Welcome to Gaia! ::

Official Submission


Charlotte stepped out of the cab and looked up at the dark, gothic mansion. This was to be her new home. The circular drive in front gave way to two-story columns covered in overgrown ivy. The multitude of windows were dingy and some of the shutters were hanging half off or else completely gone. The large oak front door opened up and a rather frumpy looking older woman came out an down the steps to greet Charlotte. She looked frustrated and her apron was dirty and stained. She walked up to Charlotte and picked up her two bags.

“Right, you must be the Master’s new bride. Follow me inside so I can get you situated in your room before dinner time.” The maid cocked her head towards the house and nudged Charlotte towards the door. The foyer was large and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling three levels up. The staircase was carpeted in red and curved both left and right, providing access to both wings of the house. The maid continued through the foyer and up the stairs while Charlotte followed.

Turning right at the top of the stairs the maid proceeded down a long hallway with five doors on either side. She walked down to the third room on the left and went inside. Charlotte found herself inside a huge room draped in what looked like very expensive fabrics. The huge poster bed sported a matching wooden canopy of mahogany. The curtains were velvet and the colour of cream that matched the intricately embroidered bedding. The room also contained an exquisite vanity and large wardrobe. Charlotte walked over and opened it up and found it already full of dresses of the finest fabrics.

“Are these for me?” She turned to ask the maid, but the maid had already left. Frowning, she went over to her luggage and put it up on the bed. She was halfway through unpacking when the maid came back.

“Dinner will be ready at seven, Madame. I suggest you find yourself a pretty frock and wash up before you come down. The Master likes to see a clean face, not a dirty one.” At that, the maid turned and left once again. Charlotte looked at herself in the vanity mirror. There was a large streak of dirt on her left cheek. Grabbing the water basin, she scrubbed it off and then washed her hands. Throwing open the wardrobe once again she picked out a emerald gown flowing in silk and taffeta. After dressing herself and readjusting her coiffure she made her way downstairs to the dining room. Not used to a bustle dress, Charlotte found sitting down in the elegant dining chair somewhat of a chore. When she had managed to make herself somewhat comfortable yet still maintaining her posture she smoothed her dress down and waited for her new husband to come to the table. Hours passed and he didn’t come. Hungry from the train ride, Charlotte decided to go ahead and eat. The food was cold but still delicious.

When finished she wiped her mouth daintily with her cloth napkin and set it down upon the table. Getting up she walked out of the large dining room into the foyer and made her way up the grand staircase. At the top of the steps she went to turn right to go to her room when she heard a cry issue from the left wing of the house. Curiousity got the better of her and she decided to investigate. She had already been stood up this evening by her husband, she wasn’t going to let him stop her from exploring her new home.

The left wing of the house was identical to the right except for one thing. At the end of the hallway a spiral staircase led up to the third floor. Charlotte stopped and the bottom and looked up. She heard the cry again and knew that it’d come from somewhere up there. Ascending the stairs she found herself in yet another hallway, yet there were no doors save one at the very end. Slowly, she walked towards the solitary door and stopped when right in front of it.

The door was made out of some sort of dark wood, most likely ebony. The intricate details carved into the door fascinated her. The mixture of cherubs and demons alike along with gruesome looking ghouls made her shudder. The handle was made of brass and was fitted inside the mouth of a gruesome looking gargoyle. Charlotte grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.

The room behind the door appeared to be a gentleman’s sitting room. A large wingback chair faced a fireplace that had a portrait of a beautiful woman above it. Charlotte stared in awe at the painting. The woman’s complexion was like that of cream and her shining platinum hair flowed in curls that frame her beautiful face just right.
Charlotte jumped when she heard the cry resonate throughout the room. She had been so infatuated with the portrait she had failed to finish looking around the room. Turning around she saw a horrific sight. Chained to the wall was what seemed to be a monstrosity of the human form. It’s body was twisted so that the creature’s back formed and S-shape. One leg was much shorter than the other and it had no arms. The face was what repulsed Charlotte the most. The facial feature were all pushed to one side and jammed together to make room for a parasitic twin that seemed to actually be alive.

The monster gave out another cry when it saw Charlotte and started to struggle. Then, from behind a curtain to the right of the monster her new husband emerged with a glass of brandy.

