Doll Face

                                                                                 

                                                                                          DOLLFACE



"Mommy mommy, look!"

Susan spun around and tried to grab her daughter's arm before she could run off, but the little girl was too fast.

"Ellie STOP! Come back here right now."

They had been waiting in line at the supermarket for five minutes already and Susan had no desire to give up her spot in order to chase the over-excited child through the market.
The girl stopped just short of the toy aisle.
Dancing in place she gave her mother a pleading look.

"But mooom" she whined. "I have to show you!", and with that she darted into the aisle, out of sight.

"Crap and a half" thought Susan.

She smiled apologetically at her fellow shoppers and with a sigh, stepped out of the line.
As irritated as she was, she resolved not to get too angry with her daughter.
After all, Ellie would be turning five years old in a couple of days and could barely contain her excitement. In fact this week had been wrought with things Ellie just had to show her.
Exasperated she turned into the aisle and saw Ellie, squatting and staring fixedly at the bottom shelf of the doll section.

"Ellie, I told you to come back, now we're going to have to wait in line all over again!" she said, sternly.

Ellie presented her best puppy dog face, used for occasions such as these. "I'm sorry mommy, but LOOK!" She pointed and smiled. "I want her. Pleeease can I have her?" 

She was pointing at a doll in a gray box.

"Ellie" she sighed, "I know you're looking forward to your birthday, but you can't just run off every time you want to show me something. You've already shown me, like, a hundred different things. Enough is enough!"  She went to take her daughter's arm, "I promise, you'll get something you like from your endless list".

"No! I don't want anything else, I just want her", Ellie looked almost worried now. "I have to" she added hopefully.

"There's that phrase again" thought Susan. Have to was becoming extremely popular in Ellie's vocabulary, used whenever she wanted anything.
"Oh DO you now!" She said, "You mean you want her more than the "Sweet Sally" doll you showed me yesterday?"

"YES!"

..."Aaaand the "Freddy'cute'Teddy" you told me you just had to have last Monday?"

"Uh huh, yes! I want her more than anything, Ann is my friend!" The little girl was frantic now; she really seemed to mean it.

"Ann huh?" She looked at the doll and frankly couldn't understand why this doll captured her daughter's attention more than previous selections.

The shelves were lined with dolls of every kind, in colorful boxes with eye-catching tag lines. Walking Dolls. Talking Dolls. Pissing Dolls.

Dull was easily the first word that came to mind when she regarded this doll. It was non-descript, wearing plain clothes in faded colors.
Its hair was black, with no shine. Pale skin. Eyes a dull gray, staring out of a face that held no expression, except for the mouth.
Lips curved at one side in a half smile, almost sly.
The box was devoid of pictures and color. It had only one claim. "Takes your voice", written in bold letters along the side.
She chuckled at the bad translation.
It didn't say anything else, or display a name.

"Why do you call it Ann?" she asked.

"Because, that's her name" said Ellie, the implied "Duh" hanging off every syllable.

"OK OK, sheesh, just asking" She ran her fingers through her daughter's auburn curls.
"But guess what? You're just going to have to wait until Saturday and see what happens. Now let's go! , I would like to get home sometime today if possible".

                                               
                                                                                            ***

It was Saturday night, and the party was over. Ellie was upstairs playing.
Susan whistled under her breath as she wiped off the kitchen counter.

"Mommy, my throat hurts." Ellie was standing in the doorway, holding her new doll by the wrist."...and I'm tired". Her bottom lip jutted forth in a sad pout.

Ellie's voice did sound rather raspy. "Come here and let me feel your forehead" instructed Susan, holding out her hand.
Ellie didn't feel hot, a little cool if anything.

"You don't seem to have a fever". Susan brushed away a stray strand of her daughter's hair, tucking it behind her ear. "You know, it's been a long and busy day, maybe you're just worn out?

"Yeah" agreed Ellie. "Can I go to sleep?" she asked "because I'm wored out?"
Susan smiled, "worn out" she corrected, "...and yes, you can go to sleep. Why don't you run along and I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in. I just need to finish up here first."

"Okay", Ellie yawned and climbed the stairs, dragging her feet on each step.

