DOLL (Part 2/4)
This story turned out to be way longer than I expected so I am going to split it into 4 parts. Each part will be released over the next few weeks (1 per week) links to the other parts as they become available will be posted at the top here. Enjoy.
PART 2
Rebecca sat with Kyle again during lunch. She was determined to try and forget the nightmare she had, telling herself none of it was real. She looked down at the tasteless mound of mashed potatoes and the golden-brown chicken nuggets. The air in the school was noticeably different than before. The announcement about Stacy’s disappearance during an unplanned assembly ruined everyone’s spirits. Sarah and her friends hadn’t done anything to her, not even a malicious chuckle in her direction. She shut her eyes for a moment, and the nightmare replayed in her mind again in a jumbled, chopped up fashion. Though she couldn’t see the doll’s full form, its silhouette told her it was Molly.
A shiver ran down her spine as that thought entered her mind: Molly killed Stacy.
She shook her head. That was impossible; a doll couldn’t do that.
“Hey,” Kyle whispered softly.
Rebecca looked up, startled by him, “o-oh, hey.”
“Are you okay?”
Rebecca looked down at her food, “yeah.” She couldn’t tell if he bought it or not as he dipped the nugget into the mustard on his tray, “thank you.”
“Huh?” He asked, but then he realized what she meant, “oh, it was nothing.”
She shook her head, “no one else would’ve said anything.”
“I guess so…” His eyes shifted away from her for a moment, “I liked your drawing.”
It took her a moment to recall art class and the drawing she did of Coco. Then she remembered Kyle’s drawing of the snake and how much detail he put into the scales and eyes.
“Yours was better.”
Kyle shook his head, “my dad said I got the eyes wrong.”
“Your dad?”
“He draws for his job. His art’s way better than mine, even the teachers.”
“That’s cool!”
Kyle nodded, “yeah, but he’s the worst when I try to draw something. I thought drawing his pet snake would make him happy, but he just said the eyes were wrong.”
“Really? It was a good drawing.”
Kyle sighed and mentioned that his father was always like that. Kyle then asked if her father drew. She tried to remember if she had ever seen him draw. Rebecca thought hard about it and remembered playing in the park while Daniel watched and had a notebook in hand. Maybe he did draw; she decided she would ask him about him when she went home.
She told Kyle she wasn’t sure but mentioned that he liked video games. Kyle lit up and demanded to know what games he played. Rebecca quickly named some of the titles, and Kyle’s eyes widened. The two spent half of their lunch just talking, and for a brief time, Rebecca forgot all about the nightmare and Stacy.
At the end of the day, Kyle waved to her and told her he’d see her at school tomorrow. Rebecca smiled and waved back, grinning as she looked away. Happiness filled her; she had made a friend here. When she climbed on the bus, the driver warned everyone to walk in pairs and go straight home. Rebecca sat and hugged her bag and shut her eyes. As she walked from the stop, all she heard were rains and winds. When she unlocked the door, she found Coco waiting for her at the door and meowing. Rebecca smiled and pet the cat before heading upstairs. Molly sat on the bed where Rebecca had left her. Rebecca headed for the bathroom and undid the bun. She hated how her hair looked now when down and sighed at her reflection in the mirror.
“Don’t worry, Rebecca, I’ll make it all better.” A voice spoke from the other room.
Rebecca spun and followed the sound. The doll sat on the bed, facing her.
“What did you say?”
“I’ll make everything better. I’m your friend Rebecca.”
“Did you…” She wanted to ask the doll if she killed Stacy, but something prevented her from doing so. She was afraid of the answer.
I’m imagining things! The doll didn’t just move and didn’t talk! Denying it all, she shook her head. Rebecca scooped up the doll and headed downstairs, and started on her homework. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the doll watching her struggle through the math problems. As she tried to figure out the division, she felt the cat climb into her lap and snuggle against her. Rebecca petted the cat and tried her best to work through it all.
…
Daniel sighed as the rain extended his commute home. He thought about what his co-workers were saying. The parents claimed they heard Stacy running from the house and into the woods. Part of Daniel felt that the parents were lying. His worry over Rebecca grew, but he was relieved when he got her text message saying she was safely at home and had locked the door. During his shift, he kept the news playing on his phone and funneled the sound through an earbud. He eagerly waited for an update, hoping the police had found her. As he waited for the light to change colors, his worry grew. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and he dreaded what it meant if someone took the kid. He had to fight the urge to smoke a cigarette to calm his nerves, and instead, he grabbed a stick of gum and hastily unwrapped it.