“Shut up! I’m trying to talk with your mother and your moaning is interfering!” He turned to retreat back behind the curtain, then spotted Charlotte.

“See what you’ve done now? Now I have to look for a new bride. Thank you very much, Augustus.” He strode over to Charlotte and grabbed her by the wrist. “At least we had our honeymoon. That was enough.”

He tried to pull her behind the curtain, but she resisted.

“What’s going on? W-w-who…what is that? What are you talking about ‘new bride’?” He picked her up by the waist and drug her into the adjoining room. In the middle of the candle lit room there sat a stone table. On the table lay the corpse of what was observably that of the woman in the portrait.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte began to cry.

“Darling, I’d like you to meet my newest wife, Charlotte.” He talked to the corpse as if it were still alive. He walked over and kissed it upon the forehead, then turned his ear to the corpse’s mouth, listening. “Very well.”

Standing straight, he strode over to Charlotte and forced her down upon her knees. Producing a revolver from inside his pinstripe vest he looked down at her with sympathy. Cupping her face in his hands he bent down and kissed her.

“Don’t worry, it will only hurt for a moment.” He then held the gun up to her forehead and fired once. Throwing the gun down upon the floor he picked up the body of the now dead Charlotte and placed her upon the stone table beside the body of his former wife. He quickly went into the other room an returned with a small bundle of surgical tools. Sweat pouring from his forehead he worked rapidly as he slice open the abdomen.

The child cried out as he pulled it from the womb sticky with placenta and embryonic fluid. He wrapped the child in a towel and took him out into the other room.

“Look, Augustus, it’s your new brother. He’ll take care of you when I’m gone.” He looked down at the newborn fondly. “I think I shall name him Edgar.”

"SAVE ME"

By __X__Naomi__X__



Where. . . .

am I?

W-what happened to me. . .?

The smell of smoke starts to intrigue me.

Am I in a burning building?
Too dark to see.

I fumbled around, trying to find any significant object or a clue as to my whereabouts.

. . .I don't feel anything. . .

Just. . .

. . .air. . .

The aroma of the smoke is getting closer. I must be nearing a door, It's getting harder to breathe. Spreading my arms out to catch something, I finally find a wall.

It's warm.

Sliding against the wall, I come upon a door knob.

It's hot.

Quickly twisting it before it burns my hands, I get this gut feeling that I should not be doing this.



Just as I put all of my weight into the door, I'm suddenly hanging onto the door for dear life. It seems I've stumbled into the portal to hell, because my toes are being singed by Satan's bar-be-que pit below me.
I try to reach the edge of the door with my feet. I missed twice and almost gave up. After the third successful try, I pulled myself away from the fiery pit & closed the door.

As I laid on the floor, catching what was left of my breath, something caught my eye.

A flickering light in the distance. After taking a breather, I pushed myself up.

As I walked towards the light, I notice a silver knob.

Another door?

With each step I took, my nerves started to ache. The cries of many people could be heard from the door.

Dare I open it?

To be honest, I did not want to see what was on the other side. But, something is telling me to open it.

Turing the knob and pushing, All I saw was darkness.

Nothing more.

Turning around, more lights start to flicker.

More doors?

With each step I take, there are more hints as to what I will set my eyes upon. With each door I must open, a new hell unfolds.


Seeing each door, not knowing whats on the other side. The courage to open them is the hardest.

What will I see next?

I don't want to open another door.

It's just

too

much.

Till I see the finale door.

Is this the end?

Will I see heaven?

I look upon the door, my name is engraved upon it. Formal Old English.

Light seems to be flooding out from underneath and above the doorway.

This just may be heaven.

Opening the door ever so slightly, I wanted to savor the moment.

A blinding white light engulfs my being.

I'm coming to see you, God.


Just need to put one foot in front the other and behold---

darkness.

What?

Why?

A light shines on an end table. There's something on it.

Walking towards it, I realize what it is.

A revolver.

Hesitantly, I pick up the gun, checking it's chamber.


One bullet.

One life.

Mine.

My eyes start to water as I put the gun in my mouth.
My entire life begins to unfold.

Birth.

Childhood.

Teenage years.

The door.

And the next door.

And the next.

And the next.

The screams.

The cries for help.

I couldn't take it.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I cocked the cold gun.

