C'est fini! Phew, this one was hard to get through, but chickadees, here it is. Part 3 for your viewing pleasure.

Dollhouse Ch. 3

XXX

Sang

I have heard it said that time is a human construct. That it didn't exist outside of the human imagination. After being stuck in this hellhole for so long, I found myself completely agreeing. Time had lost all meaning for me in that empty, hollow room. Without any way of knowing otherwise, day and night had begun to blur together into eons of maddening silence and torturous hours under the "tender" mercy of my insane captor.

Sometimes Jaimie was present, but other times the man came alone. I always sent a silent prayer above whenever the small boy came into the room. It meant it was going to be a "good" day. Jaimie acted as an innocent buffer between that man and me. His little touches were always so gentle and warm in how he handled me. Compared to the almost indifferent and mechanical way with which that man worked with me, it was a godsend. One touch of his cold, impersonal hands sent my skin crawling. One whiff of his strong Spring soap laden scent, one that I had once associated with safety and affection, and my stomach churned in disgust. Just the mere sight of his bland face set my heart racing and the bitter tang of fear rising up my frozen throat. How I despised him.

Today had been a bad day. Jaimie had been noticeable absent and it was what I had begun to term "wash" day. While I was never fully undressed and the man never regarded me with anything other than clinical focus, I dreaded these days the most. He would remove my dress and ribbons to wash my hair. The worst part was when he would methodically wipe me down with a cloth. The first time, I had screamed so loudly in my head and tears had fallen freely from my eyes. Afterwards, he would meticulously doll me back up and leave me drowning in my mortification on my little chair. By now, I have resorted to retreating deep into my head and remembering the good times. I would remember my boys.

I remembered Kota's beautiful green eyes, his gentle smile, and the calm security he exuded. I remembered Victor's lovely hands that could produce magical sounds and his hypnotic fire eyes. I remembered Silas' strong and gentle frame which always gave the best hugs. His easy smile and deep rich laugh. I remembered Gabriel's joyful and exuberant face, so quick to change according to his moods. His dirty mouth and wicked sense of humor. I remembered Luke's lovely features and dreamer eyes, his playful disposition, and silky blond locks. I remembered North's intense dark gaze, overprotective smothering, and his gentle heart. I remembered Dr. Sean's vibrant and teasing green eyes, his flirtatious smile and his kind spirit. I remembered Mr. Blackbourne's firm yet gentle hands, his beautiful millimetre smile, and the laser-like focus of his steel gray eyes.

I missed my boys every second of everyday. I found myself retreating deep within my mind to block out the mind numbing horror of my situation. The boys were keeping me safe even when they weren't here. They were even saving me from myself. The only times I forced myself out of my thoughts was when my frequent silent visitor would creep his way into my prison. If not for my boys and my young recurrent guest, I truly fear that I would have gone insane by this point. Whenever the house would quiet and the silence would drag on, the older boy would slip into the room. He would usually walk up to me and scan me carefully, as if checking to make sure I was whole and unhurt. After a few intense minutes, he would drift towards the bed and sit facing me, like clockwork. We would remain locked in our quiet staring contest until the boy would pop up suddenly, as if by some unknown signal, and disappear.

Like all of his prior visits, the young boy with the emerald eyes walked up close to me today and carefully examined my current state. After a few moments, he nodded to himself and sat on the bed, his knees tight against his chest. Unlike his previous visits, he opened his mouth and began to speak. If I had control of my body at the moment, I would have jolted in surprise at his sudden, musical voice.

"Once upon a time, there was a happy family. The daddy was a doctor and loved his family very much. He was kind and strong and called the mommy his little queen. The mommy was the most beautiful women ever. Her hair was dark as the night sky and her eyes were as green as grass. The mommy and daddy loved their little son, Seth. The daddy gave the best hugs and played lots of fun games. The Mommy would kiss his cheeks and bake him his favorite cookies. The little boy was loved and safe and he was happy."

I found myself entranced in the little tale. The wistful tone to the young boy's voice made it very clear that this was no made up fairy tale. This was a very real memory and the boy, no Seth, was sharing it. He was trying to tell me something important and I was making sure I heard it. I focused harder as Seth continued his story.

