Chapter Text
Edwin’s blood ran cold. Crystal’s eyes were wide, horrorfilled and glassy with unshed tears as she met his gaze, turning around and trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. The cho made it impossible to be sure, bouncing off the walls, mixing with the doll-shrieks that still seemed far off, though one could never be sure, not here. T.J. had frozen for a moment, lifting a finger to her lips as she closed her eyes, brows furrowed. Blood started to drip from her nose, eyes moving faster and faster beneath her eyelids.
Another scream, and she opened her eyes, expression hard as she turned her head sharply to the left. ‘That way’ she said, already turning on her heel and running down the corridor, not so much as glancing over her shoulder to make sure her new companions were following.
They did follow, after sharing a quick glance. It’s not like they had a better option, and whatever it was she had done, she had seemed rather sure in her judgment. For someone so short, she was incredibly fast, and it made Edwin's stomach turn. It was the kind of fast you became not by choice, but necessity. The need to escape, to be faster than whatever’s hunting you so you stand at least a sliver of a chance.
They run down several long corridors, and Edwin swears those horrid doll-eyes follow them, their sinister expressions, the cracked faces make his knees weak. He can actually feel the shortness of breath, the sweat starting to collect at his hairline, the exhaustion from the stairs and previous rooms and the anxiety of just BEING here. Feelings he had not missed, in other words.
‘Can we..stop? Just. For. A. Moment.’ Crystal gasped out as they turned yet another corner, and despite the urge to just power through, they wouldn’t be much help to their friends if they were ready to drop from lack of oxygen by the time they got there.
TJ. stopped, closing her eyes again to do whatever it was she had done earlier. A few hairs had fallen out of her ponytail, sticking to her cheeks as she had removed her mask earlier. Dirt, blood and old makeup was smeared across her face, highlighted now as they had stopped just under one of those eerie lights.
She opened her eyes just as suddenly as she had closed them, expression grim as she faced the right. ‘We need to hurry’ she muttered, seemingly more to herself than to them, but it still made Edwin’s stomach sink. Had something happened to Niko? Was she okay? Several visions of Niko being torn apart by the doll-demon/monster entered his mind, and he shook his head firmly to rid himself of the gruesome images. No. He wouldn’t let himself go there, not now, not when Niko needed him, them really, to stay focused on the task at hand.
She doesn't wait for further comment, just heads confidently down the hallway, dirty, haggard shoes leaving the lightest traces of blood on the already horridly grimy floor. Crystal and Edwin stay close, the three of them thundering down corridor after corridor.
They almost ran into T.J. as she suddenly stopped, flinging an arm out to make them halt. She peered carefully around the corner before quickly moving back, as if she was almost seen, chest heaving and back pressed against the wall. She seemed to come to a decision, nodding to herself once before turning to them.
‘They’re there. Behind the door. The THING’s down the other corridor. I’ll lead it away, and you will get them out, and to the exit, m’kay?’ she said, phrasing it as a question, though it was clearly more and order than anything else. She would surely die, and Edwin said so much, after all, he’d spent seventy years trying to, and just barely escaped, and he was already dead! Who knows what would happen should someone living die here? He thought it best not to find out.
‘I’ll be okay. I’ve had worse odds’ T.J. said shrugging, though she looked paler, and was fiddling with one of the many knives of varying sizes strapped to her body. Crystal nodded, then gently grabbed the other girl’s hand between her own.
‘Thank you, for keeping Niko safe. For helping us’ she said, eyes fierce as she held eye contact with the younger girl, who nodded once, turning to leave. She stopped, one hand on the wall, back to them. Hesitating.
‘Get them out safely, yeah? Even if I don’t?’ she asked, and though her tone was even, Edwin could hear the slightest of shakes. She cared a lot more than she was willing to show. She was asking to look out for her boys, because they put themselves in danger to find her. And they were hers, despite her dislike of Minho, and anger at her brother for putting himself in danger for her sake.
‘Of course. What is it you say? Per aspera?’ Edwin inquired, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as she turned around, surprised. She half-smiled back, looking in that moment so much younger, he almost didn’t let her go.
