Nightmares Vs Magic

In the mirror room, Theo had a more expressive reaction to it than Dove did, sitting there frantically whipping his head around until Sienna snapped her fingers, and closing the door behind her to reveal the door as also a mirror, and now blended into the wall.

"You good yet or will you need the sassy little guy to smack you again?" She asked.

He gritted his teeth and shook his head. After all, his choices were very limited right now, even where he could point his eyes, lest he wanted to see more of the creepy puppet clinging to him from different perspectives of the mirrors. 

Sienna dropped the envelope on the table, letting the papers inside slip out, along with setting a voice recorder down on the table.

Like a skilled dealer in a high casino, the photos she needed slid out right in front of him. 

"For three days, nearly four now, we've gotten reports of this Sennentuntschi going down a specific path, eventually leading to you. What's your connection to this doll? Are you its maker or its owner?" She crossed her arms and sat across from him. 

"I don't like dolls, so neither... I got it as a gift."

"Seriously?" 

The living doll turned its head around again, and only its head as it gave Sienna the same stare with its glass eyes as it did the two interns earlier. 

The redhead quickly raised her hands up in a mock surrender.

"I wasn't all that happy about it either. It wasn't exactly a gift either. When I was at my parents' house, they said I got this in the mail, it came with this burner phone too." He said as he looked down at the table, the only non-reflective surface.

Sienna frowned and urged him to continue. 

"I saw things like this happen in the movies, so I called the number on the phone, and this guy picked up, said that he had something fun for me that could help turn my life around, better than staying at my parents' house."

"Do you know who this 'guy' is? You met up with him, right?"

Theo shook his head regretfully.

"Actually, I never met the guy, that's kind of the only reason I followed his instructions."

"What?"

"Yeah, I thought it was some kind of kidnapping trick, I'm not a little kid. But he wasn't asking to meet up or anything. He just said he wanted someone to talk to, about his personal thoughts and stuff, was scared he'd get made fun of or something."

Sienna sat up straight.

"What did he convince you to do?"

"He didn't egg me on to do anything. He just told me about some ideas he had, and I had a choice to do it if I wanted, and I guess, I don't know why but I thought why not."

Outside the room, listening through her phone, Sienna had silently called Laurence, and he had been listening in on the entire conversation. 

Is this an invasion of privacy? Well, they put the guy in a mirrored room that already forces him to tell his whole truths, so at this point his personal thoughts had already been invaded. 

Is this even legal? Allow me to answer that question with another question. At this point, do you honestly expect this house to follow the same policies, rules, and protocols as any other normal police station?... Sorry for coming off as rude.

Laurence was seated beside Dove, who was logged in to one of the desktop computers lined up at the wall, blankly focused on writing her report, and he just so happened to also need to give her some papers, standing next to her as one does when they are on the phone, subtly putting her within ear shot of the phone call. 

"I know my parents, or well, at least my mom, she had this, grand aunt or whatever you call a sister of your grandma, who used to work for a rich family. She even had these photos of her."

Some rustling sounds came up, of paper slipping, he was picking up one of the photos.

"I used to like looking at them, at least before I met Dove."

"You're getting off topic."

He cleared his throat.

"My mom said that the family liked my great aunt so much, because she was like a family to them since she watched their kids and stuff, that they included her in the will, that's also where I got the photos of the family. And that's when I learned about this really big house." He said as more paper sounds could be heard; he was looking for a photo of the house in the file. 

"My parents and I went to see it once, but it was so old style, they didn't want to keep it. I think the kids of the past family thought so too. My mom put it up for sale, but I sometimes kept going back.... They had a lot of stuff left behind, and my parents didn't want anything so I thought I could sell them..... When they were asleep or when they were gone, I'd take my car, and the key to the old house, and drive there often. Then, I went through the attic, and found... my great aunt."

Back in the room, Sienna frowned as she leaned in more, resting her arms on the table as she continued speaking to Theo, watching his eyes that were glued to the table. 

"Her corpse was already there during one of your secret visits to the house?"

He firmly nodded his head, his fists clenching as he stared at one of the other photos, the ones from his room, of his great aunt. 