"One day, the mommy and daddy told Seth that they had good news. There was a little baby on the way and he was going to be an older brother. Seth was really excited and listened very carefully when the mommy said that he was supposed to love and protect the new baby. After a few months, baby Jaimie was born and Seth and daddy were overjoyed. The mommy, however, got very sad for some reason. She stopped giving kisses and making cookies. She started crying a lot and wouldn't get out of bed. She wouldn't pick up Jaimie and Seth didn't know why. But Seth picked up Jaimie when he cried and gave him extra kisses. After all, that was his job, the mommy had said so."

I felt my heart begin to hurt for the childlike confusion present in Seth's voice. How bewildering such a circumstance must have been for such a young boy. From what he had said, I was now positive that he was telling me his family's story. I wasn't yet sure if his tale would explain my current predicament, but I was entranced nonetheless.

"Daddy was afraid for mommy and gave her some medicine to make her better. And she did get better. She stopped crying and got out of bed. She started laughing and smiling again. She played with Seth and baby Jaimie, with kisses and cookies every day. But it didn't last. When Jaimie was two, mommy tried to leave daddy. Daddy and mommy fought and Seth took little Jaimie and hid. Mommy started to walk away but daddy made her go to sleep for a long time with medicine. Seth and little Jaimie cried and cried. Daddy said that mommy was sick and needed to rest."

"Seth and Jaimie did not see mommy for a couple of days. When they finally got to see her, she was tied to a chair and dressed like one of the old dolls mommy had in her room. Hey eyes were open but she wouldn't move no matter how much Seth begged. Mommy started crying and Seth begged daddy to fix her. Daddy got very angry. That was the first time daddy hit Seth. Seth protected little Jaimie but he didn't understand what he had done wrong. Mommy was tied to the chair in the basement for two months. One day, mommy stopped breathing."

I felt ice drop into the pit of my stomach. Seth's mother had tried to leave and his father, the doctor, had kept her imprisoned in her own home, her own body, for two whole months. And she had died. At this point, Seth's voice had cracked and dropped off in emotion. Trails of tears coursed down his pale cheeks uninhibited and I felt an answering tear fall down my own cheek at his obvious pain. His father had killed his mother and Seth had been helpless to do anything to stop it.

"Daddy found mommy and he began yelling and throwing things. Seth took little Jaimie and hid with him in the closet. All he could think of was that mommy said he had to protect Jaimie, so he did. When it got quiet, Seth came out to find mommy and daddy gone. She never came back and Seth cried. That was the day that daddy started hating Seth. But that was okay, because Seth hated daddy too. Daddy stopped being daddy the day mommy died. He became Sir."

"Thankfully, Sir did not hate Jaimie. Sir still gave him hugs and played games and told him he loved him. Seth didn't mind the mean words, the anger, or the hits as long as Jaimie was safe. But Jaimie did not understand that mommy was gone and never coming back. He cried and begged for mommy and one day, daddy brought Jaimie a new mommy."

I felt my nausea well up instantly at what had just come out of Seth's mouth. Not only had he casually mentioned that he was being abused by his father, but her had also alluded to the fact that his father had kidnapped before. Somehow, I got the feeling that the doctor had not brought back the new "mommy" willingly. I was beginning to understand why I was here and I felt sick.

"The dolly mommies never lasted very long. After the second dolly mommy passed, Jaimie began to understand what was happening or at least understand that something was horribly wrong. So he asked Seth and Seth could not lie to him anymore. Jaimie was a very smart little boy and he understood then that mommy was dead. That all the mommies were dead. He cried and cried and Seth cried with him. Jaimie began hating daddy too. But Seth knew that daddy was a very sick and scary man, He was afraid that Jaimie would make Sir mad if he started acting strange."

"He made Jaimie promise to pretend to not know about what happened to the mommies. So when dolly mommy number three was brought home, Jaimie played along with Sir to keep him happy. Seth taught Jaimie how to stay safe, because Sir was a monster and he needed to protect Jaimie. It was his one job. Mommy had said so."

