Seeing it was newcomers, Jimmy stepped back and opened the door a little wider, revealing a dirty smudge, almost like a bruise, on the end his nose, the only indication of his encounter with Suzy. The monkey saw what the girls were staring at and quickly turned, practically diving on the bed. He buried his head beneath the covers, sobbing as his tail lay limply over the edge of the bed, not even a twitch of its former self. Nell closed the door behind her and stood silently, not knowing what to say or do to comfort the broken soul before her.
“She...she...said next time, I would be for...for the Baruss!” Jimmy wailed to no one in particular. The wail broke Nell's indecision, approaching the bed she sat beside the monkey and gently laid a hand on Jimmy’s back, his body shuddering beneath her touch.
“Oh Jimmy, I am so sorry.”
“She...she will be...be really mad if she knew...knew you two were...were in here! This is her room...hers...Never mine...You...I...Oh!” The rest of his words were lost within great soul wrenching, body heaving, sobs.
As Nell stroked his back, he drew comfort from her silent presence and began to quieten, finally the hitches in his breathing abated. Consoled and feeling more himself, Jimmy slowly extracted his head from the blankets and turned red rimmed eyes on to the little rag doll. She continued to stroke the fur on his back, in rhythmic soothing strokes, a sad look of empathy on her face.
“Why are you so nice?” He asked, puzzled and a little suspicious as to her motives.
“I'm just being me,” Nell said, taken aback. “I am treating you no differently than I would anyone else. I'm no different than the next person.”
“No. No one is nice unless they want something here. But you...There is something about you.” He said quizzically, knowing something was different yet unable to place his paw on the reason. He sat up and wiped his eyes. “You make people feel better by just...just being there....just being you.” His eyes widened as he stared long and hard at Nell, making her feel uncomfortable with the intensity of his gaze.
Chiyo sat bemused, watching Jimmy watch Nell. It occurred to her that he had just seen something that he had never seen before. Something that he never expected to ever see, at least not in this place, this nightmare. She was about to ask what he had seen when all hell broke loose out in the corridor, the toll of numerous bells shattering the quiet afternoon. Jimmy bounded from the bed, a range of emotions playing across his features. Fear was first followed by sadness and finally a resolute look, resigning himself to the job that needed to be done. Swinging into action, he hurried from the room. Nell and Chiyo followed as he ran down the corridor, heading towards the ringing bells.
Even before they had turned the corner, they knew something awful was happening. Nell was not sure that she wanted to find out what it was, but the mournful crying, that could now be heard over the bells, tugged somewhere at her heart and she knew she needed to help that person.
By Little_Nell
Little William stood in the middle of the corridor beside two dolls, identical except for the colour of their clothes, one red, one green. He looked both sad and irate at the same time as only he could. He kept pressing his small stubby arms to his face; both came away a little damper each time. He noticed Nell and Chiyo and made his way over to them.
“Oh what a day! Poor Popit has been caught by Samantha and punished!” He offered by way of explanation.
“What is she being punished for?” Nell asked, genuine curiosity edging her voice.
“They were both doing their daily work, polishing the Ghost Globes. Topit startled Popit who then dropped the globe she was polishing. It rolled; hit a stack of globes and, long story short, they all shattered! Six Ghosts in all, six, escaped, and Samantha was mad as hell! Livid, even!” Little William's voice rising in volume with each word uttered.
“Ghost Globes? Escapee ghosts?” Chiyo scoffed, not believing what she was hearing, as she crawled to the floor, her silk strand ensuring her safe descent.
“You really know nothing of this awful place! What we have to do, what we need to remember, what we see every day! Poor Popit was given the harshest punishment!” William snapped, more harshly than he intended but too irate to care about hurting someone else's feelings. William stalked over and grabbed the green dolls arm and pointed to the wrist clasped in his hand. It was then that Chiyo noticed something hanging from the green dolls, Popit's, right arm. A small piece of red string was tied around her arm too tight to slip off but loose enough so as not to cut into the fabric beneath. “Open your eyes! Can you not see the string she has been given?!”
“What's the string for?” the spider asked, noticing Nell moving over towards the two crying dolls, hoping to offer comfort.
William sighed as he dropped Popit's wrist, wiped his little plastic face again. He walked a few paces from the dolls before continuing in a low voice. “It is one of the mark's of punishment. Three different coloured strings. Blue string for extra work duties. Yellow string means you're to be thrown into the pit. And red string.” His mouth quivered as he tried to continue. “Red string for the Walk of Shame.”
