Isabella; A Fortune Told

1. Clickity Clackity

It was a cold night in 2003, I was with Isabella. She was staring at me with her cold, dark eyes, and faint pale skin, cracks in her porcelain remain. I didn't have a babysitter, and I'm not sure why. A babysitter would have helped me with this nightmare. I picked up Isabella and put her in her crib. I watched her slowly turn her head, and face me. Creaks echoed as her nearly broken legs managed to stand themselves. She manages to get onto the floor, and turn her head to me. She stared at me, and my scream was lost in the freezing air. It was silence, except for the squeals I'd let out trying to scream, but I wasn't able to. It didn't work. Her dark eyes slowly turned to a solid black and my scream finally let out.

I stood up, screaming. I looked left to right, I was in my bedroom. I put my hand over my chest and huffed and puffed. 'Thank god that was a nightmare..' I thought. It was strange that a 12 year old girl like me could dream up such creepy things. I slipped out of my bed, and looked down. I was wearing the same nightgown as Isabella. I gasped, but shrugged it off. 'Maybe, just maybe, it's a coincidence.' I thought. But, something in the back of my brain was telling me it wasn't. My bare feet slid across the cold, wooden floor. I smelt a normal smell, the smell of.. waffles. 'My parents are up.' I thought. I walked down the hall to enter the kitchen. Mom was there, flipping a waffle over on its' side. She looked over at me. "Anna! You're awake!" Mom said, a hint of surprise in her voice. She checked her watch. "You're up very early though. Bad dream?" asked Mom. I gulped and nodded. Mom sneaked a crooked frown on her face and sighed. "Is it rude to call you a strange girl? You can dream up a nightmare so easily." Mom said. Chills slivered up my spine. I said, in my quietest voice, "It isn't rude, it's the truth." Mom sighed and put a smile back on her face. "Well, here's your breakfast. I'll get you some water." Mom said.

I walked over to the table and plopped down in the chair next to Dad. He looked up from his newspaper and smiled. "Anna! Good nights' sleep, Anna-Banana?" Dad said, with a cheesy grin attached to his face. I shook my head. "Quite scary actually." I said. Dad's cheesy grin turned into a crooked frown. "Sorry, my baby. Shouldn't have asked. One thing I did notice is that you left Isabella out here, away from you." Dad said, his frown deepening. I nodded, and gulped. "I'm sorry, I went to sleep so fast, I forgot about sleeping with my doll.". Dad sighed. "It's alright, my baby. Are you sick?" Dad said, leaning over to feel my forehead. I did look pale, but it was my natural skin tone, but I must've looked paler than usual. I grabbed Dad's wrist and pulled it away from my forehead. "I-I'm fine, Dad." I said, my voice shaky. Dad frowned. "You don't seem fine." I nodded. "I am, trust me." I said. I was about to say something else, but I was interrupted by the slam of the glass cup in front of me. I looked up, and thanked Mom. She nodded and smiled. She took the seat in front of me and leaned down to attach a fork to her first waffle. None of them seemed to notice the 'clickity, clackity' of the creaky windmill a couple blocks from us, or maybe it's just... Isabella's footsteps. I gulped, and they both looked at me. "Anna? Are you alright?" Mom said, first. I nodded. Mom and Dad looked at eachother, and shrugged, and went back to eating their waffles. I glanced over at Isabella on the couch. I watched as creaks echoed and she turned her head at me, and smiled. How did Mom and Dad not notice the paranormal activity in this house? I quickly turned back, and looked down at my plate. Mom and Dad looked confused, but grateful that I'm not totally insane.. or am I? Am I just imagining Isabella? No, I'm not, because Dad mentioned it. Then, what is happening?

Why is it so cold?