The soldier introduced himself. "Corporal Reginald Smith, at your service mum. These fine fellows here are Private Johnathan Andrews and Private First-Class Gerald Daniels." He gestured to the Rifleman and Drummer Boy, respectively. They gave a quick salute before returning to their at-ease positions. "And you must be the young mistress, yes?"
"Yes, my name is Aya, Aya Drevis." Aya felt calmer now. It seemed these dolls were friendly, at least. "Do you know my father?"
"Know 'im? Ha! He built us, he did!" Johnathan spoke for the first time, loosing his serious demeanor from before.
That's right, they'd been a birthday present from him a few years ago. He did say something about how they would keep them safe in their time of need. She never knew what he meant by that, but they'd always given her a sense of comfort and security.
"Right then, what's goin' on in this house anyway?" Reginald spoke again.
"You mean you don't know? Father's test subjects have come back from the dead! Mr. Ogre said it's a curse! They want revenge for his experiments!"
"Bloody Jesus! That's a lot to take in there, innit?" Johnathan exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hey! Watch your language 'round the kid, Jonny!" Reginald barked.
"Ah, right. Sorry 'bout that. Just a slip of me tongue." Jonny rubbed his forehead in embarrassment. "Who's this 'Mr. Ogre' you mentioned?"
Oh! He's- "Aya pondered the question for a bit, realizing she didn't really know the answer. "He's this weird salesman who appeared in my room. He was bald, with read eyes and pointy ears." The three soldiers pondered this information.
Gerald drummed a tune on his snare.
"Ha! Yeah, 'at's a good point there, Jerry! 'ay Reggie, you think any of these monsters are where our parts came from?"
"Probably, yes" Reggie said, facepalming. "And it's Corporal. We're still soldiers here, just because reality is breaking down don't mean procedure does."
"But didn't you- "Jonny began.
"Right, let's just forget about this little incident and get back to the matter at hand." Reggie cut him off. "Now, aside from that one- "he pointed toward the Blonde Ghoul's remains "how many monsters 've you seen?"
"Well, lets see." Aya thought back. "There were two dolls, though she got one of them just now. There's an undead cat in my room, but he's not dangerous." Aya felt a twinge of regret when she mentioned the cat. "There was this ghost woman, she said she was looking for her daughter. She's not dangerous either, just scared. If you see a little blond girl, let me know, I want to bring her back to her mother."
Jerry drummed another beat.
"Jerry says we'll keep an eye out. 'S good of you to be lookin' out for these folks; the ones not tryin' to kill us at least." Jonny replied.
Aya smiled "The only other monster I can think of is that other woman in the foyer, but I took care of her."
"Wait, you what!?" Reggie said in disbelief. "And 'ow'd you manage something like that, miss?"
"I knocked off her head with a chair!" Aya said proudly. "She had stitches keeping on, so it wasn't too hard." Aya smiled fondly at the memory.
Jerry and Jonny nodded in approval, while Reggie looked on in disbelief.
"Wait, hold on. Did you guys say that you were made from these people!?" Aya suddenly recalled Jonny's- or rather Jerry's comment from earlier.
Reggie nodded "'fraid so, luv. Nasty business, that. The doc likes to cut up people, take the parts 'e likes, and make livin' dolls outta 'em." So that's where the dolls came from. Aya shuddered at the thought.
"We wanted to do sumthin' 'bout it, but the Doc programmed us to only fight anyone who tries to attack 'im or you, especially you. Otherwise, we gotta stand 'ere and watch." Jonny sounded solemn as he said this.
Aya felt a wave of sadness overcome her again. Everything she learned about her father made him sound worse. Still, she had to help him.
"So, what's the plan, luv?" Reggie spoke again.
"Who, me?" Aya said, startled.
"Yeah, with the Doc outta commission, you're technically our commanding officer." Jonny spoke.
Aya wasn't sure how to process this information. Still, this was good, they could help find her father. "Let's check these rooms here first, see if anything's in them. Then we should look further into the house."
