Shattered Girls (Broken Dolls Book 2) (5 page)

The professor pauses. “I see…” There’s another crackle. “Perhaps it’s time I paid you girls a visit.”

Gabby jumps from her seat. “Really? Honestly? I miss you so much!”

“As do I, sweetheart. I’ll aim for the tomorrow afternoon train if your Aunt Sianne can meet me at the station?”

We look at Sianne, but she folds her arms and shakes her head. “Trains, trains, feigning rain. Chugga, chugga, chu! Chugga, chugga, chu!”

“In English, Sianne?”

“The trains that speed forth into tunnels, their grinds and gears enough to stun all. They cannot be trusted in the darkness and silence, you’ll never get the chance to cry out once.”

“As nonsense as that is, I have to admire your ability to improvise a poem.” Gabby’s a lot brighter now she’s speaking with the professor. “Grandpa, Ella and I will pick you up tomorrow. Are you sure you can’t come tomorrow morning? We really need you.”

“No!” he snaps, followed by a pregnant pause. “I mean, I won’t be ready then. It
has
to be the afternoon.”

“Oh.” Gabby speaks with restrained outrage. “What time, then?”

“Ah,” a computer mouse clicks on the other end of the line, “I can do the 3:00 p.m.? Will school be finished by then?”

“Yeah, but screw school. I need a break.”

“Gabby, no.” The professor sounds panicked. “It’s
vital
that you go to school. You can’t afford to miss one lesson or to have one bad grade! Do you understand?”

Gabby bites her tongue, literally, and scrunches up her nose. “Whatever.”

“Sorry? What did you just say?”

“I mean, we can’t wait to see you. We’ll find my parents, won’t we?”

“We’ll do everything in our power,” he soothes. Fat load of help that is! “Please try to rest, love. It’s no doubt been an exhausting day for all of you. Don’t call the police just yet, wait for me to get there.”

Relief spreads across Gabby’s face. “Thanks, Grandpa.”

The professor grunts. “Indeed. Sleep sweet, angels.”

“Bye!” I call, but he’s already hung up. Well, that was the shortest phone call in the history of ever. What’s
up
with him?

“He’s probably just very busy,” Gabby says, as if reading my mind. “But he’ll be here tomorrow!”

“He’s acting weird!” I rise on my tiptoes to make a point. “He’s been brainwashed by that company, see if he’s not.”

“Yes, and you’re just totes jumping to conclusions.” She smiles, but I can tell she’s annoyed. So am I. She always plays the devil’s advocate—and she
knows
that even though I jump to conclusions quickly, I do often get it right.

“Fine.” I smooth out my tutu and stretch. “Is it time for bed? We have school tomorrow.”

Sianne gasps dramatically, her hand getting caught in her tangled hair when she strokes it. “School? The prison! The brainwashing cult!” She breathes in, but doesn’t breathe out. “Have fun.”

“Could we stay in Jason’s old room?” Gabby gently pushes the bowl of cereal away.

That’s it. I’ve had it with her petulance and stubbornness. “Stop calling him Jason! He’s not even here, so why do you insist on disrespecting him?”

“Because if I act like he’s not here, then it means I’ve accepted the fact he’s not coming back!” Gabby stares me down, her eyes filling with tears. I don’t know how she manages to keep them from rolling down her cheeks.

“Sorry,” I whisper after a tense silence. I glance at Sianne, who purses her lips.

“Well, this is mighty awkward. I don’t care where you sleep; just don’t bother me in the morning. My anime-inspired-yogga starts at dawn and lasts until midday. I need complete concentration.”

“What’s anime-inspired-yoga?”

“It’s pronounced
yogga
.”

I hesitate. “No, it’s definitely yoga.”

Sianne dismisses me with a hand flourish. “Anime-inspired-yogga is my own creation. You pose as characters from classic series. If I were to do the Charizard, I would do this.” She stands from her chair and squats slightly, raising her clawed hands in the air and opening her mouth. “Then, if I were to do the Sailor Moon, I’d do this.” Sianne makes a circle with her hands around her chest and spins in attempted slow motion. When she stops, she leans on the chair to regain focus. “Whoof! Dizzy. But that’s just a taste. Pretty good, huh?”

I try so hard not to laugh, but Sianne doesn’t make it easy. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Next to me, Gabby has gone red with breathless laughter. She clutches her tummy and finally manages to catch her breath, only to burst into a fit of hysterics. Sianne may be crazy, but at least she makes us laugh. And right now, that’s the best gift she can give us.

here’d you get that money?” I sit across from Gabby at Denny’s.

I love Denny. He turned a seedy nightclub into a family-friendly cafe. The once-tarnished floorboards are now gray tiles and the walls have been painted a midnight blue, with a large moon and the yellow words ‘DENNY’S DASH’. The tables remind me of stars, because they’re all covered in sparkly silver cloths. He’s really good to Gabby too and often gives her free milkshakes. He’s in his thirties and is a single dad. His daughter has Down’s syndrome and Gabby often spends time with her after school. Denny likes it when Gabby talks to his daughter—probably because it’s unnerving watching her talk to a doll all day.

“I took it from Sianne’s swear jar before she woke up.” Gabby bites into a pie, and I cringe when the sauce runs down her chin. “There were a
lot
of quarters.”