"All of the dolly mommies looked a lot like Seth and Jaimie's mommy. Their hair was sometimes different colors, but they were all small and pretty like mommy. And they all had her bright green eyes. Dolly mommy number three looked the closest to the real mommy and Seth found himself visiting her in secret. He began talking to her and he came to care for her very much. He didn't like seeing her scared and didn't want her to disappear like the others. He came to the decision to steal Sir's phone and call for help. He had developed a way to communicate with her using eye blinks and had gotten a phone number from her to call for help. Unfortunately, Sir was working a long shift and she died before Seth could save her. She died the quickest out of all of the dolly mommies and Seth had thought he had more time."

At this, Seth fell quiet for a long time, the tears re-falling as he rocked slowly side to side. The sheer guilt in his voice was crushing to hear and I felt my heart break for him. He obviously blamed himself for the girl dying. He felt like he had failed her when he was just a little boy. He was as much a prisoner in this house as she was, it sounded like.

"Her name was Amanda and she was twenty-three. She loved animals and wanted to be a vet. Se- no, I….I really wanted to help her and she died. And now here you are, number four. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him before. I'm so, so sorry!"

I felt another tear fall down my cheek and I just wanted to pick him up and hold him tight. This little boy had kept his little brother and himself alive for who knows how long and from their insane father. Sir, the doctor. Dr. Sir. I felt the mad urge to giggle at that thought, but my muscles remained unresponsive. I felt my hatred from the monster grow exponentially larger with each quiet sob wrenched from the little boy, his shoulders shivering and delicate as a bird's wing. His looks were deceiving, however. He was much stronger than I could have imagined.

"Seth? Why are you crying?"

Seth snapped his head to the sound as I looked on in surprise and apprehension. Jaimie stood in front of the closed door, looking unsure and hesitant. He had managed to slip in unnoticed by either of us. His cherubic face shone pale in the dim lighting, fear crystal clear as he gazed at his older brother. He fidgeted in place and shot a quick glance my way before refocusing on Seth. His normally bright golden eyes seemed tearful and glassy, as if he would burst into tears at any moment. Before I could observe any further, Seth was suddenly in front of Jaimie, giving him a large hug.

"Shh, Jaimie. I wasn't crying, see? I just had some dust in my eyes. I'm too old to cry, silly!"

His tone was teasing and tender, his adoration for the little boy crystal clear from where I was sitting. He ruffled Jaimie's fluffy, curly down and gave him a small grin. While I could hear the forced nature of his tone and I saw how tense his shoulders were, Jaimie gave a big sigh of relief and a smile lit up his perfect features. Just watching the two small boys standing next to one another, I could practically feel the strength of their bond. They had been forced to grow up quickly in abnormal circumstances, but had somehow kept each other strong and sane.

Jaimie glanced at me again and appeared to be fighting himself on something. Seth placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring nod. This seemed to be whatever the small boy needed, because he squared his tiny shoulders and darted across the room, launching himself into my chest. I was struck by a strong feeling of déjà vu, but the words coming out of Jaimie's mouth this time were a litany of heartfelt apologies.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so, so sorry! I didn't want to do it, but he made me! I'm sorry!"

The last plea was a wail of pure regret and I felt the last of my anger at Jaimie's role in my kidnapping fall away. I couldn't blame the little boy for following his brother's instructions to keep himself safe from his insane father. I felt a fierce and sudden need to protect these two boys. I may not have been in a position to help currently, but I swore that if my boys ever found me, I would take them far away from here.

After Jaimie cried himself out, Seth scooped him up into a comforting embrace, rocking him gently. Jaimie fell into a deep sleep shortly afterwards, snuggled tightly into his brother's side. Seth lightly stroked Jaimie's fluffy, curly hair and smiled softly down him.

"Thank you, Sang, for not blaming him. It's not his fault at all. It's mine. I was the one who told him to listen to Sir." At that, his vibrant green eyes searched my own before gaining a spark of determination. He smiled softly at me before he carefully made me a promise.

"I will save you from Sir, I swear it. I just need you to be strong and hold on, okay?"

His gaze was powerful and sure on mine and he seemed suddenly years older than his real age. I was struck suddenly with the impression of a little Kota. He was smart, kind, and a good protector. I believed him fully in that moment. He would find a way to get me out if my boys didn't find me first. He must have seen the belief in my eyes, for he gave me the first true smile I had seen from him. And it was truly beautiful. He reached down and gently tugged his brother into his arms and began walking out the door. Before he slipped out into the dark hallway, he glanced at me one last time, surprising longing and pain on his face once again.

