Ted's Dolls 44: Dragon

Ted's Dolls was meant to be an anthology series of doll transformations. But, since its humble beginnings, the continuity has become very important. Please read them in the suggested order as found in this gallery on deviantArt or as listed on my Patreon.

The only dragon we’ve seen before was Ted’s Dolls 40: Stockton Perry. Emily had clawed back some of her agency.

On the last Friday of January, before leaving to go back to the dorms and begin the spring semester, Ted received a call from a familiar unknown number. “Hello,” he said.

“I have information you want.”

“You again?”

“Yes, me again. I know where Emily is and I know how you can get there. But, you don’t have time.”

“Where is she?”

“The national park.”

“That doesn’t really narrow it down.”

“No, it doesn’t. But, I can tell you more.”

“In exchange for?”

“When you find her, someone will be there. I want you to capture him and deliver him to me?”

“Do I look like a kidnapper?”

“No, but, you’re a wizard who can get the drop on a mentalist and stop him from getting in your head first.”

“And how am I supposed to get the drop on him?”

“Emily will provide the distraction.”

“What are you going to do with him?”

“I don’t think you want to be privy to those details.”

* * *

Mid-morning light spilled into the small enclosure. One of the men who opened it trained their phone on the contents: A two-foot tall figurine in the shape of a dragon sitting on a horde of coins. Mr. M observed a feed from a video conferencing app being run on the cell phone. He was sure she hadn’t escaped. How did she turn herself into a dragon collectible figurine?

The man holding the phone said, “She isn’t here, Mr. M.”

“I can see that. Any sign of tampering with the slab.”

“No, Sir.” As the cameraman replied, the other man sent to look into the holding cell reached into the cell.

“No, no, tell him to stop,” Mr. M called out.

The man froze in place as he touched the figurine.

“What the fuck?” The cameraman said backing up.

“Don’t move too far away. I want to see this.”

Over the next minute, the frozen figure of a man morphed into a child’s doll. Its body lay at the feet of the dragon.

“Seal the cell,” Mr. M said.

“I can’t move the slab by my... No, no, no.”

Mr. M watches as a small dragon flew out of the cell and after gaining a little height. It dive bombed the camera man. The camera fell to the ground. After a minute, the figure of a child’s doll landed in front of the phone’s camera. It was knocked to the side and the face of a dragon filled the screen. “You’re next,” it said. Its mouth opened and a gout of fire filled the display for a few seconds before the connection to the video conference was lost.

Mr. M was running away from the base camp and deeper into the woods. The dragon would look for cars and target him there. He would be elsewhere.

* * *

Dragon flew away from the hilltop. When she saw the two cars parked at the foot of the hill, she gave them a wide berth. Turning those two men into dolls had depleted her already thin reserves. She needed food. She spotted a stream. She also needed water. She flew to a spot where the bank of the stream provided some cover and landed. She drank from the stream for several minutes. A wave of exhaustion made want to lie down. Just for a minute, she told herself. She rested at the edge of the stream and fell asleep.

* * *

Saturday around noon, Stockton received a text from Leslie Pauluva: «Told you so. I unilaterally terminate our contract. The severing fee agreed upon within the contract has already been deposited in your bank account. Never contact me again.»

He tried to call Leslie back but it went straight voice mail. He made a call to Mr. M but it too went straight to voice mail. “Sophia, get me Mr. M on the phone.”

“I don’t know that I can. He said he was going to the holding site and might be off the grid,” she replied over the intercom.

Stockton considered whether Leslie saw something that happened at the storage site. “Sophia, tell the flight crew to ready my jet. I need to go to, um, London. I need the helicopter ready in fifteen minutes to take me to the airport.”

“Yes, Sir.”

* * *

“Why are we here?” Whitney said.

“Emily is around here somewhere,” Paris said.

“Why?” Burke said.

“Unknown. My informant said she was near these hills and is in a pitch black location,” Ted said.