‘Ad astra’ she said, before slipping behind the bend, the sound of metal being unsheaved echoing as she yelled something at the creature, leading it away. As her hurried footsteps got further and further away, the crashing, cackling sounds of the doll-demons with them, Crystal and Edwin carefully hurried to the door.
'Hey, It’s us’ Crystal whisper-shouts through the door, and soon enough there’s the sound of un-oiled hinges as the door slowly opens, revealing their companions and Niko. They freeze, just for a moment, and before Edwin can so much as blink, a flurry of now short, white hair and dirty colorful clothes quite literally throws itself at him.
He gets the air knocked out of him, and arms thrown tightly around his waist. Charles has tear tracks on his cheeks, and Crystal seems to be firmly hugging him, and scolding him for what appears to be a rather large gash across his thigh. Gally and Minho wave awkwardly, and seem to have figured out whatever their issues were, as their fingers are tightly intertwined as they follow Crystal and Charles out of their hiding-room.
‘Thank you, for coming’ Niko whispers against his collarbone, and he squeezes her the slightest bit tighter, resting his cheek on her head as he fights tears.
‘Of course. We couldn’t very well leave you here’ he says, because, it’s true. Just as there was no version in which Charles didn’t come down here for him, there isn’t one in which they don’t come for Niko. No amount of fear or logistics would have stopped them, and as they pull away, and he gets a proper good look at Niko, he thinks that even if he had to do it all again, the ripping and being gnawed on and ripped apart, he would. To get her back? In a heartbeat.
Niko’s hair has been cut to just below her chin. It’s growing in black, and she has a long, silver, thin scar across her cheek. Her clothes are still pastel-ly, but threadbare and patched, covered in blood and grime. She goes to hug Crystal, exchanging a few words as they all start to move back in the direction of the exit she stops, brows drawn in confusion.
‘Where’s T.J.? She’s..She’s okay, right?’ Niko Asks, eyes flicking from Edwin to Crystal. Gally perks up at this, head turning so fast Edwin’s surprised the guy didn’t give himself whiplash.
‘She’s leading the..thing away so we can leave. She looked a bit worse-for-wear, and had some blood on her, but she seemed okay, right? Anyway, she said she would find us’ Crystal answered, looking at Edwin for confirmation before shrugging. Gally nodded, a smile ghosting his face as his hand curled in his pocket, presumably around the necklace. Minho touched his shoulder gently, a look passing between them, not unlike the looks Edwin himself sometimes shared with Charles.
‘Well, guess we shouldn’t waste’er effort then?’ Charles said, taking a step forward and very nearly face-planting as his leg buckles. Edwin manages to wrap an arm across his torso just in time to keep him on his feet, but it's a near thing.
‘Ah. Oops?’ Charles laments, a sheepish smile on his face as Edwin fixes him with a stern look, hooking an arm around his back to keep him standing, grabbing one of Charles’s arms to sling over his own shoulder.
‘I leave you alone for five minutes..’ Edwin mutters, oblivious to the look Crystal and Niko exchange behind their backs. Gally and Minho just look confused, before Minho shrugs and they all start to move as quickly as they can to the exit and out of the dollhouse.
Niko, as the person currently best acquainted with the area (not currently supporting another person) goes first, Charles and Edwin following close behind. Minho and Gally after them again, footsteps light, eyes alert as they trudge on, eager to both leave, and have real, breathing proof that his sister is still alive, in Gally’s case. Crystal brings up the rear, constantly glancing over her shoulder as the echoes of doll-screeches get quieter and quieter.
They’re never fully gone though. You can always hear something, even if it’s so faint, that at times one wonders if it isn’t just an overactive imagination.
Edwin never thought he’d be so glad to see the upside down exit sign over the half-open door, cracked just enough to give him the idea of escape for seventy years, before he was finally quick enough to dart through. This time, Niko goes first, helping Charles through before Edwin and the rest of their little party follow.
It’s clear immediately when Crystal and the living boys can see what the rooms really hold. They’ve seen the doll-house demons now, and hell is more than happy to reveal its secrets to them now. Crystal goes very pale, and Minho looks like he wants to gag from the smell. Gally is surprisingly unfazed, though given how his sister..well, she seems to be readily armed and unhesitant to use said weapons, knows how to handle scary situations and is horridly fast for someone so small. He must have either picked up at least some of those traits, or been/raised in an environment to cultivate them.