. . . .Goodbye.

Click.

What?

No.

No.

My own personal hell.

The door closes.

The light begins to dim out

as I wallow in my own sorrows.

with the barrel of the gun

Slice of Life
by D_Marx

Eyes open. Trees. Left. Right. Left. Right. Swallow. Breath. Pain.

How long have I been out?

The sun was beginning to glow on the horizon--I was in the forest!--but I wasn't sure anymore that someone would find me. Not when I wasn't positive of my location. My stomach cramped, the pain unbearable. I don't even think I can see color anymore. If my hand was in my sight, would I see red or gray?

Maybe I could still stand if I tried hard enough. Something about never wanting to die without a fight. The thing had to be gone by now, having done its' damage. It wasn't anything like the book said, nothing like the eyewitnesses, and that goes to show that some people don't mind being inaccurate. A fighting chance. Beast or not, I was going to get myself back on my feet. Walking to the nearest road on the chance of someone stopping? Let the devil come out and finish me so long as I'm standing if not.

One hand up, the pain was less. Not a good sign. The other hand pulled to come up, and a long stitch of heat soared through my body. I screamed. My arm was pasted to my wound. Shaking, free hand down, I pushed myself up to sit. Jesus the pain.

I couldn't smell anything and my face hurt. Hell, I think I may have gotten whiplash or something. Part of me wondered if my face looked as bad as I felt. Nocturnal being, wamp-something or another. I didn't care anymore, and I was then on my feet. I don't know, but the trees were quiet, the wind dead.

Snap. Rustle. Growl.

Tears fell down my face and all my pain faded for this moment to the sound of my heart pounding in my head, neck, legs, everywhere. I couldn't move I was shaking so bad. I was going to die.

I turned to the sound, my neck and stomach aching horribly and not allowing for much of any movement. My arm, still stuck against my stomach wound, was causing the blood to flow again. Eyes through the darkness and peering from behind a nearby tree, glowed in the dawn's path. I couldn't move and my lips couldn't do more than shudder. It stepped towards me, more tears.

I was balancing on my knees and good arm now, clenching the grass. How'd I get here? Whimpers made the creature lick its bloodied lips and I didn't even try to stand again. He raised a clawed hand as I looked up to see the hunger in his eyes.

Pain.

Then nothing.