Chiyo stared at William. As far as she understood it, being thrown into the pit would be the worst punishment. Eternal darkness in a bottomless pit? How bad was a walk of shame? William could see the puzzled expression on her face, knowing what she was thinking.
“The Walk of Shame is not what you think it is. It involves being left out in the corridor at night after the candles are lit in the rooms. You see, the hall candles are only lit when a new resident enters the house. The corridors are normally kept dark to allow the Baruss to do its nightly duty. The Walk of Shame involves walking past every door in your corridor as each door is closed on you, forever. It involves being left to either the Baruss, or if you can escape him, the forest. What happens to you, no one really knows, as no one has ever come back.” William hung his head.
Chiyo was disgusted, alarmed, but most of all, angered. “Why doesn't anyone allow the person into their room? Try to take off the string? Do none of you even try and save each other?! Do none of you even care?!”
William looked more miserable than Chiyo thought a plastic face should show. “The strings are magic, they can not come off. If you wear the red string, you have until the sun sets to get your affairs in order. After that you cannot enter any room in the entire house. As for not helping? Well, I once had a room-mate, David. He tried to help someone on the Walk of Shame and was dragged from his room by the Baruss who appeared from nowhere. I never saw him again. Only time I have ever seen a candle die.”
It was as if William had only just noticed Jimmy, who until now had been doing a valiant job of trying to blend into the back ground. Not an easy task for a bright orange monkey. The dolls face morphed into a snarling face of hate. “You! You traitor! Have you come for a look at your next job, huh? Huh? Think you would try and make her feel worse before she walks? You.. You...Monster!” William threw himself at Jimmy, who jumped up to the rafters above and clung there, looking as if he wished he had never been born.
William landed on his knees, his rage leaving him as quickly as it came only to be replaced by fresh tears. Chiyo looked up at Jimmy, who stared back down at her, searching for some look of compassion from the spider. A sign that she understood. “We all do what we have to, to survive in this house. You have your duties and I have mine. I'm sorry.” He whispered sadly. Chiyo watched Jimmy for a moment, realising how genuine the apology was.
“She is my friend, Chiyo, my best friend. But Topit is her sister, her twin, she will feel it harder than me. It’s all so horrible.”
Topit, her chin rested on her sisters head, watched as the rag doll approached. She had heard of the newcomer but this was the first time she had seen her. Nell didn’t really know what to say, but she wanted with all her heart to help Popit, and it showed on her face.
“I know you helped put William back together again, but this is different. No one can help Popit now.” Another cry rose from Popit as her little wooden head buried deeper into her sisters coat.
“Nothing?” Nell asked, a sadness growing within her, knowing it to be true yet still wishing it wasn't. Topit shook her head before turning her attention back to her sister.
“Popit, look at me.” She took a hold of Popit's chin and tilted her head up. She was met with swollen red eyes and almost cracked when she saw the pain they held. “We will do this together.” Topit said, gently stroking Popit’s face, wiping the tears away as she had always done.
“No!” Wailed Popit, a fresh flood of tears replacing the ones before. “There is no reason for you to suffer too! I won't let you do it!”
Topit shook her head. “I gave you the fright that made you drop the Globe, it's as much my fault as yours. We have done everything together, everything. We came here together and we will leave here together.” Topit pulled her sister closer, placing a soft kiss to her forehead. “I cannot, and will not, live without you. In our lifetime we have shared everything, now we shall share the same fate too.” She whispered through her tears, her voice filled with love.
A soft touch on her cheek told Nell that Chiyo had found her perch again. The ragdoll closed her eyes briefly and leaned into the touch, taking the comfort being offered. The spider could see the pain on her friends face. She knew that Nell was never meant for a place as dark and terrible as this. Yet she didn’t know how to save her from it.
“Why don’t we go to my room?” William said. “My chores are finished; we have the rest of the day to...” He fell silent, his eyes downcast, searching and failing to find a way to end the sentence.
Say goodbye, Chiyo thought.
As they walked along the corridor, some of the Houses other occupants were returning from their chores. From the solemn looks and sympathetic expressions of some, the news had spread of poor Popit's punishment.
How many times have they seen this red string? Chiyo wondered sadly.
As the five entered William's room, three doors down from the turn in Nell and Chiyo's corridor, Nell gasped. She now realised what William had meant about her room being nice. The wallpaper of this room was falling from the walls. In some places the plaster had fallen off, exposing the red muscular fibre of the house. And everything was covered in years of grime that no amount of cleaning would remove.
“Like I said,” William said, looking towards Nell, “Your room is still nice.”
