Doll House

There’s this old warehouse down the street from my home that used to make dolls. Kids in my town said it burned down in 1935 but that most of it is still there, though. Oddly enough, I’ve never seen it. They said it’s haunted; that if you ever go there, you can see all the melted dolls come to life, and, possibly, murder you.

My younger sister, Sabrina, always had a love for dolls. The porcelain ones with the thick heads of hair. She preferred ones that looked like her. She’d say she had a twin. Every year for her birthday I’d go to the little pawn shop down the street and buy the smallest, blonde porcelain dolls I could find. They’d always have them.

I hated dolls. They always gave me that creep out factor you’d get from snakes or worms. My mother would buy me a doll when I was younger but I’d just throw it against the wall in my room. My mom said I would bite the heads off of them because I felt like their eyes stared into my soul. I guess I don’t have a valid reason for it. I don’t know. Something about them just…scares me.

So why, then, did I find myself one day walking home from school, drifting around my neighborhood to find the burned down doll shop that might not have even been there? I guess you could say because I have always had a knack for adventure. Spooky things have always made my blood pump. The mystery and the sudden rush is what makes the thrill worthwhile.

I waited around the corner that evening for my friends Brenda and Billy who said they’d help me search for it. I told them that I had really only wanted to go by myself, but they insisted they come along to ‘inspect’. I think they just didn’t want me getting all the credit if I found something interesting there.

I bent down to tie the dirty shoelace on my worn high tops when I heard a rustle in the bush. Normally, I’d think that this was just an animal scurrying along, but with Billy and Brenda always being the ones to punk each other, I knew it was them, trying to scare me.

I turned around with my arms crossed and my face twisted into an unimpressed canvas. ‘’Aaah!’’ They shouted, jumping out from behind the bush. I laughed heavily when I watched their faces fall. ‘’You’re not scared,’’ They said. ‘’Thanks for pointing out the obvious.’’ I replied with a smile.

I waved them along and we walked around my neighborhood until it got dark out. For about an hour, we found nothing of the sort. Then, as dinner time neared, we found it. An old, dirty shack about eight feet tall topped with withering wood. Pine cones and needles topped the caving roof. My friends stared at me, the fear in their eyes gleaming like the fire that started this whole thing.

‘’This is it.’’ Said Brenda. She looked at me, then Billy. ‘’Should we go in?’’ I stared at the two of my scared friends and shrugged.

‘’I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going in.’’ I pushed open the broken door and searched in my pocket for the miniature LED flashlight I always kept with me. I paused and turned to my friends. ‘’Are you coming?’’ They stood still for a moment, and with chattering teeth, they unwillingly walked in.

The floor creaked under our light treads. The flash light was of little use except for the thin, transparent glow coming from within its system.  I could not really tell where I was walking or what was surrounding us. We kept on until Billy’s voice cut through the darkness.

‘’This is useless.’’ He complained, bringing us to a halt. ‘’There’s nothing here.’’

Just then a cool breeze drifted inside and made the hair on my neck stand up. Brenda let out a gasp that made me knock the flashlight from my hands. The light twinkled, and then let out like a burned-out candle. I bent down to pick it up, and when I turned it on, the light grew brighter than it had before, illuminating the whole area of the tiny shack.

I gasped as I saw all the faces in front of me. It took a moment of reassurance to remind myself that these were just dolls. But something about them was so…real. Lifelike, almost. I stepped closer to them, leaving my fear behind me and entering something completely new. These dolls were the scariest one’s I had ever seen, yet I wasn’t afraid of them.

Thousands of dolls stood before us. Dolls of all kinds; porcelain, plastic, glass and many other materials I could not even name took over the whole length of the room.  No matter what they were made out of, each had a quality that made them look exactly real.

Billy shivered beside me. ‘’They’re so…real.’’ I nodded my head. ‘’Right,’’ ‘’Almost… creepy.’’ Brenda said, reaching out to touch a dark skinned porcelain doll. As her hand reached for the dolls arm, I watch it’s eyes fade from a deep brown to a burning orange. It’s eyebrows perched angrily and it’s thick hand enclosed on Brenda’s arm.

It happened like nothing I’ve ever seen. A realistic doll, so beautifully crafted and made to look innocent, grabbing the arm of my friend and squeezing on to it with a death grip. I knew these dolls looked life-like, but I didn’t know how alive they actually were.

