Chapter 21: S#4. Doll of Sorrow (4)
by fnovelpia
Nancy Strode sat in front of her desk.
She opened a book, but the words didn’t register.
She was worried about Summer, who had left to take care of Chucky.
What bothered her the most was the time he spent alone with that Japanese woman (Asiko?) who was like a fox.
Especially since they were heading into the forest.
She hoped they wouldn’t do anything strange.
“Uh… It’ll be okay……”
…Will it, though?
Eventually, she closed the book.
Thinking about Summer made her heart race, her white ears turning red.
She couldn’t pinpoint when her tender feelings for Summer had begun.
She felt a desire to soothe his loneliness and a longing to be protected by his reliability.
After indulging in embarrassing fantasies, Nancy finally threw herself onto the bed.
She buried her face in her pillow and groaned.
Her head felt hot.
Phew. Time to organize her thoughts.
She got up from the bed and went over to the drawer to get a needle and thread.
She needed to mend Captain Bear’s torn arm and plucked eye.
She looked at the shelf where she had placed Captain Bear.
But Captain Bear was not there.
“Where did it go?”
Captain Bear was nowhere to be seen.
She was sure she had placed it on the shelf…
But memories can be unreliable.
Given the terrible event that morning, it wasn’t far-fetched that her memories were mixed up.
She opened the wardrobe and searched inside.
It wasn’t just Captain Bear; there was a space for other old dolls as well.
“Where could it be… Huh?”
She felt something soft at her fingertips.
Pulling it out, she found it was a clump of cotton.
It was definitely from one of the dolls.
What’s this?
Feeling something was off, she pulled out the dolls from the wardrobe.
All the dolls she hadn’t seen in a long time were…
…completely torn apart.
Shredded, limbs detached, with their cotton stuffing scattered around.
Nancy froze on the spot.
Among the torn dolls, one was missing.
“…Captain Bear……”
“……Ugh…”
Blood was dripping from her forehead.
Through the cracked windshield, I could see the hood smoking.
The car, having hit a tree, was wrecked.
Reiko Ishikawa was slumped over the steering wheel, motionless.
“Re, Re… Reiko?”
Was she dead?
I shook Reiko, but there was no response.
Fortunately, she was still breathing.
Suddenly, the rear car door opened.
The entity that had been hiding in the back seat and had shot at Reiko and me got out of the car.
Then the passenger side door next to me opened.
“You are……”
“Get out.”
The teddy bear said.
With one eye plucked out and an arm torn off, it was Captain Bear, Nancy’s old friend.
It was holding a handgun, pointing the barrel at me.
I slowly got out of the passenger seat.
My thigh, where I had been shot, hurt terribly.
“How’s that? Completely fooled, right?”
Captain Bear sneered.
I then realized.
The ‘cursed doll’ wasn’t Chucky.
It was Captain Bear.
It was Captain Bear who had taken Chucky out of the box.
Who had given Chucky a meat tenderizer and placed it on the dining table.
Who had dug Chucky out of the grave.
It was all Captain Bear’s doing that led me here.
Chucky was just an ugly doll.
There was never a moment when Chucky moved on its own.
Damn. Why didn’t I suspect anything?
The reason Captain Bear was never suspected was simple.
Its eye and arm were torn off.
I thought it was Chucky’s doing, but in fact, it was self-harm by Captain Bear.
Chucky, just a normal doll, was perfectly framed.
“What are you… Why are you doing this……”
“I am Nancy’s one and only best friend.”
Captain Bear emphasized the word ‘best friend’ with force.
“I’ve dreamt of this day. The day I kill you, the parasite stealing Nancy’s affection.”
“Why Chucky…”
“I couldn’t just let a doll that had even a moment of Nancy’s affection be. But if I destroyed Chucky myself, I’d be suspected, right? So, I made you destroy it.”
Indeed.
I was the one who condemned Chucky as the cursed doll and destroyed it thoroughly.
Captain Bear was pointing the gun at my head.
“I’m going to kill you now.”
“Why didn’t you just kill me at home? Why drag me all the way here to do it…?”
“Using a knife or a gun would have been boring. So, I decided to burn you alive.”
Captain Bear spoke chillingly.
“If I burned you in the garage, the fire would spread to the house. But I didn’t want to hurt Nancy as well.”
How sweet.
That aside, it plans to burn me alive.
Being burned at the stake is a classic demise for living dolls in horror movies.
It’s exactly what I had planned for Chucky.
And now its come back to haunt me.
Ironic, isn’t it?
“Go get the gasoline from the trunk,” Captain Bear ordered.
I couldn’t rush it because of the gun.
Captain Bear was ready to pull the trigger.
No matter how strong my body is, a bullet to the head would kill me.
I quietly took the gasoline out of the trunk.
“Pour it over yourself.”
“……”
“Didn’t you hear me? Pour the gasoline over yourself.”
I opened the can.
Like taking a shower in the morning, I poured the liquid over my head.
It didn’t feel refreshing at all, probably because it was gasoline, not water.
“Make sure it covers every part. I’ll roast you nice and crispy.”
“Listen, Captain Bear. Let’s talk this out. I mean, to Nancy, I…”
“Don’t you dare speak her name with your filthy mouth! Hurry up and soak yourself. Make sure even your beard and armpits are drenched.”