Susan thought about the day as she unloaded the dishwasher.
The party had whizzed by in a flurry of screaming little girls.
Ellie had opened her presents as if her life depended on it, screeching delightedly at every little gift. She didn't open anything from Susan until the guests left and it was just the two of them.
Her reaction as she unwrapped the doll, the one she called "Ann", had been absolutely priceless. She'd let out a loud gasp and thrown her arms around Susan before ripping the doll out of its box. "Thank you thank you thank you!!" she'd squealed as she unzipped the doll's dress at the back and revealed two buttons on its shoulder. Pressing one, she'd spoken into the doll's mouth, "I love you mommy!". She then pushed the second button, smiling brightly at Susan, and listened in awe as the doll repeated the words in Ellie's voice...

Finished, Susan closed the dishwasher door and headed upstairs to Ellie's bedroom.
The light was already off, but the moon was bright, bathing Ellie's face in its pale glow. Susan saw that her eyes were closed. She tiptoed toward the bed and pulled the covers up to her daughter's chin.
Bending down to kiss her cheek, she felt her heart miss a beat. Her little girl's skin was ice cold and strange to the touch.

"Ellie?" She listened intently and put her hand close to Ellie's mouth to feel her breath, but she couldn't.

"ELLIE!?" She screamed, shaking her daughter. "Ellie, please, wake UP!"

She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and hoisted her up into a sitting position. "Come on honey".
Ellie's eyes suddenly snapped open, staring through Susan.
Vacant.
Glassy.
Dead....


                                                                                          ***


"Keep going, tell me what happened next". The detective spoke softly.

"I...I guess I must have called for help and..." Susan was in shock, her memory hazy. 

"You told the operator that your daughter was dead, is that correct?" The man was tired. They had been interrogating this woman for two hours. She'd been speaking incoherently when they brought her in, and they still had a long way to go.

The word "dead" grated on Susan's nerves and she flinched, her face twisting in pain. She nodded, shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"I want you to think very carefully. Where is your daughter now?"

"I told you, she's still in her bed...it's...she changed! She was dead...and then she..." Susan's voice trailed off as the images haunted her. She hadn't noticed the change at first. At some point she had switched on the light, while talking to the operator, and seen the difference.
Ellie still sat, just as Susan had left her when she ran, screaming, for the phone.
Her hair hung limp, black, lackluster. Gone were the auburn curls. Her eyes remained wide open, a dull gray stare.

"...They're not supposed to be gray"" she said to the detective absent-mindedly.

"Excuse me? What's not supposed to be gray?" he asked.

"Her eyes. They should be green...and her skin...it's all wrong."

The detective sighed, this wasn't going anywhere. The woman was delusional, spouting the same nonsense she'd told the officer at the scene.
"Ah yes, you told officer Roberts that your daughter had turned into a doll. Honestly, let's be sensible, we both know that can't be true, come on...maybe you had a fight?...I don't believe you meant to hurt her..."

"I would never hurt my daughter!" Susan rose from her seat, slamming the table. "She changed, I...I swear" she looked at the detective through red-rimmed eyes, her face a mask of misery.

The detective rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. He knew he wasn't going to get any results tonight.

"Alright, tell you what. We're going to take a little break now, let you sleep. Maybe you'll be able to see things more clearly in the morning."



                                                                                          *** 


                                                 
"I love you mommy"

Susan stretched out on the bed "Mmm, I love you too honey".
Then she remembered. Ellie's vacant eyes, the police, the interrogation room... She had been arrested. Had it all been a dream?

"I love you mommy!"

Heart pounding, she bolted upright.
"Ellie, honey!" she looked around, but was met only with the cold glare of the holding cell.
It wasn't a dream. Ellie was really dead.
"No" thought Susan bitterly. "Not just dead... Transformed..." Her daughter had literally become a doll. She was aware that the notion was absolutely insane. That's what the police thought too, which was why she was here.
She also knew it was true. It had to be.
Flashes of memory played across her mind. Her stomach heaved and she ran to the toilet, gagging, but nothing came out except bile and grief.
She felt hollow, as if her own life had been extinguished the moment she met her daughter's dead gaze.

"I love you mommy!"

Susan jerked around.
"Ellie!" she cried out. Was she losing it? It was her daughter's voice...

"I love you mommy"

...yet it sounded slightly different. It had an echo to it, and she could detect a faint static sound.

"I love you mommy"

"Ellie's doll...Ann! ", she thought, her heart sinking as she remembered the message her daughter had recorded. A feeling of dread crept up her spine. She didn't remember seeing it since...

