The Doll's Revenge | 18+ Only

Chapter 3: Phonecall Away

"I'm sorry I haven't been staying in touch like I promised to..." She sighs over the phone tiredly and my shoulders relax slightly at her words as I shake my head.

"I understand Charlotte," I chuckle nervously before clearing my throat. "A lot has changed this past year, and I'm sure that with your husband back home now, it's been much harder to find time to check up on any one really," I throw out sympathetically.

"Speaking of, how are he and the kids?" I ask curiously, moving through the kitchen to sit at the barstool around the kitchen island.

"Oh, you know..." She breathes heavily in response. "Since he's come back from deployment, he's been very active with the kids, and they enjoy having their dad around too..." She informs me, and I smile softly at that.

"That's good to know..." I tell her, that same smile planted on my lips. "You know, you and the kids should come down for summer.." I offer her expectantly, and she chuckles.

"You know what, I'll think about it..." She replies with a soft laugh, earning herself a grin from me. I relax against the kitchen, before biting into my bottom lip hesitantly, my mind suddenly jarring back towards the real nature of my phone call.

"So," I mutter, clearing my throat. "What's been happening in Jacksonville since I've left?" I ask her curiously, the question causing my throat to tighten anxiously.

"Well, nothing very eventful..." I she mutters thoughtfully. The line goes silent for a moment before she suddenly curses, causing me to perk up.

"Charlotte!?" I quip, straightening in the barstool, and the her voice comes crashing back over the call.

"Your old house was burnt to a crisp!" She replies, and I could hear the urgency in her voice as she sat upright.

"What?" I breathe shakily, feeling like a bucket of ice cold water was dunked over my head from her confirmation.

While I did NOT trust Dr. Sharon after what I had been through because of her, and that cursed porcelain doll — I knew I could trust Charlotte.

She was a very close friend of mine, and I knew she'd never lie about something like this. She had no reason to do so.  In retrospect, neither did Dr. Sharon, but I'd sooner trust a politician than her.

"Yes! Just a few days ago. The fire is still a mystery, but the local police is chalking it up to arson." She mutters, her tone solemn and dejected.

"Nobody escaped the fire, it was gruesome.." she mutters, and I cringe.

"What, what do you mean?" I ask her, unable to stop the chill that creeps up my spine as I chew on my bottom lip.

She clears her throat, and I could hear her shifting, as if to adjust how she sat.
"Well, a family was trapped inside the house when the fire broke out, and according to autopsy report.." she trails off, and my stomach clenches.

"Charlotte?" I breathe heavily, clenching my fist around the phone so tight my knuckles begin to turn white.

"Well, you see... it's, it's still an open case, investigations are still ongoing and results are inconclusive. The autopsy, it's, its strange..." she mutters, only causing my anxiety to sky rocket.

"What did it say?" I prompt her, my voice strained and forceful.

"Well, according to the news, the results of the autopsy are saying that the family inside the house, was murdered..." My heart leaps to my throat forcefully at her words, and I nearly choke on my own tongue as my eyes widen in horror.

"What..?!" I hiss breathlessly into the receiving end of the phone, pulling it away from my ear to peer down at it as if it had spawned legs, before pressing it back to my ear to hear what Charlotte was saying.