The one remaining button eye glared with hatred and jealousy.
“Nancy no longer hugs me because of you, you damn parasite.”
“……”
“It’s because you hog all of Nancy’s affection. You thief, you trash, you vagabond, you delinquent.”
My body was drenched in gasoline.
This must be how logs waiting to be thrown into a furnace feel.
I glanced towards the driver’s side of the car.
Reiko was still slumped over the steering wheel in the same position.
There was no sign of her waking up to save me.
Captain Bear, still aiming the gun at me, took a lighter into its mouth.
Its tongue inside its mouth flicked the flint of the lighter.
A flickering flame emerged.
Captain Bear, with the lighter in its mouth, smirked crookedly.
“Any last words?”
“Hmm… I do have something to say. You’ll like it, Captain Bear.”
“What is it?”
“Watch out for the car.”
Boom────!
A car speeding at a tremendous pace hit Captain Bear.
The gun and lighter flew far away.
The car wheels rolled over Captain Bear, crushing its body made of cloth and stuffing.
The car stopped after moving another 10 meters.
“Summer…!!”
Nancy got out of the stopped car, holding a double-barrel shotgun.
“Summer, are you okay?! Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Just got shot and doused in gasoline.”
“What?!”
Nancy looked like she might faint from shock.
Then, something crawled out from under the stopped car.
It was Captain Bear, with its insides burst open.
“My, my Nancy……”
In a horrific mess, Captain Bear staggered to its feet.
Nancy aimed her shotgun and fired.
Bang! One of Captain Bear’s ears flew off.
Captain Bear wore an expression of disbelief.
“Nancy… It’s me, Captain Bear… your best friend… don’t shoot……”
Nancy pulled the trigger again.
This time, one of Captain Bear’s legs flew off.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Still, Captain Bear didn’t fall.
Despite losing an eye and an arm, being run over by car wheels, and just now losing an ear and a leg to gunshots, Captain Bear did not die.
It was a disgusting vitality.
Nancy yelled.
“Don’t come any closer, monster!”
“Mon… monster…? Are you talking to me…?”
“Who else here is a monster but you?!”
Captain Bear had a look of despair.
It was like someone who had just been told their family died in a plane crash.
“Monster, Nancy…? Have you forgotten all the memories we shared…?”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then why… why are you calling me a monster…? We’re supposed to be the best of friends…? Our precious memories are……”
“If those memories are precious, then don’t tarnish them anymore.”
Nancy cocked the shotgun.
Hot shell casings flew out.
Now, bullets had to be loaded into the empty chamber.
As Nancy reloaded the shotgun, Captain Bear seemed to realize something.
The fact that Nancy was going to shoot it dead.
That they were no longer friends…
Captain Bear’s face twisted viciously.
“You promised you’d only love me, Nancy!!! You were the only one who hugged me!!!!”
Captain Bear approached Nancy, who was reloading.
Bouncing on its remaining leg like a spring, it charged at an unbelievably fast speed.
“I’ll never forgive you!!!!! I can’t forgive you!!!!!!!!!!”
Captain Bear leaped high into the air.
Its small body soared 3 meters above the ground.
Its powerful jaws and claws aimed at Nancy.
The bear doll, having lost everything, roared in mid-air as it lunged at the girl who once meant everything to it.
“Die, you b*tchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Nancy snapped the gun barrel loaded with bullets shut.
Click, reloaded.
“It’s time to graduate from playing with dolls.”
She fired at the twisted memory.
The shock sent Captain Bear flying far in the opposite direction.
I was impressed.
“Your shooting has improved.”
“Thanks, Summer.”
Captain Bear, smashed into the ground, did not get up again.
Nancy, lowering the shotgun, looked at me.
I had something to tell Nancy.
“Nancy, I’m sorry. You were right. Chucky was just a doll.”
“……”
“I judged based solely on appearance. Unlike how you opened your heart despite my menacing looks and Chucky’s ugliness.”
“Well… to be honest, Chucky was kind of cute.”
“That’s not true.”
We shared a brief laugh.
Nancy came in for a hug.
But I stepped back.
“Don’t. I’m covered in gasoline.”
Nancy laughed again.
Just then, Reiko in the driver’s seat regained consciousness.
“Ugh… my head……”
Though she had a gunshot wound to her shoulder, it was not life-threatening.
“What happened, Mr. Summer…?”
“The real cursed doll attacked us. You better make sure to lock your car doors from now on.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
We helped Reiko out of the car.
As soon as Reiko got out, she didn’t even check her injuries but started rummaging through her handbag.
“Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My crystal ball is cracked.”
Reiko pulled a nearly shattered crystal ball from her bag.
“Is that bad?”
“It’s not good.”
A police car arrived by the road next to the forest.
Out came the portly Bob Bojangles.
“What in the world happened here?”
“There was a traffic accident.”
Bob saw Reiko’s car, crumpled like a tin can after hitting a tree.
“Sniff sniff. I smell something burning.”
“It’s not coming from the car.”
“Then where’s it coming from?”
As expected, Bob had an incredible nose.
He followed the scent of char.
The source of the burnt smell was a bear doll lying on the ground.
A charred bear doll.
Smoke was still billowing from it.
Next to the doll lay a handgun.
Bob bent down to pick up the handgun.
“My gun! So it was here!”
The gun was returned to its owner.
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