Want For Not

Want For Not: Part 1

By doll standards, I would surmise that the doll looked extremely average. It was exactly what you would expect to see sitting across from any toddler at a fairy princess tea party. Golden ringlets that rested on her shoulders. A smile that emphasized her dimples. Big blue eyes that would close when you would lie the doll back. A pink dress with lacy frills lining the bottom. Puffy sleeves. White stockings. Little pink shoes with bows covering the toes. While sitting within what I assumed was a birdcage on the counter in front of me, she sat up to about ten inches with her dainty legs stretched out lazily before her. Average as average can be. Nothing at all seemed out of place. Except for the fact that she was in said birdcage. 

I gave the doll another hard glance, then turned my eyes back to the very stern looking woman that brought her in. She wore a lot of leather. I am talking head to toe kind of leather. I figured there had to be a motorcycle and a bar waiting for her outside. One of her hands rested on the counter between us, even that wore fingerless leather gloves. Now, I'm not really one to make too many assumptions based on appearance, but if I'm being honest, I never would have expected a woman who looked like that to own a doll that looked like this. Weird. The only other thing that made this situation weird was the fact that she was trying to convince me that there was a demon living within said doll. Hence why she was trying to sell it to me.

I have seen a few things in my time at Want For Not. Cursed objects were just another item in inventory in my book. Were demon possessed objects the same as cursed objects? Both could bring misfortune, I assumed. Or death. There wasn't exactly a running offer for demon dolls. Even if there was, I wasn't sure if this doll was actually possessed, or if this lady deliberately wore far too much leather (in my opinion) as a means to intimidate me into buying some old childhood toy. It didn't help that she gave me literally nothing to go on except for "How much you got to buy this doll? It's got a demon in it." As if I was supposed to automatically take her word for it.

I had been looking between the two of them for a minute now, trying to determine what I should make of it. I finally found something to say, though it wasn't much more than we had already established, "This is a possessed doll?"

"It's got a demon in it." She repeated a little slower yet in a ruder tone this time. So far, our conversation was off to a very redundant start.

I decided I needed to actively try to fish for more information since she didn't care to willingly provide it. "How do you know it's possessed?"

"You know many dolls that can talk?" She snapped as if I had offended her.

"Yes." I said blatantly and without hesitation, "They manufacture them that way."

She folded her arms now, making the leather seem to grumble right along with the sour expression she was giving me, "Are you assuming that I don't know the difference between manufactured phrases as opposed to very specific and detailed threats that pour out of this little hellspawn's mouth?"

I looked back at the doll, who had remained unchanged, still smiling in her cage, then back at the woman. "Does she do it on command or...?"

I think the woman was understanding my meaning now. She, too, looked at the doll for a moment. She then unfolded her arms and took hold of the handle at the top of the birdcage to give it a quick shake while speaking harshly to the little doll, "You ain't fooling no one. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, and you ain't gonna like the hard way."

I waited. She waited. We both waited. After a couple minutes of absolutely nothing, the woman grumbled under her breath. Then she pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lowered the open flame next to the bars on which the doll was leaning, threatening her blonde curls. As if on very reflex, the doll could be heard saying in a cute and childish voice, "Let's play!" Right along with a recorded giggle. The woman closed the lighter and looked up to me as if to say "I told you so."