Trapped In the Hole

“Do you think I look good in this?” I asked Veronica holding a Medieval princess dress against my body.
“You look like a 3-year-old with that dress. Try this,” said Veronica snatching the velvet dress away and giving me a witch mask with a long, warty nose. “I can’t believe you still don’t have a costume. Today is Halloween!” she nagged at me.
As if I didn’t know that, I thought. “I don’t like this mask. Spooky costumes are really scary. I like non-spooky, bright costumes,” I said to her while staring at the witch in the mirror. Today was Friday and it was indeed Halloween. I still hadn’t found a costume, but after spending 3 hours at the mall I finally picked out a disco diva costume with Veronica’s help. I was lucky to have Veronica as my best friend. We’d been best friends since Kindergarten and we were currently in 6th grade. I don’t know how I could have lived without Veronica because she is always there for me and helps me with everything.
“Dominique! We forgot your afro!” Veronica shouted just as we were about to leave the mall and I stared at my long, black, silky hair. The way it just dropped down straight I knew I definitely needed an afro for my costume. After I bought the afro we zoomed to my house to go change into costumes so we could go trick-or-treating.
“I think I look groovy and fab,” I said in a hip voice. Veronica just stared at me and started laughing hysterically. I just looked at her as if she was crazy. After Veronica calmed down from the laughing, she changed into her zombie cheerleader costume letting loose her medium, chestnut brown, wavy hair. We then got our long, fluffy, soft, white pillows for candy.
“Bye Mom!” I yelled to my mom when we were about to leave.
“Bye Mrs. Miller!” shouted Veronica right after me.
“Bye girls!” my mom yelled back. When we were outside Veronica and I saw some trick-or-treaters passing my house and some others on the other side of Mystery Walk. I had always thought my street name was creepy. We had just started walking to my neighbor’s when Veronica grabbed my hand and ran all the way down Mystery Walk. I was wondering where she was going but I wasn’t surprised to see she dragged me to her house. After we got candy from her house, we went to every single house on Mystery Walk including mine.
Veronica and I hustled down the street. The clear sky with the beautiful, full moon shined down on us. We passed Old Villa’s Cemetery with the creaky, rusted gate which gave me a bone-chilling shiver all the way down my spine. Whenever I passed that cemetery I would always feel as if something sinister was behind me.
Old Villa’s Cemetery was named after a woman who apparently died from a ghost as legend says. Rumors say today she still haunts that same area hovering over the body that once belonged to her.
I jogged quickly in front of Veronica so the feeling could pass as fast as possible. We were heading to Hylemia Road. Hylemia Road also gave me a shiver, probably because it was the road the cemetery was on. Our pillow cases were already half-way full and we had huge pillow cases.
“I think we only have time for a few more houses until we go back home to empty out our candy,” I told Veronica who was pressing the doorbell to a house.
“We can get this whole street and still get a few more houses. Don’t worry. We can get every house here on Hylemia Road,” she answered cheerfully. I dreaded her saying that. After we got our candy, the words kept ringing in my head. “We can get every house. We can get every house. We can get every house.” I was freaked out to go to every house because the houses in the back of Hylemia Road were always dark so I always avoided them. Veronica was brave and was hardly ever scared. She was even braver than most boys. We had gone through over half of the houses and only got our pillow cases ¼ higher. We were getting closer to the end. As we were walking along I saw three of my friends.
“Hey Victoria, Vanessa, and Stephanie!” I bursted. They didn’t even bother to look at me. I could see in the moonlight how white their faces looked. It was as if they had seen a ghost. I had also noticed they had come from the cemetery.
“I wonder what happened,” Veronica said. She had also become aware of the scared look in their faces. I was a little frightened by their faces and also how close Veronica and I were getting to the end of the street so I quickly thought of a plan.
“I dare you to walk in Old Villa’s Cemetery. That is if you’re not chicken,” I said to Veronica knowing she’d brag saying she could do it.
“Oh please. That’s so easy,” she responded to me as she kept walking down the road.
“Then do it,” I said smiling. I could see the nervousness in her eyes.
“Okay but you have to follow me then because uh…someone might see you alone by yourself and wonder what’s wrong,” she answered back. My heart then dropped and felt as if it had just melted into gooey sludge. I didn’t want her to think I was the chicken since I was calling her one.
“Ohh uh kkay,” I slowly said feeling really insecure. My muscles tightened and I felt like crying right there. Veronica started heading to the cemetery and I froze there as if time had stopped in my life.
“Come on!” she called as she waved her hand at me motioning me to come over there. “You’re scared aren’t you?”
“Yes I am and I’m not afraid to admit it either. Do I really have to go in with you?” I asked still frozen.
“Yes. You agreed to come with me,” replied Veronica. She basically had to drag me to the front of the gate.
“Open it,” I insisted. Veronica sluggishly opened the gate. I was in front of her and she pushed me in. She then came in, too. The gate then shifted shut.
“UUUHHH!” I screamed waking up everyone that was asleep. I raced to the gate and tried to heave it open. It wouldn’t budge.
“I guess we’re stuck here,” Veronica said calmly as if things were alright.
“IT’S NOT OKAY! NOTHING’S OKAY! WE ARE STUCK HERE AND IT’S YOUR ENTIRE FAULT!!” I yelled at her while tears rained down from my eyes.
“How is it MY FAULT?!! You were the one that dared me to come in this cemetery in the first place!” Veronica said angrily as she turned away and started walking deeper into the cemetery. I didn’t want to be alone so I just followed her wiping the tears away. I could see a tear drizzle from her eye. What seemed like hours were just a few minutes and I eventually apologized.
