Chapter Text
A young girl, around eight, walked up the driveway to a slightly run-down house hidden in a forest. The girl had blonde hair and shining hazel eyes set in a heart-shaped face. She wore a sweater with flowers knitted into it, patched jeans, and was carrying a small yellow package.
The child gave two short, sharp whistles as she entered the living room, looking around. A young woman, around her mid-twenties, sat in front of the coffee table with textbooks and notebooks all around her. Her black hair was tucked in a messy bun, gray eyes framed by slight eyebags, and she wore a worn sweater with a long, loose skirt.
“Hey, Hope. Who’s that from?” She asked, giving a small, tired smile.
Hope shrugged and put the yellow package on the couch behind her. She turned her head to the back of the house and signed a single word, “Where is Storm, Nora?”
“They’ll be here in a second,” Nora answered. “One of my better-off schoolmates offered triple the normal price if they could get his car fixed before his parents found out he hit another deer.”
“Can’t blame his parents for being pissed. This is the third one just this month,” Storm pointed out. They had short black hair and gray-blue eyes. Their clothing was worn and oil-stained. They were slim but muscle was packed into their thin limbs. “Let’s see who sent us mail.”
Inside the yellow package was a note and VHS. Storm stepped around Nora’s books and notes to insert the tape into their old player. The TV showed a man speaking.
"You are about to see the most incredible doll ever invented. Her name is Poppy, and she is the first truly intelligent doll in the world. A little girl can talk to her, Poppy gives her answers. She is the first doll actually able to have a conversation with a child. Hard to believe? Just watch."
“Why did someone send this to us?” Nora muttered. “Is this a prank?”
“If it is, then it's not a funny one,” Storm scowled.
Hope snapped her fingers to get their attention. “Read the note.”
Storm sighed and picked the note up, “Everyone thinks the staff disappeared four years ago. We’re still here. Find the flower.”
“An invitation,” Nora noted. “They want us to go to the factory.”
Storm’s face twisted, “I could go. There won’t be anything there, but at least we won't have a mystery hanging over our heads.”
“Absolutely not!” Nora sharply retorted. “There is blood on that note. You are not going there alone.”
“What, you come with, and we leave Hope alone?”
Nora reared back as if struck, “Of course not!”
“We could all go,” Hope pointed out.
“No!” Both of the older siblings shot down.
“You are not going anywhere that dangerous!” Storm denied. “You will stay here where it’s safe.”
“ But if Mom’s there-” She insisted.
Nora interrupted, “Mom has been missing for five years, a whole year before the rest of the factory’s employees. We don’t even know if she made it to the factory that day or if she left it.”
“If there’s a chance, we need to try!” Hope insisted.
Storm shook their head, voice soft, “I agree with Nora. I also want to know what happened to Mom, but I won’t risk you two. Each other is all we have, and each other’s all we need.”
Tears welled in Hope’s eyes, and her signs grew sharp, “Why are you just giving up?!”
“Mom wouldn’t want us to risk ourselves for her, especially not for information that might not exist.” Storm was firm in their decision.
“How would I know?!” She demanded. “I can’t remember her!”
“Enough, Hope,” Nora scolded. “The decision has been made.”
Hope stared in shock for a moment before turning and storming to her room. The remaining siblings looked at each other. It hurt that they couldn’t look for their mother, but they couldn’t lose each other. They refused to lose each other.
“Were we too harsh?” Nora asked, her hands tightly clasped in her lap.
Storm sighed and ran their hands through their hair, “Mom is a sensitive topic for all of us. We’ll talk to her once we’re all calmed down and thinking clearly.”
There was silence for a moment, “Are you sure-?”
Nora cut them off with a sharp look, “How would you react if I wanted to go alone?”
Storm gave a defeated sigh, “Alright, you win. I’m going to finish working on John’s car, clean up, then start dinner.”
Nora nodded, “I’ll have my notes cleaned up by then. I’ll help cook.”
A few hours later, Nora knocked on a door with a picture of a purple cat on it, “Hope? Dinner’s ready.” Nora waited a moment; Hope would always snap her fingers to tell her she’d be there in a minute or a short whistle to say she wasn’t hung. She was never silent, though. “Hope? Are you there?” After a moment of silence, Nora opened the door only to freeze in horror.
Hope was not in her room; that wasn’t the only thing wrong. Hope’s sneakers weren’t next to her dress shoes, her critter’s backpack was gone with her school books and folders on the floor, and the jar that acted as her piggy bank was empty. The most horrifying thing was the open window.
“Storm!” Nora yelled as she spun on her heel and ran to the kitchen. “Storm!”
Storm met her in the kitchen doorway, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Hope’s gone,” She gasped out.
“What?!” They demanded. “I’ll call the police.”
“She went to the factory; the police won’t do anything!”
“Then what do we do?”
Nora straightened her back, closing her eyes as in thought. When her eyes opened, they were as hard as metal. “Grab a bag: food, water, first aid kit. I’m going to change into something with pants. If there’s something at the factory, we must be prepared.”
“We’re going to Playtime.”