When he finally made it home, he found his daughter sitting on the couch with Coco in her lap and a controller in hand. Coco immediately hopped out of her lap and came up to him, meowing in a demanding way as if upset at his late return. Well, at least the two of them are getting along.
“How was school?”
“It was fine.” She said with a grin as she made another jump.
Daniel nodded, “you came straight home, right?”
“I did.”
“You didn’t see anyone weird, did you?”
She shook her head and paused the game, “I didn’t see anyone.”
Daniel smiled and felt a slight bit of relief. Stacy’s family lived on the other side of town. Maybe the kidnapper, if there is one, is only over there. That thought only slightly made him feel better. Rebecca’s phone went off. She pulled it out and seemed surprised by it.
“Who is it?”
“It’s mom.”
Daniel couldn’t hear Jessie’s voice, but it sounded like Jessie only wanted to know how she was doing and how the two were getting along. Daniel was grateful to hear her say everything was fine. Good, I’m not screwing things up. He went into the fridge to make dinner. While they ate, she asked him for help with some of the math homework. Daniel did his best to guide her to the answer rather than just tell her. He showed her a few tricks he recalled from when his mother taught him how to multiply and divide, and Rebecca seemed to pick up on them. When she finished the last two problems, she smiled and proclaimed how she was done with it all. Daniel smiled and high-fived her. When she went to bed, Daniel headed back downstairs to pet the cat and begin studying for his online exam. Without thinking about it, he brewed up a pot of coffee, connected his old laptop to the charger, grabbed his book, and sat down to dive into his notes. The cat sat on the table and watched him as if judging him and making sure he continued to study and jot down notes.
…
As Rebecca entered school the next day, she saw Sarah and her friend Abby standing out in the hall a good distance away from the classroom entrance. Rebecca considered waiting for them to go into the classroom, but then Sarah’s eyes met hers, and a smirk came across her face. Rebecca wanted to turn and run, but she had no choice; other kids in the halls seemed to be watching her. Rebecca exhaled and walked towards them, tightening her grip on her textbooks. Abby and Sarah’s grins widened as she headed for the classroom, and they moved to block her from going near it.
“H-hi Sarah,” she meekly muttered.
“You thought you could just walk past us like that?” Sarah growled.
“N-no I-I just…I just want to go class.” She didn’t look at Sarah.
Abby began mocking her tone and stuttering on purpose, getting everyone else around her to laugh. They’re all laughing at me. She felt her knees wobble as Abby began to make fun of her small size and how she hugged her book.
“What are you going to do cry in the bathroom!?” She asked.
“N-no.”
Abby got in her face and pretended to shake and shiver, “N-n-n-n-no!”
As the vicious mockery continued, Rebecca’s arms continued to shake, but not out of fear. Her face reddened, and she stepped forward, getting in Abby’s face.
“Stop it!” She shouted, her voice almost a screech.
Sarah and Abby both paused, surprised by the outburst, but they started howling with laughter, and the two continued to mock her.
“Just leave me alone!”
“Or what?” Abby asked, getting her face once again and then pushing her slightly, “you’re gonna scream and cry some more?”
Rebecca gripped her book tighter, stepped back into Abby’s face, and tried to push past her. Abby pushed back and much harder, knocking her down. Pain shot through her legs, back, and arm. She let out a low grunt. Her textbooks hit the ground with a loud thud. Rebecca expected more laughter from her peers, but no one was laughing.
“You pushed me!” Abby growled; it was more out of annoyance than anger.
Rebecca looked away as Abby moved towards her. She expected Abby to hit her or grab her, but instead, she felt someone else step in front of her.
“Leave her alone!” Kyle demanded.
“Kyle?” Rebecca asked, looking up at him.
Sarah broke into a hysteric laugh, “the loser’s got a boyfriend!”
“What!?” Kyle exclaimed, taking a step back, his face redder than a fresh strawberry.
Rebecca’s face felt warm as everyone started pointing and laughing at Kyle. She stood up and remained behind him, trying to hide her face.
“I guess you two losers deserve each other!” Sarah laughed.
The bell rang, and Rebecca was eternally grateful for it as they had to run to get to class. She wanted to thank Kyle, but he seemed too embarrassed by the whole thing, exactly how she felt. People snickered about the two of them as their desks were almost next to each other. Rebecca kept her head down and tried her best to not draw attention to herself. Despite this, she sat at the same table as Kyle during lunch.