"You look the most like her, you know. You look so much like mommy it hurts."

The click of the door echoed in the empty room and my heart broke for the two lost motherless boys.

/

Victor

The tick-ticking of the clock on the desk echoed loudly in my office. Sang's backwards clock. My eyes were drawn to the precious item as I felt a fresh lance of pain race through my chest. It was a common occurrence these days and it always happened when I found myself thinking of Sang. Which was every moment of everyday. Every second was pure agony ever since Sang had been had been taken from us, from me.

Three weeks. It had been three of the longest weeks of my life since Luke said he lost Sang. Three weeks that had melded into an eternity of fear, anger, pain, and desperation. The moment that Luke had admitted to losing Sang, a bomb went off silently in my heart, leaving only devastation in its wake. It wasn't possible, I had thought. This is a really shitty and sick prank Luke. It's not fucking funny. Not even a little bit. But as Luke broke down in the convenience store parking lot in front of all of our concerned and shocked eyes, reality hit me hard. This was not a joke. This was really happening. Sang was gone.

If it wasn't for Mr. Blackbourne's ability to keep a cool head and command absolute respect from our team, I have a feeling that we would have all shut down entirely. As it was, North had freaked out in spectacular fashion. Sang was missing and his brother looked like he had shattered into a million irreparable pieces. North had two settings: gentle simmer and explosion. He went straight to Mt. Vesuvius level as soon as Luke crumpled to the ground, keening like a wounded animal. Gabriel had seemed torn between losing his own shit and snapping Luke out of his mental breakdown. Silas was busy handling Nathan as he made to lunge for Luke again, a crazed look on his face as he spouted demands and accusations at Luke. The Doc was busy trying to snap Luke out of his freak out and Kota was barking orders at Nathan. As for me? I numbly walked up to Sang's broken cell and cradled it to my chest.

I felt a slew of thoughts whirl through my head as I looked blindly on the precious item. Had Sang been trying to call us? Had she been scared? Was she hurt? Did she think they had failed her? Was she calling me and I didn't answer? As similar thoughts swirled faster and faster through my mind, I felt my body begin to shut down in shock. It was the unexpected and loud bark from Mr. Blackbourne that snapped me back to the present. He began issuing orders like the leader he was.

"Mr. Griffin! You will cease that this instance. When we have recovered Miss Sorenson, you all owe me two hours, is that clear? Mr. Korba, I need the both of you to investigate the immediate vicinity to see if we can pick up any clues to Miss Sorenson's whereabouts. Dr. Green, Mr. Coleman, get Luke out of here and calmed down. Sedate him if necessary. Mr. Lee, Mr. Taylor, you will come with me and interrogate the clerk inside. Mr. Morgan, you will hack into the video feeds for the convenience store and the surrounding areas. What are you all standing around here for, move!"

At this last command, we all snapped to action. Now that I had a clear order, the numbing shock began to fade away and I felt my brain kick into high gear. This was something useful that would help us find Sang. My skills could be invaluable to getting her back as swiftly and safely as possible. It took him less than a minute to hack into the local video feeds. He watched in grim dread as he saw Sang's kidnapping in sped up reverse, only for him to watch it play out in normal time. He felt bile rise up his throat as he watched a giggling Sang, Nathan, and Luke enter the store. They all seemed so happy and Sang looked so beautiful, it fucking hurt. He watched, unable to do anything but gaze on in helpless fear as Nathan ran off and Luke was distracted by North's call. At the sight of the young child approaching Sang, he felt his hackles rise. He watched as Sang talked to the small child and watched her indecision as she looked to the distracted Luke. The boy began pulling her away and Sang pulled out her phone, texting as she went. As they turned the corner, I saw a man who had been leaning against the side of the convenience store in the shadows slowly began to trail the duo. My heart was pounding and I was screaming in my head.

Movement from one of the other camera monitors distracted me and I saw Luke whirl around and begin frantically scanning the parking lot. As Sang was stopped in front of a car on the side street, Luke burst into the convenience store. No! She was outside. Look there, I wanted to scream. But I couldn't really be mad. Luke's desperation was clear through his agitated searching, but by the time he was busting in the bathrooms, Sang was roughly grabbed from behind and I flinched as I saw a syringe go into her delicate neck. She dropped in seconds and the man had her and the little boy in the car by the time Luke began confronting the clerk. The real killer for me was when I saw Nathan pass the bastard as he drove into the parking lot.

