Chapter 2
Kids were innocent. They said whatever came to mind.
That was all I could tell myself to feel better.
Maybe Lily just wanted a dad so much that she ended up thinking that ragged doll was her father.
I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in my chest as I took Lily to kindergarten.
All day, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
What was Michael trying to pull?
There was no way he'd suddenly grow a conscience.
There was definitely something off about that doll.
I even started thinking that maybe I should take this thing to a psychic or something, just to see if it was actually cursed.
That afternoon, when I picked Lily up from kindergarten, she was clearly in a bad mood.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked.
"Ms. Davis wouldn't let me bring the doll into the classroom," Lily said.
Lily pouted, her eyes red and teary.
"She said the doll was too old and ugly."
That set me off all over again.
Even the teacher thought the thing was cursed, and Michael had the nerve to send it to his own daughter as a present.
When we got home, I tried to distract Lily by playing with her, hoping she'd forget about the doll.
But no matter what we did, her gaze kept wandering back to the doll sitting on the couch.
At dinner, she even brought the doll to the table, carefully setting out a little plate and spoon for it, just like it was a real guest.
"Lily, dolls can't eat," I said.
"It said it was hungry," Lily insisted.
She stubbornly took her little spoon and tried to feed the dish into the doll's "mouth."
The food clung to the red stitching, standing out in a way that felt oddly unsettling.
I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Lily Carter!" I called out.
I almost never lost my temper with her, and this was the first time I actually used her full name.
Lily was startled, her little body trembling as she let out a loud wail.
Looking at her tear-streaked little face, my heart hurt, but I was also frustrated.
I hugged her close, gently patting her back.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to snap at you.
"But it's just a doll, honey. It can't talk, and it can't eat," I explained.
"It can!" Lily insisted.
She squirmed in my arms, pointing at the doll, her sobs coming in gasps.
"It just talked to me!" Lily cried out.
My heart sank.
This was really starting to get to Lily.
I couldn't wait any longer.
After I finally got Lily to sleep, I sat on the couch in the living room, staring at that doll like my life depended on it.
It was slumped in the corner of the couch, and in the dim light, that black glass eye seemed to glow with a creepy, ghostly light.
I picked it up.
It was really light. There wasn't much stuffing inside, and what little there was felt cheap and flimsy.
I turned it over and over, squeezing every inch of its body, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
No hard lumps, no secret compartments, not even a recording device.
Maybe I was just overthinking this.
Could it really be nothing but a sick joke from my ex?
Exhausted, I threw it back onto the couch and was about to head to bed.
The moment I turned away, I caught something.
It was a barely audible sound, so faint I almost missed it.
It was soft—like the crackle of electricity, or maybe someone whispering secrets in the dark.
The sound was coming from the direction of the doll.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
The living room was eerily quiet, with only the low buzz of the refrigerator in the background.
I held my breath, straining to hear.
There it was again.
The sound was intermittent and unclear, barely more than a whisper in the darkness.
"Help... me..."
I whipped around.
The doll was still lying there, just like before, not moving an inch.
That black glass eye seemed to be staring right at me.
Was I hallucinating?
Had I just been under too much stress lately?
I hurried over, grabbed the doll again, and pressed it right up to my ear.
This time, I heard it loud and clear.
It was a woman's voice, barely a whisper, filled with overwhelming fear and despair.
"He's... watching... me...
"Help... me..."
The voice abruptly stopped.
All that remained was a faint electric buzz.
I jerked back like I'd been burned, hurling the doll away from me.
It hit the wall with a thud, then tumbled to the floor.
That black glass eye glared at me from the darkness, silently fixed on me.
Fear wrapped around me like a net, trapping me in its grip.
There really was something inside that doll.
It was not talking.
It was asking for help!
I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest pair of scissors I could find.
The cold metal in my hand was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.
I didn't care what was inside.
Ghost, demon, or whatever else...
I had to destroy it today.
It had already terrified Lily, and now it was pulling its creepy supernatural act on me.
I couldn't let this cursed thing stay in my house a second longer.
I approached the doll and crouched down in front of it.
I pressed the tip of the scissors against its rough fabric belly.
I took a deep breath and slashed down hard.