His Eye Protected Me

Unlike humans, dolls do not lose movement because of pain.

As long as the structure holds, they can continue moving.

Adrian stood there.

Still smiling.

After their bullets ran out, the two masked men fled in panic.

Julian remained.

He stared at Adrian.

“Brother?” he asked uncertainly.

“It’s me.”

Julian suddenly burst into joy.

“Great! You didn’t die! I knew you wouldn’t die!”

He hugged Adrian and cried.

I was completely lost.

Enemy?

Ally?

What exactly was he?

Then Adrian’s voice sounded through my headphones.

“Zhaozhao, they’re coming out.”

I froze for two seconds before realizing he was talking to me.

I looked up.

Sure enough, the two masked men were running toward the road.

I had already called the police when I saw them leave the temple.

But the police needed time.

I picked up the slingshot and stones from the back seat.

Aimed at the tall man’s knee.

Fired.

Hit.

He collapsed, clutching his leg.

The short man ran a few meters, then turned back to help him.

I fired again.

Hit.

Now both were kneeling.

Good.

They dared shoot my person.

My doll.

My person-doll.

Whatever.

This was justice.

Whenever one tried to stand, I fired again.

They finally realized something was wrong.

“Didn’t that man say Friday noon had the strongest yang energy? No ghosts should appear!” the short one cried.

“Ghost my ass,” the tall man cursed. “Someone is messing with us!”

Before he could stand properly, police sirens approached.

The police arrested them.

Only then did I get out of the SUV.

At the station, the tall man insisted his gun was fake.

“No bullets!”

I said,

“Check gunpowder residue.”

Julian appeared with a sealed evidence bag and gloves.

“No need. Here are the shell casings.”

I stared at him.

Was he selling out teammates?

Later, Julian quietly told me,

“My brother wants to talk to you.”

I understood.

I returned to my car and put on the headphones.

“Adrian?”

The camera view showed the temple again.

The fire was out.

“I finally held on until you came,” Adrian said weakly. “Julian is helping us. I’ll explain later. Remember… go to the hospital…”

“Adrian!”

The image shook.

Then went black.

Even knowing he was a doll, my heart felt sliced open.

After the statement, Julian and I collected the remains of Adrian 2.0.

Then he said he was going to the hospital.

His brother was waking up.

My eyes lit up.

I went too.

At the hospital, Julian led me to Adrian’s room.

Adrian’s real body had opened its eyes.

My hand moved to the glass-eye pendant.

He was alive.

Good.

So good.

Adrian seemed to think of something and smiled.

Then his eyes closed in pain.

Nurses rushed around the equipment.

“Heart rhythm unstable!”

Before I could panic, another nurse said,

“What happened? It stabilized again.”

Later, Julian explained.

The ritual was never to kill Adrian.

It was to return his soul.

The abandoned temple in the south.

The hospital in the north.

Fire at one end.

Body at the other.

Howard He had said that was the best arrangement.

Julian hired me to make the doll for this purpose.

His father had arranged the original car accident to kill Adrian’s father.

But Adrian’s father swerved and accidentally hit a little girl.

The two masked men were that girl’s father and brother.

Grief became revenge.

Howard and Julian fed them false information so they would expose themselves.

When the nurses finally allowed us in, I wore sterile clothes and stepped into Adrian’s room.

He could not speak yet.

But he held my hand tightly.

His palm was warm.

Different from the doll.

Real.

Alive.

Julian said suddenly,

“Can you two lovebirds remember I’m standing here?”

I jerked my hand away.

Adrian glared at him.

I stared at the floor.

My face burned.