Wally and I began working immediately, me wanting to get home as soon as possible and him wanting me out of his annoyingly shaped hair.
He had showed me to his art room after a million warnings about what would happen if I touched anything without permission. Let's just say, it wouldn't end up a pretty picture. I marveled at all of his work as he made his way over to the closet. "You know, when I read you like to paint I imagined a lot more stick figures and finger painting, but this..." My eyes landed on one specific painting of a bouquet of blue flowers. It was filled with so much color and texture, it looked so life like. Even the little petals each had small details patterned in. The more I stared at it, the more a weird sense of comfort filled me, making me ease up a little.
"Yes yes I know, I'm amazing" He brushed the compliment off with a huff as he rolled out a large whiteboard, though I swear I could see the faintest blush dust his cheeks. "Now, let's start with the basics shall we? Tell me the story over again and don't spare any of the details darling."
I did just that, retelling the whole story from start to finish while trying to remember anything that might point to who brought me here. "How is this going to help anyway? You never explained how this whole getting me home thing will even work-"
"Please just continue with the story so I don't have to listen to your rambling anymore" He groaned, turning back to the whiteboard so he could continue jotting notes down. "I'll be able to explain it better when it's all in front of me."
Using all my willpower to bite my tongue at his rudeness, I finally finish the story... again.
With a hand rested on his chin, he stepped back to take in everything he had written. After a few minutes of waiting for him to do or say something, I decided to take a look myself.
"Did you find anything useful?" He jumped as I appeared by his side, hands flying to form blades like some sort of defense pose.
I took a step back to give him space as he let out a sigh, holding a hand over his chest. "I could very well annihilate you right where you stand with the blink of an eye." He smiles menacingly, one eye twitching in annoyance.
"Ha! Ha ha... ha..." I force out an awkward laugh as I take a few steps back, creating a sizable gap in between us.
I clear my throat, urging him to explain what he had written, which he does after gaining his composure "It's so strange.. everything leading up to you stumbling upon the old set makes sense, and I'm quite glad that hell hole got what it deserved. But people usually aren't allowed in here unless..." His little ramble is cut short as he lets out a faint gasp, eyes widening in realization.
"What? Unless what?" I pry, moving closer to him once again.
He lets out an airy, half hearted chuckle "Well, it seems like you may not be as dull as I suspected." I furrow my brows together at his backhanded compliment, but keep quiet to let him continue. "Someone here had to have let you in. Meaning one of my dear neighbors and friends are the one that, as you say, kidnapped you." He made sure to add air quotes at the last part.
Everyone I had met here flashed by in my mind. They all seemed so friendly it was hard to believe, even if I had suspected it from the beginning. I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
Wally flips the white board around so we had a blank canvas to work on. He writes down the name of everyone living in the neighborhood minus himself and I. Letting out a sigh, he steps back to take in all of the names listed. "To think one of my own friends would bring a parasite into our neighborhood." He mumbled, just loud enough to make sure I heard as he cast me a distasteful glance.
Knowing he's still looking, I roll my eyes, but don't respond. If I start an argument he won't want to help me anymore, and right now that isn't an option. This douchebag really is my only hope.
"Then again, whoever it is would have had to get their hands on a phone from your world while they were there in order to contact you." He pressed his pointer finger against his lips and tapped his bowler shoe against the light wood floor. "I also don't see what would have motivated any of them to do such a thing. I mean, disposing of intruders is one thing, but purposefully bringing one here?"
"Well what does this mean?" I pull him out of his derailing train of thought and back to reality. "You said the other day that the way to get out of here is different for everyone but I still don't understand how that works."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pulls out the chair from a desk covered in an array of paint splatters, sitting with his legs crossed. "Right, you may want to have a seat, this is going to be a lot for your simple mind." I bite my tongue and nod, taking a seat on his painting table next to him and prepare myself for whatever he's about to tell me. "You see, the only ones who can enter our world freely are us residents, or as you know us, the 'characters.' That also means that if an outsider wants to come into the neighborhood they would have to be brought in by one of us already living here."
"Like some sort of 'plus one' invite?"
"Well, yes,but with a catch. You need to have a reason to come here, a wish or goal per say; you may only leave when the objective or 'wish' has been completed." He explained, glancing over to me still seated beside him. "Do you remember making any sort of wish before you came? Maybe you had a goal set in mind?"
