Author Note: It.keeps.raining. Well we had a pretty creepy chapter last time with Rippers and spiders so let's not do that this time lol Does Chrysalis still want to play? Please enjoy this week's Playhouse m(_ _)m Do you want to play?
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Mark followed the muddy footprints from the garden door all the way up the spiral staircase and now stood amused infront of Chrysalis' bedroom door. In her haste she had forgotten her strength was heightened at the moment and she completely crushed the door handle.

With a quick snap of his fingers the door handle sparkled and returned to normal and he knocked politely and slowly entered. It was his house. She was his Doll. He was a demon, he did not have to wait for permission.

The room was dimly lit by the faint light from outside on this dreary day. There were muddy footprints all over the floor, the bed was a mess and a blue sweater was carelessly tossed to the side along with dirty sneakers.

He didn't have to be inside her head to hear her racing heart shatter against her chest. Her breathing was quiet, shallow, quick and he heard a faint gasp escape her lips as he walked further into the room.

"Come out come out where ever you are" he mused and walked over to the giant wooden wardrobe who's doors were wide open. There was no one inside the huge walk in closet and he sighed in relief that she didn't taint any of her clothes with her dirty hands.

He closed the doors gently and fixed his gaze on the bed. The covers were hanging over the edge and were probably concealing a frightened Doll underneath the frame.

"I'm not going to hurt you Pretty. Everything's alright now you can come out"

He dropped to his knees playfully and slowly, teasingly lifted the white sheet from the floor in between his long fingers.

"Gotcha!"

Mark's chesire smile disappeared from his face. She wasn't there? Strange. He whined as he accidently bumped his head against the frame while sitting up and rubbed the abused spot with a pout.

He closed his eyes to concentrate and an image formed in his head. He was watching himself rub his abused head on the floor and from the look of it he was being observed from up high.

He dropped his hand and turned his head slowly towards the wardrobe and brought his gaze upward. Chrysalis was hiding in the shadows on top of the wardrobe, hugging her knees, a dry trail of tears tarnishing her face as she blinked at him with those beautiful purple eyes and his seal still glowing a faint blue.

"What are you doing up there?"
"I'm a Doll on a shelf Master"

She whispered weakly and Mark chuckled. She was completely terrified but she still remembered to speak when spoken to, what a good Doll. He turned his body around completely to face her and sat indian style, placed his elbows near his knees and held his head up as he stared at her.

"I'm sorry"

Mark was surprised that they had said it at the same time and he cocked his head cutely to the side.

"What are you sorry for Pretty?"
"For striking your hand and yelling at you Master"

The memory of moments ago when she ran away from him flashed in his mind and a dull ache resonated from his chest followed by a low growl from his inner demon who was infuriated by the fact a human girl touched him so disrespectfully.

"You know for such disrespect I should punish you."

He heard a satisfying gulp of fear from Chrysalis and shook his head. She really does think of him as a complete monster doesn't she?

"It was a joke Pretty. I would not punish you for feeling fearful and trying to escape a stressful situation. Did you really think I was serious?"
Yes her mind said but her head shook no.
"I'm sorry I scared you. Again. As a demon I do not like to admit when I've done wrong but I find myself apologizing to you quite often."

There was a faint knock at the door and Karin poked her head in and bowed respectfully.

"Sorry for the intrusion Master but a messenger downstairs says that Master Jaebeom is summoning you"
"Tell him I'll stop by later"
"But Master, he summoned you now....."

Mark sighed and shot Karin a serious look and as the girl cowered slightly his look softened to a small smile.

"Please inform the messenger I'll meet with Master Jaebeom a little later, I am currently preoccupied with more pressing matters."
"Yes Master"
"Thank you Karin"

He was definitely not going to hear the end of it from Mona about ignoring a summon from Grand Master which he's never done and it will be even worse when he finally meets Jaebeom but Chrysalis was more important now.

Mark brought his gaze back to his shelfed Doll and his breathing stilled. She was smiling at him. It was only a small hint of a smile but it was still quite captivating, umm, intriguing.

