Chapter 1.

Doll.

My grandmother kept a case full of these old Dolls, including Barbies, porcelain, plush, and clay. They were all in that one case in our dining room. We were eating dinner as a family, aunts, uncles, and cousins were all there. I glance over to the doll case from my seat and then back down at my plate. My eyes dart back up. ‘What the hell was that?‘ my thoughts immediately question, a doll I had never seen before sat there, in the case, without its head. I blink a few times. Staring at the doll. My grandmother tapped me on the shoulder, snapping my thoughts and gaze back to the table. “Could you pass me the salt, Cora?” She asks, I nod, glancing at the case while handing her the salt.

 “Are you alright, Cor?” My mom asks, seeming to have noticed my staring at the doll case.

 “Y-” I’d clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m alright Mom.” I gave my best nod, trying to seem fine and not bothered by the strange, hopefully, Kool-Aid-covered doll thats headless in my grandmother's doll case. 

“Alright…” She spoke hesitantly, not believing me but letting me off the hook...

After dinner I kept looking at the case, not seeing the doll anymore. I tried to go up and hide in my room but was forced to stay downstairs and hang out with family even though all they were talking about was politics. My cousins and I were bored, all sitting in a circle on the floor whispering about random school stories and how math class was a waste of time (which I disagree with, yes you won’t use trigonometry unless you were going into rocket science, but unless you want to be scammed out of your money then don’t complain).  My cousin, Samuel, suggested a game of hide and seek, but outside, some rooms were off-limits.  I agreed, standing up as my cousins headed upstairs. “ You'll have 1 minute and 33 seconds to hide, remember, outside is off limits, Mommom and Poppop's room is off-limits, and Uncle James and Auntie Rose's room is off limits,” My eldest cousin, Valorie said, covering her eyes with her hands and sitting down on the floor. 

“ 1…2…3…4” She started to count without warning.

The others and I ran down the steps, Sam and I turned the corner and swung the basement door open, running down another set of steps. I quickly hid beneath the stairs, hiding in the dark. I saw my cousin hide in the fallout shelter, probably hiding in a small space. I stayed quiet, but then…... I saw it.

Chapter 2.

Bloodied Prints

I saw the headless doll, standing in my old, under-construction basement, I covered my mouth with my hand, staring at the doll. Did I hear it…breathing? I couldn’t alert my cousin. Wait, why was I so scared!? It's a doll! I could punt it like a football! I gained the courage to step out of my hiding place and ran to join my cousin in his spot. Not looking back at the doll.  

“Hey! Get your spot, Cora! “ Sam shoved me lightly.

“Shut up for a second!!” I whispered-yelled, shoving him back. 

“Go poke your head outside and see what's out there,” I tell him, putting a hand on his shoulder to direct him outside of the fallout zone. I stayed seated in the corner, trying to shrink into the dark.  Sam’s eyes widened as he saw the headless doll.

“Why is it so close??” He asks, turning back to me

“What?”  I stood up, leaning over to see what he meant. My eyes also widened, jaw dropped. The doll had moved closer. Alright, noted. Don’t go near the potato sack wearing a headless doll. 

“It seems like it's slow…Listen, we are going to run past it” Before I could give Sam a chance to respond, I grabbed his arm and ran past the doll, almost screaming when I felt it trying to reach how and grab my leg. I run back up the basement stairs, swinging the door back open and shutting it when Sam is next to me. I let out a breath I was holding, looking down at the floor. But I stop. The floor was stained with a bloodied footprint.

It felt as if something had sucked all the air out of me, and all I could do was stare. Sam was also staring at the floor. 

“ what..on earth! “ I finally spoke up.  “We don’t have fruit punch in the house, And I do not want to believe that is blood!” I exclaimed, finally able to take my eyes off of the prints. 

“Yeah, uhm, you might have to believe it is,” Sam mutters, stepping over the prints and into the living room.   “Cora! Do you know if everybody went outside or something??”  I look over, seeing the living room empty, and it sounds like the dining room and kitchen are also empty.

“Uhm, I didn’t hear them leaving, you think Valorie and Nick are still here?” I step behind him. Looking around to see if I could spot Nick’s hiding spot. 

“Val might’ve just stopped looking, Nick could still be hiding..or he could’ve followed after Valorie like he always does..” This was confusing, why was the whole house silent? What's with the footprints? Why in hell was a headless doll in our basement, breathing and moving!?

Me and Sam searched the house, finding No Val, No Nick, No Uncle James nor Aunt Rose, the only people who seemed to be left in the house were Me, Sam, and my two dogs, Kingsley and Remus. I sat on the couch, legs crossed while Sam had a look outside. My thoughts were running a whole marathon. ‘Why on God's green earth would they be outside!? It's 8:30 at night’ 

said thought of mine, then I remembered most of my relatives smoked, so they could be outside having a quick conversation and cigarette break. But, why at 8:33 at night?

I heard the front door open, my head snapped towards the direction of Sam stepping inside. 

“Anything?” I asked, standing up from the couch.

 Sam shook his head, my lips turned down.

“No? Really? Not even a single trace”  I pushed, wanting to get whatever information Sam had out of him. 

“Just the ash from the Ash-tray, it's older, though” I frowned even more when he said this.

“What about the cars? Are they still there?”  I continued to ask.

“The cars are still here, It's like they spontaneously combusted into thin air!” He paced around the room. It was easy to see we were both panicking in different ways. 

“Calm down!”   

“I am Calm!”  This was going nowhere, but we still spent 30 minutes arguing like small children. 

“This is, going nowhere,” I said, now slouched down on the couch.  “Obviously"  Sam responded. Also slouching down on an armchair. ‘Where could everyone have gone…WAIT’  I jumped up from my chair, and ran over to the basement door “We didn’t lock the…door..”  I stopped and stared, frozen as a block of ice. The doll was there, standing in its horrific glory. It took a step forward, I took a step back, it took a step forward, I took one back, Forward, Back, Forward, Back, Then I ran, I ran to the front door, swinging it open and shutting it. ‘GOOD LUCK SAM!’  I thought, running out into the yard. God, this was weird, why was there a Headless doll in my house? Did Mommom know about this? My thoughts were going a mile a minute, I stared at my house. Suddenly I felt nauseous, I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Gripping onto a tree for support, My vision was dancing with blurs of light. ‘What's…happening?’  were my last thoughts before I blacked out.

I woke up in my basement again, lying in my hiding spot. “Did I fall asleep?” I groggily mumbled, sitting up. My head was pounding. I groaned, looking around. “Saaaam??” I Called out, crawling out of the spot under the stairs. Silence was the response  “Sam?” Worry started to seep through in my voice, I stood up and got to my feet, walking over to Sam’s spot. When I looked in the fallout shelter I saw no Sam, only a doll that was seated in his place.  I reached out and picked up the doll, it was cold, made out of wool, and cotton. And looked exactly like…Sam

I didn’t know if I was hallucinating, dreaming, or just going insane. I hoped this was some sick joke. I let out a shaky breath I didn’t even know I was holding.  My thoughts screamed at each other. I slapped the side of my head as if that was going to shut them up. I picked up the doll, holding it close as I made my way out of the basement.   When I stepped into the living room it was still empty, my dogs were also nowhere to be found. I sat on the couch, setting the Sam Look-Alike-Doll next to me. I stared into the distance, But then a movement caught my eye.