“I’m sorry. I was just so scared and frightened I didn’t know what else to do. It’s okay if you don’t forgive me,” I said peacefully. Veronica turned around and gave me a vast hug.
“I forgive you. Hey! There wasn’t a hole there before,” she said. She pointed to a large hole big enough for a casket. “I was here yesterday putting flowers on my grandpa’s grave and I saw that the hole was covered.” I observed that the tombstone was laying on the ground in two broken pieces. The hole seemed like it was about twenty feet away so I didn’t worry about falling into it. Veronica and I just kept talking about all the candy we got and the conversation took away my fears. All of a sudden… “UUHHHHHKKK!!!” Veronica hollered at the top of her lungs. I thought I had become deaf because her scream was the loudest I’d ever heard, even louder than mine. I had fallen from the fright I’d gotten and my candy spilt all around me. I didn’t care. I looked around and Veronica was no where to be found. I heard her screaming right by me and saw she had collapsed into the hole! I tried grabbing her hand, but the hole was so deep. The hole looked like it was about 8-9 feet deep. I always thought people were buried at 6 feet deep yet it didn’t matter at the moment.
“Veronica, are you hurt?! Are you okay?” I couldn’t stop asking questions. She didn’t answer to anything. She just kept screaming like the world was coming to an end. The brave girl I once knew who was fearless was now the terrified and yelling like crazy girl. I couldn’t get help because the gate had shut locked even though there weren’t even locks on the gate. Then I heard something moving and rustling in the autumn leaves and it was coming closer. I tried to ignore it and instead I was ignoring Veronica. The breathing was coming closer now. I was trying to shut the sounds of the world out of me. I was hearing everything at once and it was just too much for me. I crawled up in a ball and blocked my ears with my hands. I had waves of salty water splashing out of my eyes. I was singing softly to myself, almost a whisper. “Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket never let it fade away. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day.” I was going to continue the next line when I felt ice-cold breathing going down my neck. I turned around saw the most terrifying and horrible thing I would ever see in my life. A zombie-like human was staring with its one rotten eye at me and had dirty maggots coming out of its disintegrating head. I never realized Veronica had fainted from the sight of the creature. I just stared back at it breathing so hard it sounded like I was dying. I saw it lifting its decayed arm and I blinked once and felt a sharp pain in my neck like someone had plunged a knife into my back.
The creature had quickly disappeared. I then fainted from the horrific pain in my neck and back. I woke up several hours later. I was lying still on the dusty, dry ground. I couldn’t move. I felt paralyzed because of all the pain in me. I could move my arms and legs though. I grabbed my digital watch from the pocket in my costume pants. I turned the light on and saw it was 2:09 AM! I moved my head a little to the side and screamed in pain. I made the light from the watch shine down in the hole. Veronica wasn’t there; just her candy was laying everywhere and her pom poms. I was frightened, worried, and sleepy at the same time. I slowly drifted off to sleep.
I fluttered my eyelids a bit. “OH MY GOD!! SHE’S ALIVE!!” The voice. I recognized it. “DOCTOR, DOCTOR!! SHE’S ALIVE!!!”I blinked my eyelids and opened them half way. I saw my mother and she was squeezing my hand like it was play-doh.
“Mom? Is that you?” The voice sounded like my mother’s so it was the only thing I could think to say.
“Yes!! I can’t believe it! You’re alive!!” she said in excitement.
“Alive? I was always alive,” I told her.
“Honey, you have been in a coma for 2 long years,” she said still excited. “And you’ve finally made it.”
“I what?!” I couldn’t believe it. I was in a coma for 2 years. 2 YEARS! I immediately tried to sit up then yelled in pain. A nurse pushed me back down gently. I didn’t even notice her. I remembered everything that happened. I had to stay in the hospital for two more weeks and I had to wear a neck brace. No one told me anything about what happened to my neck because they were afraid that I would be all freaked out about it. I temporarily had to sit in a wheel chair for a couple of years until my neck was strong enough to support itself.
I kept asking my mom what had happened to Veronica. She would never answer me and change the topic. Finally after weeks without telling me she told me. A neighbor had found me weeks after Halloween while bringing flowers to her departed aunt. My mom quickly sent me to the hospital. My mom knew Veronica had been with me so she went to Veronica’s mom and asked if Veronica was there. Veronica’s mother was crying when she answered. She said she hadn’t seen Veronica since Halloween. She had posted missing signs everywhere, but it was no use. After a year, while I was still in a coma, Veronica was found lying on the cement pavement in front of her door. She had blood everywhere on her but fortunately was still breathing. She had many fractures and she stayed in a coma for a few months. Her fractures had healed quickly. Veronica was having over five seizures a day so she quickly got help and therapy. She then finally stopped having seizures and was mostly her normal self again.
Four years had gone by and I was already in 12th grade. My mom had refused to tell me anything else about what happened that one Halloween. I could walk with my neck straight now so I didn’t need a wheel chair anymore. I never celebrated Halloween again, but I did celebrate Halloween once out of those 4 years. I stayed with my mother though and only went to 5 houses and they were only on my street. I never figured out what happened to Victoria, Vanessa, and Stephanie although I saw a “For Sale” sign on each of their houses. I did see Veronica a few times in 12th grade. Whenever I said hi to her she just looked at me as if she had never seen me before. She never talked to me either. It was as if she was brainwashed or something. Every Halloween I put good luck charms all over my room and I hung two dream catchers over me. Ever since that Halloween in 6th grade, my life has changed and will never be the same.

