“Come to think of it…I’ve ever been over to your place, have I?” 

Lily paused for a moment, then sighed “Yeah, sorry about that, it's just...my family… it's a whole thing…sorry”

“No it’s totally not a big deal, like, I get it, its family stuff” 

I didn’t really ‘get it’. I had never dealt with family problems that prevented me from bringing friends over, but I wasn’t the prying type, which is why, despite having been Lily’s best friend for over twelve years, I had never once met another member of her family. It wasn’t that I was a bad friend or anything like that, Lily was just kinda cagey on the subject and she was a sorta anxious person in general so I tried not to upset her.

“Still though, after all this time, you finally asked me over…to do our History projects together? Not that I’m upset, it's just a little random you know?” she shrugged

“Well, my family library is the perfect place to do our research, don’t you think?” there was that ‘family library’ again. I had always known Lily’s family came from money, whenever she saw something she liked at the mall she bought it without even glancing at the price tag. And when it was time for her to go home, black cars with tinted windows came to pick her up. So I knew she was rich, but I hadn’t realized it was the ‘family library’ type of rich. That was a whole other tier of rich. 

Maybe her family is really snooty and doesn’t like that she has poor friends? 

I glanced down at myself, suddenly wishing I had worn something nicer. 

“It just seems a little out of the blue” she shook her head 

“Yeah I mean it's just…uh…well…” she seemed a little confused about it herself, I was kinda afraid she was going to change her mind.

“Are we almost there?” I asked, trying to distract her.  we were pretty deep into the woods now, having left the main road for a footpath about ten minutes ago, apparently if you weren't driving it was faster to cut through the trees, but I couldn’t see very far ahead

“Oh yeah, we’re just about there…a little further I think…”

After another two minutes of walking, the trees parted and we were back on the road. In front of us was a cobblestone wall nearly 15 feet high. The road ended at a set of wrought iron gates, the gate was inlaid with a spiraling pattern, with a big stylized metal eye at the center

“Lily, do you…live in a medieval castle?” she laughed

“More like a mansion actually…but yeah it’s pretty over the top, apparently this place has been in my family for generations…so I guess It's just kinda old school”

looking through the iron bars of the gate, I could see the mansion. It certainly looked like it had been there for a few hundred years, definitely the sort of place that could fit a whole library. Before it there was a massive yard, filled with carefully trimmed hedges marking the path to the front door. Lily started toward the gate, and it opened at her approach, she strolled in like it was no big thing, meanwhile I trailed after her, trying and failing not to gawk at the sheer opulence of it all. There was a stone fountain in the center of the yard that was nearly as tall as the wall surrounding the estate. We rounded the fountain, and rather than continue up to the entrance she turned and sat on the fountain's edge, staring up at her home with a somewhat pensive look on her face. I sat down beside her, wondering at the idea of having to take a break just to cross your front lawn, then just gazed up in awe at the mansion itself. It had to be at three stories, and twice as wide. At least fifty windows stared back at me, each with the same stylized eye emblazoned on the glass. Apparently confusing my slack jawed expression for something negative, Lily tried to console me

“I know it looks old, but it's all refurbished and stuff on the inside, very comfy” I shook my head.

“We could just do our whole history project on this house…Lily…this is insane” she turned away to hide a sad expression, then started fiddling with her hair like she always did when she was getting anxious. And I realized that maybe this is why she had never brought me here before. 

“Hey, I uh…I won’t treat you any differently just ‘cause you're super rich okay?” I said trying to reassure her “I promise…accept I’m never paying for lunch ever again” she smirked 

“You never paid anyway!” 

“Yeah well now I won't feel guilty about it” she laughed, back to her old self again

“Wanna go in?

“Yeah just a sec”

I turned and studied my reflection in the fountain, fixed my hair a bit, normally I wasn’t so concerned with my appearance but I didn’t want to look like a total trash goblin in a place like this. When I looked up Lily was staring at me, she quickly looked away and stood up, heading for the front door, I followed.

Much like the front gates, the front door opened upon Lily's approach, this time by a thin middle aged man with an even thinner mustache, an almost perfectly stereotypical picture of a butler. 

“Welcome home, madam Lily” his gaze fell on me. “And this is…?”

“Hello Bart, this is Holly, she’s my guest”

“Your…guest?”

“She’s a friend of mine.”

