House of Dolls

by Harmon Cooper

  “They’re all… dead?”

  Paris looked to Ian and then back to Kevin’s bloodied face.

  “Wasn’t supposed to happen that way; it was an accident. We were… there’s only one left. So that’s your answer. Now how about my fucking eye? Look what you’ve done to me!”

  “Take the other one,” Kevin instructed Turquoise, again surprising himself.

  “No, that’s enough,” said Paris. “Keep it at one eye; I want him to be able to look at himself and remember what happened this evening. And good job, Kevin. We may have a use for you yet.”

  Chapter Forty-Four: Hospital Confessional

  “I’m sorry, Roman,” Nadine said, a sorrowful look on her face.

  Roman stood by Celia’s bed, his two animated dolls on the opposite side of the room, their heads hanging.

  Morning had brought a cruel surprise. Her form now pale, her shaved head leaning to the side, her mouth open.

  Celia was dead.

  “Nothing anyone could have done,” Roman said, not able to fully form his words.

  Nadine placed her hand on Roman’s shoulder. “I’m so incredibly sorry.”

  “Nothing anyone could have done…”

  He tore his shoulder away, waiting for the emotion to hit him.

  It didn’t, and try as he might to experience the anguish he should’ve been experiencing in that moment, it never came.

  Roman was too wrapped up in the moment to realize this, but a part of him had made peace with Celia.

  He had promised her to do better, to use his power to help others, and he had confessed everything, every single one-night stand, from the first one to the very last, which had involved Coma.

  He had said all those things last night. He’d told her how he felt. And the moment he’d told her was one he would never forget. He hadn’t been standing by her bedside; no, he’d still been sitting in the chair, Celia the doll in his lap.

  Roman had told her these things in a dream—a wonderful, entirely vivid dream.

  Everything, even the details he had never gone over before, Roman had shared it all. Celia never said anything, but there was a look in her eyes that only strengthened his resolve: He would make something good out of the power he’d received.

  “We can talk about our arrangement later. I will say this: I couldn’t deliver, so I don’t expect you to deliver.”

  “What?” Roman asked Nadine, still unable to take his eyes off his dead wife.

  “Like I said, we can talk about it later. Now is not the time. I just wanted you to know that.”

  “No.” Roman turned to Nadine and locked eyes with her, his orange and hers green. “I need to know more about what it is you do.”

  “It’s fine; you don’t have to be involved now. I want you just to…” Nadine glanced down at her hands, the ring on her finger. “I want you to forget about it. Forget this ever happened. Be here with your wife, and make good on any promises you’ve made to her.”

  “What led you to become who you are, and where do you see it going?”

  “Are you asking why I’m a spy?”

  “What drove you to do what you do?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Nadine looked at him curiously for moment. The two women standing in the corner were incredibly silent, neither of them looking at her. “Are you being serious right now?”

  “Yes, I need to know right now. I need to know who you are, and why you do what you do.”

  “For my family,” Nadine said, barely able to contain the words as they burst from her lips.

  “What happened to your family?”

  “They are still alive, but I’m not able to see them.”

  “That seems unnecessary.”

  “It’s for their own good. By joining the Eastern Province, I knew what I was giving up. I also knew what they were getting.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “A second chance. The Eastern Province is very poor, as you know, and my father’s business failed because of sanctions put on the East by Centralia. By signing up, I was able to better serve my people, and provide my parents with a comfortable life. Their brains have been wiped, but I know they’re happy, safe, secure. If you’re asking why I do what I do, that’s why. For them.”

  “And how do you feel about Centralia?” he asked, his eyes twitching.

  “If you had asked me that years ago, when I was newer at this and just working on the border, I would’ve told you that Centralia was a terrible evil. But asking me now, I see there are many forces at play here. Sure, there are some totally iniquitous practices by the government, but they are also the only government that gives aid to the Western Province—not much aid, but at least they’re doing something. And…”

  “What?”

  “I’ve never admitted it, and I have gone to great lengths to stop any telepath from discovering this thought.”

  “You can fully stop a telepath?”

  “It’s part of our training. You would be surprised at how telepaths actually operate, but yes, it’s possible to control surface thoughts.”

  “Okay, what were you going to say, then?”

  “I like living in Centralia. The place has grown on me. I hate to say that, and I can’t tell you how much I hate that aspect of myself, but I like it here. There’s still suffering, but the suffering is invisible. You can be yourself, and there isn’t much surveillance on its own citizens. I like all these things about Centralia. Plus, it’s peaceful.”

  “It is peaceful. Aside from the occasional superhero crisis, there aren’t many dangers here.”

  “It has been getting harder and harder to do my job.”

  “Your work at the immigration office?”

  No matter how much he stared at Celia’s dead body, part of him thought she’d come back to life, smile, become herself again.

  But she was gone, he knew it. And even though he felt terrible, he needed to do something to change the course of the rest of his life.

