Dollmaker

Chapter 7 ~ Rapunzel ~

She stared at the white walls surrounding and keeping her from escaping. She blinked as she sensed someone about to unlock the door.

"Go away." She didn't want to see anyone. They were all idiots. Bloody idiots. She hated them. She grinned at the thought.

"Let me in, Rapunzel. You wanted a haircut, didn't you?" The familiar voice warmed Rapunzel and she changed her mind, turning around to face the person. Well maybe not everyone.

"Alex?" she questioned, still a little cautious.

"That's me." Alex walked in with a kind smile on his face. She thought he was beautiful. His blonde hair framed a perfectly toned face with a nicely set jawline and green eyes. He wasn't tall, but neither was she, so it didn't matter. And his shoulders were broad. She stood and ran to him, her bare feet quietly touching the cold floor with every step.

"Hello." She looked up into his eyes and cocked her head to one side. He pat her brunette head.

"Let's get started. Wow. Your hair is so long now." He held up a pair of scissors and gently touched her hair, which came down to her ankles. She shivered with his every touch and closed her eyes. He could hear her breath, slow and steady.

"Are you sure you don't want to tie me up? I seem to be dangerous," Rapunzel said sarcastically and secretly hoped for an 'I'm sure'.

Leaning toward her, he uncovered her ear and whispered into it, "No way I'd tie you up," and then added, "God, you're beautiful. I love you." She laughed at that.

"Me too. I really love you. I wish- I wish I could leave." Was her response.

"You will. I'll make sure of it." When he spoke those words, her eyes lit up.

"How?"

"Today. Let's run away from this mad house. I'll come for you tonight." This took her by surprise at first, but the confidence in his eyes made her grin.

"How do you want to manage such a task?"

"I'll tell the other doctors I'm bringing you supper and then we'll jump out one of the windows in the hallway."

"Sounds too easy. What if something happens? There should be guards everywhere." she asked, still a bit doubtful, but he gave her a look that told her to trust him completely. That wasn't hard, because she already did. He was the only one she needed. The only one who loved her.

"Ok," she agreed finally. After all, she'd wanted to leave ever since she came here. She was eight when she joined the asylum.

They'd said she was "dangerous and crazy, that she needed to be kept away from people," but Rapunzel knew that it wasn't true. She was human, more human than them, because she actually gave in to her human instincts. To Rapunzel, humans were the monsters. The ones who really killed were humans, not animals. Of course, she also knew it wasn't her fault that her father had been murdered, his body found with several knife wounds in vital organs. After all, she'd thought, daddy started it. She wasn't the one who beat her mother, her beautiful, wonderful mother, everyday. That was daddy. So Rapunzel did what any real human would. She gave in to human nature and saved mommy from daddy.

But mommy didn't seem to be happy after Rapunzel had saved her. She had run away one day and was gone when Rapunzel woke up, the only people waiting for her were her father's bloodied corpse and the police. No one had known how she defeated a grown man. She was eight, for heaven's sake. But she had done it, somehow.

Well, not somehow. The eight year old child had a plan. She had murdered him in his sleep. He hadn't suspected a thing. It was perfect.

So when the eight year-old Rapunzel came, she didn't understand why daddy was the victim. As she grew older, she'd sometimes notice the doctor's son, a boy, a little bit older than her, laughing outside her locked door. His happiness made Rapunzel envious. She liked to listen to his young joyful face sometimes, letting it ring in her ears as she imagined she was in his shoes, with a real, loving family.

But sometimes, he'd steal the doctor's keys and open her door, just a little bit, though still enough to see her face and smile and maybe even hand her a note with a hello written on it. Her envy had soon vanished and turned into friendship for the one boy, the first person in a long time who hadn't been afraid and actually spoke to her.

Here, in this terrible, mad place, Alex had only made it easier here for her to survive the loneliness. Soon, she'd fallen for him and his kindness. He ended up coming frequently and, as they grew, the visits had become a sort of tradition; something certain and real. Something that made her feel secure.

Sometimes, they'd just sit there and talk about anything and everything and ever so often, Alex would play with Rapunzel's rich, pretty, brown hair and stroke it, making her feel safe with him.

Now, she finally had a chance at her dreams - to run away and live with Alex. She wasn't going to let anything stop her from having that.

"Anyway, wait for me to come. I promise I will." Alex said and gently touched her cheek. Rapunzel knew it was risky if someone saw them just then, but she turned to face him anyway. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. He returned it and she closed her eyes, engulfed in the feelings she had for him.

When they finally moved away from each other, they didn't speak. After he left the room and locked the door, Rapunzel couldn't stop thinking about him, his hair, his lips, his warmth. She loved it all. After a while, she fell asleep and dreamt of freedom.