Robert’s eyes remained closed as Ruby approached. His face had lost all color. The faint rising and falling of his chest was the only sign of life. None of this felt real. This couldn’t be happening. Everything was wrong. Robert’s face had always been so full of color and life and expression. Now, he looked like a restless statue. No look of peace rested on his face. Everything about him just looked empty, hollow. Ruby sat down next to him with a sigh. She could make out the beads of sweat that dripped down his face.
“I know you can’t hear me. But I’m going to talk to you anyway, okay? I-I just want you to know that I’m still here,” she whispered. Was he in pain? No, that wasn’t fair. This was already awful enough. Robert had been through so much already. “I promise that I’ll always be here for you. Don’t worry. I’ll still be here when you wake up again. Please, wake up as soon as y-you can.” She managed to tear her gaze away from the awful sight.
How much longer would things stay like this? How much longer would he have to suffer? If only Ruby could go back in time. She wanted to see Robert smile again. Didn’t the City of Glass use time magic? They would have to in order to keep the loop going, right? That was another question that she couldn’t ask Robert.
“Hello? Ruby?” Ruby’s eyes fluttered open. It took her a little while to remember where she was. For a few moments, Ruby just lay in her bed, looking around. “Ruby?” Ivy’s voice brought her back to the present. She was standing in the hall, knocking on the door.
“I’m here, hang on!” Ruby sat up and climbed out of bed. What time was it?
“Sorry to wake you up so early. But we need to talk,” Ivy said. Should Ruby be worried? Her voice sounded bright and cheerful. But the words ‘we need to talk’ never seemed to mean anything good.
“W-what is it?”
“Remember how I wanted you to meet someone? I think now is the best time to do that. It’s kind of important. Also… if we wait too long one of us might die,” said Ivy. That was a fair point. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to answer some of your questions,” Ivy added. That sparked Ruby’s curiosity. She did have many, many questions about her past and how she had escaped.
“Okay. Let’s go.” Ruby followed Ivy down the hall.
“We can’t stay too long. I really want to be back here by the time everyone else wakes up,” said Ivy.
“Ivy, where exactly are we going?”
“Not too far. The people I want you to meet live just down the block.” Ruby slowed her pace. A feeling of unease was creeping over her. She didn’t really know Ivy, or this city. Was it wise to follow her?
“Where are we going exactly?”
“Just down the block.”
“Y-yeah, but like… where?” Ruby asked. Ivy turned to her.
“What are you, stupid?” Ivy demanded.
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“Maybe.” Based on her choices yesterday, Ruby might be stupid. Ivy slowed her pace, matching Ruby’s.
“Listen to me, hurting you, killing you, injuring you or tricking you in any way doesn’t help me. So, I would never do that. As the games go on, we’ll probably have to work together. It’s only in the final rounds when they’re down to less than ten people that things get really cutthroat. I’ve never made it to the final rounds; believe me when I say I’m very glad I haven’t had to live through that. We haven’t known each other long enough for me to have any petty grudges that I hold towards you. Long story short, I’m not trying to trick you into something horrible,” Ivy said. Her words sounded convincing. Ruby had no idea why she was so hesitant. If anything, Ivy seemed to be a brutally honest type.
Maybe she just didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps that was why she felt so afraid of everything here. Her survival instincts were all scrambled in this new and bizarre environment. All the more reason to listen to Ivy who seemed to know her way around the city. The two girls slipped out into the dark streets. There was also an artificial moon. Ruby had forgotten about that. The city looked like a totally different place in the darkness. All the bright colors had become dull greys or bright silvers. An eerie stillness and chilling beauty hung over everything around Ruby.
Ivy walked very softly and quickly, sticking to the shadowy sides of the street. Ruby did her best to match Ivy’s movements. Why were they moving like this? Were they hiding from something? Suddenly, the stillness didn’t feel beautiful. Now Ruby was painfully aware of how her soft footsteps echoed through the city. To her surprise, Ruby felt extremely relieved when they reached the apartment building. This one was a lot smaller than the one that Ruby lived in. They reached the front door and Ivy knocked softly. The door was answered almost instantly. The doll that answered the door gave Ruby and Ivy a bright smile.
“Hello again, Ivy. It’s amazing to see that you’re alright, Ruby. You might not remember me, but we’ve met before,” said the doll as she led them into the building. The curiosity in Ruby’s soul was growing more and more intense with each breath that she took.
Right away, the doll’s design stood out to Ruby. The structure of her face and the size of her eyes were very different from Ruby’s. This was one of the old designs that Robert had told her about. This doll looked extremely realistic. Every detail was lifelike and looked exactly like a real human. It was almost the opposite of Ruby’s own exaggerated features.
This doll must be one of the first dolls that had ever been made. She must have lived through so many different things. There was a chance that this doll had been alive before the game was set up. Maybe she could remember when the city was still just an ordinary theater.
“My name is Blossom,” said Blossom. She gestured for them to sit down. “You probably have a lot of questions about this place. Hopefully, I can help you answer some of them. But everything that we discuss tonight must not be repeated outside of this room,” Blossom’s soft and gentle tone grew very harsh suddenly. “Do you understand, Ruby?” Ruby nodded. Excitement was scrambling her brain, making it hard to think of things to say.
“I-I understand,” she said at last. Blossom’s smile returned.
“Thank you. Well, I imagine one of the things that you would like to know is how you escaped from the City of Glass. Am I correct?” said Blossom.
“Yes! I’ve always wondered about that. Is it true that I’m the only doll who has ever escaped?”
“Yes. You’re the only doll who we know has escaped. There have been many attempts of course. But they all ended in death for the dolls. In fact, we all assumed that you had been caught and killed as well. You can’t imagine how surprised I was when Ivy told me you were alive!” Ruby glanced over at Ivy. What were these two planning? What exactly did they want from her? They probably wanted answers. A soft laugh escaped Blossom. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive and well!” she said. Had Ruby been good friends with her?
“So, we knew each other before I escaped?” asked Ruby.
“Yeah, in fact, we formed your escape plan together!” said Blossom. Ruby’s jaw dropped. This was it. All of her questions were about to be answered. Perhaps she could finally learn about who she had once been.