  Nadine shook her head. “Well, yes, that’s part of it, but my actual job is to gather any intelligence I can.”

  “Step outside with me,” he finally said. Roman glanced over to Coma and Celia. “I will be back in a moment. Please keep an eye on her.”

  “She’s safe with us,” Coma said, coming alive, her eyes flashing red.

  Roman and Nadine stepped out of the room, to a quiet spot at the end of the hallway.

  “I really shouldn’t be saying any of this.”

  “We’ve come this far,” said Roman. “And all I’m asking for is clarity.”

  “I’m embedded in the Fast Travels Department, and the point of my assignment is to be there as long as possible, even if I approach retirement age. Doing so, I can naturally move up the chain of command. You realize now that by me telling you this, I’ve given you information that could cost me my life and the lives of my parents. It’s not something I would ever normally tell someone.”

  “We’ll talk about that later. What is it exactly that you were wanting to get from me?”

  “Centralia is holding hundreds of Eastern Province residents in jail, people taken from the province.”

  “Taken?”

  “From what I can tell from the data I’ve uncovered, your government is illegally kidnapping people and putting them in jail to serve hard labor charges here in Centralia. That’s what I’m aiming to solve at the moment. This was something that came as a surprise to everyone in diplomatic forces, and those working for the Central Intelligence of the Eastern Province. What is Centralia trying to do? Why are they taking her people?”

  “So people are just disappearing?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you have evidence of this?”

  “I have the prison records that have listed all their names. All this has been relayed back to my government, disappearances confirmed.”

  “And how would I have played into that?”

  Nadine brought her hand to her face. “I always try t
o look at things from all angles. Maybe there is something you could have uncovered through the immigration side of things, and you’d know if people were being called in for visa-related issues. I was hoping you could find a trend.”

  “You shared your secret with me, and now I’m going to share my secret with you.” Roman glanced back to his wife’s room.

  “Come again?”

  “Please, follow me.”

  “Coma, Celia?” he asked as soon as he entered the room.

  “Yes, Roman?” asked Coma.

  “Step out into the hallway.”

  Celia and Coma joined Roman, Celia’s high heels clicking against the floor as she walked. Roman instructed them to take a seat at the back of the hallway, in a small, dimly lit lounge.

  There was a nurse at the opposite end of the hallway, going through papers related to one of the other patients.

  The two dolls sat next to one another and looked up at Roman for further instruction.

  And in that instant, they were lifeless.

  Their heads came forward, their arms fell to their sides, their knees relaxed.

  “What did you just do to them?” Nadine asked, looking to her Zero Ring. She placed her thumb on the bottom of the ring, ready to activate it at a moment’s notice.

  “Recently—as in earlier this week—I received a superpower.”

  “You what?” Her eyes went wide. “How?”

  “Through a Hero Ticket.”

  Roman turned to the drapes over the window that looked out onto a dark, brick building.

  By focusing on them, he caused the drapes to roll themselves up and then roll themselves back down. He then very carefully cast his focus on a picture of a lovely meadow hanging on the wall. He was able to quickly elongate the frame and change things around, creating a new picture entirely as the paint swirled together and reformed the original image.

  “That’s a new one for me, to manipulate ink. I guess all this is kind of new.”

  “You’re a Type…?”

  “My trainer thinks I’m a Type II, Class A and C. I believe I may be a bit higher than that.”

  “And what is your power?”

  “I guess I should’ve said that in the beginning. I have the ability to manipulate inanimate objects. With the dolls, I have given them part of my own being. They are intelligent, and they operate and look just like you and me.”

  It’d been several days since he hadn’t had one of dolls attached to him in some way, draining some of his power. Roman felt the difference now; he felt like he could construct the building with little more than a thought.

  “You won the lottery?”

  “Actually, someone else won the lottery, and I happened upon their ticket. I never played the superpower lottery. I didn’t think it was possible to actually win.”

  “So you’re in training now, and once you pass training, you will be an actual exemplar,” she said, astounded.

  “Exactly. I won’t have to come to the administrative offices anymore, which was why I was a little disgruntled at the retreat. I’m basically just biding my time, waiting to get the go-ahead to take an exemplar role. No one knows about my power, either, aside from Coma and Celia.”

  Saying their names brought them back to life. Celia ran her hand through her red hair, bringing it over to one side, while Coma adjusted her mask, her bright red eyes shining for a moment.

  “Welcome back,” Roman told them.

  “It’s good to be back,” said Celia.

  “This is absolutely not what I was expecting this morning.”

  “What were you expecting?” Roman asked Nadine.

  “Well, as you might have put together by now, I dozed off out in the waiting room. I woke up when the doctors ran past, after you called for them. I figured you’d be a wreck, no offense or anything, and that this day would be pretty much shot. And now, I’ve confessed something to you that I haven’t told anyone, and you have now told me that you are close to being an exemplar—also a dangerous confession. This was not what I was expecting.”