“I’m sorry.” She apologized the second Kyle noticed her.
She heard whispers and snickering around her as several students made fun of them.
Kyle shook his head, “its fine. I’m used to it.”
Rebecca sat down, “used to it?”
He nodded, “they always pick on me.”
“I used to be her friend before I moved. We were best friends.”
Kyle seemed surprised by that, “she used to be nice to everyone, but she got mean after last summer.”
“Mean?”
Kyle nodded and told her how she would spread rumors about other students and get everyone to hate them. He warned that they were probably doing the same to her. Rebecca shut her eyes and tried to fight back the urge to cry. She remembered one day during the summer, when she had overheard her mother and father fighting, and she told Sarah about it. They were sitting on a hill by an old apple tree. Sarah promised no matter what, she would always be there for Rebecca, and Rebecca promised she’d be there for her. A few months later, she left the town with her mother, without having a chance to say goodbye to her. She must hate me for that. When school was over, she returned home and did her homework. The fight with Abby replayed in her head over and over.
“Don’t cry, Rebecca,” the doll spoke, “it’ll all be much better soon.”
“Thank you, Molly.”
Molly didn’t answer her after that. Rebecca hugged the doll and finished her homework.
…
A metallic scrape awoke her. She sat up and looked around the room. A faint warm orange light y illuminated part of the room near her bed. But she couldn’t see anything else beyond the foot of the bed. The girl looked around, wondering if it was just a creak in the house she heard or if it was just something she heard in a dream. She exhaled and flicked the light on and was greeted with nothing. The room was empty, nothing out of place. The girl turned the light off as it stung her eyes and rested her head against the pillows. She shut her eyes and determined it was nothing.
She was wrong.
There was a weak tap at the window on the other side of the room. The girl rolled over on her side, so her back was facing the window. Another knock sounded, this one much louder; it made her jump. She rolled over, the blinds were shut, and the moon wasn’t out tonight. She heard the knock once again, and like before, it was louder. She felt the shock running down the wall and across the floor. The girl stepped forward and timidly reached for the blinds. She swallowed hard and pulled them back, revealing the night sky. She couldn’t see anything beyond the window. The street lights should have been on, and she remembered seeing them on before she closed the blinds a few hours a-
Something moved.
The girl backed away: something pressed its face against the glass. It had no eyes. The face was locked in a cartoonishly wide grin. Screaming, she fell back against the bed, crawled under the covers, and pulled them over her face. It had to be a dream. She must be dreaming.
She saw the window, and the creature was no longer there. She remained still and covered her mouth. A warped chuckle filled the room; it sounded like multiple voices were laughing at once. It sounded like it was coming from all around her. She kept still whispering that this wasn’t real. A long arm reached down across the window. It can’t open the window. For a moment, the creature seemed stuck, and its arm lingered there halfway down the window. She watched as its long fingers popped and stretched out further. The fingers flattened and slid under the widow.
With a slight creak, the window raised, exposing her to the night air. The girl yelped and crawled out of bed. She ducked under it and lay a flat as she could. She saw more long limbs creep through the open window and something larger coming through. A metallic laugh sounded.
“Abby? Abby, where are you?” The creature asked, its voice sounding like a combination of her friends and her mother.
It was scaling the wall directly in front of the window. Its long claws tapped against the walls and eventually the ceiling. It was directly over the bed! Looking over her shoulder, Abby figured she could reach the door before it got to her. She heard a loud creaking from above. Abby saw the shadows made by the moonlight change. Abby watched the claws’ shadows grip the bedsheets. The sheets plopped on the ground to her right and blocking the light from the night light.
“Abby.” It called, dragging out her name as its claws dug into the mattress and sliced into it.
Abby needed to run. The desire to run filled her heart. The bed frame lowered as something pressed itself against the bed. Abby held her breath. She couldn’t hear anything. Then she heard the crackling of bone and looked over to her left as the sinewy fingers slowly reached down and gripped the sides of the bed. There was silence. It lowered its head to look at her. The empty sockets bore into her, and the grin exploded into a maw of countless needle-like teeth in a writhing circular mouth. Screaming, Abby scurried into the covers and pushed them away.