The butler's eyes moved back and forth between Lily and I, as if trying to discern something. I gave an awkward smile and said

“Uh hi, nice to meet you”

“The Lady of the house has requested you to go see her the moment you arrived home” He told Lily

“Thank you Bart, I’ll just lead my guest to the library and then-” she was cut off, as a booming woman's voice echoed down from somewhere in the house 

“LILY, GET UP HERE NOW”

The butler gave an apologetic smile

“I may have informed the Lady of your impending arrival” Lily sighed

“Alright, then do you think you could-” she stopped suddenly, thought for a moment, then turned to me

“Actually, could you just stay here for a minute Holly? I need to go see what my mom wants…don’t leave this room okay?” she looked worried, maybe she was afraid I’d get lost?

“Uh sure…no prob I’ll wait right here”

“Thank you I’ll-”

“LILY, I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN, COME HERE NOW”

“Just stay here!”

She scurried off, climbing a staircase and disappearing down a hallway. Once she was gone I had a moment to take in the absurd scale of the foyer. It was a massive room with twin staircases leading up to a second floor balcony,  in between them was a third staircase spiraling up out of the center of the room and disappearing into what must have been a third floor. To my left and right hallways stretched farther than seemed possible, every few feet along each wall a pedestal that displayed some expensive looking pottery. The walls were covered in old paintings, and I was surprised that Lily seemed to be in several of them, or perhaps they were her ancestors? The carpeted floor was decorated with the same spiraling design on the front gate, with stylized eyes that stared back up at you from the floor. After perhaps minutes of gawking at everything in the room, the butler coughed politely, 

“I don’t suppose you’ll need any assistance following the young mistress’s orders, will you?”

“Uh…assistance?” he checked his watch

“Yes, I have much to do, you see.”

“Oh uh, no…I’ll stay put”

“See that you do” He strolled off, and entered a small door on the other side of the room that I assumed was some kind of servant door, and I was alone in the foyer. I just went back to staring. Some time passed, and just as I was starting to get a little antsy I heard a voice.

“Hello”

The room was large enough that it took me a few seconds to find the source. There was a head peeking out of the left hallway, A short woman with long purple hair that fell all the way to the floor as she leaned out from behind the corner. I smiled and gave her a wave

“Hi there, I’m Holly” she smiled back

“I’m Emily” 

“Nice to meet you…are you…Lily's sister?" She nodded still smiling 

“Yes, she’s my half-sister…are you Lily’s?” 

“Uh, I’m her friend”

“Mommy called her away, right?”

“Yeah I think so”

The girl finally stepped fully out into the foyer and I nearly burst out laughing. She was wearing the most elaborate dress I had ever seen in real life. She looked like she had stepped right out of a Disney princess movie. The dress was the same dark purple as her hair. 

“Oh my god, Emily you are so cute!”

She beamed and did a twirl. When she got closer I noticed something else. Her eyes were the same exact dark purple color of her hair and dress. She was really committed to her theme. Once she reached me she started digging around in her purple (of course) purse, and pulled out what appeared to be a piece of construction paper, she carefully folded the paper in half, and handed it to me. I graciously accepted the paper with a little bow that made her giggle and unfolded it. The paper was professionally embroidered with purple spiral patterns along the edges, it had also been covered in glitter. Otherwise it was blank.

“Oh…what’s this?”

“It’s an invitation”

“Ah of course”

“An invitation to my tea party! Will you come?”

She gave me pleading look and I just couldn't say no. She was acting pretty weird, childish even, but maybe this is just how rich people act?

“I’d love to-” 

She jumped up and down with glee and grabbed my other hand

“Let's go!” she started pulling me toward the hallway

“O-oh! You mean…right now?”

“Yes yes! We’ll have to hurry or you’ll be late! You’re not even dressed yet!”

I planted my feet but she kept pulling at me uselessly

“Listen Emily…do you think It could wait? Lily told me to stay here”

“No no NO!” she pouted “we can’t reschedule now! I’ve already sent out all the invitations!”

“I’m sorry Emily, but I promised…” she had both her hands on me now, pulling at me with all her weight. It didn’t do her any good

“You have to come! You said you would!” 

“I know, I know but…how about this, if we just wait until your sister gets back…then all three of us can go to the tea party. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

She stopped pulling and just stared at the floor

“No she won’t” the poor girl sounded like she was on the verge of tears

“She never plays with me anymore, never ever ever”

I sighed, feeling a little annoyed, but mostly baffled at seeing this grown woman on the verge of tears over her tea party...is this what rich people are like? Did she really not have anyone else to spend time with?