“We better hurry. The sun sets early in these hills and it being winter doesn’t help.”

“We got here as soon as we could.”

They walked along a forgotten path through the area. It took effort to see the signs of a footpath that was once used more frequently. They walked for several minutes. Ted’s phone vibrated.

«He’s close.»

“Sh, sh, sh.” Ted said to the others. They understood they were the bait. They moved ahead of Ted and hoped for the best.

“What did you say?” Burke said to an unseen person.

Ted ducked behind a tree. His heart raced. This was no longer a game, no longer fun. They were in the woods with someone who wouldn’t think twice about destroying their lives.

Underbrush to his right rustled as someone ran off away from the group.

“Damn. Where does she think she’s going?” Said a voice Ted had never personally heard before. But, it had to be his quarry. He readied his spell and peeked around the tree. “There you are,” the voice said.

The spell was released and the man stood there, immobilized by Ted’s transformation magic. “Stay hidden,” Ted shouted. Even though his transformation spells made the subject unaware while the transformation ran its course, he wasn’t taking any chances that this wizard was subject to those conditions.

After about fifteen minutes, Ted stepped out from the tree. The man was not visible, as expected. Ted walked over to where he had been standing and found a small artist’s posing mannequin, one made of wood with articulated joints. Its head was a plain ovoid devoid of facial features. Mentalists had trouble working when they couldn’t see, he figured.

Whitney and Paris joined him shortly.

“Burke is sleeping over there,” Whitney said. Where she pointed, Ted and Paris could see Burke’s red windbreaker on the ground.

Ted took a canvas bag out of his backpack. With a stick, he moved the posing figure into the bag and sealed it. As he did this, Paris and Whitney went through the man’s clothing looking for anything interesting. They found a wallet, a small box of breath mints, and a cell phone.

“Why would he worry about his breath?”

“He probably fed them to his victims.”

“It’s too bad we can’t get into his phone.”

Paris picked up the phone and it turned on. She swiped right and laughed. “No password or passcode. Cocky bastard.”

“Cool. Who’s in his contacts?” Ted said.

“Asshole. Big Asshole. Fuckers one and two. Not a single contact is a normal name.”

“I suppose that’s a form of security,” Whitney said.

“Big Asshole and Bunch of Asses called last. Big Asshole also sent a text. ‘Where are you? Your friend broke their contract,’” Paris said.

“What does that mean?” Whitney said.

No one had an answer.

“Let’s see if we can wake Burke up.”

As they walked over, Ted’s phone vibrated again.

«West, half a mile, up the hill.»

He showed the display to the ladies. “We aren’t done?” Whitney said.

“We haven’t found Emily yet.”

* * *

“Is that a scorch mark on the grass over there?” Burke said.

“Someone was digging not far away.”

“Burke and Whitney, check out the grass. Paris and I will go the dig site.”

A few minutes later, Burke and Whitney joined Paris and Ted at the dig. “Very odd,” Burke said. “The scorch mark was almost a perfect circle with a melted cell phone in the middle. It’s cold, though. Also, we found this.” He held up a child’s doll of a man wearing casual clothing.

“We found a doll like that too.”

“They’re alive,” Ted said.

“They are?”

“Why are they dressed?”

“Because Emily probably transformed them. Her magic isn’t mine.”

Burke examined the doll more closely. “This one has a wallet and tiny key chain.” He managed to get the wallet out of the doll’s back pocket without dropping the wallet. “Oh, wow, there’s even a driver’s license. But, I can’t read it.”

“I’m sure if we had a magnifying glass it would be a real license.”

“There’s a wallet in this doll’s pocket, too,” Paris said. “Can you restore them?”

“I can probably restore the men to man-sized people. But, I can’t do anything about the wallets.”

“And not here,” Whitney said.

“Of course not. They go in a bag along with the scorched phone.”

“How did it get scorched?” Paris said.

“No idea, there’s a stone box which I’m guessing was Emily’s prison for a short time,” Ted said to the other two.

