Dollhouse

T E N

G E N E S I S

Making sure no one is in the office, I step out of the bathroom. I turn the sharp corner towards the bookshelf, dagger in hand. I scan the book spines until I find what I’m looking for. Cain had made this little secret for me. He called a haven. My ability to leave this place, mentally, while being physically here. In turn, we shared it. Our way to escape this place when we needed it most.

I place the dagger into the cut-out pages on top of the old iPod and earphones stashed inside. Closing the book, I place it back onto the shelf. I hear the clicking of heels; I hurry back into the bathroom. I had barely made it back into the shower when Lindsay walked in with the dress in her hand. I pat dry myself with a fresh towel I found under the sink and dress. I exit the bathroom once I’m ready. Lindsay is nowhere to be found until I open the door to the office. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I saw here around the corner.

“Mr. Callahan and your father are waiting for you in the cage room,” she says. “Do you know your way there?”

“I’ll be fine,” I say.

“Great!” she says. “I’ll get your father’s girls ready for delivery.”

“Fantastic,” I reply between my teeth. Of course, he traded Alba for girls to turn into dolls. Why should that surprise me?

Lindsay escorts me to the staircase leading to the second floor. I walk the steps on my own leaving Lindsay to deal with her own self. She walks off to the right beside the stairs until I can no longer see her. I make it to the top of the stairs and make a beeline to the furthest room on the floor. The Cage Room, they call it. They had turned all the last ten rooms or so of the asylum into one big one, leaving a door in the middle room. I enter the room. They had installed cages - like jail cells - in there for the women they kept here. The windows were taken out and covered with sheetrock. The only light they had were the ceiling windows and the occasional lamp on the wall. Cain and my father stand before a cell. As I walk closer, I see that Alba is already in it.

My father is the first to notice my presence. “Time to go, sweetheart.”

I nod. “I’d like to say good-bye to Alba first, please.”

“De acuerdo [Sure],” my father agrees. Cain nods his head. He unlocks the cell, allowing me to step in.

I embrace her when I reach her. She wraps her arms around me, tightly.

"Did you know?" She asks me in the ear. I get the inkling she's referring to Cain. Did I know he was alive?

Yes.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper back.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think it was my story to tell,” I reply. “Pride and Prejudice, Alba. Remember.”

I pull away from her. She gives me a confused look. She’ll figure it out sooner or later. My only hope is that it will be soon. I walk out of the cell, out of the room, leaving my best friend captive. Trading one prison for another. I wasn’t just leaving one best friend, I was leaving three: Alba, Cain, and Katherine.

Tears threaten to spill as I step outside of the building. Katherine had been my childhood friend. One that I'd admired. She was beautiful and danced beautifully. A ballerina. I blink away the tears as I look at the trees surrounding us. Chills travel down my spine. 

The trees have eyes. 

We can never escape.

~ ♡ ~

The Warehouse sits in all its dark glory behind me. The full moon shines above it. Rain trickles down from the clouds above. Looking back at the trees, I notice the children from the sacrifices hanging off of them by the neck. Their eyes are closed. All the trees around me have become the infamous “hanging tree” on Turnbull Canyon. The longer I look, the eerier it becomes. Suddenly, the children open their eyes. Pain shines within them. They stare back at me with an accusatory look. As if I were the one who caused them great pain. Tears spill from my eyes, blending with the rain. I close my eyes tightly.

I open my eyes again. I’m no longer in the trees; I was never at the trees. I’m home. It was all a dream. I stare at the ceiling above me and I frown. This isn’t my bedroom. I sit. I see it in front of me. Oh my God. I bring my hands to my face in a gasp. I feel it. I bring my hands down. Blood covers my hands. I look back at the figure before me. Propped on the chair is a girl, no younger than myself. There’s a gaping hole in her chest… where her heart had once resided. I found the heart laying beside me in a small pool of blood. I can struggle to stand.

What had I done?

I don’t remember this. Walking backward, racking my brain for information, I bump into the door. I open it and force myself from the room. I hear tears spill from my eyes. I had been crying in my scary dream. I was crying in my scary reality. I finally understood it. I had blacked-out but it didn’t explain what had happened. I run. I run to the only place I know I can go - to the person I can go to. I find him in the study. He looks up startled. Looking at my state, he stands from his chair behind his desk. I walk around the desk towards him, sobbing. He looks down my hands then back at my face.

“Sweetheart, what happened?” he asks.

I wrap my arms around his waist. I cry into his chest. I was terrified. For the first time in forever, I needed the comfort of my father’s embrace. He hugged me back. He held me for a long time. No questions asked.

“It’s happened again,” I say once I’ve finally stopped crying.

“What?” my father asks.

“The blackouts,” I say. “Daddy, I carved her heart out.”

He’s quiet for a long time. “The girl?”

“I need to see the footage,” I pull away from him. I look up to meet his eyes. “Please.”

~ * ~

I was blown out of my mind. What I’m looking at can’t be real. That girl can’t be me. I sat, mesmerized, besides my father. I tried hard to comprehend what was happening. I didn’t remember any of it. How did I manage to break into her chest with a kitchen knife? I grimace as I watch myself yank out her heart. I reach into my pocket. Without even thinking about what I’m doing, I place it to my ear. I’m surprised he picks up the call quickly.

“Genesis?”

“I need to see you, urgently,” I reply.

“Come by my office at eleven,” he says.

