I woke up this morning with a sad look on my face. It has been almost a month since my sister Lily died. The doctor’s said that she probably had a stroke, or a heart attack, but I didn’t think that was true. I never stopped remembering how afraid and depressed I was when she died. Just little voices in my head telling me about some strange thing that had killed her. I tried to ignore them, but they just kept on appearing in my head over and over again. I wanted them to stop, but it wasn’t easy.
I went downstairs, with a smile on my face to fool my parents that I was happy...but I wasn’t. Never in my 14 years of living in this world have I been this unhappy about anything. I looked over to see my mom and dad sitting eating breakfast at the table. “Hey mom. Hey dad.” I said, trying my best to stay happy. “Hey Katie. How did you sleep?” My mom asked looking really tired. “Fine.” I grabbed a glass from the cupboard, and poured some warm water in it. “Are you ok?” She said with a worried voice. “Yes I’m ok.” I went back upstairs to drink the warm water. I haven’t been eating as much as I used to, ever since my sister’s death.
A few hours later, I heard a knock on my door. It was weird, because me and my family live in a house in the middle of the countryside with no other houses around for miles. As I opened the door, I couldn’t see anyone. All I could see was a strange doll sitting by the right end of the door. Her hair was tied in braids, she had creepy button eyes, and a wide grin on her face. How did you get here? I wondered to myself. I then decided to take the doll in with me. That was probably the biggest mistake I had ever made. My parents didn’t notice that I was carrying a doll behind my back. It wasn’t such a big deal that I brought a doll into my house...at least, that’s what I thought.
The hallway lights kept on flickering, as if the power was about to go out. “Maybe it’s just the electrical box thing.” I whispered, looking around at the lights. I felt chills from all that was happening. After about a few seconds, the lights stopped flickering. Instead, the power went out, just as I expected. At first I thought the doll did it, but it was just sitting on top of my bed. It was nighttime, so I couldn’t see anything, not even the doll. Just as the power went back on, the doll vanished. I thought it was just my imagination, but I was wrong. When I went downstairs, I saw that the doll was sitting on top of the shelf. Maybe this could have been one of those “Elf on the Shelf” toys that appear somewhere else each day. It didn’t look like it though. In fact, it looked frightening to see.
I noticed that each time that I turned the light off in the bathroom, it would turn back on again. I would get really annoyed, and a little bit worried. My parents didn’t notice the strange things that are happening to the house. I tried my hardest to tell them, but they would be too busy to answer. I would yell at them, or I would beg them to believe me, but they would just send me to my room. They thought that since we live in an old house, it would have a few minor problems. I, however, had something else in mind. Maybe the doll was behind all of this.
When I went up to the bathroom to wash my hands, the doll was sitting on the counter holding a sharp blade in her stitched up hands. It was weird because dolls can’t hold things. Can they? I was terrified of knives, especially in scary stories and movies that I have seen. I never wanted to go inside that bathroom ever again. But I would have to go in, despite me being terrified of it. My parents never went inside that bathroom. It was just for and me and my sister, well now just me. I was starting to think, “Did the doll do it?”
It has been about a week since I’ve had this doll. I haven't slept at all since then. I had dark circles around my eyes, and my hair was so messed up, it was hard to untangle. My parents noticed my lack of sleep at night, so they took me to the doctor. They said that I have a lack of sleep because of anxiety. They gave me special medications that could help me sleep better, but they didn’t work as well as I thought. The anxiety just doubled as I took them.
I was getting really nervous, and afraid of what’s going to happen next. Is the doll going to pop out of nowhere and scare me? My anxiety was getting worse everyday. I couldn’t take it anymore. I new that the doll that I found on my doorstep, was the cause of all the things that are happening in my house, and I had to put an end to it. I went upstairs to where the doll was sitting on my bed, and I took it and started throwing it across the room. “Why can’t you just LEAVE ME ALONE!!” I screamed, almost about to have a panic attack. Tears were running down the sides of my cheeks. Anxiety in my body racing drastically as each second passed. I took a breath for a few moments, coughing and sobbing. When I got back up, I was so afraid that I wanted to tear that doll apart. I grabbed the doll forcefully, shivers and goosebumps all throughout my arms and legs, and I threw it at the window, shattering the glass. When I saw the doll, a little bit of stuffing fell out of it.
I thought that it was all over, until I saw a little black cloud hovering above me. I did not know what it was. I tried my best not to say anything rude, or even say anything at all. Was I dreaming? The adrenaline in my body, was still increasing. I was totally still, not moving an inch. I stared at it for almost a full minute and it didn’t move at all.  When it did move, I was really frightened that it was going to hurt me, but instead, it left a small note and flew out of the shattered glass window. When I read the note, it said, “My work here is done…”