Emily’s Doll

“Don’t go to far,” Emily’s mom whispered.

“Of course not, mommy. And don’t worry, I have my Emmy doll for protection,” Emily replied. Emily was four and eager to explore the woods just beyond her cabin.

“That’s a good girl,” Mom said.

“Bye, mommy,” Emily said and waved enthusiastically before running off.

Those would be Emily’s last words to her parents before venturing deeper into the forest than she had ever gone before and getting lost.

Emily was so busy playing with her doll she didn’t even realize she was lost until the sun went down.

“Mommy, mommy,” Emily shouted, but to no avail. Nobody heard Emily, because Emily was in the middle of nowhere.

Emily, shaking and frightened, put her thumb in her mouth and went to sleep with her Emma doll tightly in her grasp.

By the time Emily’s parents realized Emily wasn’t home, it was dark out.

“Where’s Emily?” John asked.

“I’m not sure. Emily, are you in your room? Come down,” Chloe shouted.

John and Chloe searched the house for their daughter and found nothing. They ran into the woods, searching through the night.

They searched tirelessly for their daughter, shouting out her name as loud as they could. But their calls went unanswered. They went back and got a few neighbors to help, and they searched through the night.

Morning came. John and Chloe were exhausted and about to head back home and call the police when they noticed Emily’s doll in a clearing. Excited, they ran to collect the doll.

“Emily,” they shouted. But no answer.

“Where is she? Do you think she’s ok?” Chloe ask, tears in her eyes.

“She’s fine, dear. She’ll be ok, she always is. Let’s go home and call the police, they’ll find her,” John said. Chloe gave John a hug and cried on his shoulder.

They took the doll home and Chloe put it on a shelf.

John was on the phone with the police.

“Yes, we need the police out here right away. Our daughters is missing,” John explained.

As Chloe turned around to walk away from the doll, she saw it’s eyes follow her.

She turned back around. She couldn’t believe what she saw. She moved back and forth to see if it would happen again, and the dolls eyes followed.

“What the…” Chloe said.

“Momma..” the doll said.

“Aaahh,” Chloe shouted and jumped back.

“Momma, momma, momma,” the doll repeated.

“Oh my god, Emily? John, come here, you have to hear this,” Chloe shouted.

“What is it, dear?” John said as he walked in.

“Dadda, dadda, dadda,” the doll repeated and her eyes followed John when he walked in.

“Yes, that’s creepy dear. But it’s just a talking doll. It’s probably battery powered,” John said and tried to grab the doll off the shelf.

The dolls hand slapped John’s hand away.

“Ouch, what the hell?” John asked.

“Daddy said a bad word. No cursing daddy,” the doll said.

John grabbed the doll more aggressively this time and flipped the doll over in search for batteries.

“Oh my god, it’s Emily. There’s no batteries,” Chloe said.

“This has got to be some sort of trick. It’s mechanical, or Emily learned to throw her voice. Emily, come out from hiding! This isn’t funny anymore,” John shouted.

“I’m not hiding. I’m right here daddy,” the doll said.

“And how would Emily have slapped your hand away. How are the dolls eyes following you?” Chloe asked.

“This has got to be a trick,” John said sternly and started shaking the doll.

The doll bit John’s hand, leaving tooth marks, and he dropped it on the ground. The doll stood up and started to walk.

“Why don’t you love me, daddy,” the doll said and started to make crying sounds.

“I… I… I love my daughter Emily very much. But you aren’t Emily, are you? You’re some sort of demon or evil spirit?”

“No daddy, it’s me. It’s Emily. I’m here, inside my Emma doll. She protects me. She always protects me. Not like you, daddy. You let me get lost in the woods. You let the shadow people trap me inside this doll. This is all your fault,” the doll shouted.

“No, that’s impossible,” John shouted.

“It’s true. Please love me, daddy,” the doll said and laughed.

“If it’s true, that means I can tear you out of the doll,” John shouted

John started to run after the doll and the doll ran away.

“John don’t! That’s our Emily,” Chloe screamed.

Chloe heard a clashing in the kitchen and then John shouted.

“John,” Chloe screamed.

Chloe ran into the kitchen. There was a knife sticking out of John’s chest.

“She… stabbed… me…” John said, closed his eyes and died.

“Emily, what have you done?” Chloe said.

“Don’t worry mom. Daddy can’t hurt me anymore. It’s just you and me, now. I love you, mommy. I love you mommy. I love you mommy,” the doll repeated. Chloe just stared, she was in shock and not sure what to do.

There was a knock outside.

“Better get the door, mommy,” the doll said.

Emily walked over to the door and looked out the peep hole. It was the police. She wasn’t sure how to explain this, but had to let them in. She opened the door slowly.

“Hello, ma’am. We just received a report of a missing girl,” one of the officers said.

“Yes. Well, um,” Chloe began to say.

“Is that the girls doll over there? If our search dog could smell it, he could find your daughter a lot quicker,” the officer said and let his dog off the leash.

“Go sniff. Good boy, Snuffles,” the officer said.

“No, don’t…” Chloe said and walked over to the doll, frightened the officers would notice her husband’s body, which she had no plausible explanation for.

She walked over and there was no body, and the floor was spotless. Snuffles sat down and whined at the doll after smelling it.

“Good boy, Snuffles. Let’s go find the girl,” the officer said, but had to drag Snuffles outside, because he refused to move.

“Sorry ma’am, this is very strange. I’ve never seen him act this way before,” the office said.

“It’s alright, not a problem. Snuffles is a good boy,” Chloe said.

“Yah, he’s the best. We’ve found dozens of lost kids together, and we’ll be back as soon as we find your daughter,” the officer said.

“Thank you, sir,” Chloe said and let the officer out.

“Mommy,” the doll said.

Chloe turned around.

“I cleaned everything up for you, mommy. Daddy’s in the back yard. He’s covered in dirt,” the doll said and laughed.

“You’re not my daughter. Not anymore,” Chloe said.

“Don’t say that mommy. Not unless you want to end up like daddy. I love you mommy. Am I still your daughter? I love you, mommy. I love you, mommy. I love you, mommy,” the doll repeated.

Chloe thought for a minute. She decided she didn’t want to end up like John.

“I love you too, Emily,” Chloe said with monotony, sounding lugubrious.

“That’s good, mommy. It’s just you and me now. I love you, mommy,” Emily said, and laughed.