This was the worst joke ever!
Evan kneeled on the floor, turning her body to face him.
He checked her vital signs and started pumping her chest. To say that he was panicking was an understatement. He was close to having a heart attack.
'Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.'
Thank goodness he remembered what he learned about first aid from his high school health class! He remembered how embarrassing it was to do CPR on that stupid life-size doll as if it were a real person--
'Wait a minute.'
He paused, staring at the woman in front of him.
Her eyes were empty, not because she was dead.
She wasn't alive in the first place.
She was inanimate.
She wasn't a corpse—no, wait a minute. It's not even right to call it a 'she.'
This was a life-size toy.
A doll, to be precise.
After calming himself down, not because he nearly had a heart attack from fright but because his brother made him a fool, he saw it.
A scented paper was sitting on the dining table before the doll.
Evan had to squint before realizing what it was: it was a letter, probably from his accursed brother. But it was too early to curse him to hell.
Not yet.
With shaking hands, he read it on the wooden surface.
"Hᴇʟʟᴏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ, Eᴠᴀɴᴇsᴄᴇɴᴄᴇ,"
He gritted his teeth in frustration, trying his best not to rip the paper off at the sight of the elegant penmanship.
Because of the writing etched on the article and the knowledge that only his adopted brother was insane enough to refer to Evan using his Christened name, he was sure now that Freiheit wrote this.
With a sigh, he continued reading. His brother's deep but cheerful voice whispered in his mind, mocking him as he was there, and he saw how he freaked out like a total buffoon.
"I ʙᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ sᴀᴡ ᴍʏ ɢɪꜰᴛ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs. Tᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ, ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ, ᴅɪᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀʟsᴏ ꜰᴏᴏʟ ʏᴏᴜ﹖ I ʙᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ﹗ Aꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴀʟʟ, sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʀʏ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟɪᴢɪɴɢ ɪɴ sᴜᴄʜ ᴄʀᴀꜰᴛsᴍᴀɴsʜɪᴘ﹗"
Evan quirked an eyebrow, wondering what kind of messed-up country creates eerily life-like dolls for a living.
Early in the 18th to 19th centuries, he knew that European countries like Germany were well-known for creating bisque or porcelain dolls. But those dolls were only rulers tall and seemed more like toddlers than teenage girls.
"Iɴ ɪᴛs ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʀʏ, ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴋɪɴᴅs ᴏꜰ ᴅᴏʟʟs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʀᴇꜰᴇʀʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴀs Eᴛᴇʀɴɪᴛʏ Wᴏᴍᴇɴ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ sᴀɪᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ 'ɢɪʀʟs' ʟᴀsᴛs ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ, ᴜɴʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴘʜᴇᴍᴇʀᴀʟ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ʀᴇᴀʟ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ."
'Forever,' Evan repeated silently in his mind.
"Oʜ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʀʏ's ᴛʀᴀᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴏʟʟ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜsᴛ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴀ sɪᴍᴘʟᴇ ᴄᴇʀᴇᴍᴏɴʏ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀsʜɪᴘ."
'Ceremony?' Finding this intriguing, he continued reading.
"Yᴏᴜ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴋɪss ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴏʟʟ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴋɪss ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙʀɪᴅᴇ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴇᴅᴅɪɴɢ—"
--And with that, Evan threw the stationery back on the table and stormed out of the room. He was done playing games with his brother.
Fooling him with the 'girl' was enough, but he wasn't as stupid as kissing a mannequin. He knew the difference between porcelain and flesh, even if she was believable.
***
Evan coughed as he returned to his condo, thinking that was what he deserved for having a shouting match for the nth time of the day.
This time, with the building administration.
Evan headed to his kitchen and nearly choked on his breath upon seeing why he had an even worse day than usual.
He found her, or should he say it, still lying on the floor where he left it.
He was left dumbfounded for a second, completely surprised at himself for forgetting about the doll and not even bothering to allow it to sit where it was before.
'Wait a minute,' he thought. 'Why should I be worried that I didn't let her sit on the chair? She's a doll, for goodness sake, a doll!'
