The Doll's Keeper

Agatha had a passion for collecting antique dolls. Well most that knew of her would say it was more like an obsession and they would call her the strange doll lady whenever they passed by her house or saw her walking down the street. Agatha was about 60 years old, always wore a pale blue dress that hung below her knees, a white shawl with grey hair pulled back into a bun. No one really knows what sent her down this path but most avoided her home because to them the dolls were just creepy and they would always say it felt like they were being watched. Most of the dolls she had collected came from yard sales, flea markets and the occasional estate sale.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, she was driving down her usual route when she noticed a sign in front of a large mansion that said estate sale and of course she could not resist the urge to stop and check it out. She told herself she had enough dolls but there was never enough. Stepping out of the car she quickly approached and began looking over the items, not interested in anything other than potential items for her growing collection. Tucked away in a box away from most of the other boxes she caught a glimpse of a doll, partially obscured by a blanket sitting on top of most of it. Intrigued she pulled it out of the box and she let out an audible gasp of delight. The doll's face is made of porcelain as are the hands and the bottom half of the legs wearing a very old faded yellow Victorian dress with a yellow ribbon tying back an abundance of blonde curls. The lips were a pale pink with a little bit of chipping in the corners but it was the eyes that stood out to her the most. They were unusually dark and appeared very life-like as if they were watching her.

Something drew her to it and she must have it. Holding on tightly to it she approached the younger looking woman behind one of the tables and introduced herself, proclaiming that she wanted to buy the doll. The woman looked at her and then at the doll before speaking” That doll is not for sale. It must have been set out by mistake.” Agatha was not going to be deterred. “I will pay you whatever you want, I must have it for my collection.”This went back and forth for several minutes but Agatha was not going to back down and finally the granddaughter of the owner who apparently had passed away finally gave in but her final words would later haunt Agatha. “All sales are final” but they were shrugged off because it was something she had heard many times before. Gleefully she tucked the doll under her arms almost skipping her way back to her car with the newest prized possession in her hands. The drive home she bubbled with excitement and anticipation of how it would look amongst the other dolls and she knew exactly where she was going to put it.

Pulling up into the drive way, she swung open the car door and got out. A few neighbors walking their dogs stopped long enough to watch her heading up to her porch with yet another doll in her hands, shaking their heads before continuing on their way. Once inside she shut the door and locked it, her left hand still gripping the doll as she headed to the living room which was her main display. There were dozens of dolls on tables and shelves as well as the mantle above the fireplace and that is where she was going to make room to place it. She took a doll from the center and   moved it to an adjacent table before setting her new acquisition there, a proud pleased smile on her lips as she admired it. She decided that now was a good time to make herself a cup of tea as a way to relax and celebrate her newest purchase.

Humming to herself she did not think about anything else nor did she hear the slightest sounds of movement in the room where she had just left.When she returns with the cup in her hand, she stops frozen in the doorway. The other dolls that had been on the shelf with it had been moved off the shelf and were now sitting on other shelves in the room.She set down her now cooling cup of tea on the table near the door before she steps inside the room, quickly looking around to see if someone had come into the home while she was busy and was messing around with her dolls. There was no sign of anyone having entered since she had locked the door once she arrived home. Stepping a bit closer to the shelf she studied the doll, noticing that its hands were placed neatly on its lap and that was not the way she had left it only moments before. She shook her head slightly, thinking in her excitement she may have forgotten what she had done but the other dolls...she walked over to the shelf where one of the dolls had been moved and realized something strange. Each dolls head was turned to the right or to the left, depending on what side of the new one they were sitting on as if they did not want to look at it

She is convinced someone is messing with her because she knew of the whispers in the neighborhood about the strange lady and her obsession with dolls. Now she felt a little angry as she was determined to put everything back in place so she first tried to fix the head of the first doll but the neck refused to be turned and she would swear that she saw the eyes on it move farther to the right away from where it used to sit as if it was truly trying to avoid looking in that direction.This was not possible she told herself, she had to be tired and the dolls had not been moved from their place for so long. Maybe time had stiffened the material that they were made up of. She let go of that doll and walked across the room to the other side to test another doll to be met with the same refusal to bend to her will.  Shaking her head, she could not comprehend what was going on but out of the corner of her eye she noticed the head of her newest piece staring at her, its head had turned and was now looking in her direction, its lips were slightly parted which she now found very un-nerving.