"What?"
"No one's ever said I was important before"
"I did not say you were important Pretty, I said I had "more pressing matters"

His voice was more serious than he had meant it to be but her smile did not falter and his heart danced lightly in his chest and he coughed embarrasedly.

"What I mean is that my Dolls are more important to me than being summoned for some meeting. I can't just leave when you're in distress, it is my duty as your Puppeteer to take care of you....will you stop smiling at me like that?! It's distracting my train of thought!"

Mark saw sparkles in his eyes when a small giggle escaped through Chrysalis' parted lips. He wanted her in his arms. Now. He stood up tall and walked up to the wardrobe and held his arms open with a sincere smile on his face.

"I'm sorry I frightened you with The Maze. I got carried away. Again. I should have let you prepare at least a little bit but in my defense I did appoint Talia to watch over you and you ended up watching over her. If it makes you feel better, I'm.....scared of spiders....."
"What was that Master?"
"I said I'm.....scared of spiders...."

He pouted cutely and shook his head free of the giant arachnid he had hid in his own Maze so others may experience the same fear he felt from them.

They were disgusting, hairy, horrid creatures and he would much rather have a human slap him around then have to come face to face with his own monstrous creation so he always applauds Faun for bashing them in. 

"I didn't think demons had fears"
"You are very quick to assume things Pretty. Why aren't you coming down yet? What are you afraid of?"
"You"

Mark's arms dropped and he rubbed his forehead with his hand and sighed. What would it take to bring down his Doll so he can cuddle with her, amongst other things he'd like to do with her in his bed, without resulting to being the demon she believes him to be and forcing her with magic to come down?

"Will you come down here please?"
"No thank you"
"Please come down here"
"No thank you"
"I'd much appreciate it if you came down here Pretty"
"No thank you"
"You do know you're walking a very fine line Chrysalis?"
"Yes Master"
"Fine be that way"

He flailed his arms defeatedly and dropped to the floor and pouted cutely while blowing out his cheeks. Chrysalis peered over the edge carefully and blinked at her demon Master.

"What are you doing Master?"
"If you want to behave like a child then two can play at that game. I'm going to hold my breath until you come down here"
"Do demons need to breath?"
"I guess you'll find out"

Chrysalis watched as Mark crossed his arms and took in a big gulp of air and puffed out his cheeks. Did he want her to come down so badly that he would resort to such actions? Embarrasing himself, a mighty demon, just to appease her?

"Master?"
"............"
"Master your face is turning pink"
".........."
"Now it's red Master......."
"........"
"Please stop Master......"
"......."
"Okay you win I'll come down Master your face is turning purple....MASTER!"

Chrysalis gasped as Mark's head spun and he fell back onto the floor and she fluttered from the height of the wardrobe down to his side and started shaking him gentley.

"Hey! Are you okay?! Oh gosh what do I do?!"

His eyes were closed and his chest was barely moving. She slapped his face gently with her hands but Mark wasn't responding. As she continued to panic Mark's hands shot up and grabbed her wrists and pulled her down towards him and as her face fell closer he imprisoned her lips with his.

A lustful growl rang in his throat as he parted her lips with his experienced tongue and explored an area that was his and only his. Her taste was absolutely intoxicating and it was beginning to make his head spin for real but he reluctantly released her. He didn't need to breathe, but she did.

Mark opened his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to take this girl right now even if it were on the floor of her bedroom. Chrysalis' ponytail had come loose, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes full of confusion and concern.

He lifted his hand to her cheek and kissed her softly one more time and whispered apologetically.

"I'm very sorry Chrysalis. Please don't be afraid of me. I wouldn't let anything happen to you, I want you to know that. Will you still play with me?"
Yes Master she was too breathless to speak so she let her thoughts speak for her
"I'm relieved. But firstly a bath, you are absolutely filthy, come with me Pretty"

Mark kissed the tip of her nose before blurring over to the door and holding it open with a devilish smile on his face. Chrysalis thought for a moment then she gasped.