Edwin hoped it’s not the latter. Even if it’s the former, his sister must have learned it from somewhere, or because of something. Charles gives him a concerned look that he shakes off, and tells himself not to enjoy the warmth he can feel radiating off him as their sides are pressed together once more, back in their previous position of support. He’d never be crazy enough to say there’s anything even slightly GOOD about hell, but if he isn’t..displeased about being able to actually FEEL Charles,well, that’s his business, isn’t it?
They’re dodging people as they maneuver through the room, vomit and sticky food-residue coating the floor, when something falls out of…a shadow? on the wall, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor with the kind of breath that makes it clear you just had the breath knocked out of your lungs.
They stand in confused silence for a moment, other than Gally, who immediately pushes past several people with feverish desperation to get to the heap. Minho looks at them, before quickly following, albeit less aggressively with the hell-victims. By the time they can see the crumpled heap is in fact a person, Gally already has his arms so tightly wrapped around them, Edwin considered it a miracle the other person can even breathe.
It is, in fact, T.J., looking even worse for wear than earlier. Mask gone, a bruise already blooming on her cheek-bone. Blood matting her hair, and her shirt and jacket are both looking a touch shredded like someone, or SOMETHING tried rather hard to rip her tin two.
She’s smiling, a real smile, and she looks so, so young. She can’t be much older than Charles was when Edwin found him up in that attic all those years ago, eyes bright as she laughs at something Gally says too quietly for the rest of them to hear.
Then, the screeching starts.
Gaining volume rapidly, the pitter-patter of uneven ‘steps’ and dolls laughing and screeching getting closer and closer. They all look at each other, Gally, pulling his sister to her feet in a single, swift motion, her eyes already calculating something, expression grim.
‘I distracted it as long as I could. It tried to play tug of war with me, so I had to shadow. Sorry’ T.J. says with a pained expression, already grabbing Gally by the arm and pulling him along, gesturing with her other arm for the other to follow, them not being quite as quick to act. They hurry towards the door that leads closer to the world of the living, just a meter or so away when the doll-creature crashes into the room, limbs outstretched towards them.
The ghosts serving their punishment go intact, though a table goes flying, blocking their exit. Charles and Edwin get pushed into the wall to avoid the flying bits of food and wood, Edwin’s shoulder and the back of his head smarting as they take the impact of the wall behind him, Charles landing half on top of him and groaning as his leg slams into the floor.
T.J. starts screaming profanities at the monster, giving Niko and Crystal an opening to help the boys up, Gally and Minho on the other side of the room throwing food at the monster to keep it distracted between them and the blonde.
Niko glances as her fingers come away bloody when she checks the back of Edwin’s head, crimson and metallic. He’s heaved to his feet by Niko, Crystal and Charles sending him worried glances as they hobble to the only other exit. The ‘proper’ door, the one he heard a horrid sound from once, and never dared go through.
‘Hurry, this thing isn’t gonna stay distracted much longer!’ Gally screams as Minho throws another fist-full of cake, hitting it straight in what Edwin assumes is the closest thing it has to a face. (honestly, he’d rather not think of the logistics of its anatomy)
‘Edwin, Niko, haul arse if you bloody please!’ Charles hollers as they barely manage to avoid one of the creatures flailing limbs, almost hitting T.J. as she moves through a shadow to land by the door, hauling it open and ushering Charles and Crystal through, though Charles protests loudly about going without Edwin.
‘If you don’t go now, there might not be anyone for Edwin to follow smartass’ T.J. just about growls at him, and unceremoniously shoves him through the door, ignoring his indignant squawk. Crystal followed quickly, grabbing his arm to stop him from falling as she steps through the doorway, disappearing from Niko and Edwin’s sight.
Minho and Gally come running, Gally coming to support Edwin’s other side as the world swam in front of his eyes, probably a side-effect from the rather unpleasant hit to the head.
Niko and Minho disappeared through the door, Gally and Edwin right behind. T.J. went last, pulling the door firmly closed behind her with a loud thump, the scratching of the creature loud and terrible as the door shook from the strain.