“Well, that changes today. When she comes back, I’ll convince her to come play with us. Okay?” she shook her head 

“That won’t work…she’ll think I made you do it, or she’ll just make you go with her”

“Na come on, she doesn't wanna do homework either, it'll be easy to convince her to slack off a bit. Trust me.” she shook her head again, I looked into her strange purple eyes.

“Your eyes are very pretty” I told her, trying to keep her distracted for a little longer

“Do you use contacts?” she gave a slight smile, and then grabbed the sides of my head for some reason.

“Nope” she said 

“Really? Then how do you get them-”

“You’re a doll”

“I’m a…what?”

“Just a dolly” 

“Uh…thank you?”

She just smiled at me, I smiled back, glad she wasn’t about to cry anymore. If she had a melt down out here that probably wouldn’t make a good first impression on the rest of the family

“Say ‘I’m a doll’” she instructed

“I’m a doll” I replied, but something felt strange about the words. Or perhaps it was just the way I said them? It was like they just sort of came out-

“Good girl, say it again”

“I’m a doll”

“Again”

“I’m a doll” 

This was a weird game. I wondered when Lily was going to get back, it was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

“Doll’s can’t move” 

Suddenly I was frozen. It was the strangest sensation, as though I had suddenly lost feeling in all my limbs at once. What the hell… 

“Doll’s can’t move without help, Doll’s are just limp”

Every muscle in my body relaxed, my hands fell down to my sides, the only reason I didn’t fall over was because she was still holding my head, balancing me upright. She moved closer, and her strange purple eyes filled my vision. I was starting to freak out, I wanted to move but I couldn’t. I tried to say something, to ask for help, but even my face was slack. Emily was just staring at me with her weird purple-

“Dolly doesn't think”

…

“Dolly only thinks what she's told”

Dolly only thinks what she's told

“Good doll’s obey”

Good doll’s obey

“Good doll’s love to be played with”

Good doll’s love to be played with

“You are a good doll”

I am a good doll

“You are my good dolly Holly”

I am her good dolly Holly

“But Holly isn’t your real name, because secretly, you're a Princess!”

Holly is not my real name, secretly I am a Princess

“And your Princess name is…H…H…Harmony! Harmony is your real name!”

My Princess name is Harmony, Harmony is my real name

“You have been invited to Princess Emily's secret princess tea party, and your so excited!”

I have been invited to Princess Emily's secret princess tea party. I am excited

“Come along now Harmony, you're not even in your princess clothes yet! We have to hurry or we’ll be late!”

***

This cookie is made of plastic

That was the first thing I had thought on my own in a while. I pulled the cookie back out of my mouth to examine it.

I must drink my tea and eat my cookies, this is how a princess should act at a tea party

I raised a plastic and completely empty teacup to my lips, and sucked on the air inside. No problems there, then I tried to eat the cookie again

This cookie is made of plastic and is entirely inedible

I blinked, this time something clicked, I took in my surroundings, and really paid attention to them for a moment. I was sitting at a very small table, in a very small plastic chair. The table was in a dungeon of some kind…no not a dungeon…maybe a cellar? But wait…how did I get here? I thought about the last twenty minutes of my life. Emily…no, Princess Emily had led me to a dressing room, where I had stood still as a manikin doll while she and another woman who seemed to be a maid undressed and re-dressed me in various outfits. This went on for about 15 minutes, I didn’t speak or move the entire time

Of course not, Dolly can't move on her own

Finally Princess Emily was satisfied. She had landed on a frilly dark green dress, with a white floral pattern, and a wreath for a crown. Then I was led down some stairs to this dimly lit room and told to sit at this table. All of this had seemed perfectly normal up until a few moments ago, when I suddenly became self aware again. It was like suddenly waking up from a dream, only to find that it hadn’t been a dream, and everything that you thought you were dreaming about had actually been happening all along. It was disorienting to say the least. I stared at the cookie in my hand, and strangely found that I was still compelled to bite into it.