Whitney climbed up and looked inside. “Oh, my god. It’s tiny. There’s no way she could have sat up, stood up, or stretched out.”

“They were probably trying to break her with torture,” Burke said.

“That’s awful.”

“She escaped.”

“That doesn’t mean they didn’t succeed in breaking her,” Paris said.

“Where could she be?”

“Anywhere.”

“What should we do now?”

“We could wander in the woods for hours shouting her name.”

“Will that work?”

“I doubt it.”

“Let’s head back. I’ll send a text to my friend.”

Half an hour later, they were at the parking lot. The car that was here when they arrived earlier was still here.

“I have an idea,” Burke said. He pulled out the doll and found the key fob. He used a pen to poke at the electronic door remote. When he was close to the car, the car horn tooted and the doors unlocked.

“It still works?” Ted said.

“I guess so.”

Paris got in on the passenger side and opened the glove box. “It’s registered to Perry Holding. That’s a company owned by Stockton Perry, isn’t it?”

“Well, we found a link. Doesn’t do us a lot of good.”

“Given what we’ve found out, perhaps we shouldn’t hang around the car too long,” Whitney said. “If they haven’t sent someone to find these guys, they will soon. We aren’t sure how long ago they were turned into dolls.”

“Can’t be too long. The mentalist was still in the area.”

“Why didn’t he return to the car?” Burke said.

“Probably was afraid of Emily finding him,” Paris said.

“He was wrong about fearing that, I guess,” Ted said. “She isn’t around here.”

“Or she doesn’t know who we are,” Paris said.

“Really?” Whitney said.

“It’s a possibility,” Ted said.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky when Dragon woke up. She wasn’t sure if it was dusk or dawn the next day. She was still hungry. Should she turn back to human shape? Probably not, she thought. It’ll be easier to hunt like this. Can even cook the food like this. She laughed at the idea.

She was right. Within an hour she had caught, killed, cooked, and eaten a few small animals. No longer famished, she decided it was dawn as it was brighter than it had been when she woke up. She was angry she had let her tormentor escape. But, she could deal with him later. She needed to find Jane.

She took flight. The air flowing over her face felt refreshing. She remembered seeing a few cars not far away. She flew in that direction. When she got there, a lone car was sitting in the parking area. She didn’t recognize it. She landed in a tree and observed for about fifteen minutes before deciding she needed to do something else.

She could follow the road. It had to go somewhere there were people. She took flight again. The gravel road was unused. It merged with a paved road with two lanes in each direction. There was a sign where the gravel road meet the highway. She instinctively looked away from it before its words could burrow into her mind.

She turned right onto the highway and followed it. She was high above the road surface so she wouldn’t see the signs. She hoped anyone in the infrequent cars would mistake her for a bird.

She was approaching a small town. She didn’t want to go near any signs but she didn’t know where she was. She took a chance on a collection of highway signs and found out she was near the national park. It was going to take her all day to fly back to the university.

Flying took a lot out of a dragon, she discovered. She had to stop every so often to eat. It was nearly dark when she spotted the school library, a misshapen building surrounded on three sides by large grassy areas. She hovered over the campus not sure where to go. She couldn’t turn into a human. She had no clothes, no money, and no way to get into her dorm room. She flew around the dormitory and found no easy way in.

Dusk had turned into night. She was tired, hungry, and on the verge of a breakdown. She tried the other dorms and found one window was open. She couldn’t fit through the opening as a dragon. But, a cat could do it.

She perched on the window sill and transformed into a kitten. She squeezed into the room and hoped down to the floor. The room was familiar. Someone she knew lived here. She shifted to human form. The name Doll popped into her head and she dismissing vehemently. She would call herself Person, not Doll.

Person went into the adjourning bathroom. When the light switched on, she was shocked by what she saw. Her face was thin and pale. Her hair was a mop of hair pointing in every direction. A name bubbled up in the back of head but she couldn’t reach it. It’ll come, she assured herself.

