Chapter 11 - Secrets Learned

"James! This book… it's, It's-" Mallory got cut off by a sudden scream. I quickly went to the door and peeked outside, they were still in the living room watching the movie. I walked back to Mallory and informed her the sound was most likely from or because of the movie.

"This book, it's Natalie's diary! It has a bunch of info on her and most likely that Ashley girl too! I can't believe that pervy idiot found something useful for once!" Mallory said, squealing as quietly as possible.

"Well hurry up and find out who Ashley is before the movie is over and she comes back!" I said trying to rush her. She started to flip through the pages until she found one that caught her eye, Mallory started reading.

"It seems like Ashley Barrett was an old friend of our new master, more like best friends. One day, however, Ashley developed a crush on a guy named Damien Roland. Natalie was good friends with him which made Ashley jealous of her once best friend. The two started bickering and-" Mallory continued flipping through the pages and explaining how the two became frenemies over some dude, along with all the weird plans Ashley had developed to make Natalie suffer.

Eventually, at one point, Damien confessed to Natalie and told her he wanted to be more than friends. She rejected him saying she wasn't ready for a relationship and that she wanted to just be friends with him. Damien became mental after the rejection and was caught by Natalie stalking her. Soon Natalie filed for a restraining order and once she finished high school she moved out of SpringValley to Maygain.

Once Mallory finished summing up everything to James and, the probably lifeless, Ethan, she closed the diary shut and hid it back in Natalie's drawer. The movie was over and she heard footsteps coming closer to the room. Everyone quickly went back to the shelf and how they were placed before the girls had left the room. Eventually, the door opened and revealed Natalie shivering from fear and the cold. She walked over to her bed and plopped down on it. She soon after crawled under the covers.

"What's with her?" Mallory whispered.

"She was watching a horror movie. I don't think she likes horror movies much since she was practically strangling her thick-ass cat to death while watching it." James responded to Mallory.

"I-I heard t-that! A-And I am n-not s-scared of h-horror movies!" Natalie said from underneath her blanket covers, trying to sound as confident and brave as possible.

"I never said anything about you being scared of horror movies though. All I said was you didn't like them." James responded to the blonde-haired girl hiding under her bedsheets.

Mallory couldn't believe it, James was smirking! He was talking to their new master and did a playful smirk! Sure he would smirk once in a while but only when he hurdles insults or feels cocky. What he had just said to Natalie was actually pretty tame of him, yet he still smirked.

'I can't believe this is James! Did he hit his head or something? Maybe he'll actually smile next, and a genuinely nice one too.' Mallory thought wide-eyed and staring at James.

Natalie's cheeks turned red from embarrassment after being called out by James. She popped her head out from underneath the covers and flipped over on her side, facing away from the puppets. Meanwhile, Ethan was already fast asleep on the shelf.

"Whatever!" Natalie huffed out. Soon after she closed her eyes shut, trying to fall asleep, forgetting all about the movie.

The next day, after going to Welkin and explaining her absence to her professors, along with asking for notes on what she missed, heading to work to explain to her manager why she didn't show up yesterday, and working overtime, Natalie stood in the living room. She was joined by the three puppets, along with Buttons who she was currently stroking and pacing back and forth with. Meanwhile, the puppets were sitting on the couch, staring at the girl.

Before she went off to her college and job, Natalie and the puppets made a promise that when she came home they would explain everything to her. And so they did, after she came home they explained everything and all that had happened, the five-day rule, the cleanup, everything. Everything except for the diary, what she doesn't know won't kill them.

All of a sudden, Natalie stopped pacing back and forth while stroking Buttons like an evil villain and said, "So you mean to tell me… you all are now my… servants? And I'm now your… master? Oh no no no NO! You can't possibly be serious! Sure I may need some help around the house-"

"Some help? Your house was a complete wreck when we came here," James said, interrupting the blonde-haired girl.

"For once, the brunette has a point. You need us, doll." Ethan said agreeing with James, irking the blonde-haired girl. Not even a second later, the two boys were thrown into the bathroom, since Natalie didn't trust them in her room, and said, "Sorry, but the adults need to talk now, bye-bye!" And with that, she closed the bathroom door and pushed a large dresser in front of the door, preventing them from escaping.

While talking with Mallory about the situation she continued to hear shouting and yelling from the bathroom. While in the middle of making their deal, the shouting stopped. It became worryingly quiet so they finished up on their 'so-called' contract and ran over to check on the boys. After pushing the large dresser out of the way, both girls walked in and were met with the sight of two puppets laying limply on the bathroom floor. Along with a thick-ass cat licking his paws soon exiting the bathroom sassily.

One thing Natalie didn't know was that while she was tossing the boys into the bathroom, she had accidentally locked Buttons in there with them. No wonder the boys were screaming more than usual. Natalie picked up the two puppets and carried them to her room, she decided to tell them about their contract tomorrow, in the meantime, she wanted some rest.