Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Tragic Play: X ❯ Act II: Broken Doll ( Chapter 2 )

XxXxXx

Tragic Play

X

By: Melissa Norvell

Act II: Broken Doll

XxXxXx

Footsteps echoed through the halls as the thief awoke in a room that was filled with satin sheets that covered every inch of ground and all objects available. The sound of rustling fabric froze her in her tracks. Cold dread blossomed within her. Each warning coming back to haunt her as her mind rewound and played over and over again, what was happening with the rustling fabric. Shaken, the Queen of Diamonds stood, caught between two opposites. As often as the colder, weary side of her dominated her and she advanced. To her surprise, a shadowed figure rose from the ambiguity, a young man adorned in a black Victorian suit with white ruffles on the sleeves, neck and bottom of the legs.

"Who?" The red head asked, though she didn't voice her discovery. Who was this man? She wondered what business he had with her…and why did the doll he was holding in his arms look so much like her? She'd been able to hold others prisoner and pull off large heists and to see the tables being turned sparked a sort of contradictory reaction- sweet revenge played across her mind, yet deep understanding, those weak things that clung to her.

Remnants.

Dust.

The masked figure noticed the intruder and gave the slightest hint of reaction. The Queen of Diamonds stood her ground.

"Who are you?" She spoke, more of a statement then a request. Her eyes went cold as she watched him rise from his seated position. His eyes of heavenly blue still cried tears that turned to ice and hailed upon the world.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Jari asked.

"Nothing, I'm not like everyone here. Don't underestimate me," the spark and chill in her voice, the bitter cold didn't lift. It merely was, as so many things were, frozen.

"Oh?" He inclined his head slightly, his equally frozen smile plastered to his features.

"I came to pull a heist," her body remained in ridged, unyielding posture and defiance in her level gaze. The cold pressing at Jari, forcing him to acknowledge her froze state, the living sculpture of the Queen of Diamonds, to respect it, to fear it, respond to its existence. Nothing. No reflection of her chill, no answer, oblivious. Resolved and faltered. Staring at Jari, the thief held on to the puppet master in place of the kind who had fallen long ago.

"You don't have to stand there all day," Jari made a gesture at the up risen, satin-covered area beside of him. Despite his lack of involvement in the general body, he knew that this woman wasn't the statue that she made herself out to be. She was a painting coated in marble. Something lovely and complex lay beneath the exterior. She sat, perfect posture. Looking out of a window, the slightest of sad smiled curving at his lips, she refused to meet his eyes. She wouldn't allow herself to be drawn in by those sullen optical organs, fall into his trap and let herself be tricked by acting on a whim.

"I never asked you to come here." Each movement of his jaw, the cold sheen in his eyes manufactured and placed there to be subtle warning and defensive, a mass of contradictions speaking to itself through a subtle threat.

"I know that, whoever you are. I would hate to be rude," she spat sarcastically and walked toward the man. She willed her posture, her body to carry her, not to betray her and yet there was a voice in her mind that wanted her to turn back…To turn back to Jari and...No! Her mind treaded upon the path that would lead to its destruction and part of it, part of her welcomed it, embraced the release that it promised but in the end the hollow truth of promises too well to give in.

"My name is Jari, Puppet Master of X," the man replied from his seated position among the silken satin fabric.

"…"

"Aren't you talkative?" He put the unsaid words in his eyes.

In addition to what she said as she gazed at the Puppet Master before her. Her smile was soft and hidden. 'I can play as well as he, so much a captive but then, aren't I one too?'

"Hmpf," Jari closed his eyes and smiled at his most dazzling. Each muscle was taut and when he opened his eyes, they glowed with an unearthly beauty. He took in the proud figure of his comparison. Training had sculpted her body into one that was firm, toned and lean. Each muscle strengthened. Her face was innocent, rosy cheeks and supple lips. Yet, her eyes betrayed the rest of her, they were soft and warm, a window into something buried within.

That was his target.

She was the shift in him, a subtle difference that most would not have noticed. Most had not become pawns in the game to disprove what it stood for. Yet, she saw it shift from cold and stoic to silent predator. Something deadly and sly awoke within his eyes and seemed to watch her from beneath the placid, calm of his gaze. Every nerve in her body screamed, every instinct in her soul shrieked, every part of her told her only one thing to do.

'Go. You are this strong. Go. You are not the predator. Go. He will win. Go. Losing will mean more then losing your reputation.'

Her shoulder squared and she gazed back at him, summoning every inch of what she was.

'I'm not going until I win this.'

Silence reclaimed her mind and with it, the sense of loss and metallic taste. Fear. The used-to-be inside of her shed silent tears, locked behind yet another door.

"What's this all about?" He said gently. He played fair, even nice for what he truly was. He'd show you reason to do his bidding and it would be your choice. That was how Puppet Master Jari operated.

His system was flawless.

The shell of a girl glared back at the panderer of desires. "All I want is answers, Jari. Answers and I'll leave. Answers and I'll never come back."