I glanced around the table, at the other tea party attendees. At the head of the table was Princess Emily of course. Still in her same outfit from before, accept now she also wore a silver tiara inlaid with purple gemstones. Aside from her most of the other seats were occupied by various stuffed toys, except for one chair where a thirty-ish looking woman was sitting…well she wasn’t sitting exactly, she was slumped over, barely propped up by the tiny plastic chair. she was limp with her neck lolling to one side. I realized she was actually the maid who had helped dress me earlier, in fact she was still wearing her black and white maid uniform, but with an elaborate and frilly orange dress on top of it. She was drooling on herself.

“Would you like more tea, Princess Harmony?” 

“Huh? Um, no Princess, I’m alright”

To show it was the case I took another sip from my empty tea cup, and then almost put the plastic cookie in my mouth again

I must drink my tea and eat my cookies, this is how a Princess should act at a tea party

I stared at the cookie

“Um, actually…Princess Emily?”

“Yes?”

“Something seems…a bit strange, I’m not really sure…”

“Would you look over here for a moment, Princess Harmony?” I set aside my cookie and looked at her, meeting those strange purple eyes. In the dim light they almost seemed to be glowing. 

“Everything is fine”

Everything is fine

“You are having a lovely time at the tea party”

I am having a lovely time at the tea party

“Your Princess is taking good care of you”

My Princess is taking good care of me

“You feel better now”

I feel better now

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes Prin-

I was startled by the sound of the door, followed by a familiar voice

“There you are!”

Princess Emily squealed, and dove under the table. Lily came marching into the room, looking like she was about to hurl herself under the table after her. Instead she ran over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

“Holly! Holly are you alright?" I tried to answer her but it was hard...I was just so dizzy and sleepy

“Uh…yes…everything is fine…I’m having a lovely time at the tea party…Princess is taking good care of me...I feel better now” This answer seemed to make her even more upset for some reason

“Emily! What did you do to her?!”

“NOTHING” the princess shouted back from under the table. Lily groaned, and let out some very unprincess like words, then finally said to me

“Forget it, let's just go, I'll fix it later” she grabbed me by the wrist and tried to pull me to my feet. I stayed put, obviously.

“Um, sorry Lily, but I’m not allowed to leave until Princess Emily has excused me”

She tried to pull on me again, but she had always been a bit scrawny compared to me so I wasn’t going anywhere fast, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Emily, Let her go now” she said sternly

“No!” the Princess was still under the table, and seemed to have no intention of coming back out

“The tea party isn’t over yet!” Lily clenched her fists, but then took another deep breath and kept her cool.

“Emily let her go right now or I’ll…” She paused and glanced over to the maid sitting across from me, she hadn’t reacted in the slightest to any of this, and was still staring blankly into space

“Or I’ll tell mom you broke another maid”

“NO!” Princess screeched “No no you can’t! She said she would take away my favorite princess dress!” 

“To bad, I’m gonna tell her” 

“Princess Harmony is excused from the tea party! Because Lily is a big meanie!”

Suddenly I was able to stand. Without another word Lily grabbed me again and pulled me out of the room. Leaving Princess Emily sobbing under the table.

Lily led me up a staircase and down a hallway, talking the whole time

“I’m sorry I took so long to find you, I thought you had just wandered off at first, but then I found out Emily was having a tea party, so I went to her room but she wasn’t there, so I had to follow a trail of glitter to the-” she stopped and turned to face me

“What did she do to you? I mean- don’t worry about it, I can fix it…probably. But you're with me now, right Holly? Are you listening? Can you understand me?”

“Uh…yeah yeah I hear you…Listen though…there’s something I have to tell you”

She blinked 

“Uh…okay?” she suddenly looked confused and a little terrified 

“And it’s something I really should have told you a long time ago, but please don’t be mad okay?”

She looked even more confused and I felt bad, Lily was my best friend, if anyone deserved to know the truth, it was her. I took a deep breath, and finally let it out:

“The truth is…My real name is Harmony, I’m a secret Princess” 

She stared at me, absolutely expressionless. Then she she facepalmed so hard I flinched

“Goddammit Emily” 

“I’m really sorry, I know I should have told you sooner”

“No no…it's fine…this is fine”

“Really? You’re not mad?”

“Yeah I can fix this…we just need to get to my room, come on.” 

Suddenly, Princess Emily's sobbing upgraded into wailing, Lily just rolled her eyes

“Is it…is it okay to leave your sister like that?”