"It freaked me out, so I went back down and mentally told myself to never go back up. I told myself that I was imagining things. I'm so sick of seeing those things! But then after I got the package with the burner phone, this guy I called started talking about loneliness, and how he was seeing things too. I started talking back more, he and I related to a bunch of stuff." 

"Right, and this little guy clinging to ya definitely helps me see how lonely you must've been, I mean you brought a doll to life that hugs you."

A chill ran down Theo's spine, he still refused to look at the doll on him, ignoring it and pushing its face away best he can.

"I didn't do it, Dove was the reason he came to life!"

Sienna quirked an eyebrow up, snapping his fingers to stop him from frowning at whatever he was daydreaming of.

"Dove? Why do you keep bringing her up?"

"Because she's the reason for everything! She's the freak that tricked me into thinking she was a cool person who just needed someone to talk to, only to infect me with this, this, these shitty nightmares day and night!" 

Sienna snapped her fingers at him again. 

From the other end of Sienna's phone to the party secretly listening in, Laurence recoiled his phone from Dove's hearing range, reading the look of guilt across her face, her eyes showing a pained expression. Her typing became slower, but she tenderly grabbed Laurence's arm, shaking her head and showing she wanted to keep listening.

"You're getting off topic again."

"No, I'm not! The guy on the phone even told me to check for myself if I was sure, he listened to me! The last time I went there, there were these creepy looking dolls! Life size! And there were these creepy things happening around the house, and I knew it was her again. She used to tell me about the creepy things she used to see in school, then she infected me, and then the house!" He ranted, forgetting where he was as he stood up, pounding his fist onto the table as panted out of frustration and anger.

"I can't look at anything without being bothered! God, my whole family was already disappointed in me, and now I'm like an insane person because of her." He choked. 

Sienna simply watched him like a scientist watching a lab rat, quirking an eyebrow as she picked up one of the photos of the life size, ball-joint dolls, and then pointing to the living doll still hugging him. 

"So then, let's say you're correct and assume it really was all this girl's fault. How exactly could she have caused the situation our team found at the house when they went to visit? Because according to our report, the life size dolls were all found cooped up in the basement, meanwhile there were skeletons found in the front yard, and the corpse, our trusted morticians noticed that while she had been there for a while, her body didn't die there thankfully. Someone had unburied her and moved her bones to that attic. I doubt that's something Dove would be capable of, as I'm sure she knew nothing about your great aunt."

Theo sighed, calming down as he sat back down, resting his head in his hand. 

"That part I don't know, I didn't even know there were skeletons in the front yard, I asked him, and he just laughed and told me that a lot of old houses would have skeletons, I laughed with him. I was honestly just using the ideas I got from the guy on the phone."

"Using them?"

"Yeah, he was just telling me stories, and then I got the idea to try them myself, because there was one he brought up, and at first I didn't think it'd work, but I was so tired and alone, I thought I'd try it."

"And that would be..."

"Contacting my great aunt. And asking her if Dove was the one who messed with the house. I know I saw her there, sometimes drifting around the house in like this, like her ghost was hypnotized. She never noticed or interacted with me, just moving around the house, folding clothes, and just basically playing house with the life size dolls, pushing them in their chairs and stuff. The guy on the phone told me a story of how he got a doll to contact a family member with, since haunted dolls seemed like the best place for spirits, and he said that if I was the spirit's family, they'd be less likely to hurt me."

Sienna finally seemed like she was cracking him for the answers she needed, resting her chin in her intertwined hands, letting him see the photos, and then rolling a pen to him to use on the blank side of one of the report pages.

"I was on the phone with him, and he told me that what he did was hold a doll in some bucket of water, so I was asking him for instructions as I brought a bucket of water to the house, because that's where my great aunt's ghost was stuck in. I put the doll in the water, and he started saying this prayer."

"And that's when this little guy came to life." 

Theo gritted his teeth.

"And also, when I realized the guy on the phone lied to me too. The doll was supposed to turn into a real-life person, I was hoping the creepy doll would turn into my great aunt and I'd finally have someone in my life who actually cared about me, but it just started moving, freaked me out, I just remember running, taking anything else I could grab, and just driving wherever, far away."