Their shared breaths filled the silence, the smell of blood and sweat thick in the air. The new room was dark, so dark, in fact, that they could barely make out each other, despite sitting close enough to be able to feel arms and legs all around.
‘Everyone made it?’ Crystal asks, everyone echoing their yes’s as they tried to look around. It was a relatively small room, dust covering the floor thickly enough for T.J. to be able to make visible lines. Niko removed a flash-light from a pocket, and flicked it on, making everyone blink as tears formed in their eyes from the sudden light that flooded their senses.
There were figures huddled in the corners, covering their ears. They didn’t react to the light, just curled tighter around themselves as Niko shone the light throughout the room. T.J. got to her feet, standing by her shoulder as she surveyed the room, holding out a hand as Gally got to his feet.
‘Hold on, we need to know what we’re dealing with here’ she said quietly, moving to an old man huddled close to them, crouching down to his level. Gally scowled, but stayed, arms crossed as he watched his sister converse quietly with the man.
‘Sorry to bother you, sir, but what is this room?’ she asked, studying him. He was bald, wrinkled suggesting his age to be around seventy. He had small, watery blue eyes, and his fingers trembled as they tightened around his ears.
‘They scream. They scream and scream and never stop’ he whispered, voice shaking as he rocked back and forth, dusty pants dirty and creased. T.J. leaned closer, confused.
‘Screaming? Who are they?’ she inquired, brows furrowed as she looked over her shoulder at her companions, but they only shrugged, as confused as she was. The old man shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. He rocked back and forth some more, eyes tightly closed, as if to block out horrors only he could see.
‘The longer you stay, the louder it gets’ he said, and would say no more, no matter how much she pleaded. And, indeed, a low buzzing, high pitched sound had started to invade their ears, slowly growing in volume. T.J. moved from the man, back to her companions, who had already started to look uncomfortable with the steadily growing volume.
‘We need to get out of here. It could burst our eardrums if it gets too loud’ Edwin says shakily, already moving forwards, in search of a door. Charles followed right after, insisting he was fine to walk, though Edwin did put an arm around him (just in case) Crystal and Niko followed after, already covering their ears. Minho, Gally and T.J. went last, Minho casting pitying glances at the huddled figures, while T.J. trudged on completely unbothered, on occasion even nudging people’s legs out of the way.
Gally was somewhere in the middle, though he stuck close to Minho’s side, their fingers once again intertwined, to the eye-rolling mild annoyance of T.J. Did her brother really need to fall for the boy who got him skewered like a shish-kebab?
Boys.
By the time they found the door, the volume was close to unbearable. So loud you could barely even move, let alone think. The door was locked, and Charles, poor kid, kept fumbling with his picking tools, unable to concentrate long enough to get it done. Edwin put a hand on his shoulder, moving them out of the way as Niko stepped forward, taking the large rock T.J. had somehow managed to produce. They’d clearly done this before, though clearly not with the sound of a thousand nails on chalkboards, combined with a choir of little girls screaming at the top of their lungs.
The rock almost slipped out of Niko’s hand, but Gally caught it, put it back in her hand, and nudged her towards the door. Encouraged, she raised the rock above her head, smashing the padlock once, twice, three times before it finally gave in, clattering to the floor with a bang they couldn’t even hear over the terrible noise.
Crystal and Minho wrenched the door open, and they all just about ran though, shutting the door hurriedly behind them. They couldn’t even hear if the doll-creature was following them, could only hope the screaming would affect it should it go through the black room, and hinder it from following them.
The new room was shrouded in red. The light came from below, the ground stretching for about two meters in front of them, before dropping straight down into a chasm. Charles leaned carefully out, trying to gauge how far down it went, before a weird pull had him tipping forwards before Edwin pulled him sharply backwards, the curly haired boy falling against his chest. Edwin’s hands shook as he gripped the back of Charles’s shirt, holding him just a bit tighter than normal as he calmed his racing heart, the look shared by Crystal and Niko going unnoticed by the two boys.
‘Hey, guys?’ Minho called from where he’d moved to the right, a very odd tone to his voice. T.J. hurried over, Gally on her heels stopping in their tracks as they saw what had caught Minho’s attention.