As Nell stared aghast at the room, Topit took the opportunity to actually look at Nell. She could see what William had tried to put into words. An innocence, a pure soul, untainted yet by the darkness here. It was that that made Topit want to tell the ragdoll any information that would help her help others, before they left this place. Before their walk of shame.
Topit began the tale of woe, of desperation, a life of servitude to the one called Teviel. The tasks that were to be performed each and every day. And as is the want with twins Popit joined in, finishing the sentences started by Topit and starting her own for her sister to finish.
“Everyone who enters the house is assigned a task.”
“It never changes.”
“We had to take care of the Ghost Globes, polishing them.”
“Caring for them. Every time they run out.”
“We put six new globes onto a mount in the centre of the room, and take the empty ones away.”
“Clean out the sludge, then stack them.”
“All the rest are polished and numbered. Every day.” Topit finished.
“But what are the globes?” Nell asked, confused, and getting a little dizzy from flicking her attention between the two sisters. “What do they do?”
“No one knows really.”
“They are clear with a milky white substance inside that constantly moves. Sometimes.”
“They glow real bright; sometimes they are dull and offer little light.”
“But every day we must do as the work is written on the wall.”
“And never ever break them.” Popit whispered with a fresh tear on her cheek.
“And what of other duties? What else is done here?” Chiyo asked, wondering what was in store for them tomorrow.
“Changing bed sheets, collecting rubbish. They are basic duties we must all perform. Then we are given the real task at hand, be it the Ghost Globe room or the keeping of the kitchen.” William joined in the conversation, adding a third direction into the dizzying spin of Nell's head.
“Kitchen?” Nell said, realising that she was not even hungry despite the fact she had not eaten in, well, she could not remember ever having eaten.
“Not food for us, none of us need it.” Popit said when she saw Nell's hand rub at her stomach.
“It is for the likes of Suzy and Samantha. And Beeble of course.” Topit spat out, the names leaving a bitter taste within her mouth.
“Why do they need to eat, when we don't?” Chiyo wondered.
“Did you not see the scales, the body under the cloth and porcelain? They are not like us. They need to eat.”
Nell thought about Beeble. He had not had any reptilian body; he was just a big friendly bear. No trace of scales or at least not that she could remember from their brief encounter. Her mind could not put him with the others.
“What are they fed?” Chiyo asked, her interest piqued.
“The sludge from the Globes.” Popit said, a sickened look on her face.
“There are many rooms and many duties that need to be done to keep this house in working order.” Topit said, trying to get the conversation back to explaining the things she thought would help the ragdoll. “The house is alive and therefore needs to be nourished and cared for.”
Even though Nell knew the house was alive, she never thought of it as an entity that required food or water. The thought of living inside a living being was now making her feel queasy, only adding to the unease within her.
William looked to Topit, and she nodded her head. Silently giving him the permission he was seeking.
“We think there is a way out of this place.” He said his voice almost inaudible.
“Well why don’t we all just leave!” Cried Chiyo.
William paled at the shout and looked to the door nervously crossing everything he could in the hope no one had heard the spiders comment. Topit motioned for the spider to keep her voice down.
“This house has more ears and treacherous mouths than even I know about. Be mindful of what you utter so close to nightfall.” Topit warned. Chiyo settled down on her legs a little red in the face but suitably chastised.
“The key to leaving is Bango.” Topit took up the story in a hushed tone. “He is the one who has left here and come back. Sometimes he manages to sneak another out with him, other times he leaves alone.”
“So where is this Bango we keep hearing about?” Chiyo asked.
“No one knows. He has not been seen in so long, he is no more than a fairy tale to most, a legend to tell the younger ones among us. If anyone would know anything about him, it would be Terriah.”
“But no one has seen Terriah for so long, we wonder if she has been killed.” William whispered.
“Who is Terriah?” Nell asked.
“Terriah is said to be the very first occupant of the house, only Beeble has been here as long. She is a patchwork doll, made from many different materials. She looks so old and ugly that most fear her at first glance, but she has one of the kindest souls here. So does Bango...and you.” William said looking at Nell in something akin to reverence.
Nell was shocked and only managed to gape at William after his revelation. William and the twins stared back with hope in their eyes. She wondered just how bad the other occupants of the house really were, if she could be considered one of the best things in it.
“Nell, you, you and Chiyo, we have not seen your likes in many years.” Popit said.
“Many years?” Nell asked, “How long have you been here?”