Sienna watched him stare longingly at the photos they had collected from his motel room, old pictures of a happy-looking family, and some of his great aunt, before tossing them back onto the table, huffing and resting his head on the table. He let out a frustrated groan. 

The rose-haired woman hummed to herself. 

"So, this guy, after realizing he lied to you, you did try to contact him again, right?"

"Yeah, but he just told me that, all of this shit happened because of yada yada butterfly effect, it all started with Dove. It was just, easier to be mad at someone I knew instead of some voice,,," His voice muffled as he rested his head on the table.

"Or... yourself perhaps?"

Theo lifted his head and hammered his fists on the table again as he snapped back up at her.

"I wouldn't have felt the need to try and bring a stupid doll to life-" He said as struggled to yank the living doll off his shirt.

"If I wasn't in a situation where I felt like no one cared or understood me-" Theo began to frustratingly let out a yell, like he was trying to breathe under all the stress, standing up and pulling at his wavy, short blonde hair.

"If Dove hadn't cursed me when we were sixteen!!"

He huffed and panted as he let everything out, and while he finally made eye contact with one of his reflections in one of the mirror walls, peering into an inner part of himself, Sienna checked her phone while he was distracted. She ended the call, sending Laurence a message soon after with those quick and skilled fingers of hers that moved like a spider over the screen of her phone that lay on her lap, right underneath the table. 

Plenty of experience gained from her times at bars. 

Outside, while finally finishing up the rest of her report from her perspective, Dove held tightly onto her wrist, nails digging into the flesh as she stared down at the keyboard, head hung low with guilt. 

Laurence put his phone away, checking his messages later as he hesitated to lay a warm hand on her back, but suddenly Dove sat up straight, her shoulder heaving in a breath and letting it out as she briskly finished typing out the rest of her perspective report, before saving and clicking to print it out. She stepped out of her seat casually and went to the printer, waiting for the paper to print out. 

"Dove."

"Yes?"

"Is what this boy said true?"

"... What other truth could there be?" Her voice croaked a little as she refused to look at him, crossing her arms as a disguise to hold herself. 

"We used to talk, I was selfish and was desperate for a listening ear. If I ever told my mother, I couldn't imagine the reaction. He and I were both lonely, so I talked to him, but I ended up telling too much, and all of a sudden, the next day I meet him, he's scared, and frightened, tense. My nightmares became his reality. I don't know how I did it, but, either way, I did this to him. And I can't do anything to help him, not that he wants my help, I wouldn't trust my help either."

"Dove..." He sighed, deciding to give her some space as she held onto herself. 

Laurence walked over to his desk, looking at his messages and waiting for Sienna to finish and come out so she can give him the voice recorder so he can work out a transcript from it. Bence was seen coming out from the files room, making his strides down the hall, heading to the mirror room for his turn. 

Sienna came out a couple minutes later, giving him the device just as Dove walked over with the printed paper, ready to submit it to him. 

She let out a whistle. 

"That kid, I gotta tell ya, he needs some therapy and a cleansing, otherwise a few years down the line, we're gonna end up with another one of those serial killers with mommy daddy issues."

Laurence wanted to shush her as he watched Dove's hand grip tightly onto the paper.

"Any who, sorry to tell ya but this doll house case you and those four interns just closed, has now reopened to a whole different rabbit hole." She said, emphasizing with spreading her arms wide.

"Don't worry though, the new manhunt mission can be left to me and my team, I just came to you to give you the voice recorder, and so I can ask for whatever other papers and files you have left for the dollhouse case. Lucas is already collecting the others."

"I'll send you the rest of the files, don't forget to share them with Mori and Lucas." He nodded to her, and she turned away, heading towards the files room.

She then stops, looking over her left shoulder so that her uncovered eye could make eye contact with Dove, who simply gave her an unbothered but attentive stare back.

"Oh, and, kid?"

"Hmm?"

