,~11:30~,
The two now were only mere feet away from the door. They both
looked around, to their luck, they saw no pony. Kolin nodded at
Wonkid who was still looking around. Wonkid unhooked the key from
his belt, and unlocked the door. It made a ancient noise, as if
it were hundreds of years old. The two made one last glance
before they jumped into the shop and closed the door. Inside it
was pitch black, they couldnt see anything. It was so quiet,
Wonkid felt as if he was entombed within a coffin, lost forever
in a small world, losing breathe. Kolin flicked his light on. The
room was normal as it always had been. The display stands offered
cheap clothes, the register sat in the corner. Wonkid noticed
something different though, the mannequins were missing. Kolin
hadnt even seen this change, but Wonkid had worked here long
enough to get the same mental image within his head of the shop.
What could have happend to them? A slight chill ran through
Wonkids spine, he barely noticed it. The whole scenario was
unerving. Yet again Wonkid wonderd why he was here. He had no
business to be. He thought about Mrs Rainy, and felt remorse. She
lived here, alone, depressed. He should have been nicer to her,
but it was now all to late. She had died without a friend or
family. So alone, always alone. Kolin walked to the center of the
room "Stay here, ill go crack the safe". Kolin made his way up
the stairs, vanishing from Wonkids line of sight. Wonkid looked
out of the now boarded window into the streets. He set his light
on the cash register, it was pointed towards the hallway
upstairs. He listened to some creaking sounds from upstairs. It
felt lonlier than ever now that even the sunlight had forsaken
this decrepid house. Almost as if life had never even entered.
The dead silence was what Wonkid had grown used to, but not like
this. This was the absence of sound altogether. He didnt hear
anything from upstairs either, only suspecting that Kolin had the
skill to crack a safe quietly.
As Wonkid stood he heard a slight brushing sound, as if something
were being dragged across a wooden floor. He turned to
investigate, but found nothing misplaced. Shrugging it off, he
turned once more to gaze into the empty street. Now something
broke the cold silence with a sweeping sound. Wonkid quickly
turned, and gave a startled yelp before shoving his hoove into
his mouth. Before him stood a mannequin, one of Mrs Rainys
displays. It stood in the beam of Wonkids flashlight, potruding
an eerie silhouette onto the hall entrance. The lifless doll was
directed towards Wonkid, this made him scared. Not terrified, but
scared. This fear was like that of the unknown, a stupid but real
fear that filled the emptiness of knowledge. Wonkid stepped
forward, curious of the thing. His main concern was, how did it
get there? He knew he could not have missed it, this even in his
state of mind was clear. But then somepony must have put it
there, was Kolin playing a joke on him? "Kolin, are you in here?"
Wonkids voice swayed through the room in a low voice that made
him sound small, and weak. There was no responce, but as Wonkid
stared into the blank face of the mannequin, he didnt expect one.
Something was wrong here, he knew Kolin never played jokes like
this, he wasnt a prankster. Wonkid approached the doll in a slow,
careful pace making sure he didnt move too fast. He put one hoof
beside its face and nudged it. The doll swayed back and forth
before shaking to a stop. The dolls had never crossed his mind
when he worked here. But now in the early night, this mannequin
was something that Wonkid feared, a real being that made him
cringe. He looked around the room, finding nothing else misplaced
gave him a sigh of relief. He moved the doll over to one corner
of the room, being careful not to make any sound. Turning he
moved over to the window and peered out. He watched the street
now hoping that Kolin would hurry up. Looking down at his watch
he found it had already ben 10 minutes! Wonkid grew more uneasy
every second now. What could be taking him this long?
Tapping his hoove on the ground he thought he'd check on him if
he didnt show within 3 minutes, surely that'd be enough time for
him to crack the safe. As Wonkid waited he heard another dragging
noise. His eyes widend, turning around he gasped. Standing in the
middle of the room was the mannequin, not only that but a mere 2
feet to its right there stood another. Wonkid shivered staring at
the two dolls. This couldnt be happening, how the hell are they
moving. In a voice that even startled himself, Wonkid asked "Why
are you watching me?" He looked back and forth from each of them,
his eyes wide in fear. He had to check on Kolin, now. Edging
across the room, Wonkid didnt keep his eyes off of the two dolls,
who stood innocently gazing off towards the door. He made his way
to the stair cases entrance and peered up. It was completely dark
on the 2nd floor, Wonkid would need his flashlight. In his haste
to find Kolin, he hadn't even thought of it. Now almost expecting
to find the mannequins moved, he slowly averted his eyes from the
staircase into the middle of the room. Sure enough, what met his
eyes were the blank faces of the dolls. Both stared dreamily
towards him, as if curious of his intentions. He thought about
running, leaving Kolin to whatever horrors lied in the shop. He
rested his hhof atop the doorknob. Kolin was his bestfriend, he
couldn't just leave him behind. He grabbed his flashlight and set
off towards the stairs. To his relief the mannequins hadn't
seemed to have moved. He began his trek up the stairs, wincing as
the steps creeked underneath his hooves. Taking a final look at
the two mannequins, Wonkid ascended into darkness.