“Thank you,” I hang up.

“Miller?” I hear my father ask. I nod.

“Good,” he says. “He’ll help you process this.”

I stand abruptly from my seat beside him. “I’m going to wash off and get ready for work.”

My father nods. “Sure.”

As the water cascaded down my body, I felt numb. I can’t figure out why I did that. I think back to the footage. It was brutal. It wasn’t me. I thought I had been dreaming. Unknown tears roll down my cheeks, mixing with the shower water. Blood rinsed off my hands into the drain. Had I become a murderer overnight? F*ck. It was all real.

~ ♡ ~

I walk through the glass doors leading me inside the building. Crystal is working at the front desk today. I’ve come to realize - every day that I’ve been here - that she’s not always working it. Sometimes there’s someone else. When I get to the hall leading to Matthew’s office, I see Rayna walking out of it. I halt in my steps as she meets my eyes. Her facial features harden. Uh, oh. I wait for an impending storm.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” she snaps at me.

I frown. “I don’t understand.”

"I saw you kissing Matthew at Monarch a few nights ago," she responds.

Oh.

"Rayna…"

"Don't try to deny it. He has already told me what I needed to know," Rayna interrupts me. "He no longer loves me. I'm going to end you."

With that being her last words, she departs. I watch her leave me behind. She doesn't look back. Has she come all this way to break it off with Matthew? I walk through the doors to Matthew’s office after the interesting chat with Rayna. He perks up once he sees me. I close the door behind me, leaning against it. I could melt into his eyes with all the affection they show me. He gives me the brightest smile. One that I cannot return. His smile turns into a frown. He stands from his seating position behind his desk. He goes around and heads towards me.

"Are you okay?" He asks once he's before me.

I lounge forward, latching myself to him in a hug. His arms wrap around me. I lean my head against his shoulder blade. He lets me hug him in silence. I close my eyes, listening to the beat of his heart. It's comforting. 

"What did Rayna want?" I ask him, wondering if he'll say it.

"She said she thought my thoughts were elsewhere. That I didn't love her the way I used to anymore…" I listen intently. "... so she broke up with me. She said she saw you and me this past weekend."

I pull away from him. My hands semi-wrap around his biceps as I look up at him. In his eyes, I see the truth. Sincerity.

"She did?" I ask. "How does that make you feel?"

"Liberated."

"Why?"

"Now, I can love you freely," he says. His arm comes around mine, freeing it. He brushes some hair away from my face. "I think I've loved you for a while now."

What? Speechless, that’s what I am. I don’t know what to say. I feel myself frowning. Tears begin to rise. I drop my arms from him and pull away. I walk aimlessly until I find myself in front of his desk, looking out the window wall behind it. How?

“Genesis?” I hear him behind me. “Look if saying ‘I love you’ made you uncomfortable, forget I said it.”

“Matthew, shut up,” I sigh.

“I-what?”

I turn to look at him. “Shut up. I won’t forget it. You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to hear those words from you.”

“But you just freaked out…?” He questions my reaction.

“Yes, I am overwhelmed. A lot has happened to me in the past twenty-four hours. It’s not your fault. In fact, those three words have made me so happy. I’m sorry you felt bad but, I have a request.”

“What, baby?”

A small smile perks upon my face. “I want you to push up against that window and use me.”

I can practically see the gears turning in his head as he takes in what has happened in the past five or so minutes. Prime lust has taken over. I gulp as he takes a step forward. Oh, crap. He’s on me within seconds. He grips at my dress before pulling it off of me. He lets out a low growl as his hands cup my a$s. He hoists me up onto the desk. His mouth lands on mine. Matthew tears my panties apart and unclasps my bra.

“Please,” I tear my mouth from him to beg. My n*****s harden when cold air hits them.

Matthew proceeds to pull off his own clothing. He’s gorgeous. Muscle toned. He is an incredibly good-looking man. He was all mine now. He takes his tie and wraps it around my wrists.

“Touch me,” I beg. 

Matthew is then on me, lifting me up from the desk. I wrap my legs around his waist and arms around his neck. He walks us around the desk. I hiss as the coldness of the window hits my backside. My naked body on display for anyone in the building in front of the Monarch building. And anyone below on the street.

Suddenly, with no warning, his c0ck is entering me. The pleasure of feeling him against me makes me cry out. My hips bump against the window as Matthew begins to thrust into me. Slow at first; speed gradually increasing.

“Faster,” I moan. 

“Sranje,” he spurs in his pleasure.

My wish becomes his command. His thrusts are fast. I can hear my wetness as his c0ck continues his punishing thrusts. He is a man possessed. Addicted. Free to obsess about his love for me. I love this side of him. His fingers swim in my hair, gripping and pulling until it hurts. I cannot get enough. At this moment, I feel at peace. I don’t want it to end.

“C*m right now, Princess.” he says roughly.

I do. I feel the earth shutter below me as I scream. I feel him c*mming inside me; his face against the crook of my neck. I only cared about this man. Everyone outside be damned. I didn't care if they heard us.

"I love you," I finally mastered the courage to at least whisper it to him. "I've always loved you."

He pulls back to inspect me. I watch his move, looking. A smile lit up his face, big and cocky. This man will be the death of me. He'd always been like coming up for fresh air. I can't help but grin back at him. He carries me to the couch where he makes love to me. Oh, so slowly. So goddamn sweet.