A small swinging bridge hung across the chasm, the other side so far you couldn’t properly make it out through the blood-colored mist. The planks looked rotten, some barely holding on to the rope, which in turn was frayed and worn. Along the bottom rope of the bridge people hung by their fingertips over the chasm, crying, sobbing,screaming in agony and fear. Some just had hollow eyes and hung quietly, as if they had already accepted their fate. A young woman tried to pull herself up in vain, just managing to make her grip weaker as she almost fell, hanging on only by the tips of her fingers.
A boy fell, his scream echoing, before a sickening crunch sounded far, far below. A few moments later, he reappeared in his place, new injuries, but still unable to pull himself up.
‘Holy shit’ T.J. whispered, for it seemed wrong to speak at full volume here, where everything echoed tenfold. Edwin could only nod, and be grateful he didn’t end up here. Sure, he was torn apart over and over, but at least he had moments to rest, to gather his thoughts without pain, even if the fear was always there.
Once everyone was there, T.J. moved forwards (to the loud protest of her brother) and gingerly put her weight on the bride. It creaked and groaned, but held. Barely.
‘Don’t look down’ was all she said, before turning forwards once more and continuing. Cursing under his breath, Gally followed, knuckling white from how hard he was gripping the rope supports. Minho went after, almost slipping as a girl barely older than himself tried to grab his ankle, just managing to write himself as the bridge swung violently.
Edwin and Charles followed, sandwiched neatly in the middle as they were still injured, despite their stubborn insistence at being completely okay. The damned begged and whimpered as they slowly crossed the bridge, asking for help that could neither be given, nor received. There was a moment where the plank Edwin was standing on gave out, the wood falling into the depths below. Thankfully, Minho and Charles were able to grab him in time, and other than a good scare, and his previous injuries, Edwin was quite alright.
It took a long time to cross the bridge.
It swayed suddenly with the movements of its victims, the planks slippery and rotting beneath their feet. The red mist and lighting from below left them in the half-dark, barely able to make each other out as they slowly crossed, step by step. In the near darkness, Edwin and Charles clutched each other's fingers, hands clammy but sure as they moved together as one.
Crystal, walking close behind them, had a secret smile to herself when she caught a glimpse, but said nothing, content to watch whatever it signified unfold of its own accord.
T.J. was the first to make it to the other side, glad to have her feet on solid ground once again. Surveying the new area, and coming to the conclusion that there was no imminent danger, she turned, helping Gally off the bridge, and ignoring his scolding at once again jumping head-first into danger with no discussion of action first.
If they wasted time discussing course of action before they did anything, the doll-creature would have ripped them to shreds ages ago. She, smartly, kept this opinion to herself, instead encouraging the others to finish crossing, and glare at any damned trying to slow their progress.
‘I’m never doing that again’ Minho said faintly, leaning against Gally’s side as he made it across, looking rather pale, even in the shitty lighting.
‘No-one made you come’ T.J. snarked, holding out a hand to Charles and Edwin as they made the last few steps, and she kicked the creeping hand of a damned away from Charles’s ankles.
‘T.J.’ Gally scolded warningly, glaring at her as she shrugged. It was true, no one had forced Minho to come collect her, and she still wasn’t sure it had been worth the risk, despite being very glad to see her brother’s face once more, and Niko reunited with her friend (who were actually rather pleasant, near death experience aside)
Niko and Crystal hopped off the bridge, and they moved as a group to the only exit-looking space on the new side of the chasm. A dark, dank cave, impossible to see where or how long it led.
‘Shall we?’ T.J. asked, walking into the cave before anyone could stop her or answer. Charles shrugged, and with a pale but determined Edwin followed, falling into step together. Niko and Crystal followed the boys, and Gally who protested ‘We literally JUST shucking talked about this T.J.!’ hurried after, tugging Minho with him as they left the wails of the damned (and hopefully the doll-monster) further and further behind.
They had to hold on to each other so as to not lose someone as they ventured into the cave. It smelled like decay, death and rot and rotting bodies. Crystal vomited at some point, but didn’t dare fall behind, lest she get lost. Their footsteps were muffled by whatever lined the floor, though it was too dark to make out what it was, and honestly? T.J.found herself quite okay not knowing.
