Strange Things

CHAPTER 001. A doll?

small a/n: i am in no way a writer so some things may be wrong, sorry! the reader is also nonbinary, thank you, i hope you enjoy!

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The snow fell slowly to the ground from the clouds, covering the concrete sidewalk. It was now January, right after Christmas, in fact. For you, it wasn't all that special, though. You got a few cool things from your family and friends, but that was mostly it. Entertaining yourself with normal holiday activities was fun enough for the past month.

You were sleeping soundly in bed before awaking to a dull "THUD" outside your house. It wasn't really the loudest, but you still heard it due to the quiet of the night. "H-huh? What was that? " You asked out loud into the stillness of the quiet room. You glanced around in the darkness before rubbing the tiredness out of your eyes, pausing for a moment. Soon you heard it again, though louder this time... And closer. You sat up in your bed before swinging your legs to the side, standing up from your cozy lying position.

A pause, then nothing. Only the gentle sounds of snow falling against your windows remained. Strange...

You still stood there, though, overlooking your room for hints of anything being out of place. After a second of checking, you stretched and decided to check out the rest of the house. Who knows what that noise could have been?

An intruder or a robber?

Raccoons? Stray cats? Some other wild critter?

...Ghosts? You hoped not! You didn't even want to think about that possibility.

Despite your desire to not run into any of those things, it would be for the better to know so you could deal with it. Best case scenario, it was just snow falling off the roof or something. After walking outside of your room you decided the dark hallway was in fact clear of anything you thought of. You made your way to your living room, which was also clear. You took a quick glance into the kitchen for a moment, nothing there either.

Wait! Is that... walking you're hearing?! No, it was just your sink's leaky faucet. You should really fix that soon. You made a mental note to call someone about it in the morning...

You breathed out a small sigh of relief before you realized... You nervously turned to look at the front door... Hopefully nothing is out there waiting for you. You approached the door cautiously, grabbing a nearby umbrella for self-defense if it was something or someone dangerous. With a raised umbrella in hand and the other on the doorknob, you swung open the door with a quick turn and pull.

... Nothing. All that was out there was the starry night sky, a view of your neighbors' fences around their homes, a few stray cars passing by, the quiet falling snow that was building up on the ground steadily, and your walkway that connected to the now icy sidewalk.

"Phew! Thank gosh... " You were, at the very least, relieved that it was probably just snow! You lowered the umbrella, taking in the chilly wind that blew the snow in your face, making you shiver. It was refreshing and awoke you a little, but it then dawned on you that you were still wearing only your sleep clothes. Your teeth chattered in response to the cold. Quickly, you closed the door and locked it back to its original state, turning to the warmth of your home.

You put the umbrella back up on its hook where you took it from, then attempted to make a beeline to your room before suddenly tripping over something on the floor. You yelled in surprise and sat up from your position, which was now on the floor. You looked up from your now hurting hands to see the culprit. It was a doll?

"W-what is... what's a doll doing here?!" You nervously scooted away from the doll you had never noticed before. It sat like a ragdoll, apparently looking right back at you. Or at least it felt like it was. It looked like a Happy Fella, but it was a lot more... roughed up? Its previously straight, brushed hair was now spiked and messy. A few rips and tears here and there on its overalls and sweater. Its eyes looked a lot more real too...

You took a long glance at it before standing on your feet again. It remained seated in front of you, though. How'd it get in here? You've never had one for yourself before... You stared at it, attempting to figure out a possible scenario to how it got in your home. Maybe some kid was pranking you and left it in front of your house? But what would a kid be doing out in the cold at this time of night? And how'd it actually enter your house?

After a while, you just decided you'd deal with it later. Maybe some animal stole it from some poor kid and accidentally dropped it on your doorstep or something. It was too late at night, or rather, too early in the morning, to deal with this. The previous tiredness you felt came back in full swing. You yawned and stretched again, picking up the toy and heading back to your room.

The happy fella hung loosely from your tired grip as you closed your door and crept back into bed. It was still nice, warm and cozy, like you didn't even get up at all. You sighed as you pulled the covers back onto your frame, now with a new buddy. You were still a little nervous about the whole event and the doll itself, but again, you were too tired to really care right now. The happy fella itself, or rather himself, slumped back loosely on your pillow, the same factory smile plastered on his face. You drowsily gazed at him, pulling him a bit closer to your face in the process.

You can see the details a lot more clearly now on his features. blue shadowed eyes, freckles on each cheek, and despite the messy looking hair, it was actually rather soft. You yawned again, holding the doll closer to yourself, laying on him before drifting off to sleep.

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About an hour passed, and the happy fella was still stuck underneath you. His smile turned to a scowl, looking up at you while you slept. "Heh, this'll be too easy..." He said quietly, grinning to himself. He tried moving a little but was, as expected, stuck. He couldn't even try to get out of your grip.

"Grr... how am I supposed to-!" The doll growled, trying to move around again to no avail. After a few more futile attempts, he stopped altogether. So there the doll lay, unamused, angry and laid on like he was some pillow. "I can't believe this shi-" He was cut off by you stirring in your sleep. He paused, defaulting to his toy state in fear that he'd be figured out. Eventually, you just turned over onto your back, still sleeping.

Your arm wasn't holding him back now, and once he was sure you were still asleep, he stood up and looked around the dark room. Soon, his eyes shifted to you, examining your features closely. "Hm, pretty..." If he wasn't in this dumb doll, he definitely would have flirted with you as a human. Now, where are the knives?