Chapter 27: [27] The Doll’s Smile
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Alyssa stared at the closed door for what felt like hours, her silk robe twisted around her trembling frame. Her sanctuary had become a tomb. Every expensive trinket, every piece of fine furniture seemed to mock her with their hollow luxury.
Weak. Pathetic. Cruelty dressed up in a fancy uniform.
She pressed her palms against her ears, but the echo of his voice persisted. That calm, unwavering certainty when he’d spoken about his friend. The way he’d said he would burn the world for her.
A porcelain doll sat on her vanity—one of dozens her father had given her over the years. Gifts, he’d called them, though she’d never asked for any. The doll’s painted smile seemed to leer at her, its glassy eyes reflecting the lamplight like accusation.
"Shut up," she whispered to the empty room. "Just shut up."
But the doll kept smiling, and Red’s words kept echoing, and the walls kept closing in until she couldn’t breathe. Alyssa lunged forward, grabbing the porcelain figure. For a moment, she cradled it against her chest—then hurled it with all her strength against the opposite wall.
Porcelain shards skittered across the hardwood floor. The doll’s head, still smiling, rolled under her bed. The crash echoed, then died.
Silence rushed back in, heavier than before, pressing on her ears. The broken pieces on the floor offered no satisfaction. The screaming in her head hadn’t stopped.
She needed air. She needed to move. She needed to get out of this suffocating room before she went completely mad.
Alyssa crept to her door, pressing her ear against the polished wood. The hallway beyond was quiet—most of the base would be focused on the manhunt for the red-haired intruder. She slipped on a simple dress and soft shoes, then eased the door open just wide enough to slip through.
The corridors were dimly lit, emergency lighting casting long shadows across the white walls. Her bare feet made no sound on the cold marble as she navigated toward her father’s office. She wasn’t sure why she was drawn there—perhaps some desperate hope that seeing him would restore her shattered faith in everything he’d taught her.