I wracked my brain to try and think of anything I could have possibly wished for right before I had gone unconscious. I remember going to the warehouse because of the weird text messages, then giving up when they stopped responding and deciding to explore. "The only thing I could think of would be to know who was sending me those weird messages."
Resting his hand on his chin, he stared at the whiteboard across the room. "Well then, I suppose our best chance at getting you out of here would be finding who brought you here in the first place." Leaning back in his chair, he titled his head so he was looking at me almost upside down "You ever track down a kidnapper doll?"
I shook my head, my pulse quickening.
He set the chair back onto all four legs before standing up to face me. He got so close, standing almost right between my legs. I held my breath as he leaned in, afraid of what he was planning to do. "Well then, I guess you and I will just have to play detective."
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Wally and I had come up with a plan that night. We would both go together to spend time with everyone and try to get as much information as possible without seeming suspicious. Almost like how police would question suspects, only they wouldn't know they're under investigation.
We figured we would start with Poppy since I hadn't had the chance to formerly meet her yet.
I took a deep breath as we stood side by side outside of her house- or well, barn. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt while Wally carefully straightened his neck tie and hair beside me. "Alright, let's get this over with." He mumbled, brushing past me to knock on the big red door.
Not long after, shuffling could be heard from inside before the door swung open, letting the thick scent of freshly baked sweets rushing out. My jaw dropped slightly as I took in the big red bird with multicolored tipped feathers.
One of her wings flew to cover her mouth in surprise at the sight of us standing outside. "Oh my, hello there Wally! I'm guessing this is the new neighbor I've been hearing about?"
I glanced over to see that he has the same overly cheesy smile he put on every time he was around any of the other neighbors. "Hello there Poppy! Sorry to stop by out of the blue but I wanted to introduce you to (y/n)!"
"Oh it's no problem at all hun!" She beamed, opening the door wider. "Why don't you two come on in and make yourselves at home? I've got some cookies in the oven as we speak." She waved her wing, motioning us to follow her inside before disappearing. Wally walked in first while I trailed cautiously behind him.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Obviously it wouldn't be Poppy since I felt a hand cover my mouth when I was kidnapped and well... she doesn't have any. Well Wally explained to me that apparently if any of them go into the real world, they can choose any appearance they want. This means that Poppy, being a big bird, could have very well disguised herself as a human. It also explains why the voice I heard doesn't match anyone's here.
"Have a seat and make yourselves comfortable!" Poppy called from further down the hall from what I'm guessing is the kitchen.
Wally sat cross legged in one of her floral patterned arm chairs while I took the time to explore the living room we were in. She had a tv that looked even older and smaller than the one in my house. I ran my fingers along the long row of books on her bookshelf, searching to see if any of them may have something to do with my world or maybe dimension hopping? Unfortunately, judging by the numerous rows just containing cookbooks, I wasn't going to find anything of that sort here.
Turning back, I catch Wally staring at me with his sleepy eyes and a weirdly relaxed demeanor for what we were here for. "Are you gonna help look for clues?" I whisper yell over to him, confused as to why he hasn't moved since we've arrived.
He raises an eyebrow, an amused smile forming on his lips. "You really think whoever we're looking for would just leave 'clues' lying around their house?" He sneered, making air quotes to mock my choice of words.
With a huff, I placed the cookbook I was holding back on the shelf and took a seat on the floral couch across from Wally, who's lazy eyes followed my every move.
Even when I tried looking away or distracting myself, his eyes remained locked on me, that small, plain smile rested on his face while his folded hands rested in his lap.
My face burned, feeling incredibly awkward the more this continued. "Could you.. uh look somewhere else please?" I requested meekly, looking anywhere but at his eyes.
"Where do you want me to look?" He cocked his head to the side like a puppy, acting as if he didn't know what I was going on about, but his devious grin and chuckle gave him away.
"Literally anywhere else you creep." I laughed out of embarrassment and tossed one of the clashing floral patterned throw pillows at him.
The pillow hit him square in the face, bringing both his and my own laughter to a halt as his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He looked like a deer in the headlights as he gently touched one hand to where the pillow had made contact, probably to make sure his appearance wasn't ruined.
I gulped, beginning to regret my dumb actions and fear for how he was going to react, positive it wasn't going to end well for me. "I-im so sorry Wally I wasn't thinking I swear I didn't mean-"
My mouth snapped shut as he began to chuckle quietly once again. I continued watching in confusion as his laughter grew to something I had never heard from him before. Not only was it loud but it was just so genuine.
I couldn't help but start to laugh along with him.