"You....want me to bathe with you Master?"
"That's exactly what I want now hurry up, don't make me come and get you"

"Master Mark has arrived"
"Took him long enough, send him in Victoria Thank you"

Jaebeom paced around his black marble study with a crystal glass in his hand that held a dark amber liquid. It was the most modern room in his medieval style mansion. It was so out of place compared to the rest of everything made of cobble stone you'd think he were mad.

Newly refurbished with a huge round black marble table and chairs, the walls were painted a forest green color with golden ts and the floor was carpeted with a wine red rug with subtle gold designs.

Shelves lined with books containing information about every Puppeteer in the society along with guides and history books were neatly arranged giving the room a more business like feel.

The evening light was pouring in through the rectangular windows and Jaebeom turned towards the opening wood door and chuckled at Mark who waved at him stupidly and stepped inside.

"Sorry I'm a little late"
"I summoned you almost 7 hours ago. I could've been dead by now"
"Nice to see your humor isn't affected by your old age Jaebeom"

Jaebeom chuckled, his eyes flashing a deep green color, and he sipped at his glass as Mark looked around the room with his arms behind his back and whistled teasingly.

"You know you should think about re-designing your whole place like this. Torches lighting a cobble stone hallway was sooooo last century"
"I'll think about it, as you know I'm very old fashion"
"Old. You're very old."

The two laughed as they embraced in a greeting hug then Jaebeom raised his hand towards one of his shelves and a newspaper flew across the room and into his grasp. He slapped the paper against Mark's chest and the demon let out a small oomph from the force. Old and strong.

He opened the human paper and read the main article out loud.

"Another series of unexplained murders has swept across Seoul leaving police baffled. Victims ranging from 16-25, both male and female, found in alleyways....Jaebeom what does this have to do with...."

"Keep reading Mark"

"...found in alleyways with their hearts carved out by what appears to be an unnaturally large blade and their bodies positioned as if they were laying in a coffin but no fingerprints have been found nor any witnesses."

Mark made a face of disgust and dropped the paper on the table.

"Last time I was in here you said you found something intriguing. This isn't intriguing, this is humans being humans. And they call us monsters."
"I'm not so sure it's a human"
"So what then?"

Jaebeom turned to Mark and handed him a crystal glass and they clinked them together.

"You believe a Doll is commiting these murders? That's against the law Jaebeom."
"I'm fully aware it's against the law Mark it's my law."

Jaebeom sighed deeply and shook his head.

"Maybe it really is a tormented human behind these killings but I have a bad feeling about it. Just incase make sure Mona keeps her eyes open if she goes searching around in alleyways. Actually, no from what I've heard you have a complete set now congradulations. How is this Doll that finally suits your fancy?"

"Don't be jealous but she's the reason I left you hanging"
"That special huh?"
"Intriguing. She's intriguing."
"Be careful Mark"
"You sound like Mona. It's just intrigue."

Mark placed the glass down on the table and headed for the door and his arm quickly raised as Jaebeom sent the newspaper flying into his hand.

"You're hiding something Jaebeom, you wouldn't make such a big deal out of something like this so early into your investigation"
"Cautious. I'm being cautious which is what I want you to be."
"Yeah I'll be cautious alright, BamBam's coming over to visit me tomorrow"
"Ooo I'd definitely be cautious, especially your Dolls. Do they know?"

Mark smiled devilishly and shook his head and Jaebeom laughed and waved him off. As the door closed Jaebeom's gaze hardened and he brought his hands to his chin.

These murder victims sound like perfect Doll candidates, hopefully Mark was right and it really was just a human serial killer. And hopefully human victims will be the only thing he had to worry about.

Chrysalis poked her head into the deserted kitchen before tip toeing towards the fridge. Master Mark had gotten over rambunctious with her again before he left for Master Jaebeom's and she was hungry and sore. How the others could disappear into his bedroom for hours and come out as if nothing happened was beyond her.

She opened the stainless steal door with both hands and peered at it's full contents. There was a section for all of Faun's dried fruit, Mari's assorted puddings and above the fridge was Karin's cookies and Talia's chips and jerky.