It's kind of really dark but that was the genre.

Take My Sunshine Away

“Thank you so much for watching the kids tonight. Have fun.” Ella said giving me a light hug before hurrying out the door. The Maplewood plank slammed into the door frame and I was left with my three year old niece and my eight month old nephew. The tiny beings weren’t particularly a challenge but my body was in this moment ready to cave in and I had the rest of the evening to be on my feet. Ella deserved a night out however and I would do my part to assure that happened.
Sunny sat watching TV quietly, something I rarely saw her do while little Patches crawled aimlessly around looking for something off limits to chew on. The =-[living room was like a green house. Half of room consisted of an atrium where the walls were simply windows. There was a small stone step down into the atrium where Ella had placed several pots of various plants lazing on the dirt floor. Because of the strange outline of the room, it was always cold and it was always full of unsettle sounds.
“Hey, Dyena. Can we go jump?” Sunny asked in a conspicuously solemn tone. Of course she meant could we jump on the trampoline but at her age things were always nice and simple. I nodded my head, too awkward to say anything. My glance met that of Patches and I knew I couldn’t just leave an infant to it’s own devices. So I picked the baby up and followed Sunny outside. Ella’s house was wonderful. A two story beauty built about a hundred years ago. Sure, there are problems with the plumbing and the staircase is two more steps away from collapsing but the homey feeling breezing through the air is enough to make you comfortable. The backyard, however, was a perfect marvel. A lovely sandbox here, a makeshift swing draping down from a tree branch there. In the middle sat a trampoline and spread about the lot were various children’s toys. Behind the adolescent wonderland nested a small wood. A quaint little gathering of closely knitted trees.
Though I had never liked this small forest. The trees were empty year round, most dead and some just naturally stripped. I placed Patches onto the ground while I joined Sunny on the trampoline. He would proceed to crawl around and scarf down Autumn leaves which was fine by me. For several minutes I bounced up and down effortlessly with my sweet little niece. It wasn’t the way I wanted to spend my Saturday night but I did love these kids. Sunny forced me into playing a handful of silly, purposeless games and during this time the evening darkness had gained on us. I looked around to find my nephew who had been chewing on a stick just a minute ago. He wasn’t there now. I didn’t panic, babies crawl. My eyes explored the area but couldn’t find him. Now I panicked. With a guilt suffused hurry, I climbed off the trampoline and began to seek desperately for Patches. Then, in the brush of branches and tree leaves of the forest I saw something like a small person. I knew it wasn’t Patches but I entertained the notion that it wouldn’t hurt to check.
“The doll!” Sunny announced with a tone one could almost call joy but entangled with a strange hint of foreboding. I looked intently into it before approaching.
“What doll?” I asked, hesitant to go near it and not sure why.
“I found it and wanted it but mommy threw it in the garbage.” Sunny explained, speaking as though she was lost or ill or frightened.
“Then why is it there?” I could understand why I was scared. A hobby of mine was watching horror movies and I loved the poltergeist porcelains the or mysterious marionettes but Sunny? Her mother didn’t watch those movies herself and I knew no power on Earth would make her introduce that kind of nonsense to Sunny at her age. So my question was, naturally, why was Sunny scared? There was an insubstantial aura seeping out from the woods where it stood. It was standing. By itself? The clichés were piling up like dust on a record player. My curiosity got the best of me and I cautiously drew towards it.
After several slow movements I remembered the situation at hand. With rapid steps I pursued the spectacle. The leaves crunched beneath my feet and the twigs snapped under my wait while I bent over into the temperate brush to pick up the doll. The feeling of that thing’s scratchy cotton dress in my palm was one no horror movie ever described. Worse, when I managed to apprehend a better look into its glass face I was left with a soulless appeal. From the cracked contour running down its cheek to the smirk painted on its tarnished lips. My clutch loosened to release the satanic toy back onto the ground. The pressure of the fall triggered a nostalgic nursery tune from the doll. I couldn’t tell from where but the doll began to sing out the sweet rhythm of a song I once knew well. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” There were no words but still they slithered out from the doll’s throat. The tune sounded as if it were being played on a decrepit xylophone, a rusty metallic melody.
