A Roadblock To The Hotel  

Cinder's POV:

Waking up before everyone else, I often enjoyed clearing the dried leaves on the dusty path to the hotel. The sound of their crunch, and the whiff of autumn in the air as I burned them in a pile, filled my heart with joy like nothing else. However, today as I headed out the front door, a lone porcelain doll had me frozen with doubt.

Pacing around the thicket, her head hung low. Even from afar, I could see a hint of worry reflected on her face. As I continued to watch her wander, my heart began pounding like a piston.

'A-am I seeing things?' The lifeless eyes of the doll turned to look at me all of a sudden. Standing still, she stared at me for a moment. Silence loomed for a few seconds as our eyes glared at each other. 'I should get back in.'

But right as I attempted to move, the doll's feet crushed forward on some leaves first. Bringing my attention back to her, I noticed her waving her tiny hand in my direction.

"Please help me!" She pleaded her voice sounding every bit sincere.

Like a lost child, she began waddling her way closer to me. Watching her get closer, my mind screamed at me to run back in, yet no matter how hard I tried my feet just wouldn't listen to me.

'Something's wrong Cinder, get in!' I screamed at myself internally, but the innocence in her eyes wouldn't let me abandon what looked far too much like a child. 

'It's a doll, not a kid!' I told myself, and despite that, my curiosity got the better of me.

"W-what's wrong?" Keeping ready to run off at the first sight of trouble, I moved my hand behind me to grab onto the front door. "Are you lost?"

"No, uhmm…" As though getting shy, the doll twiddled with her thumbs with her gaze cast downwards. "My mistress's carriage is stuck down the road!"

Looking back up, she tangled her fingers together in prayer.

"S-she sent me to get help, and I saw this place!" With pleading eyes, she slowly reached for my long skirt. Pinching the fabric between her fingers, she tugged on it to lead me to her mistress. "She's just down the road with the carriage, please help me!"

Turning around she tried to pull me forward, but holding my ground I stood in place wondering what to do to myself. Following the doll alone might just be a death sentence, for all I knew she was one of the countless monsters hiding all over these woods.

"Wait a second, I'll get someone with me and then we can go," tugging my skirt out of her fingers, I watched her turn around with an obvious mix of fear and confusion. "Just wait here, okay? I'll be back in a minute or two."

Her lips parted to retort, but then pressing them shut again, she looked to the ground once more and nodded. Turning around, I opened the front gate and headed inside. Making my way up the stairs, I heard someone yawning at the floor where our rooms were. Upon getting there, I saw Ken still in his pajamas heading off towards the restroom to freshen up.

"Come with me," redirecting his journey, I took hold of his arm and led him downstairs.

"W-wait, where are we going?" he asked.

Trimming the part about me getting scared by the doll, I told him everything that had happened to me upon going outside. At first, I expected him to freak out just as I did, but surprisingly enough he was much calmer than I was.

"A talking doll, huh?" Reaching the gate, he covered his mouth while yawning. "Hardly something to be surprised by at this point, especially given how much more terrifying Ophelia was."

"That…I can't argue with," I uttered, feeling slightly disappointed to have been so easily scared now.

The moment the two of us stepped outside, we were greeted by the doll glaring right at the door. Glancing between Ken and me, a light blush appeared on her cheeks. Courteously lifting her skirt, she gave us a gentle bow.

"Please follow me, Mistress Erica must be waiting!" Her squeaky voice quivered with every word.

Whoever this mistress Erica was, must've been a cruel impatient master. Following the doll as she led us down the dirt road, it didn't take us long to notice the carriage. Stuck in a ditch, its wooden wheel had little leeway to set itself free. But what bothered me most was the lack of horses and the absent Mistress of the doll.

'Is this a trap?' I wondered, looking at Ken to the side.

Without any signs of worry, however, he kept following the doll to the carriage. Heaving a tired sigh, I followed them as well. Suddenly as we were inches from the stuck carriage, its redwood door flung open. Peeking from behind it was a woman around the same age as me. Staring at us, she moved out of the door frame with an armed wooden crossbow in her hand. Lifting the weapon she pointed it towards us. Glancing at us from above the sights, she was seemingly ready to fire right that instant.

"Where is this place? What the hell is a monster doing with a human man?" She asked, her voice coarse and commanding like a damned general.

From the red, frilly dress and a top hat with a toothy bunny, I expected her to be more reserved. What threw me off even more was the pinkish aura oozing out from under the leather mask that covered half of her face.

"Miss Erica! They are here to help!" The doll exclaimed before rushing off to her master.

"Help?" Muttered the woman, but this time her voice was surprisingly feminine.

Glancing between Ken and me, she slowly lowered her weapon. In the meantime, the doll clutched her master's skirt and was glued to it as if stitched together. Finally, attempting to take charge of the situation, Ken stepped forward with his right hand stretched for a handshake.

"Monster or not, you need our help, don't you?" He said.

The woman cast her gaze down to his hand and glared at it for a while before finally shaking it.

"I just need to get the carriage out of here, and maybe get my horses some rest," turning her gaze from Ken to the front of her carriage, she snapped her fingers for some reason. Following her action, a pair of dark horses with flaming black manes appeared in front of the carriage. "I can pay handsomely for discretion and lounging."

"Lucky for you, there's a hotel not far from here," letting go of the woman's hand, Ken turned to look at the horses. "I'll ask Rin to get her familiars' help to get the carriage out, but we need to leave it here for now."

Trying to place his hand on one of the horses, Ken's hand phased right through. A bit surprised, he turned back to Erica who gestured for him to lead the way.

'A witch? She must be.' Magical dolls, phantom horses, and a mask face with an eerie aura oozing out of it, no way in hell was she just a regular person. Now the only question remains. 'Who is she exactly?'

Hopefully, once we were back at the hotel, that too would be cleared.