She quickly scurried as she heard the creature jump off the bed. She ran towards the door and pulled the knob. The hallway was completely dark, but something was sitting by the steps. It was small. Abby shut the door behind her and threw herself into a sprint. As she reached the start of the steps, the door opened behind her. She turned back to the s-
Something slammed into her face, knocking her against the wall. She reached up and grabbed it. Tossing it aside, she watched as the tiny doll stood up and looked at her. Its head tilted to the side much farther than a human neck would allow.
“You’ve been bad. Time for you to die.”
Before she could answer, the other creature dropped down in front of her, and its arms fanned out, keeping her trapped against the wall. Its grinning face slowly leaned in. Abby leaned back as far as she could, knowing it wouldn’t help. A childish giggle sounded from the creature as it’s smirk once again exploded into a hideous maw a-
Rebecca woke up with her heart racing, and someone sitting over her with their hands on her shoulders.
“Rebecca, it’s okay.” He said, gently shaking her.
“D-dad!?” She asked, still processing what happened.
“It’s alright, you had a bad dream.”
The pillow felt wet and cold against her face while her skin felt hot. She looked up at her father, his eyes sagged, and his hair was flattened on one side by his pillow.
“I’m sorry, she whispered.”
“It’s okay, kid. We all have bad dreams.”
“Not like this.” She whispered.
“What happened?”
She contemplated what she should say. Taking a breath, she had her answer, “I saw a monster.”
He smiled, “I used to dream about monsters too, but I learned there was nothing to be scared of. It’s a dream; they can’t hurt you.”
Rebecca sighed and nodded. Her father stood up and told her she was up an hour early, but he would start on breakfast. Rebecca rolled over and watched him open the door. As he did, she saw something standing just outside the door. A girl made of shadow with her head tilted too far to the left. When she blinked, it was gone, and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. Coco came into the room and jumped up on the bed.
“Look after her Coco.” Her father said before heading downstairs.
Rebecca rolled over as the cat made herself comfortable on her chest and watched her. Petting the cat, she convinced herself it was all just a dream. She heard the TV cut on and the news report.
“Another child has been reported missing.” Rebecca shivered as she listened.
They didn’t find Abby’s body, but her bedroom window had been forced open. Coco hissed and yowled. Rebecca felt her body tense against her chest and felt the claws extend. She followed the cat’s gaze and saw something standing there at the side of the bed. It stared at her with a twisted grin and a crooked neck. Rebecca scurried away only to bump into something on the other side. Looking over, she saw a second girl with bleeding eyes and mouth.
“Rebecca.” They both spoke in frightening unison.
Rebecca knew who they were, and it made her want to scream. Coco swiped at them, but when she did, there was nothing. Rebecca looked around the room only to find it empty once more.
…
The last few days passed by in a blur for Rebecca. The school's air was very somber, with two students missing and believed dead; the teachers and staff were all saddened. Daniel picked her up every day, but he immediately went back to work right after and told her to not leave the house. Hardly any kids were outside after school. The neighborhood felt dead because of it. She found herself hugging Molly more and more, but that wasn’t all that bothered her. Sometimes when alone, she saw twisted, corrupted versions of Stacy and Abby. She knew somehow the doll was responsible for it all.
“Don’t worry, Rebecca, I’ll protect you,” Molly reassured.
Rebecca felt herself hugging the doll more, especially before going to bed. She dreaded going to sleep the most. Rebecca kept having repeats of her nightmares and woke up in a cold sweat. Even on the weekend when she could spend time with her father, she couldn’t shake a feeling of dread. She saw them watching her out of the corner of her eye, but they went away whenever she held the doll.
On Monday, she didn’t find Kyle waiting at the school's front by one of the older rusted benches. That was his usual spot. That’s strange. Maybe his bus is late? Rebecca cradled the doll and entered the school. Some kids glared at her and made her shiver like they were mocking or scolding her. Why are they looking at me? She felt more and more uncomfortable as she continued towards her locker. They were watching her.
“You should stay away from Rebecca,” Sarah spoke.
Rebecca peaked around the corner to see Sarah talking to Kyle. Sarah told Kyle awful things, all untrue.
“The whole school knows about it.” Sarah proclaimed.
She spread lies about me! Rebecca found it hard to breathe, and her body shook as Sarah’s lies replayed in her head. Without thinking about it, Rebecca stepped out. Sarah turned around and glared at her in surprise.
“Liar!” Rebecca found herself shouting.
Sarah repeated the lie loudly for all to hear. “You got your mommy and daddy to divorce! It was all your fault!”
“That’s not true!” Rebecca shouted, her lies cut into her like bullets. Her anger only intensified.