"Yes ma'am!" Jerry and Reggie spoke. Jerry tapped another beat. "He says 'yes ma'am' too." Jonny said.
Reggie took the right door, the one to the washroom. He was greeted with the stench of blood. In front of him was a sink with a brass tap. Over the tap was a mirror hung on the wall. Left of the sink was a shelf full of toiletries and in front of that, a mat. The mat was covered in blood.
To the right was a thin hall that led to the toilet, and to the left was a much wider path to the bathtub, which had similarly brass plumbing. Next to the tub was a brass towel rack and tray of the same material with several soaps. A trail of blood led from one room to the other, over the mat. As Reggie approached the tub, the stench grew stronger. He quickly realized the tub was full of blood, and had a doll bobbing inside of it. Of course.
Reggie took note of a strange glowing object on the floor by the towel rack. He picked it up and inspected it closely. A strange gemstone, perfectly transparent and seemingly without any visible flaw. It seemed to reflect more light than was actually touching it's surface, or perhaps even generating it on its own somehow. As he pocketed the gem, he heard a splashing noise come from the toilet room, followed by squelching, and a deep, guttural growl. He drew his revolver, and prepared to face the spirit.
The creature appeared to be a skeleton clad in shredded robes. In place of a skull, there was a bulbous gray head with a round mouth surrounded by a ring of white tissue. Whatever it was, it wasn't bullet proof, as Reggie quickly proved.
He paused as the shot reverberated through the confined space, causing his ears to ring. It was a good thing dolls couldn't go deaf. The thing's head shattered like ceramic, though with far more blood. Reggie sighed and headed towards the door. The things I do for this family.
Johnny entered the left door, to the dressing room. The inside contained several expertly tailored dresses for dolls hung up on mannequins, along with several hats on the coat rack and atop a shelf to the right. The top left corner had a wardrobe and a mirror for dressing. Its purpose was questionable since it seemed like the room was mostly for dolls. There were shelves in the top right corner containing shoes and hair accessories. Jonny noticed several red ribbons that resembled the one Aya wore in her hair. For some reason, that made him uneasy.
The center had a low table with purses and a basket full of yarn balls. There were also two suitcases there, as well as a steamer trunk atop a shelf. Why is there so much luggage in this house? Who needs these many suitcases?
The most notable thing in the room was a lone mannequin near the far wall, by the window. The dress was old and torn. It looked like it would disintegrate upon the slightest contact. The dress was red, with a golden chest and gold and blue details at the bottom. It must have looked lovely once.
Jonny walked over to the mirror. Instead of his reflection, he saw a twisted form only vaguely resembling him. It appeared only for a brief moment before the mirror cracked. He jumped back, startled by the thing, then berated himself for being so skittish. Come on, Jonny, you're a soldier damnit, so act like one!
The wardrobe itself didn't seem to contain much of value, just more clothing. Jonny sighed and left the room. He hoped the Corporal had more luck.
Back in the hallway, the three soldiers convened to discuss their plans. "Here you go, luv." Reggie handed the gem to Aya, who placed it with the others next to Snowball. Snowball reacted with confusion at the stone, but otherwise paid it no mind.
"Is 'at a rabbit?" Jonny asked.
"This is Snowball!" Aya said cheerfully.
Jonny reached down to pet the rabbit. Jerry tapped on his drum several times in rapid succession. "Oh, Jerry thinks we should move our stands to the foyer. 'At way we can stand guard case anything comes out the other rooms. We'd also be able to get to any room real quick-like if we 'eard sumthin."
"He said all of that?" Aya asked, confused.
Jonny shrugged "some of it's inference and explanation on my part, but yeah, most of it."
Reggie turned to Aya. "I think Pfc. Daniels's plan is a smart one. Much as I'd like to accompany you everywhere, we're not meant to be off our stands for very long. We're made to deal with robbers and the like, not full-on invasions like this."
Aya nodded. "Okay, then that's what we'll do. "