Everyone is tucked in for the rest of the day.
Lils decided she wanted to stay with Heidi to make sure that she could sleep without being interrupted by any of the curious people in our home that might wander by to see our new stranger, which is fine by me. It’ll keep her out of trouble and allow me to slip out into the town again without having to give her a reason or a promise of when I’ll return.
Soon.
I always tell her I’ll come back soon, and I do. But being a small child, she has no concept of promises and how people can break or keep them, so I know now that giving her an exact time wouldn’t do any good.
I reach for my heavy leather jacket, breathable black scarf, and heavy leather boots. Just from peeking outside, I can see that the air is particularly toxic today and there are small maelstroms of poison pockets appearing here and there.
I chuckle when I slip my hands into my pockets and my fingers trail along the woven gloves I keep inside of them. Touching things in this kind of inclement weather can be just as bad as breathing it in, and I do my best to stay as well protected as I can.
Once I’m suited up and ready to go, I walk over to the door and turn the lock.
Lils knows if a door is locked and I’m inside the room, that I need some time alone and she’s good at respecting that boundary. Granted, it took some explaining to let her know that I’m always okay, but sometimes the hero needs a break from saving everyone to recharge their batteries to go out and attempt to save the world again.
I walk over to the window and begin to pry the planks off as quietly as I can, setting them to the side, then pull myself out into the wild world as soon as I can squeeze through the small exit I gave myself. Reaching back into the room, I pick up the planks, pull them through to my side, then set them against the window, before securing the scarf around my nose and mouth, then taking the long way into town.
* * *
Dollywoodland.
The sign alone should be enough to send a chill through me, but I feel indifferent.
Maybe in a different time and place, Bevie would have stricken fear into me, but now that I know it’s her mind and she’s not entirely responsible for her own actions, I just want to help her.
I walk down the middle of the road, glancing at the store windows curiously on my way toward the home she shares with her father.
If he’ll even give me the time of day, I think wryly as I pause to look into an old library.
Taking a few steps closer to it, I can see that someone put a lot of thought into their work here. Everything looks so real, and anyone that didn’t know any better would almost swear that the library was bustling with real, live people in it.
Bevie, I think evenly.
She told me she liked dolls and one that looked just like me, so it would only make sense that this was all of her handy work. It’s ironic in a way because sense seems to be the one thing she doesn’t have a firm grasp on.
Clearing my throat, I turn my attention back to the road and start walking again.
I know that their home isn’t too far away from the one time I followed them back to it. I actually liked what I could see of it.
Small, accommodating, violent. I roll my eyes as I reach an intersection.
And violence begot nothing more than Heidi given a slow death that I saved her from.
Bevie sure as hell isn’t going to be too thrilled about that, but her father might be, which would free her up to become my wife.
I can fix her.
I know I can.
I just need the time and opportunity to do so. Maybe what runs in my veins will be enough to clear her mind out and I can see what she’s really like. Not the sick-minded girl who’s made a dollhouse out of a town and given it an equally obnoxious name.
I put an arm up and stop walking, bracing myself as a gust of heavy wind sends a torrent of toxic air toward me. Even the weather seems to want to protect her, but I will not harm Bevie.
I grind my teeth together as the skin above my cheeks gets pelted with small rocks of burning dirt, then let out a sigh of relief a moment later when it’s gone as quickly as it began.
Just a little farther, then I can go back home before Lils realizes I left.
* * *
I can hear a commotion inside of Bevie’s home the closer I get. Someone is yelling, someone is laughing, and I think someone is moaning. It almost sounds like an assault is happening, but I’m so confused by the cavalcade of sounds that the only way to really find out what’s happening is to inspect.
Only this time, it won’t be through a window.
When I reach the front door, I raise a fist and knock. The sounds pause for a brief second before they resume, and I knock again. Regardless of what devilry is happening under the roof of this house, I have to speak to Bevie’s father, and I won’t leave until I do so.
I wait patiently until there’s a break in the sounds of assault, then knock again, a little harder this time. It takes a few more relentless knocks before I finally hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door, and when it’s pulled open, I push him inside and close the door behind me.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snarls, his body tensing, ready to defend his home.
I hold up my hands to let him know I’m not a threat, then slowly begin to unwrap the scarf from around my nose and mouth.
“Sorry. I know I probably look like a common thief, but it’s dangerous outside, and I didn’t feel like twitching in my own shit and dying today,” I reply simply as I pull off my gloves and secure them in my pocket.
“That didn’t answer my question,” he barks.
I let my eye slowly take him in. He’s got blood on his sweaty, naked body. I can’t tell if he massacred an animal or a person, but in a way I would reason it to be two of the same thing.
“Everything okay?” I inquire pointedly as I cross my arms loosely over my chest.
He lurches forward and grabs me by the collar of my jacket, slamming my body back into the front door of his home. His breathing is labored, his breath is hot on my face, and his teeth are bared.
Maybe he’s the animal.
“You’ve got three seconds before I cut you to pieces, little boy,” he warns, his tone low and even.
“My name is—”
“Colby!” I glance around Bevie’s imposing father, smiling at her slightly when I hear her call my name. “Daddy, let him go. He’s my friend,” she says as she approaches us and puts a hand on his arm.
“Your … friend?” he asks uncertainly, my collar still firmly in his grip.
“What are you doing here, Colby?” she asks, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. I do my best not to look at anything other than Bevie’s face right now because her body is also sweat-slicked, naked, and fucking magnificent.
“Hey, Bevie,” I greet her softly, before I let my eye maunder back to her father’s face.
He lets me go in a huff as he disappears from the room for a moment, then reappears with a thin blanket wrapped around the bottom half of his body. When he crosses his bulging arms over his chest and eyes me suspiciously, I can’t help but chuckle.
It’s clear to me he’s used to getting things by intimidating people, animals, things, but I’m not afraid of him.
“I just came by to tell you I found Heidi,” I begin slowly. A loud gasp escapes from Bevie’s father as the smile she had on her lips slowly turns into an angry, tight line. “Alive.”
“What?” her father asks, rushing forward again. “Where is she? Where is my bride?”
“At my place,” I reply quietly with a shrug. “I—we’ve been nursing her back to health.”
“Is she sick?”
“Something like that,” I say with a shrug, “but I left her with Lillian, so she’ll be fine.”
“I want to see her. Take me to your home,” her father says instantly. I can see the pain in his eyes, the fury in Bevie’s, and the feeling of doubt starting to rise inside of me like a warning sign.
Do I really want these people to know where my home is? I can’t afford to put the ones under my room in danger.
I shake my head, “No. I’ve actually come to make a trade.”
“What do you want? I’ll give you anything to get my Heidi back,” he rambles, sounding damn near incoherent.
My eye drifts toward Bevie, settling on her and when she cocks her hip and puts a hand on it, I smile.
“Her.”