‘’Help!’’ Brenda cried. ‘’What is happening? Somebody get this thing off me!’’ I lurched forward and threw myself in front of Brenda, pulling the dolls grasp from her arm and viciously slammed the doll to the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces. I watched it’s eye glow like a fire until they faded back to brown and shattered.

Left on Brenda’s arm was a mark so deeply a shade of red that I could practically see it throbbing.  This is definitely going to bruise over, I thought. Over Brenda’s squeals and cries of pain, I took her arm and shown my flashlight over it. I hadn’t noticed before the streaks of white left in her skin from where the dolls fingers had been. Brenda’s eyes rolled back into her head before she moaned and ran out of the place.

Billy and I flew after her. ‘’Brenda!’’ I called, and she turned around, tears streaming from her eyes. I walked closer to her and shivered. ‘’What just happened?’’ She whispered. I swallowed deeply.  ‘’I don’t…I don’t know.’’ I said softly, unable to believe the last few minutes. My fingers grazed carefully over the mark on her arm and she yelped and ran away.

‘’Brenda! You can’t tell anyone what happened!’’ I called, but she didn’t even turn around and look my way.

That night it was hard for me to sleep. I tossed and turned with the thought of the evil lurking around in that place. What could have possibly grabbed her? Dolls are inanimate objects; they don’t have souls, they don’t move. So what, possibly could have hurt her?

I contemplated with my thoughts for a long time. It could have just been her and Billy, trying to scare me for once. He could have grabbed her and pretended it was the doll. But, no, I saw it myself. The doll grabbed her. It could have been possessed. I saw it’s eyes beam that evil color when it latched on to her arm. I tossed the other way and shook my thoughts, letting myself sleep.

The next day I decided that I’d go back to the doll house in broad daylight to find out what exactly happened the last night. Not that I’d get any answers. But I had to go back. Something was driving me back.

After school, I made my way down the meadow until I came to the old doll shack. I stood in front of it a moment, making sure I was ready to enter. I let out a deep breathe, and carefully walked closer to it. I pushed open the door and walked inside.

I could see better in daytime, and I had to say, the dolls didn’t look much different than when I’d seen them last night. But there was something creepier about seeing them when it was lighter out. The fact that you could see every angle, every aspect of the doll and know that something was wrong with them.

I walked slowly to where we had been standing last night, almost stepping in the shards of doll I had broken the night before. ‘’So it really did happen. It’s still here,’’ I whispered to myself. I bent down to examine it and found something peculiar in the midst.

The dolls glass eyes; then the deep shade of brown they were before the doll had attacked Brenda, where still fully intact, not a scratch on them. A shiver ran down my spine. ‘’That’s weird. I could have sworn they broke,’’  Just then, the wind howled and the wooden door slammed shut.

I pulled myself from the ground and slowly walked towards the door. Pressing up against it, I tried to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge. I carefully latched my fingers over the door knob and pulled. A sense of heat burned from the twisted doorknob through the bones in my hand, causing me to fall to the ground. I yelped in pain and held my hand tightly as I watch the door knob flicker like embers of a fire.

‘’Who’s there?’’ Yelled a squeaky voice from across the room. My eyes bugged as I pulled myself back against the wall. Stay quiet and it will leave you alone. I gripped my throbbing hand harder and winced. ‘’I said, WHO’S THERE?’’ It yelled again. Its voice was high-pitched and feminine. I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped for the best.

Then I heard it. Footsteps. Not two legs. Hundreds of legs. Stomping, marching, growing closer. They rounded the corner and I finally saw them. These dolls weren’t like the others. They were full bodied, at least four feet tall. Male and Female dolls, half melted. Some of their faces were solemn; others were twisted into sadistic smiles. I froze at the site of them.

I tried scooting further up against the wall behind me only to find that there was no more room to back up against. I was cornered. They had stopped right in front of me. I hadn’t noticed before the sharp, metal objects they held in their hands. Knives, I thought. They’re going to kill me.

The dolls in front of me stood still; their sinful eyes unblinking. The melted and half-formed dolls on the shelves rallied on a fight with their tiny arms and squeaky voices. Every doll I could see had their eyebrows leveled evilly.

I stared at them for quite some while. I blinked a few times before darting to the door. No, it’s hot. I told myself. I turned around to see the dolls charging towards me. I screamed before quickly kicking in the window and running away free.

Running. To where. Where could I have gone? Then I made up my mind to go home and tell my father. He won’t believe you! I thought to myself. I guess that’s why I told Brenda not to tell anyone. For the sake of sanity. I found that this was my only option though and ran home.