  “Well, it wasn’t what I was expecting, either. But what I said earlier is true: I will help you. I want to use my new powers for good, and people disappearing from their own country, taken by another country, is clearly a bad thing. And I know there will be times in the future where there’s a blurred line between good and evil, but this is clearly something that’s wrong, something that needs some investigation. And I have the power to help you out.”

  “Thank you, Roman, and it doesn’t need to be said, but your secret’s safe with me.”

  “Same.” Roman extended his hand, and Nadine took it and shook it.

  I’m doing this for you, he thought to his deceased wife. For you, Celia.

  Chapter Forty-Five: Dead to the World

  Nadine decided to take a teleporter home.

  It was a lovely day out, warm, with a breeze blowing in from the north, and she made the instant decision to crack her windows when she got home. The breeze reminded her of the weather in the Eastern Province, where it was always a bit cool, no matter which season of the year.

  While she could have walked a couple blocks and caught a trolley, she was tired, and she hadn’t slept so well in the waiting room last night.

  And talk about a wild morning.

  She needed time to process what Roman had told her, and more importantly, how she could use it to her advantage. Having an exemplar with a unique ability would prove useful to her cause.

  A smile took shape on her face.

  It had been a Hail Mary to confess everything to Roman, to put that much trust in an asset.

  And it had actually worked. It was risky, sure, but he had also put faith in her to keep his secret, and now they held each other’s secrets, both of them in a Catch 22. Nadine from a couple of years ago would’ve been worried about this. As it stood, she was fine with how things had turned out; not only did she have an asset, she had a powerful asset, and he seemed determined to help her.

  Hell, he seemed genuine, and even if he wasn’t, even if all this was a ruse, she could adjust accordingly and move forward.

  So, a win-win situation.

  A red prism of light lifted from the street as the teleporter appeared.

  He was an older man with a long gray beard, and as soon as he made eye contact with Nadine, the two of them zipped away.

  They reappeared in her living room, both rising from the ground again, the teleporter leaving without saying a word.

  Removing her shawl, Nadine stepped out of her heels and relaxed onto her couch for a moment. She yawned, happy that she didn’t have to go in to work today.

  Sleep started to come over her, but she also had to use the restroom, so she figured she would go to the restroom, change, and actually sleep in her own bed.

  Truth be told, Nadine fell asleep on the couch half the time, mostly due to the fact that she’d never had a couch growing up, and she found the piece of furniture rather remarkable.

  As she stood, she felt a slight pinch at her side, where her scar was located. It had long since healed up, but every now and then, if she moved in a particular way, she would be reminded of the time she’d almost been killed by that Type II.

  Nadine stepped into the hallway that separated her bedroom from her bathroom. She paused, thinking she’d heard a floorboard creak in her room.

  You’re hearing things, she thought as she moved into the bathroom.

  Once she finished up, Nadine opened the door and crossed the threshold into her bedroom.

  Later, when trying to piece together what had happened, she would recall seeing a large man with red skin smiling at her. She would remember something striking her in the stomach, something slamming her into the wall, something dragging her out of her bedroom as she blacked out.

  Nadine’s next memory felt like a dagger giving birth in her skull cavity. Dragged up a flight of metal stairs, her thoughts came to her in a flash: red man, stomach, knocked out, pain.

&n
bsp; The red man was still with her, ahead of Nadine now, dragging her by an ankle.

  She’d been trained for a variety of things, but even with extensive training, there was only so much a human could take.

  Nadine let the moment of shock pass, doing as she’d been instructed in her Capture Preparedness class. She began by trying to get a sense of where she was. It was a large building, with an open space in its center.

  A slight draft.

  A warehouse, she thought as the side of her head slapped against another step. Her vision was blurred around the edges, and smacking against the metal stairs wasn’t helping.

  “Almost there, little princess,” the red man said with a cruel laugh.

  Nadine tried to reach her arms out to get some leverage, but something was wrong with her arms. They were numb; it felt like a million tiny needles were pricking her every time she tried to move.

  I can’t activate the Zero Ring, she thought, which spelled bad news for the Eastern Province spy.

  The ring was her trump card; it had saved her ass before, and not being able to use it meant she was at the mercy of the red man.

  Nadine strained her neck, trying not to hit her head on the next rung. She was scared, but she was alert enough to steel herself and wait for an option to present itself.

  They reached a doorway and stopped while the red man spoke to someone.

  “Keep moving, this isn’t for you to see,” the man said, and Nadine turned her head the other way, pressing her cheek against the ground.

  The last time she’d seen Kevin Blackbook, he’d been standing on the edge of a building threatening to jump.

  Now he stood ten feet away from her, wearing a black-and-turquoise superhero outfit. Desperation splashed across her face, desperation that was quickly muted as the red man dragged her into a room, her cheek scraping against the floor, her mouth naturally coming open and leaving a trail of spittle as she was moved across the threshold of the door.

  “Get on the bed,” he told her. When Nadine didn’t respond, he lifted her by one arm and forcibly placed her on the bed.