Evelyn
Breakfast ended without further fireworks. Abby continued her mindless yapping throughout dinner and then desert. When Liam finally announced we were to go to bed I almost felt relief. The other girls departed freely and I was walked to my room by Liam. My old room. The first room that my eyes opened to upon arrival to this mad house.
"Goodnight sweetheart," he said kissing me on the cheek, which I allowed. It wasn't worth the fight. I hardly even cringed as he did it this time.
"Goodnight Liam," I mumbled trying to close the door but his foot caught in the opening and wedged it open further.
"Sorry dear, but you have to earn trust to roam freely. Hop into bed, I'll lock you up for the night," he said his eyes pressing into me a fake smile plastered on his face.
Without a word, I wandered around the side of the bed that the shackle lay and got underneath the covers. He then picked it up and locked me in for the night. I hoped he would leave after that, but of course he didn't. He sat at the end of the bed, gently trailing his fingers up and down my leg.
"So, I'm hoping for no further incidents from you while you are here," he said with each gentle stroke. "We have a system in place and I would like to keep it that way. Each girl has their own night with me, I stay in their room with them and we do whatever they wish. Abby has Monday's. Laurel has Tuesday's. Hannah has Wednesday's, so you will have Thursday's."
I felt my food leaping like lava from the depths of my stomach to erupt from my mouth, but I swallowed down my disgust, knowing it would anger him further. I didn't feel like getting belted like Laurel had tonight.
"Weekends will be family nights. I may stay in some girls rooms upon request, but you may never demand it," he continued.
Don't worry, I never will, I thought repulsed by his statement.
"Also, my room is off limits, you were lucky to be graced with it yesterday my dear. It's made quite a few of the girls jealous. You can only come in if invited in," he said with arched brows. "Same as my office which you know. I try to work from home when I can, but I will be having to return to work shortly."
"Are you even actually a doctor," I responded dryly as I stared ahead at the intricate knobs of the standing dresser.
He chuckled, "Yes, yes I am, but it's been some time since I have actually worked in a hospital my dear. Now I primarily make house calls to my clients."
"Clients," I questioned.
He squeezed my thigh, in almost a warning manner, and said with a firm tone, "You know you are so curious. I just love it," but his death grip on my thigh told otherwise. "No need to worry your pretty little head about my work my dear," he said and released my thigh before standing.
"I will come check on you later on today. I will bring some books by too to keep you occupied," he said and walked towards the door.
I slumped over on my side to stare aimlessly at the wall when he called out to me once more, "And Evie, my doll, do remember my rules," before he left the room, the lock clicking into place seconds later.
And this was the routine for the next two weeks of my life.
Liam came to my room to retrieve me for meals when he was home.
If he was not working, we ate together, me and the rest of his dolls.
Abby would steal the conversation, Laurel would pick at her food, Hannah would stare aimlessly at anything but Liam or I, and I would just sit there and eat and only spoke when spoken to.
Other than our meals together I would stay alone in my room. Liam did bring me books to occupy my time. It was my only escape. I would momentarily forget about the situation I had been drawn into.
If Liam was at work then Hannah would bring my meals to me. She would come and go wordless. After the first week, I stopped trying to talk to her.
I remained locked up at all times, only unlocked for meals.
Liam would tend to the irritated skin of my ankle each day when he came to get me for breakfast and before sleep each night.
I never quite knew if he was in the home or at work, it was hard to tell being trapped in the room. I was convinced the walls were somehow sound proofed. I never heard any noise other than my own.
The isolation was infuriating. It was insanity. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be in solitary confinement I could explain it to a T.
I thought the time alone would empower me, would give me the opportunity to hatch a plan of escape, but it in fact did the exact opposite. It made me feel weak, Ill-equipped to deal with this.
I had almost given up, almost until one day Hannah came in and unlatched my leg from its shackle, breaking the normalcy of complacency that I had been stuck on like a broken record.
"Liam says you can come to his office. Follow me and be good," she said as quickly left the room causing me to almost jog to keep up with her.
Hannah knocked on the door per our arrival.
The loud rapping noise set me on edge. Being out of my room made me feel uneasy. I wondered if he had planned this, keeping me in isolation in the hope that it would cause me to be submissive and lose my drive to fight back.
"Come in," Liam's voice called out to us.
Hannah opened the door and motioned for me to enter.
I did, and Hannah left, shutting the door behind her leaving Liam and I alone in the grand floor to ceiling dark wood office.
Liam sat at his desk on a lap top typing away on the keys.
"Take a seat," he said nodding his head towards the two maroon wingback chairs in front of the desk, without looking up from the screen.
I sat for a few uncomfortable minutes before he finally closed the screen of his computer and drew his attention to me.
"Hello my sweet," he said to me, leaning across the desk to kiss my check.
"Good morning, Liam," I replied politely.
"I'm so proud of you," he told me as he looked me up and down. "You've been following all the rules of the house, so I think I will reward you with some freedom. On days I am home, you may wander the home as long as you complete your chores. On days I work, you will remain sequestered in your room. Over time, I think I will trust you even more my dear. How does that sound?"
"Good," I replied looking down at my hands, fiddling with my fingers that sat in my lap.
"Evelyn look at me," he said, his tone suddenly a slight bit colder.
My eyes instantly shot up to him.
"I don't want you to be afraid of me. I don't want you to be upset. I don't do this often, but I apologize for the other night. I was rough and callous with you. It didn't need to go as far as it did, so I am sorry," he said with the utmost sincerity that it left me bug eyed and feeling shocked.
"Th-thank you," I replied, my attention drawn now over his head to paintings that lined the wall behind him.
They weren't just any paintings, but immaculate paintings of each of his dolls starting with Abby, Hannah, Laurel, and then me, but what really caught my attention was another girl I did not know that was placed in-between Laurel and I.
Liam's gaze followed mine and smiled up at his works of art.
"Ah, lovely right? Laurel is quite the artist I found out. She paints all day long if I let her. These were a gift for me from her last Christmas, excluding you of course. She just recently finished that piece," his eyes shone with such love as he stared up at them, but my eyes were trained on the mystery girl.
To be honest, she was gorgeous. Tanned skin and big blue eyes and jet black hair framed a heart shaped face. Her lips were pursed forward in not quite a smile, but a playful smirk. The thing that drew me in the most though was how similar we looked. Especially with our paintings being adjacent to one another. We looked as if we could've been sisters.
"Who is she," I asked before I could stop myself. As the words left my mouth my body tightened with fear that he would become angry with my question.
Liam's smile faded and turned back to me.
His eyes were on the verge of darkening as he set his gaze on me.
"That, that was Audrey and she died. I killed her," Liam said sending ripples of shivers down my spine.
Anyone curious about Audrey??
Her story is coming real soon through the point of view of one or more of our other dolls. 🤪
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