She used the facilities and took a shower. The warm water flowed off her as she stood there for a long time. She could not remember the last time she showered. There was soap and shampoo for both men and women. She used the women’s variety and the scent was familiar. When she was finally finished and turned off the water, she realized she hadn’t looked for a towel first. Luckily, one was sitting on the counter.

She dried off and went back into the dorm’s main room. She had been in that bathroom many times. The sofa. The sofa was familiar too. She sat down on the sofa and leaped off immediately. She’d been a doll on the sofa many times. This was Ted’s room. She was home. He would know her name. She just had to wait for him.

She was hungry and tired. Tired won. She sat on the bed for a moment and a moment later she was lying down, asleep.

* * *

Paris dragged a couple of bags of luggage down the corridor. There were other people waiting for the elevator. But, she was planning to be ready for some fun when Ted came up with the rest of his things. She opened the door to his room and pulled the bags into the room. She was about to go into the bathroom when she heard something stir behind her.

“Emily?”

Person on the bed heard the sound and was awake in an instant. She turned into a kitten and was headed for the window.

“Wait. Emily. Wait. We’ve been searching for you.”

The voice was familiar to Kitten. She stopped at the window sill and looked back at the woman. She knew her. But she didn’t know her name.

“Emily?” Paris said.

Emily? Kitten thought. Is she calling me Emily? Kitten morphed into Dragon and said, “Emily?”

“You’re Emily, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What happened to…? I’m Paris. This is Ted’s room. Do you remember us?”

“Ted? Where’s Ted?” Dragon was overwhelmed. “I am Emily?”

“Is that a question?”

“No. NO! I am Emily.” Dragon was replaced by a naked Emily who immediately slumped into Paris’ arms and sobbed.

Shortly, the door opened and as soon as he appeared, Emily switched her hugging and sobbing to him. “Ted!!”

Paris dug around in Ted’s closet for some clothing she knew she had left behind over the prior semester. She also sent out a bunch of texts to various people who knew Emily. About five minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

“Emily, take these and put them on in the bathroom.”

“Okay. Who’s at the door?” She failed in her attempt to dry her eyes.

“Friends.”

She cried again and just went into the bathroom.

Ted opened the door. Whitney and Burke were there and he could see others on the way. “I have one more mission for you two.”

“She’s okay?”

“Yes, and she’s a bit fragile. As much as she might need an outpouring of love, she doesn’t need a bunch people parading through here asking her the same questions over and over again.”

“Right. We’ll defends the gates,” Burke said.

“Ask one of them to go buy her lunch and bring it back here. She looks like she hasn’t been eating well,” Paris said.

Several hours passed quietly. It took two trips to the cafeteria to get her feeling full. She mostly just sat between Ted and Paris and cried about failing Jane. They didn’t learn much about her captivity.

A knock at the door startled her. “More food?”

“No, I invited someone here to help you gain some perspective.”

“Okay,” she said cautiously.

“Ted, it’s good to meet you,” the raven-haired woman at the door said.

“Heddy Morova, I am honored to welcome a member of your house to my humble abode.”

She stifled a laugh at ‘humble abode.’ “I am pleased to accept your welcome into the living space of an Ionsecu,” she said and they shook hands, though she remained on the threshold of dorm room. “Before I enter. You have met my uncle. The Morova family disowned him nearly thirty years ago. And yet we still need to clean up his messes.”

“Please, please enter. Your uncle will never harm another person again.”

“Do not tell me anything further. Where is… It is an honor to meet a member…”

“Don’t. She doesn’t know. And as you’ll find out, it is too soon.”

Heddy looked at Emily.

“NO!!” Emily shouted, she backed away toward the window sill. Emily’s mind was shouting at her that this woman was an enemy. She shifted to her dragon form.

“Emily, please calm down,” Ted said. It had been a long time since he used a counterspell in that manner, though he wondered what the spell would have done to the Morova wizard. “She won’t harm you. She is here to undo the harm done by her uncle.”

