Something Wicked This Way Comes

Reflections of Home

Marley looked at Jake, "If something happens and I don't come back with the kids or I don't come back at all just-"

"No" Jake interrupted her. "You're going to come back with the kids, you're going to be fine, Mary Shaw came into the wrong house tonight, you got this, ok?" he told her, trying to sound brave for her, it was sweet but they both knew this could end horribly. 

"I'm just saying, I love you is all" she told him with a small smile. It felt like her insides were rearranging themselves and she could throw up popcorn and candy at any minute. If nothing else, I could always puke all over Mary distracting her that way she thought. 

Jake grabbed her and hugged her tight. She kissed him then turned towards the mirror. It looked strange all clouded and swirling the way it was. It was exactly what you would think a doorway to another dimension looked like, but also something she could have never imagined.  It was a weird feeling.  Marley took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and stepped through the mirror.  

When she entered into the other side and felt that her feet were on solid ground, she opened my eyes. Looking around, confused. She was in her house. It was dark and looked like everything was abandoned for years, but this was her house. She took a step forward, looking around the room. Things seemed the same, but things were backwards, like she was looking at them through a reflection.  Marley felt a tug on the rope around her waist. She gave it little yank back. That was her and Jake's signal that she was ok. She heard a noise from behind her, like a door creaking open, she whipped around to look but it was so dark she really couldn't see very well.  Marley almost forgot she was holding the lantern from the garage. Quickly she turned it on and shone it over in the area where the noise came from.

  A strange looking bird was sitting there. It was actually really ugly, it looked like someone had sewed it together with a bunch of different bird parts from multiple birds. Coming closer to it she realized it was a wooden bird. But it squawked a God-awful noise at her, so it was alive, wooden, but alive. Its eyes were blacker than black, like a void. She slowly started to back away, but the bird jumped off its perch on the end of the bed and dove for her. It was squawking and trying to peck at her face, ripping at her hair with its talons. Marley started swinging the lantern at it and trying to duck out of the way. It was ruthless in trying to attack her. It came down again and sliced her cheek with its claw. 

She grabbed her face feeling the warm liquid start to escape the cut.  Holding her face with one hand she swung up at the demonic bird, catching the side of it with the edge of the lantern. It teetered in the air and dove again, this time its clawed foot got caught in her hair.  As it tangled and twisted pulling her hair out at the root in some places it fought against her. She had a thought and grabbed the bird's claw in her hair with one hand and its body with the other pushing in two different directions. 

The bird started going even more crazy. She heard wood snap. She had broken its leg off.  Throwing the bird's body to the floor as hard as she could, and its body splintered into a bunch of pieces. It laid lifeless as she tried to catch her breath. Marley pulled at the foot still in her hair and it was tangled pretty good. She didn't care, leaving it where it was, there was no way she was going to be able to get it out at this point anyway. 

She held the lantern up once again, trying to see where she was going. Marley knew her house like the back of her hand as anyone does with their own home, but then again this was not her house. It was a sick twisted replica meant to confuse and torture, and those who visited, their stay ended in certain death. The shadows around her seemed to move as if they were alive, slithering around her until she looked directly at them, then they were just shadows again.

 A sound caught her ear, eerie music drifted down the hall. It sounded like an old timey piano playing. It was a beautifully sad song. A strange calmness came over her and she started to walk towards the music. It felt like someone was using her legs, forcing her to walk. 

As she passed a doorway, she heard an evil giggle that made her stop. Marley shook her head and tried to focus. The damage the possessed bird did to her cheek was not life threatening but it hurt like a mother, and it made her face sting, causing her to get dizzy. "Fuck that bird" she said to herself feeling dazed.

 "Don't go that way" the creepiest sounding voice she had ever heard whispered from somewhere in the dark.  "Who said that?" she asked. Her eyes must have adjusted to the darkness because she could see there was something moving beyond the doorway.  A wooden doll glided up to her on all fours like a rabid animal. It lifted its head. Marley could see that it had wheels for feet and circular saw blades for hands. Its eyes were glass and hollow, the way you would think of a doll except for one thing, this doll's eyes had a spark in the very deepest depths of them. It was like she was looking at the lake of fire through them. It let out another demonic giggle. 

"Do you want to stay and play?" the doll asked, jerking its body up into a standing position. "No, I don't want to play, I want my sister and brother back and then we are leaving this fucked up place." she told the doll. Its eyes changed, they almost glazed over, and the spark was replaced with that telltale blackness of total void. "That's not very nice" the doll said putting emphasize on its S making it sound like it was hissing like a snake. "Ssshe will want you to ssstay and play!" it got louder. The doll's head jerked to the side looking at its blade hands as they started to spin making a whirring sound. "Ssstay and play! Ssstay and play! SSSTAY AND PLAY!!!" it was yelling now, repeating the phrase in a demented way.  The demon doll started rolling toward her, its blades outstretched. 

In a swift movement it spun around her, taking a slash at her leg nicking her leg as she moved away. The pain shot through her thigh. She winced at the pain trying to stay away from the blades. The doll zoomed around her, slashing over and over. Marley was worried about it hitting her body, but it went for the rope around her waist. It was trying to cut it from her. She dropped down to the floor to get on its level. It whipped around catching her arm. "Son of a-!" she cried out. It ripped at her arm, cutting it open and blood seeped out covering her forearm and hand. The doll kept repeating its "ssstay and play", all she could think to do was try to tangle it in her rope.

 Marley got down and made a loop in the rope. The doll moved forward again trying to slice at me. She grabbed the ends of the loop and wrapped it around its legs. The doll got angry, it started to try to cut the rope from around its own body.  Taking the rope, she yanked it sending the doll onto the ground on its side.  Not knowing what to do, she grabbed the lantern and slammed the bottom down on its head. She heard a crack. Slamming it down again and the doll's head cracked completely in half. 

Black ooze spread underneath it as its life was seeping out.  Marley pulled the rope back to get it out from around the doll.  Sitting there, dazed for a minute. She couldn't process exactly what was going on. Feeling like she was dreaming. Mentally and physically exhausted at this point. She could have sat there for two hours and didn't realize it. Finally, she snapped out of it when a grandfather clock from somewhere in the house boomed. If this was a replica of her house it had to be the one in the living room.  

Brushing the hair out of her face, her arm and leg hurt something horrible. It was excruciating pain, and the cuts were deep. That blade pretty much ripped through her skin, chomping it up, it wasn't a clean slice like the one on her face. She tore off a piece of fabric from the end of her flannel with her teeth and wrapped it around the wounds, tying it off tight, crying out as the pain shot through her as the pressure was put on them. She kicked the dolls lifeless body. She didn't know if she is making it home, but she will leave a mark on this place that's for sure. Marley struggled to make her way out the door, heading for the stairs. She really had no idea where she's supposed to go but she guessed she will see what is down there. Mary is hiding in this house; she just has to find out where.