Rule 8 - Craven
IT CAN ALWAYS GET WEIRDER.
“You can talk?” I turned my head quickly and hissed at the creepy doll.
Suddenly, Delia’s hard, plastic face crinkled like it was made of rubber. “You talk too?”
“Yeah, what gives? Is this why Mr. Talks A Lot was being a freak last night?”
Delia crossed her doll arms across her chest. “Oh, you’re one to talk. She was screaming like she was in a movie. And she kept turning her head. I thought she was just really into Damon’s talking, but she was just wanting you to watch. Disgusting.”
I glanced at the front seat. Damon and Tanis had relaxed into the playful flirting from before. They weren’t paying us even the slightest attention. I turned back to Delia.
“So, what’s your deal then? Did you, like, come alive or something? Are you like...”
“A real doll? No. I was human once. Damon and I were engaged before the ritual.”
“The ritual?”
“Yeah, he heard about some magic where you could become immortal and all powerful. He read it in a book. He was so sure it would work.” She huffed. “It worked for him.”
It did? I thought back to last night. I hadn’t seen any scars on his chest to indicate he’d performed the ritual.
“I sewed him up really clean. He only had faint scarring, which he covered up with tattoos.”
“And what happened to you then?” I snickered.
“He wasn’t fast enough. When my body wasn’t ready to be reinhabited, my soul panicked and flew into the closest thing that looked human. I was his sister’s doll.”
I shook my head. Sisters, man.
“What happened to you?” she asked. I blinked away the memories of my own messed up ritual.
“My little sister interrupted Tanis as she was working. She couldn’t explain what was going on and somehow I ended up in this.” I raised my arms, and Delia chortled.
“For the first time since it happened, I’m grateful I got stuck in this vessel. But I’ve only got a few more days.” She smiled, and her eyes hardened.
I blinked.
“What does that mean?”
“Damon found me a body.” She sighed wistfully. “She looks nothing like I’d wanted, but she’s easy picking and she’s the first woman he’s ever wanted as much as he wanted me.”
If my face had more emotional range, I’d have given her a confused and slightly disgusted look. “Don’t you want a body you can be excited for?”
“I mean, I do.” She nodded. “But Damon’s wants are more important than mine. If he wants a short, Hispanic bimbo, then so be it. I’ll bleach my hair. And it will be nice not to have to tan. Hers is built in.”
Annoyance boiled just under my fur. I hadn’t liked the way she’d described Tanis.
“I will admit, you being sentient does put a kink in the plans, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She was no longer talking to me, but more to herself. Which was fine, because I was trying to figure out the same thing she was. What do we do now? We both wanted the same things, and only one of us would get a body.
“How long have you been like this?” I asked.
“About a year. It’s been rough, but Damon still loves me and we make it work. You saw last night. That was nothing.” She giggled. My stomach twisted.
“Wait, you two still...”
I looked at her lap. What exactly was under her dress?