It was a long walk, filled with nothing other than the occasional whisper to make sure everyone was still there and accounted for. Their legs ached, but fear and desperation kept them going, one foot in front of the other, every breath in and out of their lungs. The dampness made them shiver, and holy hell it was cold down there in the cave. Wasn't hell supposed to be boiling? Honestly, T.J. wanted a refund for her experience at this point, completely differently marketed and all that.
Finally, after what could have been twenty minutes of a lifetime, light spilled up ahead. Motivated, they picked up their pace, and soon found themselves at the foot of a long, spiraling staircase. The same one Gally, Minho, Crystal. Edwin and Charles had descended earlier, though if it was today or a week ago, no one could tell. Time flowed so weirdly down there, like it was meant to disorient you, make it impossible to tell how long your torment had lasted.
‘Home stretch’ Gally said, starting the long trek up, and deja-vu made Charles and Edwin look at each other, blushing, as they remembered the encounter when those words were said on these very stairs not that long ago. How times had changed.
They walked. And walked. The stairs never seemed to end, going on and on forever. A young woman was sitting on a stair, starting to rot, her hair falling out in clumps as she screamed at the top of her lungs that she wasn’t supposed to be here. All four dead-boy detectives seemed to recognise her, though neither Gally, Minho or T.J. asked about her, and they soon left her too behind.
They’d taken a break some way about the woman, her screams just barely audible as they caught their breath, sharing hopeful smiles as they almost FELT how close they were to home. Then, they heard IT. The clatter of hurried footsteps that weren’t really footsteps at all, the echo-y, skittering giggle of several voices at once.
The doll-monster.
Edwin paled immediately, and they rose to their feet, taking to the stairs like birds to the sky, chests heaving as they ran faster than they’d ever run before. They were SO CLOSE.
‘I SEE THE DOOR!’ T.J. screamed over the sound of their heavy breathing, and the quickly gaining monster, that goddamn door indeed getting closer and closer. Minho got up first, shoving the door open with such ferocity that it banged against the wall, making several items fall from the large bookshelf in the dead-boy detective's little office.
‘COME ON SHANKS, GET YOUR SISSY-ASSES UP HERE!’ he screamed, moving out of the way as T.J. hurtled past him and through the door, Gally and Edwin on her heels. Only Niko, Crystal and Charles remained, and the monster swiped a doll-covered limb, making Charles crash to the floor.
Edwin, smart, put-together and logical Edwin took the knife T.J. was readying straight of of her hand, desperation so clear in his face she didn’t even protest over the lingering surprise, and he ran back out the door, shoving Crystal and Niko behind him as he aimed the special monster-repelling metal-made knife straight at the monster, making it screech in pain as he took the opportunity to drag Charles to his feet and absolutely haul arse up the last couple of steps, falling in a heap on the familiar floor as Minho and Gally closed the door firmly behind them, which in turn disappeared, taking the doll-monster and T.J.'s knife with it.
‘Sorry’ Edwin managed to gasp out to the blonde girl, chest heaving as he tried to control his breathing, though since he was back in the ‘wrong’ world/dimension, he ethically didn’t even need to.
T.J. shrugged, smiling as she leaned against her brother.
‘I have more knives. Pretty sure you don’t have more of that one’ she replied, gesturing to a grinning Charles, who was no longer sporting any visible injuries.
‘Right you are. Bloody brils to be back here, innit?’ he said, nudging Edwin as he got to his feet. Niko was examining their office, finally able to see it with her own eyes.
‘Thanks for the help’ Crystal said as T.J., Gally and Minho prepared to depart, T.J., now back in the correct real, capable of shadowing them home.
Likewise. Here’- T.j. said, tossing her an odd-looking golden coin- ‘use this to call if you ever need an extra hand or six. Niko knows how to find me’
Niko nodded, giving her traveling-companion a hug, and waving goodbye as they melted into the sofa-shadow, as if they’d never been there at all.
‘As nice as they were, we are NEVER doing that again’ Crystal said, glancing worriedly at where the hell-gate had been minutes before. Perhaps they would take them up on the offer of extra help some time in the future, but she’d really prefer to stay in the correct world next-time.
‘Agreed’ Edwin said firmly, blushing though he had no blood as Chalres laughed, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Agreed.