Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 39: Dolls

They all went back to the dorm so Corrie could change clothes (there was some mud on her jeans) and brush her hair. Dawn checked next door to see if Naomi had come back from wherever she'd run off to, but she was nowhere to be found, so she went back to Corrie and Edie's room, to find them both looking at something on the floor.

"What is it?" she asked, walking quickly over to them.

"It's my doll," Corrie said. She picked it up and stood. "The one I bought at the craft fair this morning."

Dawn nodded. "I recognize it. So?"

"So, it wasn't on the floor when we left. It was on my desk." Corrie tapped her desk, just above the spot where the doll had been. "It must have fallen while we were gone."

"Oh. Oh, my god." Dawn realized what might have—no, must have happened. Despite what the girl selling the dolls had said, maybe they were voodoo dolls. Or at least, they affected people somehow. Either the doll falling had made Corrie fall, or vice versa. "But how could that have happened?" she asked, shaking her head. "The girl who made the dolls wasn't a faerie. There was only one faerie at the craft fair this morning."

"He was only a couple of tables away," Edie said. "He could have done something to them."

"Or something could have happened before we got there, or before the fair started," Corrie said. "There's no way we can tie this to one person."

"Well, let's not just stand here worrying about it," Dawn said. "Roe bought a doll too, remember?"

"Oh, crap, and it looks like Troy, doesn't it?" Corrie said. She put her doll down carefully, behind her computer, then turned and hurried out of the room. They knocked on Roe's door and didn't wait for an invitation before opening it—it was unlocked.

Roe was at her computer, but she turned around and grinned at them. "Hi, guys. Did you forget something?"

"Where's the doll you bought at the craft fair?" Dawn asked her.

She frowned for a moment, then her expression cleared. "Oh, I actually kind of forgot about that. I think it's still in my purse." She bent down and rummaged in her purse, then held up the doll.

"You picked that one because it looks like Troy, right?" asked Corrie. Dawn hadn't noticed at first, but she saw the resemblance now.

"I—no, it's just—" Roe trailed off, blushing.

Corrie just grinned, "I told you so," she said to Edie, who laughed.

"What difference does it make?" Roe interjected, ducking her head. "It's still just a doll."

"I don't think it's just a doll," said Corrie. "When we got back to the dorm, we found my doll on the floor. It had fallen from where I put it."

Roe's eyes widened. "That's not good. Do you think we should check on Troy?"

"I think we'd better," said Edie. "We don't know if the doll affects the person it looks like or vice versa..."

Roe stood up and put the doll carefully back in her purse. "Well, if the doll starts doing something weird, we'll notice. Do you think this is faerie magic?" She led them out the door and locked it behind them.

"I guess that's the logical assumption," said Dawn as they started down the steps. "The guy with the exploding glitter could have done something to the dolls. Just because we think of faeries first doesn't mean it's always them, though."

"Troy wasn't a faerie," Corrie said, nodding. "All kinds of other magic is real. Maybe voodoo is real too. And I guess that would make them real voodoo dolls."

"Either way, it's probably something we should talk to Professor Lal about," Dawn said. "After we check on Troy."

The others agreed, and they quickly made their way across campus to the dorm Troy lived in. They knocked on his door and found it unlocked, but he wasn't inside.

Roe took a couple of steps in and looked around. "Troy? Are you here?"

Dawn was just thinking they should go ask Link when they heard a muffled sound from the bed. The four of them hurried over to it. There was a blanket rolled up on it, and now Dawn could see that it wasn't just bedding. "Troy, is that you?" Corrie asked.

"Yeah," came the muffled voice.

"Oh, shit," said Roe. She took the doll out of her purse and put it down on the desk. Almost immediately, Troy pushed his way out of the blankets and stood up.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked, looking from face to face in bewilderment.

"We came to check on you," said Roe. "I guess we were right. Uh, sorry about the doll." She pointed to it. He frowned, glanced at it, and shook his head.

"Apparently the dolls that look like people affect what they do," Corrie said. "That one was in Roe's purse."

Troy's eyes widened. He looked at Roe. "You bought a doll that looked like me?"

Roe was blushing again. "Uh, I guess so? I thought it was cute."

The two of them stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before Dawn cleared her throat to break the silence. "We're going to go talk to Professor Lal about it. Troy, you'd better keep an eye on that doll." She, Corrie, and Edie hurried out, trying to suppress grins.