Strange, blurry shapes appeared around Blossom, before fading away into darkness. She was faintly aware of the sounds of footsteps and voices. But eventually, it all faded into focus. The faces became clearer. Blossom blinked and squinted at the world around her. Everything felt faint and fuzzy. She was lying on the floor at the end of a small, dark room. The floor was made of an odd, rough material. But it wasn't glass.
How unnatural it felt. Her fingers traced the cool, hard material. It didn't feel like anything that Blossom was familiar with. Right, the humans had many materials that they used to build things with. Glass wasn't normally their first choice. Three figures stood at the entrance to Blossom's room. They were talking softly. But Blossom couldn't make out what they were saying. She tried to sit up and face them. Pain shot through her limbs. It already took enough effort to blink and breathe. Clearly, she wouldn't be able to sit up for a while.
One of the figures seemed to have noticed her stirring. He pointed at her and said something that she couldn't quite follow. Blossom didn't recognize any of the three humans. Maybe they were known. She would have remembered them if they had worked with her before. Then the figures left, closing the door behind them. Blossom heard the sound of a lock sliding into place. She could almost laugh. As if she was even strong enough to open the door.
This place felt familiar. It probably wasn't the exact same cell, but it was very similar. The cold, pale lighting and faint smell of mold were the same. Fear began to creep over Blossom. It wasn't panic. It was a deep, raw, heavy fear. There was nothing she could do to comfort herself. Blossom knew exactly what was going to happen to her here.
She had known and she had broken the rules anyway. Even the thought of answers did little to reassure her. The fear and promise of pain were much closer to her than any answers could be. Ivy would be happy if she knew what I was doing. She would want me to do this, Blossom told herself. She had no idea if that was true or not.
But it was what she told herself anyway. The numbness slowly left Blossom's body. As it faded away, a sharp stabbing pain took its place. Her senses were sharper now. The light stabbed at her eyes as all the awful familiar smells overwhelmed her nose. She shifted carefully and winced as the floor scraped at her. But the worst part about this place was without a doubt the sounds.
Screams could be heard, coming from somewhere far below Blossom. Sharp, desperate screams. This was one of those times when it was impossible for Blossom to feel thankful for her gift. In fact, now it felt more like a curse. There were several different cries. They sounded like they belonged to different dolls. Blossom's mind began homing in on each individual cry. One was sharper than the others and carried a note of anger. It was so easy to tell by the way they screamed exactly what must be happening to them. A shudder ran through Blossom.
The sounds of footsteps coming down the hall were a welcome distraction from all the dark places those screams would carry Blossom's mind to. A tiny bit of Blossom's strength had returned to her, and she was able to sit up and face the door. But the room did spin around her for a moment. The door swung open and in walked Mary. Mary's face was cold and focused. There was no hint of cheer or pep in her eyes. Mary looked over Blossom with a look of irritation and surprise.
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"I hate to see you here again, Blossom," said Mary. "I thought you had already learned your lesson. It's very disappointing to see you here again." She grabbed Blossom and helped her to her feet. The room spun around Blossom. Mary's voice and face became part of the hazy blur as she slowly stepped out into the hall. Blossom's legs shook so violently that she feared they might shatter. Mary firmly steadied her.
Everything about this was awful. What could be worse than having to lean on the person whom you hated and feared most? But with each step, more of Blossom's strength returned. The room came back into focus. Long, white, windowless halls. That seemed to be what this whole building was devoted to. Well, that and the levels.
Once again, Mary found herself wondering what this place was. Was it part of the city? It wasn't made of glass. But it had to be close to the city. Mary probably spent most of her time here, giving the dolls instructions and doing whatever else Mary did.
At first, Blossom had no sense of direction. Everything around her looked the same. These halls were familiar, but she still had no idea if she had been in this particular hall before. They walked past several different cells. Sometimes Blossom would hear screams, sometimes it would be silent. Then, after about five minutes, Blossom began to hear another sound. It was very soft and faint at first, but it grew louder and louder, as she walked. It was a soft, deep rhythmic beating sound. The quiet thump... thump... thump was something that Blossom would never be able to forget.
Now Blossom remembered where she was. They must be nearing the second level. That would make sense after all. The first level was mostly dedicated to storage units and temporary cells for the dolls. Now Blossom realized the slant in the floor. It was very small. But it was there. She should have noticed that. They were moving down. Blossom had always wondered why this place did have any elevators. Maybe it made it harder for the prisoners to keep track of where everything was. Maybe it was because of where this place had been built. That was just another question that didn't really matter and would probably never be answered.
"You will be kept here from three to five weeks depending on how reasonably you handle your punishments," said Mary. That was good to hear. Five weeks in this awful place didn't sound fun. But it was better than six months. Blossom considered asking Mary a question. But last time she had attempted that Mary had just ignored her. So had the other overseers. Perhaps they were forbidden to speak to the dolls when they weren't giving them instructions or orders.
Yes, Blossom would just have to focus on finding answers herself. At least she had this place more or less memorized. There was a ton of information hiding in plain sight. You just needed to not get caught while poking around. If it weren’t for all the torture and experiments, Lu would love this. Besides, Lu didn't seem to mind taking apart the dead bodies of her fellow dolls. Maybe she would be right at home here. Well, this was it. Hopefully, Blossom would walk away with some answers. Why was she doing this? Who knew. Maybe she just wanted to tell herself some kind of story about the city to make life easier.
Maybe she just needed to do something. There was also a part of her that wanted more evidence to show Lu. But maybe there was nothing she could do to change Lu's mind. Oh well, Lu could get herself killed as many times as she wanted. But the other dolls didn't deserve that. They needed to know the truth about what they were. She would find something here for them. The truth needed to be shared. Blossom shook herself as she followed Mary into the first testing room. It was time to focus.