"Selfish girl," he replied, approaching her. He entwined his fingers in red hair and the thief remembered how much she hated being touched but she didn't flinch, she didn't tense. She wanted to know, did not want to be a fool. Why did she become involved in this? What compelled everyone to be sucked into this mess, if only to meddle with the hearts of the weak?

'Isn't it obvious?' Her thoughts whispered. 'You know everything that people know.'

She ignored the melodious sound of nostalgia often remembered, the sound of her longing. If she wouldn't hear it, it wouldn't hurt her.

'Tied by your own chains.' It tisked, disappearing into a dark corner. 'How will you free yourself?'

The hand abruptly left her hair and cupped her chin lightly, lifting her face up to look at him.

"You seem preoccupied, Queen of Diamonds. Is something wrong?" He leaned nearer to her, his lips brushing her ear, waiting for her to lash out, waiting for her reaction. The girl remained cold and impassive. She could feel his smile, feel the taint of darkness and something within her shrunk away screaming.

"You, but my heist-"Her words were cut off by Jari's finger pressed against her lips. He was suddenly very close to her, his face practically near hers, his breath caressing the contours of her cheek.

"This heist isn't the reason you came, Queen of Diamonds, or have I misjudged you? Would you really come here to ask me about your heist?" He was very close, practically breathing the words into her ear, filling her lungs, her blood with the words. Two blades in her mind clashes and snapped as she was cut asunder and unable to answer.

'What's the right answer?'

No answer in her mind as she lay, gazing at Jari through a clouded haze.

'You don't belong here.' Her thoughts chided. 'You should be asleep right now.' She begged the voice to be silent, begged for her conscience to quiet itself. She wasn't sure why she was here at this ungodly hour by herself, in this dark and evil room, consulting with the devil. Wasn't sure why she felt the ice around her being chipped away- chipped away and not simply melted.

"Oh? It seems you have no answer," His voice reverberated in her ear. "What do I do with you now?"

A pause.

"All dressed up and nowhere to go," Jari continued politely and gently,"such a pity."

A frantic mood washed over her. What should she do? What should she do?

"Don't patronize me, Puppet Master," she hissed bitterly, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He reached a hand up and pressed two fingers to her forehead as it began to glow with an unearthly neon red light as a seal began to show up upon her skin.

"See? Not so bad, is it?" He said simply. The nostalgia, choosing dolls over current events.

Snap, snap

Dolly's arms are broken now, free from what empty sleeves that trap her.

Snap, snap

Dolly has a new outfit now.

Snap, snap

Such a broken dolly.

"S-Stop!" The girl pleaded frantically. She didn't want to admit her loss, not just yet. "Please…" She arranged the words, hoping to unlock some sort of magic phrase. "Stop, stop."

"Please stop."

"Stop please!" Yet he continued to cast the spell on her and continued to play with his new toy as she struggled against his possession.

Snap, snap

"Damn you, I said STOP!" She turned her head from side to side, her voice fading back into the darkness even as each word still tumbled from her lips as Jari laid a hand over her heart, leaning in close, his lips close to hers.

"So strong," he pressed down slightly on the firm flesh beneath his hand. "Fighting so hard," he pressed further, his voice still gentle, "but you were weak in the end. You came to X. The strong let the weak come to them."

'Please…stop…'

She had promised herself long ago that she wouldn't cry. Crying showed that she had a weak heart, that it affected her. Being close to those who hurt her had no effect on her.

'Who are you fooling?' Her thoughts laughed. 'You have no reason to push away everything. It's just an immature act of rebellion.'

The Queen of Diamonds wouldn't let herself believe that. No connections, no ties severed, like two magnets with identical poles, they push away naturally.

'Whatever you say,' her thoughts seemed to sigh. 'There's a bucket of your tears right here inside. Just close your eyes and let it come.'

The girl sighed, her body writhing.

She felt them burning hot against her eyes, threatening to seep through her lashes and stain her pretty, flawless face. Her wall of ice was still being chipped away, something terrible swinging a pick wildly, shards scattering through the air.

Blood mixed with ice.

"Stop…Please…"

"Don't you know, Queen of Diamonds, I'll never stop."

"Puppet Master," the thief felt the tears as they drowned her. She felt herself melt with them, lose herself to them. She let herself stop fighting and float away, just stop being and float away. Jari had wordlessly commanded her body to sit at his feet by him, vulnerable and weak, soon to be broken. The tears flowed unabashedly, yet silent were they; she wouldn't satisfy the man's sick demeanor with a whimper. Then he would truly win and she would lose to both herself and him. He placed a thumb on her chin and turned her face towards him and gazed into her eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be strong?" he asked.

"I was never strong…" She spoke emotionlessly to herself, admitting defeat through a hollow gaze.

"That's right," he said, once the possession had been completed. "In the end, you were just a puppet."

Snap, snap

-Broken dolls cry shattered tears-

To Be Continued…