“Sunny go inside… I have to find your brother…” I urged, walking away from the doll and hurrying towards road. Hopefully he wouldn’t be there but I knew I should check the last place I wanted to find him, first. My feet slid against the drive-way rocks, rushing towards the road lit by bare street lights. No crawling infant. No crying child. Just the doll’s harmonic, stiffening jingle drifting through the night air. It was as if it was following me. I could hear it as clear as if I was holding it and I summed it all up to a panic attack. The area was desolate. Each house beside Ella’s was peeling paint. Not one looked as though a soul had lived there in years. And with another look around I saw no cars. No one. It was a bazaar happenstance.
“Dyena! Dyena! My baby brother is in here!” Sunny screamed from the window. My heart silenced. The flow of my blood returned to a subtle speed. My shoeless feet were now caliced and my eyes flustered red. The night was going to be normal from here on out. I would see to it. I stepped into the house with a relieved urgency. My eyes were so busy squandering the room I toppled over Patches’ stroller due to lack of caution. Patches and Sunny were nowhere in sight at my first immediate look. Worry had shaken me once more. Until I saw my niece and nephew, quiet, sitting on some stones in the atrium.
My first self derived explanation was that one of Ella’s roommates had come home and saw Patches peddling about the grass of the backyard, decided to pick him up and take him in.
“Sunny…” My tone that of a scolding parent’s. “Why did you take the child gate down…? You know your baby brother isn’t allowed down there.” I retrieved Patches and examined him. He wasn’t hurt which I took to be a blessing from the Gods. Sunny was still quiet and I knew if I let it, everything would scare me tonight. The clock caught my attention and I was alarmed. Eleven o’clock.
“Let’s play in my room…” Sunny suggested in an innocent drone, barely lifting her feet as she walked to the stairs. I was left speechless, not surprised, just unable to construct a sentence appropriate to the situation. I decided I would put Patches’ to bed first, he was tired, which must’ve been why he was so eerily quiet. The house at night was never a reassuring place. The cold air bristled past my skin like a scorned ghost seeking retribution. Though at least the sounds and scenery kept a day to day feel. Everything I could see through the window was still and standard, no dolls or demons, just the trampoline, the sandbox and the stroller sitting next to the garage.
My steps up the stairs were light and yet I was breathless by the time I was at the top. I passed Sunny’s room to see her in the midst of building a block tower. A couple more rooms down and I arrived at the nursery. The only room that, oddly enough, lacked a paranormal air. Though when my foot hit the sky blue threads of the carpet something lit up in Patches. As if I was putting him to death, he began to scream, screech and wail simultaneously. I held him to my being, able to feel his lungs pulsing with the pressure of his anger. Soon the sound was nothing you would expect to hear piercing from a baby’s lips. It was like four different living creatures were being burned alive and their cries were mixed together and escaping out of Patches. I was frightened; I nearly threw the poor thing on the ground. Something was inhuman about him now. As he screamed louder, the room darkened. As the room darkened, my heart silenced.
I was not a good babysitter. It was final. Patches was a challenge I wasn’t going to brave. I placed him down into his crib, rushed out of the room and closed the door. His screams were still vicious but I couldn’t do anything. Besides, at his age they fall asleep better on they’re own. I went back to check on Sunny but I stepped in her room to find it was empty of children. With a heavy sigh I turned around to start down the stairs. Then, before my foot hit the first step I caught sight of a curly-haired head at the bottom. Sunny, I assumed.
“Sunny! Get up here! It’s time for bed!” I called down to her. I saw her head nod but then heard a voice call me from inside her bedroom.
“I’m in here.”
I didn’t get it, I didn’t want to. I turned hastily back around into her bedroom and advanced towards the closet where I was sure she was. Sure enough, I saw her huddled in the corner, the creepy doll clasped in her hands. Like a deep incision into my skull, a headache descended. There in her arms sat the last thing I needed or cared for. I heatedly pulled the ugly thing from her and rushed towards the window.