"If even I can tell that the boy is just delusional, then you shouldn't waste your time moping over whatever you did to him. We all cope differently with being haunted. Even if he wasn't born haunted, his choices were still his own for we all suffer the same things." She told the girl, before continuing her way to the files room.

Dove seemed to let out a breath she didn't know she was holding whilst watching the handsome rose woman walk away, before handing Laurence the printed paper. 

He seemed to stay silent for a minute as he read her body language. Dove was clearly trying to occupy her thoughts and yet it was clear she was still thinking about Theo, as she looked around for a small piece of paper, and a pen.

"Do you remember that little assignment I asked you to try out?" He asked out of the blue, hoping to ease her mind, while also assessing her skill. 

"Any thoughts about anyone? If you feel like you're assuming something about them, it's okay, that's the point of the game."

She hummed as he waved to the seat in front of his desk, urging her to sit. 

-

Joon was with his own superior, dealing with the consequences, so whether he would come to them with his report or if she would have to go down, it would take a while before he could get to writing it. 

In the alchemist's floor, Enzo was pinching the bridge of his nose as Joon stood before him, his shoulders not slouching from any guilt at all, unlike the remorseful Dove. 

"I give you baton privileges once, and you immediately abuse it. And your only excuse, is what again?"

"He was cursing out Dove and being rude, which is saying something because I can certainly curse and rude."

Enzo huffed to himself and gave him a strong glare, crossing his arms.

"Do you have any other funny comments you'd like to tell me then? Seeing as you're careless enough to up and whack someone across the face for simply that?"

Joon held his chin and stared off into space, giving a serious thought before telling him, "I regret my actions, my bad." He said with a straight face.

The red headed man stood before him, not convinced. 

"Are you really?" 

"Well,,, I do regret certain actions that led me to this point of getting reprimanded. Mostly the part where I didn't think ahead." 

Enzo facepalmed himself whilst he could hear Adan lightly chuckling in the background, remembering to ban the young boy from using any of their melee weapons for a while until he received more thorough approval next time. Unlike Enzo, Adan is all for taking action to discipline someone for their unnecessary aggressions, although he wouldn't up and smack them like the boy did.

Adan was observing the batons they used today as an opportunity to study their new functions.

"Well, at least we have something new to work with, right Adan?" He gently yelled over his shoulder to the Nigerian alchemist at the tables, hands on his hips as he wasn't done scolding Joon just yet. 

The boy was still standing there with no regrets and tilted his body to look past Enzo at the alchemist who was comparing Joon and Dove's batons that were used today.

"I had these items designed to follow the instincts of their wielders, for the sake of conveniency ever since the zombie case."

"There was a case of zombies?!" Joon jumped and eagerly questioned. 

The alchemist only chuckled again at his excitement, keeping his focus as he picked up the baton Dove used, as evidenced by the skeleton key pattern summoned at the sharp end of it. 

"These batons were made as weapons, and have always been used as weapons, but never once in the history of these designs," Adan says with interest in his tone as he held up the skeleton key pattern up to the light and close to his eyes. "Has one ever adapted itself into a key."

"Well, to be fair, no wielder has ever tried to pick lock a door with one of these."

-

Underneath the labs, in the detective's floor, Dove conversed with Laurence as he worked on updating some newly discovered information about the doll house case, before digitally sending everything to Sienna's team.

The typing of his keyboard was a nice background sound, along with the sound of paper and distant tapping of footsteps on tiled floor. 

"Is Enzo a relative of Sienna?"

"Well, they are but I'm sure he's told you not to bring up him or their connection to each other to Sienna, right?"

She nodded, helping him retrieve whatever files he may have left in the meeting room, where she had also guessed he was in for the few hours that she and Joon left to shadow the field case. 

"He has, we never brought him up to her... um, that woman on the first floor, she's a wendigo, isn't she?"

The detective stopped typing, looking up at her with a surprised glance. 

"Well then, that was fast. I didn't expect you to figure out that detail so quickly."

"I think it helps that I've read a lot about wendigos." Dove played with the cuffs of her white button up, looking away from his computer screen and stood up straight, looking at some other files on the other desks. 

