“What?” Shen Fei said, dumbfounded.

Shen Mo gave him a shove. “Move!”

“Brother!” Shen Fei was beside himself with anxiety.

He watched helplessly as Shen Mo ran to the treehouse, scooped up Bai Youwei, and leapt to the back of the treehouse, disappearing from sight.

The others scattered and fled as well.

Lightning crackled and snapped across Mary and the stuffed cat, sizzling and popping — no one dared go near.

A few more seconds, and the rabbit withdrew its lightning, then hopped and skipped away.

Shen Fei gritted his teeth and turned to run.

But dolls were everywhere along the road.

Dolls on display in shop windows, dolls hanging from street signs, even the trash cans were shaped like cartoon animals. In an amusement park, dolls were inescapable — where in the world could one find a doll-free spot?

Up ahead, a restroom sign appeared. Shen Fei glanced quickly behind him, saw no sign of the stuffed cat, and picked up his pace, veering into the restroom.

……

Shen Mo carried Bai Youwei into the equipment room for the river rapids ride.

The place was stacked full of orange life vests.

Shen Mo surveyed the room, found no dolls, set Bai Youwei down, and went to shut the door.

The moment the door closed, it became quiet inside — all the riotous music shut out, and danger too seemed, in that instant, to have retreated far from the two of them.

Bai Youwei closed her eyes, and the frantic pounding of her heart gradually found its way back to calm.

*Thud.*

Something slammed against the door that had just been shut.

Bai Youwei’s heart, which had just settled, lurched again. She was startled.

Shen Mo’s brow furrowed. He pressed close to the door and listened — not a sound.

He raised his broadsword again, gripped the door handle with his other hand, and with alert, deliberate slowness, gently pulled it open —

The moment a crack appeared, a fuzzy rabbit squeezed through.

Both people inside were briefly stunned.

Shen Mo pulled the door all the way open. The rabbit pitter-pattered inside and burrowed into Bai Youwei’s arms.

Shen Mo and Bai Youwei looked at each other — the tension in the air dissolved in an instant, leaving only a quiet smile.

The door closed again. Shen Mo walked over and sat down, asking, “How much charge does it have left?”

Bai Youwei cradled the rabbit and slowly stroked its ears, replying softly, “About half.”

“Let it go back and recharge.”

“Mm.”

She opened the Doll House. The rabbit went inside to recharge. The equipment room was left to just the two of them.

Shen Mo lifted her and drew her into his arms, sitting together against the wall to rest.

He was damp with sweat, his shirt soaked through — but Bai Youwei didn’t mind. She rested her head against his chest, listening to the deep, steady rhythm of his heartbeat, and felt only a profound sense of security and peace. She too slowly closed her eyes.

The battle with Mary had been utterly exhausting…

Time passed, second by second.

Neither of them spoke.

Occasionally heavy footsteps came from outside — and they held their breath all the more.

Mary cursed and raged out in the open, venting her fury by destroying the scenery and fixtures on both sides of the road — yet she never once found a single person again.

The cat’s body was simply too enormous; many narrow areas were inaccessible to it. Without the dolls to silently provide Mary with clues, she could only blunder about the park like a headless fly.

She had the cat kick over trash cans by the road, stomp the tree trunk of the treehouse in two, tear down long strings of vibrant colored bunting, and then wreaked havoc in the ball pit.

At last, night was ending.

Mary and the cat returned to the carousel with reluctant, dragging steps.

The carousel’s speed slowed, slower and slower. The music grew quieter, and quieter…

Until at last it stopped.

The stuffed cat let out a soft “Mroww,” coiled its body into a round, curled up on the canopy, and fell asleep. Mary smoothed out her puffed skirt, found a comfortable angle among the cat’s fur, and lay down to sleep as well.

At that same moment, the clock tower rang out — one clear, resonant clang.

Day had broken.