The longer he stared at it, the more unconvinced he was that it was just an object resembling a human, not a real one.
She was so… 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.
Evan looked at those pine tree-colored eyes that were somewhat pleading with him to make its body sit down or lie down on a decent area, not the ground.
His eyes twitched, feeling guilty for his bad treatment of such a beautiful being.
He carried her, bride-style, and allowed her to sit on the dining chair where she was sitting an hour ago.
He didn't know if it was his imagination, but the doll seemed happy.
Evan shook his head and said, 'I must've gotten crazy.'
He sat on the chair in front of it, the dining table separating them. Now that he could see more of its face, he couldn't help but wonder.
What materials was she, no, 𝘪𝘵 made from?
In all his life, he has never encountered such a replica of a human.
Her hair, slightly tangled from staying on the ground for too long, seemed soft, silky, and comparable to those women in a shampoo commercial. Evan leaned even more, reaching for her hair.
Much to his surprise, it just didn't look soft and silky; it was. It wasn't made from synthetic fiber like usual faux hair. Maybe it was made from human hair.
Evan gazed at her face, admiring her feminine cheeks that resembled more of a child's than a woman's. It wasn't sharp like some certain famous women that we knew; its cheeks were adorable and made you want to pinch them.
Without even meaning to, he did pinch it.
He was expecting it to be hard, maybe because it was made from wood or porcelain because of its smoothness.
But it was neither.
It felt more like soft marshmallows or newly harvested cotton. He continued touching it, completely enamored with its beauty. He traced her lips with the pads of his thumb; even her lips seemed well-moist and kissable.
'Kissable,' He thought.
Then he remembered Freiheit's letter. He shuddered at himself for feeling this way towards an object.
Never in his life did he think that he would find a woman that would suit his fancy.
But never in his life did he think that he would feel such feelings toward a doll. He should say an 'Eternity Woman,' as that was the term Freiheit used in his letter.
But really, he doesn't quite like the name 'Eternity Woman' for this lovely being.
If this was a business meeting and someone was introducing it as a prototype, if he found out that the name of the product was such, he would entirely veto the idea, no matter how gorgeous it was.
If he were to decide its name, he would call it something like 'Eternity Doll,' and with a tagline 'the doll that will eternally retain its beauty' or something like that.
𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.
Once again, he watched it with such intent that it wasn't normal.
The longer he looked at it, the more the warm feeling in his chest spread. He wanted to touch it. Its hair, face, skin, under her clothes.
Everywhere!
He couldn't get enough of its beauty; if he didn't exploit it now, it would disappear, and he wouldn't have any other chance to feel it.
Looking at him with her green eyes, the doll seemed amused, like it was reading his mind.
Was it weird? It is weird, isn't it?
That he, Evan Holz, got enchanted with an inanimate object. Who could have known that Evan couldn't get attracted to women because he was attracted to a thing, a doll?
'Oh goodness, you treacherous doll!' The 'Eternity Woman' seemed to smirk. 'What have you made me turn into?!'
Without even knowing it, he stood up from his chair and went to the doll's side. He grabbed the doll's chin and made it face him; slowly, he leaned closer and closer.
'You must kiss the doll like you must kiss your bride on your wedding day.' Freiheit's words echoed in his head, urging him to continue.
The sane part of him was shouting in his mind, telling him to stop what he was doing.
He was aware of how absurd it was, admitting to himself that he had feelings for a mannequin he had just seen an hour ago, and he was willing to kiss her like those disgusting perverts he heard in the news who marry sex dolls.
But he just couldn't explain the feeling in his chest.
It could be the same way ordinary people feel whenever they fall in love.
He didn't know, for he never liked anyone else but this doll.
Just staring at it made his knees feel like jelly, making him hot in uncomfortable places. He felt breathless, looking at its eyes as if it was sucking away the oxygen entering his lungs. The idea of placing ownership of the doll aroused him so much.
This beautiful doll, it will be his, she will be his! The thought made his whole body tremble with feelings he could not describe.
He didn't care what the others might think of him.
She's his! Only his! Nothing else matters! Nothing!