A colorful bag of sugar candies in assorted colors and flavors in the shapes of stars was sticking out in the bottom of the fridge and it had a little post it note with beautiful hand writing "Please Do Not Eat Without Permission."

That was definitely Rea's and the thought made Chrysalis smile. She spotted the empty section in the fridge free of anything and assumed it was her own little cubby hole. What was it that she liked to have?

As she pondered she spotted Mark's bottles of "Arizona Ice Tea" in various flavors. He drank it so deliciously before and he did say anything could be taken from the fridge. She reached up on her tippy toes and grabbed a pink bottle that said "Peach."

She examined it curiously and gasped as it almost slipped out of her hand. Once she was steady she twisted off the top and brought the opening to her lips and took a big swig but she started to choke and gag.

"BLEH!!!"
"You did not just gag from drinking Arizona Ice Tea!"

Mark came out from the shadows with his arms across his chest and he laughed brightly despite the late hour. Chrysalis bowed respectfully and wiped  with the back of her hand.

He came over and took the bottle from her and again he drank it deliciously and as he held the bottle out to her she shook her head and squinted her eyes shut causing him to laugh more.

"You don't like it~?"
"It's too sweet!"
"Is not! You're just weird!"
"You're weird! ahem Master"

Chrysalis excused herself from the fridge and started to explore the cabinets and pulled out a bowl and spoon along with a box of cereal. She caught Mark watching her from the island table with a dreamy smile on his face and she raised the bowl, wordlessly asking if he wanted any and he nodded.

"Don't get another bowl we'll just share"

Aside from the sound of cereal crunching in their mouths the two sat silently as they ate from one glass bowl. Every once in a while when Chrysalis was getting another bite Mark would jab her spoon with his and the two would have a little sword fight and they'd both giggle when cereal jumped out of the bowl to avoid the massacre.

"Are there other demons like you Master?"
"Like what?"
"Nice ones"
"You think I'm nice?"

She nodded with the spoon in and Mark chuckled and shook his head. 

"Not exactly nice but most are "civilized" compared to other brutes who are obsessed with destruction. Demons have a montrous demonic side, those you see in fairytales and illustrations. Tails, fangs, wings, ect. and while some like to walk around like that in "all natural" the rest of the demon realm prefer to embrace our human style side which is far more appealing."

Mark laughed as Chrysalis started looking at him at various angles and he bopped her head with his spoon.

"What are you doing?"
"Trying to see your tail or wings"
"You won't find them Pretty nor do I plan on showing you my demonic side. I have not revealed it to any of the girls. I do not wish to frighten you all."

Mark watched contently as Chrysalis played with the last piece of cereal swimming in a measly puddle of milk with the end of her spoon. The frightened aura from her was completely eradicated and she was now at peace.

"How....did you end up living on the streets?"
"My parents died in a fire and I was sent to an orphanage but as I got older the older men who worked there started to...."harrass" me so I ran away and I've been out on my own ever since."

The spoon in his hand became disformed as Mark crushed it in his grip. Humans really are disgusting creatures. He grabbed the spoon from her hand and placed in the bowl and he blurred to the sink and placed the dishes and blurred back to his seat.

"As I've told the rest of the girls all that doesn't matter anymore. You're all mine now and I won't let anything happen to you all."
"And we won't let anything happen to you Master, up until the day you grow bored of us and destroy us we'll continue to protect you"

Chrysalis hopped down from her stool and Mark followed her out the kitchen like a puppy. How could she have such loyalty already when she has only arrived. Still new to this world and to him. Her heart was just as beautiful as her eyes, that's why his Dolls were his Dolls, because of their hearts and he would never be rid of them ever again.

"Where are you going Chrysalis?"
"That way Master?"
"But my bedroom's this way"
"And my bedroom is that way...."
"Who said you were sleeping in your bedroom tonight Pretty?"
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Author Note: Would you win in a spoon fight against Mark? What's so bad about BamBam visiting? We'll find out next week on a new Playhouse m(_ _)m Do you still want to play?