The sealed stage theater of Marvel Grove in the city of Mal. A two storey reinforced brick building with as many rumors as there are rats in the Underpass. From being haunted to having a cult of demons to being alive to name a few. Today Joey, the new kid in town ( and school), was dared to go in and take a picture of the inside of one of the dressing rooms.

It would not have been so bad if he had gone in the morning but today his mom took him to school and missing would not have gone over well with his mom. So now he is here at night trying to find a way in.

After lurking around the building for ten minutes and finding no way in he almost decides to give up and head home and deal with whatever the fallout of the dare would be but out of a random passing thought he tries the front door.

With slow steps, he heads up the stairs and towards the door. The overhang leading up toward the door blots out the already weak light, even with the holes in it, the moon used to give so he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

After what feels like an eternity he reaches the door and slowly grasps the almost fully rusted handle of the front door and twists. It made a squealing noise that made him wince and after a moment of hesitation, he pulled.

The door opens with a groan so loud he is pretty sure he woke up the neighborhood. When the wave of stale air invades his nose he involuntarily takes a step back, almost letting go of the door and his phone in the process. After three moments of coughing, he regained his composure, took a step forward, and flashed his light inside.

The lobby is big with enough room to hold an elephant or four. The old used to be soft (probably) carpet had holes in it the size of manhole covers at most revealing the hardwood floor. It was discolored warped lumpy and cracked in the exposed bits. It looked like hardwood would break if he stepped on it. The paint on the walls was dry and cracked. 

He takes a step inside and a deep breath before slowly crossing the lobby while avoiding the exposed hardwood. Once across he takes a quick look to notice the empty doorway to the left and right of him. Both of them lead to seats so he takes the one on the left.

Once inside the seating area, his gaze almost automatically goes to where the stage is supposed to be. He had heard the story of why it was sealed in the first place but really looking at it feels so weird.

He can imagine it sitting there but instead, there is just a hole. What was worse was knowing that the entire theater team was on stage when it fell. He could practically see an entire team of people doing whatever before the stage fell.

He shook his head to rein in his wandering thoughts and took a few steps forwards before his thoughts are wandering again. Apparently, no one else was there when it happened so the entire thing is shrouded in mystery and mystery means theories.

From a supervillain testing a new weapon to the theater team incurring the wrath of something to the police official theory of a weirdly shaped sinkhole and though the last one was probably not true no one called for more investigation because the last time the police tried to investigate something weird an entire apartment complex turned to bad cherry jello.

Finally, he reached the hole and looked down into it. The stage-shaped hole seemed to stretch on forever. At first, it seemed like a normal hole that reached infinity but when he shone his light to get a better look a billowing black smoke appeared on the cusp of the hole where ever the light was blocking his vision.

After throwing a penny he found on the street on the smoke to see if it was solid and finding it was he decided not trust the unnatural smoke and took a look around to find another way in the backstage.

On his left were the restrooms, behind him was the endless row of red seats, the exit, stairs to the next floor, and on his right was a ladder that lead to the catwalks above the stage. Joey thought it was quite weird to have a ladder like that in the seating area but that just made the job easier for him.

Once getting on the catwalk he ran across it while looking for a way backstage. He had seen enough movies to know that if he lingered too long on the bridge across a chasm it would break. When he reached the other side he looked back to see that the catwalk was fine.

He took the ladder down to the backstage and when he was halfway down the grate of the catwalk fell off. Before it could fall into the hole it stopped where the smoke would be. Joey continued on his journey while mumbling under his breath,” I guess it is always there still don’t it though.”

With his feet firmly on the floor, he wanders backstage looking for a dressing room. While wandering around his thought drift to why the backstage looked so pristine compared to the rest of the theater. It almost looked like a different place with the lack of dust on every surface and the way the wood didn’t look rotted.

He quickly passed it off to a construction hero when he saw the dressing rooms. There were three of them each in a line five feet away from each other. The first was the star actor room presumably. It still had the gold star on it and it was shining with an unnatural light but its engraving was gone if it had one to begin with. At the very bottom of the door, there were cracks no more than an inch big, and the only reason he saw it was because of how otherwise pristine the door was.

He quickly moved to the next door putting the cracks out of mind. The next one only had a silver rectangle plate that was visibly worse then the gold star. It was covered in tanish looking more like bronze then silver. The only reason Joey could tell it was silver was because he had seen tarnished silver before. The door itself was also worse. It was warped all around but that was it. Still worse then the first one.

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Joey didn’t even check the last door as he knew where this was going and instead headed straight for the star door. Before he twisted the brass handle of the door he looked back at the tiny cracks. They worried him even if they were tiny.

He had heard that the strongest construction hero could make normal wood stronger then reinforced steel but his thought were probably unfounded because their was no way any strong construction hero would only build a door but then again . . . he shook his head, let out a sigh, and twisted the handle.

It didn’t twist even close to half-way before it stopped.” Locked I guess I will leave,” Joey whispered to himself

He turned back around before,”But I came so far I can’t leave this unfinished. It is no longer about the dare but my pride.”

He sighed before walking closer to the door and placing both hands on the handle.

Ten seconds later and a flash of light the door creaked open. In the even more pristine room was three racks of costumes on the left side a thin window in front and a large vanity table on the right.