When I got to my house, I kicked the door in and ran to my father. My mother yelled, startled, and spilled her coffee all over her jeans. ‘’What happened to your hand?’’ He asked. I looked down at the melted skin and giant burn running across my palm and almost fainted.

I shook my head and returned to my current problem. ‘’I was at the old doll warehouse-‘’ I got cut off by my father. ‘’No. There’s no doll warehouse. That burned down in 1935.’’ I shook  my head again and swallowed. ‘’No, only most of it. But there’s still thousands of dolls there. Evil ones! They burned my hand and bruised Brenda’s arm!’’

My dad carefully took my hand and I squeezed my eyes shut. ‘’This is bad. Seriously, what happened to you?’’ My head swirled and my thoughts became jumbled. ‘’Dad! I just told you!’’ I yelled.

My father gripped my shoulders and looked me squarely in the eyes. ‘’Honey,’’ He spoke calmly, the way you’d speak to a mental patient or a baby. ‘’There’s no doll house. It burned down to the ground years ago.’’

‘’No!’’ I refused to believe it. ‘’Dolls, whole dolls, came after me with knives! They wanted to kill me!’’ I looked around my house until my eyes landed on my house phone. ‘’Here! I’ll prove it!’’ I ran to the telephone and dialed up Brenda’s number. She answered a moment later in her usual tone.

‘’Brenda! How’s your arm?’’ I cut to the chase. ‘’Fine…’’ She said, strangely. ‘’Fine? Is it bruised?’’ There was a pause on the line. ‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about.’’ She replied. ‘’Brenda! You remember! The other night at the doll warehouse! When it grabbed your arm and left finger marks!’’ She coughed on the other end and continued, awkwardly. ‘’Are you okay? I think you should get some rest…’’ She suggested. ‘’Why don’t you remember? Why doesn’t anyone believe me?’’ I yelled as I slammed down the phone.

I stood up, almost tripping over my sneakers. My dad caught me and sat me down. My mother accompanied us. ‘’Honey, maybe you should go see a doctor.’’ She said. I gritted my teeth. ‘’I’m not crazy! I’ll prove it!’’ I ran out of the house, not bothering to close the door behind me.

I ran and I ran until I reached the meadow. ‘’There!’’ I yelled with a laugh when I came across the full shack. I made my way inside and stood in the door way. There in front of me where all the dolls, right where I left them. They wore the same evil smiles and, at once, their eyes glowed that fire-bright orange.

‘’Haha! You dolls- you stupid fools- think you’re smarter than me? Making my family believe I’ve gone insane? Well, I’m not that easy. I will destroy all of you,’’ I stopped when I came across a better plan. I laughed. ‘’Better yet- I’ll take you all back with me! Show them that you all exist, you…you demon dolls!’’

The dolls continued to smile in my face. I grew annoyed with their lack of communication. ‘’Say something!’’ I stomped. And that’s when I felt it. The knife dug deeply in my back. I immediately lunged forward. With my last breaths, I could feel myself throwing up blood. I fell to my knees with a gasp.

‘’No one’s going to ruin our reign,’’ Said the head doll. ‘’Poor, human. No one believed you, anyway.’’ I tried to say something, desperately tried to get in the last word, but I couldn’t.  I could feel myself dying. I didn’t even know where the knife came from but I knew that it would end my life. The last thing I heard before I passed on was the evil laughs of the thousands of demon dolls.

**

‘’This is all there is,’’ Said the Coroner a month later. They had gone to the ruins of the doll warehouse to try to find the body of the girl who was said to have disappeared there.

The mother of the girl wept. ‘’You couldn’t find her?’’ The Coroner shook his head. The father of the girl’s face grew angry. ‘’She said a whole bunch of weird stuff happened to her here. I wish she was right. I wish we could have found her.’’ He broke down as well.

The Coroner perched his lip. ‘’Well, so far the case continues. We’ll keep searching until the end of the month. And then, if we find nothing, the search will come to an end and she will be deemed missing.’’ His face fell as he spoke his words to the unhappy family.

Tears continued to pour down the parents’ faces. ‘’Thank you,’’ They choked out. The father gripped tighter to his wife. ‘’Come on. Let’s go home. Sabrina, please, let’s go.’’ He called to his younger daughter.

‘’I’m right behind you,’’ She said. But something in the ruins of the doll shack caught her eye. She walked closer to the dark ashes and brushed them aside. There she found a full-sized doll, covered in ashes. On her hand was a deep burn, and in her back, was the blade of a knife.

__END__