“Too long…Perhaps this is a good time to leave, before our souls are too tarnished.” She said, pulling Popit closer. “You have to seek out Terriah; I believe you could be the one who can free us all from this house.”
“I’ve been here less than a day! How can you possibly think that! You don’t know me!” Nell said, almost too loud for comfort.
“It is in your eyes Nell. Your eyes.”
Chiyo crawled down and looked at Nell, really looked at her closely, for the first time since they met. She stared at her eyes, knowing full well that Nell was becoming more and more uncomfortable with each passing second. Then she saw it. A hypnotic quality to her eyes. The longer you looked the more you could see. Her brown button eyes had a milky quality to them, ebbing and flowing like the tide. It was a hint of something deeper, a depth that you could lose yourself in.
Nell stood up, breaking eye contact with the rest of the rooms occupants. She wandered to the window to give herself time to settle the churning feelings that were making her so uncomfortable.
I'm ordinary. I'm Nell, Little Nell. No more, no less. She repeated this litany over and over to herself, not sure who she was trying to convince.
“What makes you think I want to help anyone?” She sniped, her anxieties causing the anger. “I helped William, so what?”
“With eyes like those, so like what Terriah's and Bango's eyes are fabled to be like? The fact they are so like the Ghost Globes, the only things in this awful place that feels good? You know you would help if you could.” Popit said.
Nell knew Popit spoke the truth. If Nell could break everyone free from this place she would, and destroy it at the same time so no others would suffer this fate. Before anything else was said, a soft woosh of air came from behind Nell. The candle on the wall stood in its sconce now lit, shedding its eerie light about the room.
Popit muffled a gasp with her hand as she realised it was time. Her time.
“You must go back to your room. Nell, do not get caught outside of your room tonight, or any other. Once the candles light you have ten minutes before the hall candles are snuffed. That is when no one should walk the corridors.” Topit said, holding her shaking sister. “Go now, and do not worry of our fate. We go willingly and happily, knowing you are here to offer comfort to those we leave behind. Find Terriah, she has the answers you seek.”
Nell and Chiyo ran back to their room, never once looking back. They weren't the only ones running, the corridor was packed. Everyone trying to make the safety of their own room before candles out.
Once inside, they tried to close the door but no matter how hard the two pushed there was no movement. Nell's struggles increased as slowly the hall candles went out one by one. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes, knowing that she was going to be subjected to Popit's punishment whether she wanted it or not. Giving up her futile attempts to close the door she sat at the foot of her bed. Scooping Chiyo from the floor she holding her tight, fearing without that contact her friend might be taken from her.
The eerie candle light flickered into the corridor, making the scene more ominous. Then the bell's began to toll. A steady beat to it, a death march of sorts. The sound sent shivers through Nell's tiny frame. The pounding in Nell's heart and the bell's were still not loud enough to drown out the awful sound of the doors slamming.
The light in the corridor grew dimmer with each closing door, until finally Topit and Popit made their way to Nell's door, Jimmy following behind, his features set into an unreadable mask.
Jimmy did not look like he enjoyed his task, he was just doing his job to the best of his ability as he followed the twins on their final walk. As they passed Nell and Chiyos door, the Twins smiled at them, sadly. And then they were gone.
The door slammed. Three more doors were heard to slam before the house began to quake. The candle flickered. A roar so awful it made Nell run for the bed, tore through the corridors, echoing through the darkness.
The Baruss was loose.
Nell threw her head under the pillow, squeezing it as tight to her ears as she could, Chiyo still cupped in her hand. She did not want to hear this, she could not live with the memory.
Screaming into the pillow, she tried to block out the noise of the roaring and anything else that she might hear. The room shook so violently she was almost thrown from the bed.
Then silence. It was done.
Whether the twins had escaped to the forest or not, Nell would never know. She cried and sobbed into the pillow, angry, sad, scared and every emotion in between. Chiyo squirmed as her cupped hand became a fist, Nell reflexively opened her hand before she crushed her friend.
The spider ran to the window, scrabbling over the wall until she came to the dirty glass. Peering out, hoping to glimpse the two dolls as they escaped, knowing that the possibility of escape was remote. Her heart felt as heavy as the storm that raged outside the window.
A noise at the door drew her attention and she looked to see something being pushed under it. Crawling towards the door with the intent to look under it she almost jumped out of her skin when Nell stopped her. The big ragdoll scooped her up to her shoulder before lifting the object.
It was a scrap of folded paper. She opened it, hating the slimy, dirty, feel of it. Five words greeted her, written in russet brown ink.
“Globe Room, after Candles Out.”
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