“What have I said about going outside without my supervision? Especially this late!” I yelled, feeling guilt’s cold hand slap me afterwards. She was just a child. Without a seconds hesitation I threw the doll out the window. It was like I was claiming revenge, like this thing had wronged me. I watched with stone eyes as it’s worn face stared up at me on it’s journey down into the dirt. Then, as my delusions persisted I saw it scowl, it’s lips curl and it’s eyes squint and as it did I heard that tune. My soul shivered. My eyes watered. I was alone, terrified and responsible for two other children and I knew that this would not be the last time tonight I saw that doll. I turned to see Sunny but again she was gone. With dutiful steps I peddled out of the room and rushed to the stairs. It’s mahogany banister cold to my finger tips.
Once at the bottom I swooped around the room, seeing nothing of Sunny. I checked the clock again but I ignored the fact that it was still eleven. With careful precaution I stepped around Sunny’s blocks, not thinking twice about the words written in them, that she had played with her blocks upstairs or that Sunny lacked the ability to write.
“Up here! Up here!” A toddler’s voice cried from upstairs. Thinking through things carefully was a luxury I simply couldn’t afford now. My worn body rushed to her aid, though I was the one in need of support. Like the ending note of a Mozart masterpiece, my last step to the top was glorious but the destination was less than. I didn’t know which room Sunny had called from but my glance immediately swept down to the end of the hall. I had a premonition that a child would be standing at the end of it, in front of the door to the balcony. And sure enough a child did. Curls down to her, rather it’s, shoulders and a torn sundress draping its, well maybe her, ill form. I reversed myself. Terrified, able to feel the evil even though it’s back was turned. Then as my sanity was in question, the girl began to moan.
“Am I your sunshine? Am I your sunshine?” It repeated. It reveled an innocent whine, and I felt it sentence me even before I answered wrong. Then I saw it move, to turn and face me. Before it had completely done so, I could see the maggots slipping down it’s rotting cheek and the peels of purple and black skin crumbling to decay. Just as I wished my being could propel a screech worthy of the fear I was feeling, my ears retrieved a deadly shriek of what I knew for sure, was Sunny.
With a monstrous feat, I slipped downstairs and followed Sunny’s cry. It was hard to detect at first but something in me already knew she was in the atrium. This time as I passed the blocks on the floor I caught notice of their message. A dream, I had nothing left to hope for but that this was all a dream. As if written by demons, put together by satin, the blocks spelled out in an eerily fashion “Buried Alive. No More Sunshine.” Any other day, I would’ve dismissed such a corny, meaningless phrase but as I stepped down into the atrium only to hear Sunny’s continuous screams and not see her, they were too sick to ignore. Instead of Sunny, lying on the ground was the doll. A well expected sight. Though it was no time to dwell in the irony. I threw the doll aside and put my ear to the dirt. I heard her. Her cries for help which we both knew were far from arrival. Tears streamed down my face in such a vigorous manner than even the most vicious bodies of water would submit to.
With my hands I dug into the ground, my nails trapping in clumps of the dirt like my heart was trapping in fear. In the solitude of the dark I began to unravel my nerves, positive this was no realer than the scripted paranormal crap they show on TV. But as I dug into what felt like a grave, my nightmare realized me. The doll, whose song was unpleasant to begin with, began to solo like a broken record, the hymn of my sanity lost. “Take my sunshine away. Take my sunshine away.” It sang repetitively each time ending with a strict staccato. It didn’t stop either it just continued to inform me.
I felt as though I’d reached Sunny but the truth of the matter was my nails had scraped across a cement floor. A cement layering. All the while, Sunny’s childish wails turned into a sickeningly mature plea, simply for me to just let her out. Ella had to be home soon. I would call the police and Ella would be home, I knew it. By morning, even if this wasn’t a supernatural torture of some sort, it would all be over. But when I saw the clock, I lost faith in anything proceeding with a brighter light. It still read eleven o’clock and the sun was far from rising.