The doll's eyes
It's was a cold December morning.
Lucy and her father finished loading up all the boxes from the truck onto the front porch. They needed this new start badly. They just couldn't stay in that house anymore. Not after what had happened. She was never the same again after that day. Now, her father hoped that living in a new environment and in a new home would help make things better. A few weeks passed and the two started settling and getting used to the new place. It was starting to feel somewhat comfortable and to look like an actual house. Still, it wasn’t yet a home. Lucy felt alone, miles away from her friends, on holiday from school and with her dad having his eyes glued to the computer screen. He had to work. Thus, she decided to do the only thing left to do in that boring suburb, and that was to explore the huge new house she called her “home”.
Everything seemed ancient and was encrusted with a thick layer of dust. She dug and explored the big piles of objects around the house in search of something at least remotely interesting. There had to be something fun between those stacks of objects that the previous owners had left behind, she thought.
Nothing.
As she was about to give up and go to bed, she found a medium sized wooden box. It had no writing or decoration on it and looked quite ordinary and bland. Or was it? Cleaning away the dust she revealed some tiny engraving. It said.. “LUCY” She shook it and something inside made a sound. There was a lock on it. No key, though. Using all her force, Lucy managed to split the box open. Inside – a doll. One of those eerie, old, lifelike dolls that little girls play with.
Lucy took the doll to her room and threw it on the cupboard next to her bed. She then stared at it for a while. It had uncannily blue eyes and a frown on its face. It was holding something in its hand which looked like a tiny pen. There was something quite unusual and creepy about it but Lucy was too tired to notice. She threw herself on the bed and fell asleep immediately.
It was four past midnight and it was pitch dark in the house. Lucy was suddenly awoken by some strange noise. After a few seconds she managed to wake herself fully and recognise the noise. It was a quiet and sinister whisper. Lucy was paralysed by fear and tried to convince herself that she was still dreaming. She closed her eyes shut, got a tight grip of her blanket and tried to calm herself down. She couldn't quite decipher what it said but she managed to recognise her name.
It stopped then.
Lucy shook her head and somehow succeeded at falling back asleep. Next morning she was convinced that everything was just a nasty nightmare and did her daily tasks without thinking about the event that had occurred that night. But, as she was cleaning her room, she noticed that the doll's head was now twisted to face the window. It seemed way too creepy for it to be a coincidence but she chose to ignore it.
That night, again, she was woken up by a sound. This time, however, it wasn't a whisper. It was more like a silent scream, followed by a high pitched whistle along with a gentle tapping. It came from the window. Lucy jumped up straightaway and turned the lights on. The sound stopped. Everything seemed normal... except for the doll. Now it was turned completely towards the window even though Lucy never even touched it. Lucy turned the doll to face her and screamed in horror at the sight of the eye-less sockets that were dripping blood.
She woke up. This time for real. Hearing a gentle tapping from outside, Lucy turned to the window. She saw the faint trace of a pale, ghostly face. And then it was gone. Thinking she must be losing her mind, she decided to go back to bed. Taking a deep breath to stabilize her heartbeat, somehow, she fell asleep.
Another day came and passed and it was night time again. This time Lucy promised herself that no matter what happened that evening, she would keep her eyes closed and ignore everything.
Almost like an alarm, the sound was back. Again at 4a.m. Lucy woke up, but this time, she kept her eyes shut tight. The whispers got louder and louder and they almost became screams crying out her name. She still didn't open her eyes. She fought every urge to scream and cry. Although scared, she couldn’t move, she was petrified. The voice and the tapping turned into a deafening scream. She felt a warm liquid dripping from her forehead down her face, but she still kept her eyes closed.
But this time, they never opened again.
It was morning again, and Lucy's dad was calling her from the other room. She didn't answer. Again he called, again Lucy was silent. He stepped in her room and recoiled in horror at the sight of his daughter's dead body.
She lay in a pool of her own blood with a stab wound in her head. Beside her, on the cupboard, lay the doll, with dried blood on the tiny pen in its hand and a creepy smile on its face.
