Doll's house

‘’Don’t be scared… we just wanna play…’’

Those words have always made me feel terrified. They remind me things I want to forget, they remind me things that should never have happened. 

For anyone who wants to know about it, here’s my story. 

When I was just a little child, I used to visit my grandmother for Christmas. 

One year, my parents have to work until Christmas day, so I had to spend two weeks and the Christmas day include with my grandma.

She had a black cat called Dolly and her house was always full of little and smiling dolls. I didn’t really like those dolls, and I always tried to keep far of them. They made me feel nervous without no reason. 

 That year, on Christmas Eve, I was bored so I decided to play with the cat. I tried to find out Dolly, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. I decided to ask my grandmother when I saw the cat entering a dark room at the end of the corridor. I decided to follow her, curious. Especially because this room was always forbidden for me and I have the suspicion that was there where my grandma hid my Christmas’ presents. However, before I could take a step, my grandma appeared from nowhere. 

-Where were you going, darling?-she smiled.

-It’s the cat, grandma.-I explained, pointing to the room. 

-Oh, I see…-her eyes shone on a different and creepy way-What a naughty kitty…-I started to feel frightened when she turned to me and said, on a pleasant voice-It’s getting late… why don’t you try to sleep a little bit?

Even it was only 7.30, I didn’t dare to disobey her, but I couldn’t sleep anything. Every time I closed my eyes, horrible nightmares came out on my mind. 

Finally, at midnight, I decided to get up and go downstairs. Maybe if I could see and open some of the presents, I’ll sleep better, I said to myself. 

It was too dark, but I didn’t want to turn the light on because I didn't want to wake up my grandma.

I was surprised when I went to the corridor and I saw the door of the room open. It was the only light all over the house. 

As I got closer to the door, I started to hear someone whispering. It actually felt like there were a lot of people trying to speak at the same time. 

I came into the room, waiting for something terrifying to happen, but the only thing I saw there was…

-Dolls?-I asked, confused. It seemed my grandma’s room for all her weird dolls. I felt a little disappointed. 

Even I didn’t feel comfortable between all those dolls with creepy smiles and big and crystallized eyes, I decided to take a look around. 

I heard the whispers again, even more clearly, near my ear: 

-We wanna play… Play with us… Play with us… 

Some of the dolls had lost one of her arms, others an eye… 

-We just wanna play… Play with us… 

They look even more and more disturbing by every step I took. 

-Play with us…

But the worst of all was that they started to seem human. 

-Don’t be scared, we just wanna play…

Suddenly, my heart stopped beating. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I got closer. And it was there. Her big yellow eyes opened, her ears up, and a big and terrifying smiled, showing her teeth. Someone had converted Dolly in a kind of sinister doll. But… who? Whoever want to…?

-Be one of us… 

I felt a presence behind me. I turned slowly, and I screamed, shocked. My grandma was there. She had a red shine in her eyes, and a big smile covering all her face. On one of her hands, she was holding a pair of scissors. 

-Oh, it seems that you find out my secret, darling.-she laughed-You’ll be a beautiful doll. Do you agree…?

-Yes, he’ll be one of us… -all the dolls replied, laughing. 

I tried to run, but the dolls caught me with her little hands, laughing louder and louder. 

-We wanna play… we wanna play with you… 

I woke up and I saw my parents there, holding my hands. They seemed really worried. 

-What… What happened?-I asked, with a terrible headache.

-Thanks, God! You’re ok!-my mother started crying. 

-Damn it… I knew that we shouldn't leave you alone at home…

-Wait… What… I wasn’t alone, I was at grandma’s home…-I just realized that the room has completely changed. It was empty, and the dolls weren’t there. Was it all a bad dream?

My parents looked at me, with the pain shining in their eyes. 

-Oh, honey…-my mother said-You grandma died seven years ago. You've never met her. 

At that moment, I felt something holding my arm. I rose it and there was another doll, looking at me and smiling.

-There’s no escape. Let’s play…