Once Joey saw the table the rest of the room left his thoughts. It was beautiful. Mostly made out of gold with egarving on every edge. In every engraving there was a pure white metal that was worked perfecting into it while also producing a subtle light that was soft enough to only light a two inch radius.

He thought on stealing it and making a fortune was stopped dead when he saw the unassuming wooden drawing doll on the table. When he saw it the doll part stuck in his head before echoing.

There was a doll in the room that he in but surely drawing dolls don’t count. He had heard they had once been restricted but he also heard it got lifted a year ago. Surely he was fine. 

Being quietly as possible he opened the camera app on his phone and snapped a photo. When he realized the doll hadn’t moved he got braver and took a selfie. Once again it didn’t move so he got further in the room right next to the costumes before taking another selfie while deciding the third picture was enough.

On his way out he heard the tiny creak of wood, promptly jumped out of his own skin and ran. He turned left once he left the room hoping to find a back exit instead of taking his chance on the smoke stage.

He soon found it but it was locked with a chain and padlock. He kept running only stopping inches away from the door. He then roughly placed both his hands on the lock. Once he did it promptly crumbled to dust and so did the chain.

He was dumbfounded for a moment before he heard the creak of wood again. He shoved the door open and ran out.

After circling the theater to get to the street he went to look for his bike. Once he found his flashy gold and blue bike he pulled out his phone and thought. He wanted to call the police about the doll but at the same time he was trespassing and getting arrested here so soon would not be a good look.

He put his phone back away and biked to a gas station near his house. He leaned it on the ice storage and headed inside. The incandescent bulbs hums with a warm light while the unnecessary air conditioner pumps out the already cold night air.

The guy at the cash register is currently lost in his head and doesn’t even turn to focus on Joey. Joey quickly head over to the cold drinks and grabs a cold brew coffin can. Then he looks around and shoves it in his inside jacket pocket.

On his way out he turns to the chips before checking his wallet. He grabs two for three and walks up to the cash register. After paying the bored out-of-his-skull guy he catches a glimpse of wood on one of the many anti-theft mirrors.

He shakes his head and puts it out of mind while getting on his bike. After ten minutes of tireless pedaling, he reaches his house. He pulls open the decaying white fence after getting over the cracked concrete stairs.

The unkept grass rub against his bare hands tickling him. The dirt give to his weight as the water from yesterdays rain get into his shoes. The plain wooden boards splinters dig into his rubber outsole while they bend under his weight. The rugged welcome mat says nothing as his shoes fray and dirty it even more.

The white wood door opens with a rusty creak before it falls off it’s hinges. Joey doesn’t even give it a glance and continues onward. In the living room his mom is passed out on the couch with the news still on. 

Joey wanders in and walks to the Tv to turn it off. Before he does he hears,” Pristine has once again bought an entire block to build a soup kitchen-.” He clicks his tongue to the news before heading to his room the under stairs closet.

Once inside he kicks the extension cord that leads out the door to turn on his desk lamp. He wanders over to the lonely desk pulls out his slightly warm coffee before sitting in his chair. Setting the coffee down he leans to the left and opens the big bottom drawer. He clicks his tongue and closes it before pulling on the top small drawer that holds today's homework.

Putting the homework on the desk he sets aside the coffee and begans to work. After ten minutes of work and twenty minutes of not focusing he gives up and puts it back in hope he can finish it in the morning.

He pulls bottom drawer and finally opens the coffee. Before he even goes in the bottom drawer he downs the coffee and throws it aside. Wiping his chin with one hand he grabs four pieces of printer paper and a pencil. His other hand reaches over and grabs a handful of loose color pencils.

He sets three pieces of paper aside and pulls out his phone. With his phone he begans to type looking for something on the internet. Once found he sets it down and grabs a pencil. Before he can even put pencil to paper a soft tapping on his door reaches his ears.

It sounds like wood on wood but that is ridiculous. He gets up and walks to his wooden door. His breath catches in his throat as his hand holds the cold metal handle of his door. Before he can decide not to he opens the door to an empty hallway.

He leans out and looks left and right but nothing just empty hallway. Then he looks down and sees it. The drawing doll is standing right in front of him and staring right at him with its blank face.

Without making a sound he jumps back and straight into the wall behind him. The doll then walks into his room getting closer to him before suddenly turning left straight towards his desk. Once there it hops on the chair then the desk itself before grabbing the pencil and putting it to paper.

Joey stands still while his brain tries to process what is happening. This year dolls were reported to be maneaters but here one was in his house not eating him nor his mom but instead drawing. It could be he was right with drawing dolls not counting but that stil doesn’t explain why it is walking or drawing.

After calming down he stiffly walks back to his desk to see what it is doing. It is still drawing from what he can see but what is the real question. Getting closer he still can’t tell what it is but based on the fact the doll is getting closer to the paper for the detail it is almost done.

Joey getting more comfortable with it taps his foot impatiently. In another minute it is done. It is a simple mouth with cartoon triangle teeth with pitch black gaps that takes up half the page. As for how the doll did that with only one pencil and not sharpering it is anyone's guess.

The doll then touches the paper with one wooden hand. A moment later the paper turns to ash and the doll turns to face Joey with it’s new mouth. It was weird how it looked so normal on it face even though it was warped around its circular head. 

Then the mouth moved and said,” In thanks for freeing me you are now my minion.”

Understandable Joey yelled,” What!?”