Where's My Dolly?

Well, it's about time I updated this story! I just somehow never realised how long it's been since I last worked on this and it wasn't until I started that I realised that we've slowly but surely ALMOST made our way to the final chapter! Sad, right?

Anyway, I shall let you crack on!

Chapter 21: You

Leaf had made several calls to Dr Abby, who had taken the cloth that was found near Gary with her to confirm her suspicion of what it could be, and to Daisy to let her know what had happened to her brother. Professor Oak was nowhere to be seen and no one had heard from him in a while.

Gary was still unconscious in hospital and Leaf had stayed by his side. To her, everything was spiralling out of control. She had barely had time to really consider and acknowledge what has happened in recent weeks: from her parents' attack to Dawn's death and May's traumatisation to Gary's unconscious state. The doll had already attacked all of those who mattered to her the most, what did she have left? A mess of a life and one hell of a hospital bill to deal with, eventually.

Leaf sat and thought about everything about the mystery, and looking at the photos of the victims, Leaf noticed something that seemed odd. Her brows were furrowed as she looked at the photograph intensely flicking from one to another.

"Hey, how's Gary?" Drew asked as he shut the door behind him. Leaf had been so focused on the pictures that she hadn't heard him knock and enter.

"Still unconscious…" Leaf said as she continued to think.

"What's up?" Drew asked as he approached the brunette and looked at the photos from over her shoulder.

Leaf looked up at Drew and handed him the photos. "Look at them. Tell me I'm not making things up. Tell me that there is definitely something up with this."

Drew looked at each photos for a long time, staring hard at them. "They're all brunets and blunets."

"Exactly. There are so many people with different hair colours in Pallet Town yet the victims all either have brown or blue hair and do you know what's weird about that?" Leaf looked at Drew who was starting to catch onto her words.

"The donors had blue and brown hair." Leaf and Drew said in unison.

"It's too much of a coincidence. The dolls are choosing their victims." Leaf added.

"It would appear I'm not on their hit list then." Drew pointed out and Leaf nodded. Surely they could use that to their advantage in some way.

Leaf woke up the next morning in her bed at the Oak residence. Daisy had sent Leaf home during the night to rest up and insisted that she would watch over her little brother. For Leaf, the night in bed consisted of horrible thoughts, lots of tossing and turning followed by broken sleep. How could she sleep safe knowing that the attacks were following a trend; worse knowing that she and Daisy both fell within the boundaries of the trend.

Drew had insisted on staying in the hospital during the night. If their suspicion was true, then he'd essentially be a protective barrier, the wall that could shield the vulnerable from danger though that was going to hard and risky to test.

Leaf rolled over and picked up her phone, checking it for a reply from Dr Abby. She had disappeared off into hiding with the doll last night and after countless attempts at calling and many messages fired her way, Leaf was starting to worry and even though Dr Abby did not fall within the trend of the attack pattern, the fact offered little comfort.

Daisy hadn't phoned at all last night either, a sign that Gary was still in his comatose state. Leaf was stumped at that thought. What should she do? The people she needed most at that very moment were either of no use or nowhere to be seen. Once again she was truly alone, a feeling she had become rapidly acquainted with in recent times.

It had only just passed seven and Leaf was wide awake and incapable of feeling anything except for the urge to restore normality. She rolled out of bed and opened up the blinds, taking in the somewhat bright scenery of the rising sun.

"A cup of tea would be nice right about now, right?"

Leaf turned around to the sound of the voice. "Correction. A tea with my friends and family before they were knocked out, went insane or died would be perfect."

Dr Abby approached Leaf, the doll still in her arms. She had placed a mini pair of hand and foot cuffs around the doll. The sight however, did not make Leaf any more comfortable than seeing it normally.

"What's happening with this, by the way? Are we going to remove its brains yet?" Leaf asked.