They had both been so close! So unbelievably fucking close! I couldn't grasp how this could have happened. It was by simple chance that Sang had been taken without them noticing. If Luke had turned one second earlier, or had looked outside first, or Nathan had arrived moments before, none of this would have happened. They would have stopped it and beat the shit out of the bastard. After they had whisked Sang off to safety first. It was pure sucky coincidence that Sang was lost, that and the shittiest unbelievably bad luck.

It took me a few moments of wallowing in despair before I snapped myself out of it, knowing this wouldn't help. I had yelled for the others attention and we re-watched the whole thing play out, disgust and fear present in all of our eyes. The more I watched the recording, the more details sprang to mind. First, the car had slowly pulled up to the side street moments after the three had walked into the convenience store. Whoever the hell this was had fallowed them. The angle and lighting were bad and the driver's face was difficult to see.

Even after the man had gotten out of the car with the little boy, after Nathan had taken off for the car, he wore a baseball cap and had been careful to never face the camera. He had also carefully timed Luke turning away before he pushed the small boy in Sang's direction. The whole thing was so carefully timed that I felt my churning stomach heave. He had been prepared and had taken Sang down so swiftly, it was disturbing. It seemed rehearsed or coordinated. And to use a child like that as a lure? Sang's heart was so large and she bled for everyone. She would never have turned away an asshole, let alone a small boy in apparent need.

In the end, it was the obvious view of the car's license plate and the full view of the child's face that gave me the most hope of finding this psycho and getting Sang back. It took a day to figure out that the license plate belonged to a reported stolen car. It took one week to figure out that the little boy was not present in any known data base in not only South Carolina, but every surrounding state as well. By week two, they were grasping at straws in desperation. By week three, a haunted looked had carved itself into their fatigued and listless faces.

Sleep was a forgotten concept. Food tasted of ash and had lost all appeal. My eye sight would tunnel and double every so often. A headache had settled permanently behind my right eye, the sharp ache keeping time with my heartbeat. My limbs seemed to be constantly aching and my neck cramped from so many relentless hours hunched at the computer. If it hadn't been for the sheer power of Mr. Blackbourne's command and the Doc's firm insistence on rest, we would have all crashed and burned within the first couple days. I had been ordered to rest and refuel myself after the Doc caught me leaning against the hallway is exhaustion.

If I looked bad, Luke looked about a hundred times worse. After watching the video feed, we had all let go of any anger we had at Luke. Nathan had felt horrible for losing his shit and placing blame on Luke's shoulders. Nathan felt just as responsible for not saving Sang when he saw how close he had come to preventing this whole fucking nightmare. But no matter how much any of us apologized or attempted to assure Luke that he couldn't have known, he only appeared to crumple more into himself. Luke did not look at any of us unless ordered otherwise. I hadn't heard his voice practically since this whole thing had started. We were getting more and more concerned, but we couldn't break through to him. He worked himself relentlessly to the point of collapse and North had to practically shove food down his throat. Between the stress of Sang's continued absence and Luke's apparent imminent self destruction, North was in full out panic mode. Which meant he was angry all the time.

I was afraid that if we never found Sang, it would destroy each and every one of us, and Luke would be the first to implode. It was the constant mantra of panic and desperate anger that prevented me from truly getting any rest. I couldn't make my brain shut down and when I did get the odd hour or two of rest, nightmares of Sang scared and in pain haunted me. I couldn't get the image of that bastard as he overpowered and took Sang down. I couldn't erase her desperate attempt to free herself nor could I shut down horrific scenarios that my imagination conjured up.

After tossing and turning restlessly for hours on end, I decided to forgo sleep and dragged myself back to my desk in my office, intent on re-watching the convenience store video one last time. It was a pathetic hope that I would miraculously find a new clue to get our girl back. I had just started avidly watching the now familiar sight of a giggling and happy Sang being bounced between an equally happy Nathan and Luke when my computer's e-mail notification icon lit up. I instantly clicked on it in the hopes that my Academy contacts had found any clues that I had missed. At the unknown e-mail address with the blank subject title, I found myself frowning as I clicked on the new e-mail. A single sentence greeted my curious eyes and I had to read it three times before it sank into my tired brain. When it registered, I became instantly and electrically aware and focused.