“You ruin everything! You took Abby and Stacy!”
Rebecca lunged and pinned her to the wall. At that moment, she truly hated Sarah. Rebecca grabbed at her hair and pulled as hard as she could. Sarah did the same to her, and the two fell onto the ground.
“Liar!” Rebecca found herself yelling while everyone surrounded them and cheered.
Sarah slapped her. Rebecca didn’t care and ignored the sting to the side of her face. She threw her weight onto Sarah and swung as hard as she could. Rebecca landed several hits as Sarah pulled on her hair harder and harder, making her cry in pain. Then she felt someone grab her from behind and pull her away. She squirmed as the two were separated from one another. The school staff had found them and were doing everything they could to break up the fight. Rebecca continued to squirm and kick and managed to hit Sarah with her foot. Sarah swung back and hit her in the side. Rebecca screamed as a jolt of pain erupted from the strike. When the staff had a firm hold on the two of them, they were both dragged to the principal’s office. Rebecca didn’t look at Sarah or the principal. The principal gave them a stern talking to before giving them both detention and calling their parents. After that, they were sent back to class.
“I hate you!” Rebecca growled as they exited the office.
“Why did you come back?” Sarah muttered.
She found herself clutching the doll even more and felt her anger growing with every passing second. She wanted to get up and hit Sarah again for saying something so vile. Sarah, on the other hand, remained silent and didn’t look at her. The rest of the day went by in a haze until it was detention time. They were forced to sit in the library and were told to do their homework and not speak by one of the school’s staff. Rebecca stared into her math homework and grimaced at it. As she took out a piece of paper, she found the problems easier than she expected. Out of the corner of her eye, Rebecca saw Sarah doing the same set of problems and looking miserable.
“I don’t like her,” Molly whispered.
Rebecca didn’t answer her, knowing that no one else could hear the doll, and if she did speak, others would notice. She watched Sarah sneak one of her earbuds in the sleeve of her jacket and put her hand near her ear to hide the earbud. Rebecca remembered her doing the same once before the divorce. Returning to her homework, she managed to clear through the problems, all except one, the last one. She kept trying to work through it, but she got stuck and would try another way, but she found herself stuck and with a slightly different answer.
“You need to do the parentheses first,” Sarah muttered.
“What?”
“PEMDAS.”
Parentheses first! Remembering what PEMDAS stood for, she solved parenthesis and then worked her way down to the addition. With a deep breath, she believed she had the right answer and dropped her pencil.
“T-thanks.” She whispered, questioning why Sarah would help her at all.
Sarah looked like she wanted to say something more, but she hesitated and went back to her homework. They didn’t say anything else to each other. Sarah’s parents picked her up first, both of them. Rebecca felt uncomfortable as Sarah’s parents seemed to be angrier with one another than Sarah. It reminded her too much of her parents before they divorced. Sarah walked with her head down while the two bickered on the way out. A few minutes later, Daniel came in. His work shirt’s logo was partially visible. As her father’s eyes looked at her, she shivered.
“Come on.” He spoke.
Rebecca timidly packed up her bag and followed behind Daniel. The sun had nearly set, and the fading light painted the school’s empty parking lot in a pinkish-orange hue. Daniel didn’t say a word until they were on the road and away from school.
“The girl you were fighting, was she the one who put gum in your hair?”
Rebecca shook her head, “no, her friend did that.”
“One of the missing kids?” He asked. Rebecca hugged her sides and nodded. “Tell the truth, did you hit her first?”
She thought about lying, but his tone of voice made her want to tell the truth, “y-yes.”
Daniel sighed and looked at her from the rear-view mirror, “don’t put your hands on people unless they try to hit you first.”
“B-but she told lies about me at school! She said I got you and mom to…”
Daniel seemed saddened by that, realizing what she meant, “look, that doesn’t give you the right to hit people, understand?”
“She’s been bullying me!”
“Did you tell the teacher?”
Rebecca couldn’t answer and only shook her head.
“Tell the teachers, let them know. If she puts her hands on you, then you can hit her back. Anything else, ignore her.”
“But-!”
“No buts. No video games for the rest of the week, you got that?” He told her, he sounded irritated. Rebecca didn’t protest further. “Understand?”
“Y-yes.”
That night Rebecca sat in her room hugging the doll while her dad was downstairs studying online. She tried reading a book, but her eyes grew heavier. She quickly changed and went to bed, wanting for the day to be over.