"Not quite yet." Dr Abby replied. "You see, the thing is, the brains used were from two rival gang leaders and these killings are kind of like a challenge to each other. Destroying one doll won't stop these killings but, will actually cause the other doll to stay in hiding and we can't say for sure if it'll still be a threat."

Leaf brought her hand up to her head. Her head ached all of a sudden as a surge of memories flooded back to her head. "This doll." She stated as she picked up the doll from Dr Abby's hands. This doll isn't the one from the forest."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, all of a sudden more alert than before.

"Positive." Leaf said. She was about to elaborate when her phone rang. "Hi, Daisy?" Leaf answered.

"No, it's Drew. Gary's woken up."

Leaf nodded frantically down the phone then hung up and dashed out the door, leaving Dr Abby to guard the doll.

Leaf couldn't dash down the halls of the hospital ward fast enough. All she needed right now was to see her best friend awake and well. Her hands thumbled for the doorknob and she opened the door shakily.

Around the bed sat Drew and Daisy and on the bed sat a slightly dazed looking Gary whose spikes on his hair were not as erect and on point as usual. Leaf ran towards the bed and threw herself around Gary. Gary, stunned, slowly started to wrap his arms around Leaf. Having a breathless brunette around him just now was no help whatsoever in helping him recover and uncover what had happened to him.

"You're awake." Leaf said as she pulled away and plonked herself on the edge of the bed.

"Clearly." Gary laughed.

"Seeing you completely out like totally freaked me out!" Leaf scolded.

"You make it sound like it was my fault."

"That's because it is!"

At that moment Daisy cut in. "I'm going to do the check-out procedures for you lil' bro." she said and dismissed herself.

"How long was I out for?" Gary asked once is sister had left.

"I found you last night and you're up now." Leaf said, "So… Not actually that long."

Was it bad that Leaf suddenly felt stupid for being so stressed?

"I don't know why you were so worried." Drew said, "The doctors did say he was going to be fine."

"Thanks for your concern there…" Gary muttered before changing the subject, "Did I miss anything while I was out?"

Drew and Leaf looked at each other before they started to fill Gary in on their hunch and Leaf's encounter with Dr Abby.

"So if your theory is true then, you and I should be out of danger." Gary deduced. It had taken a good twenty minutes or so of discussion and Gary had woken up fully in during that time.

Daisy still hadn't returned yet but Gary and Leaf weren't so worried anymore, and the fact that they were in a hospital surrounded by good- looking, attractive doctors, they felt as if they had even less to worry about and that Daisy was probably just taking her time.

Leaf had held back from telling them that she had remembered what the doll had said. If what she remembered was in fact correct, Leaf would rather not share the news and deal with it herself. Too many of her friends were getting hurt and that was not okay with her.

Daisy returned moments later and the gang left the hospital and returned to the Oak residence.

Drew didn't follow the others back to the house but instead chose to visit May who was still in a vulnerable state.

As soon as the others arrived back home, Daisy had disappeared off to the kitchen and busied herself with dinner preparations while Leaf and Gary took refuge in the old library by the open fire.

They sat in silence for different reasons. Gary sat in silence to let him come to terms with the newly revealed information whilst Leaf remained quiet as she tried to work out where the last doll was and how she could get a hold of it. She had a vague idea but whether it would work or not, she'd find out later.

In the distance, the pair could hear the growing sound of footsteps in the hall followed by the opening of the library doors and more sound of echoing footsteps, only louder this time.

Daisy slowly walked over with two plates of mini shepherd's pie and handed one to Gary and the other to Leaf. Gary picked up his fork and took a forkful of the pie then inspected it, Leaf followed suit.

"You made this?" Gary questioned sceptically.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're not exactly known to be the best at cooking." Leaf pointed out but ate the forkful of pie anyway. "Wow, this is actually good!"

"Really?" Gary tried his too while Daisy stood and watched his expression change to one of delight.

