'I was by her side, day and night, but I saw when I wasn't wanted. I knew what was going on, but I didn't tell anyone, I could have but I didn't.'
Maria had been working for Alfred for a year now. She now knew why he truly kept her alive. She was busy at work, getting rid of the remains of his most recent work. Over the past few weeks Alfred had been worried about his wife, Monika, who had been suffering from illness. Maria placed the blonde-haired doll on the floor while she scrubbed as much of the remaining blood off the work table as she could. As she worked she heard the door to the basement open and then close, as if whoever entered didn't want to be heard. She knew almost instantly it was Alfred, or 'Doctor' as he preferred to be called where work was concerned, which she guessed included the cleaning up as well. Maria turned to face Alfred, who was now standing behind her. He pulled her in towards him. She hugged him like she always did. She knew it was wrong, after all he was married, and had a daughter, just… it wasn't her…it was him.
Maria never understood why Alfred had liked her so, or why he would do such a thing to his wife. It was true a divorce was unthinkable in this age but even so Maria felt it was still wrong. She loved Alfred too, so it wasn't like he was acting in such a way in order to gain something, he loved her truly, just… he loved Monika too. Maria always wanted to resist him, just until Monika passed away, it would be acceptable then. It wouldn't be long now anyway, her illness was incurable at this stage. Monika refused to let Maria treat her, Alfred had always deemed her jealous of Maria, but Maria wasn't too sure about that. Monika was suspicious, and Maria knew it.
It wasn't that Maria wanted to anger Monika, or get her to leave Alfred, it was that she feared for her life. She was sure that if she told Alfred her dilemma, and therefore stopped him doing these things to her, that he would have her on that table straight away, and she would be a doll within a matter of days. Maria pulled away from Alfred for a moment, and looked him in the eye. She knew he took this as an invitation to give her something to do and for her to go and do so.
'Maria..' He always spoke to her with a much softer voice than he used for his wife, though she wasn't sure why, 'take that doll and seat her on the third shelf of the doll room, please.' They exchanged a friendly smile before Maria turned to pick up the doll.
The doll room always made Maria feel uneasy. All of those eyes watching her, staring her down, angry at her for helping him turn them into such beings. The walked over to the third shelf, and carefully sat the doll down in the space. She kissed the doll on the forehead, like she always did. She knew these weren't dolls, they were humans, dead humans. She did it as a sign of respect… and regret. They didn't deserve to die.
As she tuned to exit the room, she caught sight of the beautiful golden haired doll that always sat on the large red armchair at the back of the room. It was glowing. Fear stuc Maria as she watched the doll slowly raise it's left arm, her left arm.