"Takes your voice" the box had promised... "and your life" she said out loud and grimaced as hot tears scathed her cheeks.

"I love you mommy"

The voice was coming from under the cot.
She crossed the cell floor quickly and reached under the cot with determination. She wasn't afraid, she had nothing left to be afraid for. She knew what she would find there, and she was furious.

"I love you mommy!"

"Shut UP!" She screamed in rage as her hand grasped an arm and she yanked the doll out.
It was certainly "Ann". The blank expression, creepy Mona Lisa smile and dull gray stare... But she wasn't quite the same. The color in her dress was richer. Her skin had lost its sickly pallor and felt softer, more vibrant, and her hair...Auburn curls, just like Ellie's had been.


"You did this!"  Her grip tightened around the doll's arm and she grabbed its neck with her other hand. "You KILLED my Ellie!"

"I love you mommy"

"No! You don't get to use her voice!" She zipped down the doll's dress to rip out the batteries, but the battery compartment was gone, along with the buttons.

"I love you mommy!"

"No! STOP IT!" Susan turned and thrust the doll toward the security camera in the cell's corner. She was trembling with anger.  "Can you see? This...Thing!? This thing took my daughter! Please...Please help me" She sobbed.
She looked into the doll's eyes. "Admit it!" she growled.
She half expected the doll to move, to say something else or attack her, by now she almost wished it would.
Nothing happened; its blank face remained still, mocking her...

"I love you mommy!"

"Why? Why do you torture me?"  She was screaming with all her might, but it came out as a hoarse croak and her throat burned with the effort. She grabbed the doll's head. "I'm going to rip you apart, starting with this" she whispered and pulled.
The doll's head didn't budge and she realized with horror that she was too weak.
Her body felt heavy, her thoughts muddled.
She sank slowly to the floor, unable to keep herself up, and sat with her back up against the cot.

"I love you mommy"

"...!" She tried to cry, to talk, but her words were silent.
Her hand was numb and she realized she was still gripping the doll tightly. She let go of it.
Beads of crimson sprouted from the doll's arm, where Susan's nails had dug into the flesh. She noticed blood on her fingertips with detachment.

"I love you mommy"

She was too exhausted to fight anymore. The numbness spread throughout her body, and her muscles grew stiff. The guards hadn't shown up but she didn't wonder why. She didn't care anymore. She gave up and waited for the end, hoping to be reunited with her daughter soon.
It was almost over.

The doll blinked once, slowly, and Susan saw color blooming in its eyes. Sky blue, the same as hers. She wondered whether her own eyes were changing and imagined their color draining away...

...It was the last thought Susan ever had.



                                                                                          ***

The guard was on his midnight rounds when he noticed Susan, sitting motionless on the floor of her cell.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" he asked, reaching for his keys.
She didn't respond, so he opened the door and with caution, stepped into the cell.

"Ma'am?"  He repeated and approached her slowly. Then he froze.
Her eyes were wide open, glassy. Dull gray stare fixed on the opposite wall.

"Oh shit!"  He knelt down beside her and checked for her pulse but immediately snapped his hand back, shocked. Her skin felt really strange, like rubber...or plastic.
Realization slowly dawned on him as he inspected her more closely.
With shaking hands he reached for his radio and spoke.

"..This...uhm...this is John, I need someone down in cell two right now! The woman here is...she's dead or..." he rubbed his eyes and looked back at the woman, still not believing.

"Dead? What are you talking about, I'm looking at the camera as we speak and I don't see you. She's just lying on the cot...Looks asleep to me" said the voice from the radio" Are you all right?"

"Yes...No!...I mean..., she's not sleeping she's...She's a doll, a fucking doll!" The words sounded crazy as he said them, but he knew they were true.

"A doll? John what the hell is going on?"

"Please, I can't explain... just send someone down here. Quick!" He could hear the panic rising in his own voice.

John was so distraught as he hovered over Susan, trying to make sense of the situation, that he didn't notice the little girl emerging from under the bed, and sneaking out the cell door

Ann walked out unnoticed, cradling her arm, still bleeding.
Her beautiful auburn hair fell in rich curls around her slender shoulders and her bright blue eyes shone with excitement.
She smiled to herself, a half smile, almost sly.
She took a deep, happy breath.
Finally, she was back.
A Real Girl...