if you're not gonna sell me that doll," the angry man snarls, "then Iguess I'm just gonna have to take it!"
He lunges, rushing the checkout counter and wrestling the furry little monster right out of Frank's hands. All three employees try to get it back to no avail. The other customers mutter amongst themselves, staring at this guy in shock and awe. Ashleigh's heart pounds in her chest, palms growing slick with a cold sweat as her anxiety takes over.
She wants to run, but she's trapped between the counter and her boss, who would never let her go.
"Well, if he gets one, then I want four!" Linda declares, attempting to climb over the counter. Lex shoves her back off, but soon the other customers rush forward as well, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop them.
A fight breaks out between the first guy to make a bid, and the guy who'd grabbed the first doll. Fists fly between them, and suddenly there's a flash of something metallic in the fluorescent lights, then screaming. The man in the trench coat stands above the bleeding corpse of the other guy, holding a blood-covered doll in his hand, and a knife in the other.
The other customers start fighting, too, punching and kicking and scratching each other. Ashleigh gets dragged by someone grabbing her wrist, and almost yanks away before she sees it's just Lex, trying to help her get away.
Frank is uselessly trying to restore order.
—
Hannah turns and starts to run when Ethan tells her to, but one of the men chases her down. He just misses her, hooking his fingers into the bracelets on her wrist. They snap right off, falling to the floor, and Hannah doesn't notice until she's already hiding inside the play place.
The man gives up chasing her, and goes back to helping his friend beat and kick Ethan on the ground.
—
Lex and Ashleigh almost make it to the back room before getting caught by Sherman Young and another man— Ashleigh recognizes him as the homeless guy who always hangs around Beanie's— both with dangerous looks in their eyes. The girls try to split up, but the men grab them and pin them down, screaming in their faces about the damn dolls.
The homeless guy has Ashleigh, and he has blood dripping from a small gash in the side of his head. It trickles down his face, a drop landing on Ashleigh's cheek as she sobs and tries to get away.
Something like a hard punch hits her in the stomach, and Ashleigh curls up on her side, pressing her hands to the spot. They come away covered in hot, fresh blood, and Ashleigh realizes in a shocked stupor that she hadn't been punched, but rather stabbed. The sight of her own blood makes her head swim, and she can distantly hear someone crying.
Maybe it's Lex. Maybe it's Ashleigh herself.
She can't tell anymore.
Everything sounds like it's underwater, as the pain swells. It's no longer the dull punch she had felt before, but rather the sharp, blinding pain you'd expect from a stab wound. The weight of the homeless man pinning her down disappears, and Ashleigh feels so lightheaded that she might float away without him.
Another 'punch', although this time she can feel the blade of the knife, and another and another. She lays helpless in a growing puddle of her own blood, whimpers slowly fading into nothingness.
Paler than she'd ever been before, Ashleigh stops breathing as her heart gives out, eyes slipping closed one final time.