I went to pick up the newspaper and as I read the headline it said, “Child snatched in broad daylight. Witnesses claimed to have seen a psychotic woman with plastic doll skin patches on her face and neck. Rumored to make marionettes and dolls from human remains. If sighted, or if you have any information please contact police.”
I threw the paper down and sat down to drink some tea. As I drank the tea I began to think about what the headline said. ‘A psychotic woman with plastic doll skin patches on her face and neck.’ I hadn’t thought about her in ten years. Not since my encounter when I was a kid. I couldn’t let another kid or adult die.
So I called the police and I agreed to tell them what I knew. I went to the police station and I told them everything from the beginning.
“When I was five or six rumors of a woman we called Dollface quickly spread like wildfire. She killed kids and adults. One day while I was heading home from school, I decided to take a shortcut through the woods and as I got halfway through I was hit in the head and passed out.
When I woke up I was tied to a chair inside what looked to be an abandoned toy store, and when the lights turned on I knew I was right. There were broken registers covered in cobwebs, and broken toys were covered in dust. I tried to scream but I was gagged. As I struggled to get out of the chair I heard someone skipping and humming. When the person came out I knew it was Dollface. I saw that half of her face had plastic doll skin sewn on. She also had a patch sewn on to her neck. While I continued to struggle she smiled and said, “So glad you could make it for our playdate. I’ve been so lonely.”
As I looked around I saw dolls and marionettes, but they didn’t look right. It looked like there was some dried blood on all of them! I started to cry. While I was crying Dollface said, “Aww, what’s wrong? Are you not having fun with my friends? Don’t worry, I will fix that.” When she pulled out a knife I began to bounce in the chair as hard as I could! She walked up to me and said, “Now, now, now, there’s no need to be freaking out like that. We’re going to have a lot of fun.” When I heard that I bounced even harder in the chair until it finally broke! Once I was free I kicked Dollface in the knee and made her drop the knife.
I grabbed the knife and ran off! As I ran through the store I could hear her running and laughing crazily as she said, “Come play with me!” I ran up to the second floor. While I hid I found a flashlight and ran to the back of the store. When I got to the storage warehouse I turned on the flashlight. As I took a look I had to muffle my scream! I realized what the dolls and marionettes were made of as I walked around and took a closer look. Human body parts!
As I remained hidden the woman came in and said, “I see you met my other friends. They’ve been waiting for a new little playmate.” I tried to keep quiet while trying not to gag from the smell of dead bodies. I did my best to cover my nose while Dollface was still looking for me. After a few minutes I couldn’t take the smell anymore and I threw up. Dollface heard me and ran after me! I managed to run back into the main part of the store with Dollface close behind! I ran into one of the toy shelves and slumped down out of sight. Dollface kicked the door open, and as she breathed heavily with anger she looked around and said, “More hide-and-seek? Fine. Ollie, ollie oxen free, ready or not here I come.”
While she was searching I found some twine and used it as trip wire. I set up the twine, and made some noise to get her to come to where I was. As she continued to search I pulled on the twine and she fell! Once she was on the ground I jumped on top of her and we began to fight each other. We were rolling and tumbling, and knocking the shelves over! She almost pinned me, but I started scratching at her face! During the struggle I caught the doll skin on her face and tore it off! She covered the right side of her face as she screamed in pain. When she uncovered her face I screamed in horror! The right side of her face was like a rotting corpse with maggots and everything! I ran to the baseball section of the store and I threw up again. When I saw her coming I recovered just enough to grab a baseball bat. As she got closer I hid in the shadows. With more heavy, angry breathing she said, “Alright, kid! Game over!” When she finally got close enough I hit her in the back of the head with the baseball bat and knocked her out with one swing.
Once I got away from the store and got through the woods I threw up a third time. After a few minutes of walking I found a payphone and called my parents. When they picked me up I told them what happened, but they thought I hit my head and got turned around. They never believed me.” When I finished my story and told them where the abandoned store was the police thanked me and sent me on my way.
As I headed home I thought about the missing kid and wishing that there was more I could do. While I was waiting for the metro bus I thought I heard rustling in the bushes. I turned around, but there was nothing there. Once the bus came I climbed on and paused cause I thought I heard a familiar voice that whispered, “Come play with me.”