"You better appreciate this because I put a lot of effort into it!" Daisy scolded playfully before leaving the pair to eat dinner in peace.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Daisy would make something edible." Leaf said casually.

"Me either. Though the meat at the bottoms a bit burnt…"

"At least we won't die from undercooked meat." Leaf pointed out.

Gary nodded and continued to scoff down his plate in record time. Leaf finished hers a while afterwards.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Gary asked.

"I don't know. Just chill out and breathe."

"Breathe?" Gary questioned with a raised brow.

Leaf shrugged. "Yeah, you know. Just chill out and remember to take a deep breath. So much has happened recently, I feel like I've not had the time to just sit down peacefully."

Gary looked at Leaf oddly at first but then nodded for he knew exactly what she meant.

Leaf looked back at him. She never realised until lately how lucky she was to have him in her life, to have known him since such a young age and not hate each other or ruin it by dating each other and creating some sort of sexual tension between them. They had gotten so comfortable with each other over the years that she didn't even think that that was possible anymore.

Her eyes took in his features more vividly than normally; his spiky brown hair, his baby blue eyes and his perfectly sculpted jawline. She never truly appreciated how good looking her best friend was until now. But was it too late?

"Are you okay?" Gary asked, trying to bring her out of her trance.

Leaf nodded slowly then shuffled closer to Gary and wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head on his chest, seeking warmth and comfort from the gentle thumps of his beating heart.

Gary acted accordingly and held her close to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly enough to comfort her, but not enough to hurt her – the perfect medium.

They sat in the embrace for the next few hours and talked about anything and everything until the flame in the fireplace dwindled and the pair retreated to their respective rooms.

Leaf had laid in bed awake for a few hours before finally plucking up the courage and got up, packed up her things and slipped out of the house to find the doll; not before slipping into Gary's room and bidding him a silent but nonetheless emotional goodbye.

Leaf was thankful that she had managed to find a torch before she left, otherwise tracing the path back to where the picnic was and where she was lead to would've been impossible under the stark night sky. Her footsteps leading into the rainy woods were shaky and hesitant but she pushed on, ignoring the outcome of what could happen to her, despite knowing that the doll that would endanger her life was in a safe place under the watchful eye of Dr Abby.

Follow me, Henry is here.

The words of the doll kept ringing loud and clear in her head. Henry was gone now, he was in a safe place and she knew that. She had nothing to fear. All that was left to do was to recover the other doll; the one that should theoretically do her no damage.

Her gut instinct told her that the doll would still be in the last place she remembered seeing it at. She knew it. It just had to be.

She could recall Dr Abby saying that, theoretically, the doll won't move and would remain in hiding if the other doll was made inactive by brain removal.

But the brain hadn't been removed yet. Did that still count? Would the doll really remain stagnant?

Leaf looked down at the burrow-like path that she recalled sprinting down not too long ago. Her torch lit up the entryway as she fully took in the height, terrain and length of the tunnel that she had passed out down before. With one last deep breathe, Leaf prepared herself for the descend, but was stop before she managed to land her first step. She whipped her round to see none other than…

"Gary." Her hand holding the torch swung to reveal to the brunet who did not flinch under the harsh glare of the torch's beam.

"What're you doing out here?" Gary asked as he pulled Leaf back from the edge of the burrow.

"Out for a walk?" Leaf tried. Gary didn't need to know her plans.

"Really Leaf?" Gary inquired.

"Okay, fine." Leaf pouted then proceeded to explain everything, flailing her arms dramatically in the air during the exciting parts before concluding her story. "So that's why I'm here. I just know the doll will be here somewhere."

"I'll help you look." Gary announced.

"Really?" Leaf asked. Though, she wasn't totally surprised by that. Gary had always had her back since they were children, even when Leaf suggested the most obscene ideas.

"When have I ever turned down crazy search party fun in the woods at the middle of the night in the heavy rain?"