Lucy and her father finished loading up all the boxes from the truck onto the front porch. They needed this new start badly. They just couldn't stay in that house anymore. Not after what had happened. She was never the same again after that day. Now, her father hoped that living in a new environment and in a new home would help make things better. A few weeks passed and the two started settling and getting used to the new place. It was starting to feel somewhat comfortable and to look like an actual house. Still, it wasn’t yet a home. Lucy felt alone, miles away from her friends, on holiday from school and with her dad having his eyes glued to the computer screen. He had to work. Thus, she decided to do the only thing left to do in that boring suburb, and that was to explore the huge new house she called her “home”.
Everything seemed ancient and was encrusted with a thick layer of dust. She dug and explored the big piles of objects around the house in search of something at least remotely interesting. There had to be something fun between those stacks of objects that the previous owners had left behind, she thought.
Nothing.
As she was about to give up and go to bed, she found a medium sized wooden box. It had no writing or decoration on it and looked quite ordinary and bland. Or was it? Cleaning away the dust she revealed some tiny engraving. It said.. “LUCY” She shook it and something inside made a sound. There was a lock on it. No key, though. Using all her force, Lucy managed to split the box open. Inside – a doll. One of those eerie, old, lifelike dolls that little girls play with.
Lucy took the doll to her room and threw it on the cupboard next to her bed. She then stared at it for a while. It had uncannily blue eyes and a frown on its face. It was holding something in its hand which looked like a tiny pen. There was something quite unusual and creepy about it but Lucy was too tired to notice. She threw herself on the bed and fell asleep immediately.
It was four past midnight and it was pitch dark in the house. Lucy was suddenly awoken by some strange noise. After a few seconds she managed to wake herself fully and recognise the noise. It was a quiet and sinister whisper. Lucy was paralysed by fear and tried to convince herself that she was still dreaming. She closed her eyes shut, got a tight grip of her blanket and tried to calm herself down. She couldn't quite decipher what it said but she managed to recognise her name.
It stopped then.
Lucy shook her head and somehow succeeded at falling back asleep. Next morning she was convinced that everything was just a nasty nightmare and did her daily tasks without thinking about the event that had occurred that night. But, as she was cleaning her room, she noticed that the doll's head was now twisted to face the window. It seemed way too creepy for it to be a coincidence but she chose to ignore it.
That night, again, she was woken up by a sound. This time, however, it wasn't a whisper. It was more like a silent scream, followed by a high pitched whistle along with a gentle tapping. It came from the window. Lucy jumped up straightaway and turned the lights on. The sound stopped. Everything seemed normal... except for the doll. Now it was turned completely towards the window even though Lucy never even touched it. Lucy turned the doll to face her and screamed in horror at the sight of the eye-less sockets that were dripping blood.
She woke up. This time for real. Hearing a gentle tapping from outside, Lucy turned to the window. She saw the faint trace of a pale, ghostly face. And then it was gone. Thinking she must be losing her mind, she decided to go back to bed. Taking a deep breath to stabilize her heartbeat, somehow, she fell asleep.
Another day came and passed and it was night time again. This time Lucy promised herself that no matter what happened that evening, she would keep her eyes closed and ignore everything.
Almost like an alarm, the sound was back. Again at 4a.m. Lucy woke up, but this time, she kept her eyes shut tight. The whispers got louder and louder and they almost became screams crying out her name. She still didn't open her eyes. She fought every urge to scream and cry. Although scared, she couldn’t move, she was petrified. The voice and the tapping turned into a deafening scream. She felt a warm liquid dripping from her forehead down her face, but she still kept her eyes closed.
But this time, they never opened again.
It was morning again, and Lucy's dad was calling her from the other room. She didn't answer. Again he called, again Lucy was silent. He stepped in her room and recoiled in horror at the sight of his daughter's dead body.
She lay in a pool of her own blood with a stab wound in her head. Beside her, on the cupboard, lay the doll, with dried blood on the tiny pen in its hand and a creepy smile on its face.
Ana Arsovska