“I am better like this. You are an enemy, my mind is telling me. Can you not get someone else, Ted?”

“Anyone else we get would still be a member of the Morova family. Trust me,” Ted implored.

“My uncle put my image in your mind and associated it with hatred? I shouldn’t be surprised. May I remove that association? I will do nothing else.”

“Okay.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t reach your mind in your current form. I’m impressed you pushed him out by becoming this dragon.”

“It’s how I escaped. I’m going to change back. Be quick.”

As Emily took her normal form, she clutched at her head and dropped to the ground.

“I’m so sorry. It was the only way.”

Emily stood up. “I’m okay. I don’t fear you now. It was necessary. Can you unscramble my head?”

“The first of many such heads I will aid, it seems. I am also a licensed psychiatrist. I will help you with therapy as well.”

* * *

Emily didn’t want to sleep in her room and didn’t want to put Ted out sleeping in his room. Paris suggested she could stay in her room at the sorority house. The two of them went there after Dr. Morova left. Paris stayed the night without Emily asking her to stay with her.

Ted was expecting a knock at the door around eight. He let Carson into his room. “I’m here.”

“Nervous?”

Carson laughed. “Duh. I agreed to your punishment. Thanks for making me laugh.”

“Remember that at the end of the semester.”

“The whole semester? Fine. How will this work?”

“I’m going to turn you into a doll. You will turn back to normal without my intervention around eight in the morning. Tonight, Penelope will be stopping by in half an hour. What she does with you is up to her.”

“Very eye for an eye.”

“Very poetic.”

“And I suppose they will rotate days?”

“Fiona is tomorrow. Then Bailey and Aimee. Lilian will then get you for two days because her deprogramming took extra time.”

“It did?”

“She was locked in a cycle of doing extra work. She did three independent study projects over Winter break.”

“I didn’t do that to her.”

“No? How do you figure that?”

“It must have been when Bailey and Fiona brought her into the harem. I never did find out what they put into Lilian’s head.”

“I should make it three days. You knew something was up, could command the culprits to fix it, and did nothing.”

“I suppose you’re right. What about Zoey?”

“She doesn’t live on campus. If she’s in town some weekend, she’ll get her turns.”

“I appreciate that this allows me to continue my studies.”

“Only because you seemed to not infringe on your victims’ studies. Just don’t be late seeing me.”

“I won’t. My mother is going to be okay, right?”

“I’m sure you noticed she didn’t need your help yesterday and today.”

“I did. I just wanted to be sure.”

“I thought you hated her.”

“I do. I also love her.”

“Funny how that works.”

When Penelope arrived, Ted handed her the doll unceremoniously. “What’s this?”

“Carson.”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s his face.”

“Yes. You can’t get him to read anything so don’t bother trying. He will turn back to normal around eight in the morning.”

“What do I do with him?”

“That’s up to you.”

* * *

“You found her.” The mystery voice said as soon as he picked up the phone

“Technically, she escaped on her own,” Ted said. “Not withstanding your obvious concern for Emily, I only accomplished your goal.”

“You have the infernal Mr. M.?”

“Yes, I have him.”

“How do you have him?”

“You can find out by coming to get him.”

“I’ll send my top men immediately.”

“No, you will show up. I made a deal with you. If you want Mr. M., you will personally knock on the door to my parent’s house and we will met one another as properly befits wizards meeting for the first time?”

“What makes you think I’m a wizard?”

“I’m not going dignify that with a response.”

“Fine. I will arrange to visit your family home. I’m busy the next couple weeks.”

“I’ll need more than a day’s notice.”

“Okay. A weekend will probably best as well. I’ll be sure to contact you on a Wednesday or Thursday when I’m sure I’ll be available that weekend.”

“We can make that work. You still aren’t going to tell me who I should be expecting?”

“We will greet formally at the face-to-face, Mr. Ionescu.”

“As you wish,” Ted hung up.