Leaf let out a laugh before she knuckled down and searched their surrounding area for the doll, leaving no leaf unturned and no soil undisturbed. Her back started to ache from being hunched up in the small underground cavern, if she could even call it that.

Gary had widened the search area to around the outside of the tree, though, he was not having any more luck than his friend. He eventually stopped for a break, leaping back into the underground where Leaf was. When he got in, Leaf was nowhere to be seen.

"Leaf?" he called out.

"Over here!" Leaf called back.

Gary could hear his friend but where was she? The underground wasn't that big. He could see most of it from where he stood, but none-the-less. He followed the sound of her voice until he hit what appeared to be a screen of viscous, muddy water. Without thinking, he rushed under the fall and onto the other side which sloped downwards. The wet mud-water mix formed a lubricating film that caused Gary to slide down the cavern and before he knew it, he stood next to Leaf.

"I did not remember seeing that wall last time."

"Me either. The rain must've casued the mud to seep in and form that." Leaf replied.

"Probably." Gary said but he was more distracted by the place. The cavern was huge! It must've stretched on for miles under the forest. In the distance he could see another wall ready to crumble at any moment. Gary walked up closer to said wall and stuck a hand through it, scooping out a fair chunk or mud that allowed him to see further into the cavern. "Leaf, come see this."

Leaf looked at Gary and wasted no time to get to his side. He stepped to one side and allowed her to look into the next room of the cavern. Her brown eyes took in the sight of the very thing they were looking for.

"There it is!" she said excitedly. She smiled a smile of relief. She was right after all! "We need to get in there."

"Not so fast." Gary said and pulled Leaf back. "This wall is a lot thicker than the last one. We'll have to dig our way through."

"We need to hurry! The doll's sinking in the mud!" Leaf pointed out frantically then started to scoop sections of the mud out.

Gary followed suit and dug as fast as he could, not even caring that his outfit was getting ruined by the mud – that ship sailed the moment he stepped out of the house followed Leaf in the rain.

Leaf hated the feeling of having so much mud wedged between her fingers, under her nails and in her shoes! She felt dirty and with every step or shuffle she made, her shoes made a squelching noise and the sensation of it was disturbing. To Leaf, it felt like she was stepping on guts…

After what seemed like hours of digging, they had managed to dig a big enough cavity that would allow them to pass, and without thinking, Leaf leaped in, her back scraping against the top of the opening and her legs touching the bottom. She landed right next to where the doll once was and quickly scrambled into a kneeling position to start her hunt. During the dig, the doll had sunk further down into the mud, leaving Leaf to guess where it was.

Behind her, the opening that she and Gary had dug out was slowly slumping, recreating a barrier between them. But Leaf didn't care. She trusted Gary to have her back. He had never failed her before and she was sure that he wouldn't now, when it mattered.

Gary watched through the porous opening as Leaf's legs disappeared. Frantically, Gary tunnelled faster, trying to match the pace at which Leaf was sinking at but it was no use; the more he dug, the more the wall refilled itself, the more mud there was to bury Leaf alive.

He briefly heard Leaf scream, "I can feel it!" before she sank neck deep and the wall collapsed completely, permanently trapping Leaf on one side and Gary on the other.

Leaf tried to pull the doll out from the mud that was suctioning it and stand up as well, but was it too late? She could feel mud drip from the ceiling above her.

On the other side of the mud barrier, Gary could briefly make out Leaf scream before he noticed the ceiling above him move along with the roots that held it intact. He followed the movement of the uprooting and it didn't take him long to work out what had happened. The trees were caving into the room Leaf was trapped in.

And she had no way of escaping.

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated! It always feels like yesterday to me. Hehehe… But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please don't punish me! I promise you I'm on a roll and I will update with the next and last chapter reeeaaaalllllllyyyyy soon!

I prrrroooommmiiissseee!

But for now, drop me a review and keep me happy! Love you all,

Silver-hedgehog

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