She decides that she needs to go back to the place where she bought the doll and ask the woman about it and get answers for the strange things that had been happening in her house since bringing it home. When she pulled up in front of the mansion where she had met the young woman and made the purchase she just stared in disbelief. The grass was overgrown, paint was peeling off the walls and the windows were boarded up. It looked nothing like the house she had just visited.She notices the neighbor on the right side of the house tending to her garden so she pulls up and gets out. She introduces herself and asks what happened to the house next door and the granddaughter who was selling items from the house. The neighbor stands up and looks at her with a look of pure confusion on her face and tells her that the house has been boarded up for years after the owner died 7 years ago and the granddaughter had moved away right after the funeral. No one has been near the house since. She thanked the neighbor for the information and started to think that maybe just maybe she was confused.

Getting back into the car she settles into the seat feeling very uneasy about the situation. As she reaches for the keys to start the car her eyes are drawn to something laying across the passenger seat next to her...it was a yellow ribbon. The same color of ribbon that was in the doll's hair before she left the house Now terrified she decides that she does not want to return to the house, that whatever was in it was not good. She always kept a spare suitcase in the trunk in case her travels kept her out longer than she anticipated and she decided that she would stay in a hotel while she figured out what to do next.  She pulled into a hotel parking lot about 20 min away from her home, her hands shaking slightly as she booked a room and carried the suitcase inside the room with her. Setting it on the bed she took a deep breath and opened it expecting to find nothing unusual other than a set of clothing, some personal toiletries and a couple of her favorite books.  Her breath caught in her throat as she was staring down at a small faded yellow dolls dress laying neatly across the top of her own clothing.

The room suddenly became eerily silent, not even the sound of the old air conditioner could be heard. She remained staring at the dress as if it would jump out of the suitcase and bite her, confused and terrified as endless possibilities ran through her mind and none of them made sense. Before she could even wrap her head around the situation there was a quiet tapping at her door but she had not ordered anything to be delivered. It paused for about 5 seconds, then 3 more knocks this time louder. Before she had the chance to even respond she heard a voice that sent a chill into the very depths of her bones “ I said all sales are final.”

Her hands shook as she approached the door, pressing her ear against the wood. There was no sound. Slowly, she unlocked it and pulled it open, fully expecting to see the young woman standing in the hallway. No one was there. But as she turned back toward the room, she caught a glimpse of the doll lying naked on the floor, waiting to be redressed.

It appeared that no matter what she did or where she went, it would find her.

Avoiding its face, she knelt and picked up the heavy, cold body. She carried it to the bed, and with trembling precision, smoothed out the yellow Victorian dress before putting it on the doll. She straightened the lace, and tied the ribbon back into its hair. She laid the doll on top of her clothes and clicked the suitcase shut with a heavy sigh of defeat. Whatever possessed the piece had no intention of letting her escape. She might as well go home.

The suitcase sat on the passenger seat next to her during the long drive back. The radio stayed off, the silence inside the car absolute as her knuckles turned white against the steering wheel. Every now and then she would glance towards it, half expecting it to find the suitcase had opened and that the doll would be sitting on top of it staring at her.  The drive felt like an eternity and she dreaded the very thought of returning to the home with the doll still with her. 

When she pulled into her driveway, the house looked entirely different. It now felt hollow like it had been turned inside out.  She climbed the front steps, the heavy suitcase swinging in her right hand. She pushed open the front door, stepped inside, and let out a jagged breath as the latch clicked shut behind her. Her feet felt glued to the floor refusing to move her any farther because all she wanted to do is drop the suitcase and jump back into her car, driving as far away and as fast as possible but she knew deep down it would be pointless.

Unzipping the luggage on the floor, she lifted the doll and carried it into the living room. The moment she placed it back on the center shelf, she froze. A look of absolute horror was now permanently plastered across the faces of her other dolls. They were completely frozen in terror having moved themselves to the farthest shelves in the room. Stepping backward into the hallway, she turned off the lights letting the house be enveloped in darkness. She sank into a chair, staring blindly toward the open doorway of the doll room, and realized a dark truth about her life.

She would never be able to purchase another doll for her collection.  She knew deep down that she would never be able to leave the house again. Her time out in society running to and from flea markets, yard sales and estate sales was over. The house she once loved and treasured was now her prison. She was no longer just a collector...she had become the dolls' personal caretaker, waiting for the day the entity decided it had no more use for her.