“She’s fine, she’s just being a baby” The wailing continued, echoing throughout the mansion

"Yeah okay, speaking of which...why does she act like-"

"An adult that acts like a child? yeah Its weird, but you get used to it"

"But why-"

"She tried to take over the family once, she failed, so mom regressed her as a punishment and to keep her from trying it again, now all she cares about is tea party's, its a long story"

"Wait...your mom did WHAT to her?"

“Don't feel bad for her, she just tried to brainwash you, she should know better…”

“Wait a second…she tried to do what?” Lily just sighed

“Yeah…I can explain everything…later…let's just get to my room okay?”

We were back in the foyer, and as we were about to pass the front doors she stopped.

“Actually…it’s probably safer if you just leave now…yeah I can fix you back at your place” having decided she started towards the front doors pulling me along behind her

“But wait…what about our History project?”

“We’ll start it tomorrow, and we’ll go to the public library” she shook her head vigorously 

“What the hell was I thinking? Bringing you here was a terrible idea…” 

“Lily”

Just as we were about to reach the door, a stern voice came from behind us. We turned to see a severe looking woman dressed all in gray descending one of the staircases, I recognized the stylized eye design on her dress as the same one all over the house. She looked to be in her late fifties, but still beautiful in a regal sort of way. As she approached I noticed her eyes were a dull gold. She gestured in the direction from where Princess Emily's crying could still be faintly heard.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with you…does it?” Lily swallowed before speaking

“Um…well you see-”

“Because you know how she gets when you upset her like this, you wouldn’t do that intentionally…would you?”

“She was messing with my friend's head, I just took her back” the woman closed her eyes and sighed

“Honestly Lily, you are an adult, can’t you just let her your sister play with one of your toys for a little while? I thought you were more mature than this…”

“Mom! She’s not…She’s my FRIEND! She’s a person!” she raised an eyebrow

“Is that so? And where were you taking her just now?” 

“I’m getting her out of here before anything else happens!”

“I think not” Lily's Mom fixed her gaze on me

“You are not to leave this house until I have had time to modify your memory” 

“MOM!” She turned back to Lily

“You know the rules, no outsiders who learn the family secret may leave until dealt with. I shouldn't have to explain this to you”

“But-”

“Were you even listening when I spoke to you before? This sort of behavior is unacceptable if you are to be-” she cut herself of and looked at me again

“I need to have a private conversation with my daughter, leave”

I had to go. Now. It didn’t matter where, it didn’t matter how, I just could not stay here for another second. I spun and made for the front doors, then stopped. I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that it would be absolutely impossible to leave this way, I may as well try to dig through a brick wall with my fingernails. I turned again and went for the other nearest exit, I didn’t look back. Lily called out to me

“Go down that way, take two lefts then a right, my room is the last door on the left, just wait there for me!” I didn’t even respond, I couldn’t, I had to leave

I followed Lily's instructions just fine at first, but on the second hallway I hit a snag. It wasn’t that I couldn't find the way, the instructions were easy enough to remember, but something in me was having trouble…I could feel myself slowing down, like a car that was running out of gas.

I am a doll

First I had Princess Emily to guide me, then Lily had been leading me around, and then I was compelled to leave the room, inertia had carried me for a little while, but now it was hard to keep moving

Of course it's hard, dolls can’t move on their own, I am a doll

I couldn’t stop now, I had to make it to Lily’s room…but my progress had slowed until I was only taking one step every four or five seconds… 

I am a good dolly, good doll’s obey

I decided I needed a break, maybe if I rest a bit…maybe I’ll find the energy to keep going. I made it to a wall and leaned up against it…until my legs gave out and I slumped to the floor. Stopping had been a terrible idea, all of my momentum was gone. Getting back up seemed impossible now…and yet…it felt right, like this was where I was supposed to be. 

I am a doll, Doll’s can’t move on their own, an unattended doll should just sit and wait to be played with

I felt my body go limp, someone would come to play with me eventually, then I could move, if they asked me to…then I could-

Dolly doesn't think

…

…

…

…

…

…

“Oh, what do we have here?”

…

“Well you’re not a maid…you’re all dressed up in green, which makes me think you belong to Lilith, or maybe Lily…but the state you're in has Emily written all over it…”

…

“I keep telling Emily she’d have more fun with her dolls if she didn’t make them into total brainless zombies…but I guess she can't manage anything more sophisticated than that huh..”

…

“Man you are like…really out of it aren’t you? Well, can’t just leave you like this can I? Stand up now dolly, clean up that drool would you?… good girl, follow me, I’ve got some things for you to do…