You might want to hurry and find your bird Mr. Morgan, before it's too late.

-V

My heart began to pound heavily against my rib cage. I had to regroup myself before I could click on the first of the attached files linked to the e-mail. My screen was suddenly assaulted with a slew of images popping up in individual windows. They were going too fast for my eyes to really focus. When they came to a sudden stop, the air was sucked violently out of my lungs. I couldn't breathe. This couldn't be possible. My mind was refusing to accept what I was seeing and I felt bile rush up my throat violently. I rushed to the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet before the pitiful excuse of a meal I had consumed earlier made a sudden reappearance.

My stomach muscles clench tightly over and over again long after it had emptied. Tears were forced out as wracking sobs shook my frame and my vision blurred. It couldn't be true, I begged. But it was true. I had seen it with my own eyes. Darkness began invading my vision and I welcomed its tight embrace as I tried to reject what I had just seen. For Sang's beautiful green eyes had stared back at me, once bright and full of life, now dull and empty.

Surrounded in a thick pool of blood.

/

Sang

Seth and Jaimie continued to visit me alone when they could, for which I began to desperately look forward to. Seth would ask me yes/no questions to learn more about my life and my current state of well being. One blink for yes, two blinks for no. Was I an only child? Did I have a good family? Did I have any siblings? What about pets? Did I like to play games? Or sometimes it was more along the lines of was I hurting anywhere? Am I feeling tired? Did my head hurt? Do you want to sit on the bed? At every question, I would answer in such a way as to calm the protective and caring boys. I had come to care very strongly for the two of them over the last few days and I didn't want to concern them overly.

Whenever Jaimie visited with Dr. Sir, as I had taken to calling him, I began to notice the forced nature of Jaimie's actions. His grin was just a little too wide. His eyes would look desperate in their forcefully cheerful manner. His intelligent and witty banter was regressed to that of a very small child and he would flinch away from his father ever so slightly if he snapped at him. Once I had been made aware of his true self, it was incredibly obvious that Jaimie was not acting normally around Dr. Sir. I understood why his actions had seemed so incredibly disturbing to me at the beginning, because it was not natural in the slightest. It was an act that kept him safe and kept him alive. Dr. Sir never seemed to think anything oddly of his bizarre mannerisms and I always felt a huge rush of relief when Jaimie made it through the day unharmed.

Today, Seth was the only one who made it down to visit me. He claimed that Jaimie was having trouble sleeping normally, so he made him forego the visit today. I felt my heart warm at the tender display of over protectiveness from the young boy. It had become very clear to me in the last few days that Jaimie was Seth's number one priority and there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep the younger boy safe. Seth was more of a father to Jaimie that Dr. Sir ever was. Seth had just started asking me questions about who he could call to help me escape when the door violently swung in and hit the wall.

My eyes snapped to the door and I saw Seth violently start at the noise. Dr. Sir towered in the doorway, face lined with malicious intent as he bored into Seth's terrified eyes. His entire frame shook in barely controlled violence as his hands clenched sporadically at his sides. His face was a dark puce and a wicked gleam lit his eyes with an unholy fire. My heart would have been pounding desperately at the moment if the look of murderous rage directed on Seth's pale and trembling frame had not iced it over in my chest.

"You little shit!? How the fuck did you escape!? How dare you come down here!?"

His rage seemed to grow with every curse he shot at the small child and Seth shrank further into himself. In a few quick strides, he wrenched at Seth's small arms and belted him across the face. A litany of silent pleas and screams echoed through my head at the pitiful yelp that was forced out of the young boy's lips. Without a single word or even a glance my way, the mad man dragged his trembling son out of the room and slammed the door behind him. I could hear the cursing and pitiful cries for what felt like an eternity afterwards. As much as I had begged for it to end, the following silence was somehow worse. Tears streamed down frozen cheeks as I begged with all of my might that my boys found me and the small brothers tonight. That Seth was still alive and Jaimie unhurt.

I didn't see Jaimie or Seth again after that terrible night for a long time.