There aren't actually a lot of detectives in the building, or necromancers either, so I couldn't help but look at the papers scattered at some desks, either for the convenient empty space, or because they were genuinely for other people with different work positions. Some listed things like other haunted buildings that needed work, or missing person cases.

"Plus, it also helped a lot that everyone keeps asking whether she threatened to eat anyone."

"Still, that could be any other supernatural being." 

"True, but I still got it narrowed down when I met her in the morning, I saw her turn into mist. Wendigos are spirits so..." She trailed off, reading some of the articles on a missing person's case.

She frowned. 

Laurence lifted his head to see what was wrong when she became silent, becoming awkward when he realized he left those papers at the desk. 

"Ah, I probably should've put those somewhere... Anything else that gave her away?"

"Her nails." The girl answered without looking away from the papers, looking at a picture of where the missing person was most recently spotted.

"But she's nice, just like everyone else I've met ever since coming here." 

He sighed as she sounded like her mood was uplifted again, until she continued speaking with something surprising. 

"So, do you guys act like judges of people? Or do the workers here only take care of the supernatural and nothing more?" 

He leaned back in his seat as he pondered. 

I knew it, I already knew it, he didn't even have to give me an answer, nor did I even have to ask. There's no such thing as such a pleasant place or experience without some kind of price or pain.

"I suppose, I could phrase it as, we don't function the same way as a police precinct would, but we do choose to uphold moral codes. I mean, if there's someone committing a normal crime, we would leave it to the police to deal with, but..." He looked to the side, not knowing what words to use for the next bit of information.

Dove put down the missing persons article, walking over to sit in the chair in front of the detective's desk, not giving him any negative type of glance per say, but feeling oddly confident with being nosy, even though for the past couple of years, she has restrained herself not to be.

"So, I can confirm Lucia is a wendigo, right?"

Laurence nodded, sitting up straight as he became curious.

"Wendigos are said to have an insatiable hunger, looking back I'm sort of surprised with how, calm in her standards, she was for someone who wasn't endlessly eating humans. By the way, is it ok if I ask another question?"

"Please go ahead." He encouraged, happy that her curious side was finally coming out more, and less timidly. 

"There's more in the basement floor that I haven't seen yet, right? And, you likely hope I never see it?"

His silence spoke just the right answer she needed, his eyes were loud and his hand that twitched before playing it off as he twirled the pen in his hand, she began reading him, a habit that she also tried to forget due to how invasive she felt it must've been to others. 

"Maybe, a room where corpses are kept? For convenient feeding? I doubt wendigos are very clean when they eat, and I imagine a vampire would want a private place to feed too. Leon seems like the type."

Dove tightened her lips as she waited for Laurence to answer, his eyes showed that he was unsettled, and her confidence went away after a few seconds passed. 

"Sorry, maybe I'm really not supposed to know then-"

"No, no. You did good, very good." He stood up from his chair. "I was just worried you wouldn't react well to that bit of information. 

The girl gave him a blank stare, before squinting a bit with both eyes and tilting her head. 

"Sir, you and I were both born haunted, correct? If I spent my whole life seeing creepy things, along with, oh well I don't know just having internet and seeing how awful some people can be, why would I suddenly be disturbed by that? I've read worse." 

He scratched his neck as he gave her an apologetic expression on behalf of all the atrocities that he knew very well about. 

"Yeah, well, I suppose I too wasn't all that surprised to hear how they find their food. How did you guess that Leon was a vampire? Both him and Lucia are tall and pale, he has nails too."

"Lucas reminded me of him."

"Ah, so you figured him out too."

Bence was heard walking out of the mirror room, Theo in tow. The necromancer was carefully holding the now limp doll like a sleeping child. 

"Dove, do you mind taking this up to the alchemist floor? I'm going to call Theo's parents to come get him."

She at first nodded, before stopping mid-reach for the doll, when she suddenly came up with a question.

"Um, Bence?"

The man hummed in response, still holding the doll as he looked at her inquisitively. 

"Does Lucia eat anyone she deems annoying or snobby? Does Leon also have requirements for the people he drinks from?"