“That’s stealing!”

“Is not! It’s borrowing. Besides, she’s my guardian now, she has to feed me.”

Hmm. She has a point, but I don’t like it, so I change the subject. “Why haven’t we called the police about your parents yet?”

“Because Grandpa said not to.”

Oh, Gabby. Please don’t speak with your mouth full. “Don’t you think that’s strange?”

Gabby shrugs. “I trust him. He hasn’t steered us wrong, yet.”

“But he sounded different last night! And we haven’t heard from him in ages.”

“You know he’s been busy. Besides, we’re picking him up this afternoon. We can ask him what’s been going on then.”

“He’s changed, Gabby! I can
feel
it.”

“You can’t feel anything; you’re a doll,” she says flippantly. That hurts… figuratively speaking.

I wait for Gabby to apologize, but it doesn’t look like she has any intention. Teenagers
suck
. “We’re going to be late for school. You have sauce on your chin, by the way.”

Gabby gulps down what’s left of the meat pie and wipes her hands on a napkin. She pulls out her phone and sits it on the table to check the time. “Oh wow, we’re already late. Lemme wash up in the bathroom, and we’ll go.”

She stands to leave, bumping into other customers on the way. When she’s out of sight, I crawl over to the phone, then freeze, contemplating the consequences of my next action. There isn’t much time, so it’s now or never.

I press three numbers and wait for the answer.

“Hello, 9-1-1?”

“What’s your emergency, please?” the woman on the other ends asks.

“I… this sounds really weird, but I have reason to suspect an attack at the train station this afternoon.”

“Are you in danger yourself, now? What is your address? We will send a car—”

“No, no, I’m telling you, it’s this afternoon—”

“Of course, Miss. Please, calm down. Are you reporting credible information—”

“Not really, no. It’s just… a feeling, I guess.”

“Miss, you need to elaborate. Is this a terrorist attack?”

I pause. “Yes. Yes, it’s a terrorist attack. With bombs and everything. The police
need
to be there.”

“Miss, we—”

Panicked, I hang up. I shouldn’t have called from Gabby’s cell. What if they ring back? I bite my fingers and stare at the phone—but not before deleting the call log.

Gabby returns, wiping her hands on her jeans. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ghost?” I squeak. “What ghost? Nope. No ghost! Everything is peachy.”

Lies are just words, right?

The diner bell rings, and a skinny woman in a plain black hoodie sidles in. Gabby can’t stop staring at her. She swallows hard and slowly clenches her fists.

The woman turns to look at us, her dark hair covering half her face. She smiles, but more with her eyes, kind of like a cat. She steps closer, refusing to break eye contact. She’s young. Like college age young. “Hi, Gabby. Hi, Ella. Long time no see. How’ve you been?”

Gabby lifts me and places me in her lap, so I can barely see our visitor over the table.

“What are you doing here?” Gabby snaps.

“Ease up. I’m not a doll anymore. It’s not like I’m going to go all psycho and try to break you. It was all a big misunderstanding, right? I’m just here to visit my uncle for the day. He works at the school. Speaking of which, why aren’t you there?”

“None of your business, Lisa.”

Lisa? Now why does that name ring a bell?

The young woman shrugs. “Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying to strike up a conversation. Hate me all you want, Gabs. I’m not the bad guy anymore.” She pauses, a large grin spreading across her face. “But I know who is.”

Denny approaches her with a notepad in hand. “Hey. Are you here to order anything?”

“No thanks,” Lisa says, still intently watching Gabby. “Just thought I’d check out the town. A lot has changed… and at the same time… nothing has changed at all…” She taps her earlobe, then dramatically turns on her heel and leaves.

“Sheesh. You get some weirdos come in,” Denny mumbles, closing his notepad and ambling back to the counter.

As Gabby clutches onto me, I desperately try to peer over the table to catch a better glimpse of whoever this was. “Gabby? Who was that?”

“Just a bad memory,” she mutters. “Just a very bad memory.”

“What’s wrong?” I frown.

“Ella, there’s something I want to tell you about your past.”

“Nope.” I block my ears and shake my head. “You told me I went psycho and ended up horrible when I found out about my past last time. I can’t be a horrible person, Gabby. Never again. If that means never knowing, then so be it.”

“But Lisa…”

“I don’t want to be that person again…” I say quietly, fighting the urge to cry. “I have dreams of the lab, Gabby. I sometimes see what I became… how I treated the people around me. Deep down, I know they’re not dreams. They’re memories. The selfless thing to do… is to forget.”

“But you chose the selfish road, Ella.” Gabby bites her lip. “I don’t want to hurt you, so I’ll shut up.” Her face twists, like she can’t hold back what she wants to say. “Okay, I’ll shut up after this. Choosing to become a doll was the wrong choice. You shouldn’t have done that to your family.”

It’s like I can’t remember how to talk. Gabby’s pained face is enough to make me want to reverse time and fix whatever it was I did. “Then let me be a human again,” I say. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for you, Gabby.”

“Your human body is broken.”

“I already guessed that,” I say, “but my heart’s not broken. You only need a heart to live, right? I love you, so you’re all I need. Let me be selfless, Gabby. Let me be the person I was too weak to be before.”