"Alright lionettes grab water and come sit in a circle!" Megan yelled to her poms team after practice on a Friday night. The girls listened and gathered in the front of the dance room while Megan sat on a chair. "Okay girls good practice, but now we have to talk about what our next team bonding is going to be. Does anyone have any ideas?" One hand met the air. "Why don't we just do what we usually do? Our lunch at California Pizza Kitchen?" The girls nodded, agreeing. Megan thought, then spoke. "We could do that, but it seems like its getting old. I was thinking we could do something we have never done before. I have an idea, and if everyone can make it, we will do it." The girls looked at each other in confusion. "What are we going to do Megan?" one girl asked. Megan smiled. "Just meet me at this address at 9 sharp." She handed out slips of paper then dismissed practice.
The next day ended almost as quickly as it began. When the time came the girls all met Megan at the given address. The area was a place straight out of a horror movie. The dirt road was muddy and slick, there were giant oak trees surrounding the grounds and the chill of the night was only getting harsher with the hour. The girls pulled up in front of an old barn, it's boards falling off and the red paint cracking. Next to the barn is a corral, wooden pegs in a square. The girls walked up onto the gravel path, looking for Megan. Whispers engulfed the group with questions like "where are we?" "Why would Megan bring us here?" "Where is Megan?" Breaking the questions was the sound of a door being opened. The girls jumped closer together in fear then relaxed as they saw Megan approach them in a beautiful gown. It dragged across the dirt covered ground, getting the white silk filthy. Little diamonds covered the priceless dress and on top of her head was a crown with emeralds and rubies along the edges with a bulbous pearl in the center. "Megan you look amazing! Where did you get such a gown?" One of the girls asked. Megan flipped her short brown hair and smiled. "Why thank you Claire. It is beautiful isn't it? Follow me and I'll show you where I got it." She walked back into the barn and the girls followed. Once inside the barn the smell of plastic and mold surrounded the group. "Why does it smell so awful in here?" Claire asked, covering her nose with her hands. "It's just the mannequins in the bags, they have been here a while and mold is probably growing on them."
"Mannequins? What mannequins? All I see are bags all over the floor and there's one in the center of the room." A girl complained. Megan sighed. "Open one of the bags and you will see what I mean. This place is the factory where the dysfunctional mannequins come to rot." Claire went an unzipped one of the bags, and sure enough, there was a mannequin, white and cold and smooth as marble. It looked beautiful all except for the couple of paint scratches on the arms and neck. The little indents where the eyes were supposed to be were smooth and hollow. "Megan these mannequins look like they are in perfect condition other than a couple of paint scratches that could easily be fixed. Why are they here?" She asked, still caressing one of the mannequins smooth cold arms. Megan looked annoyed. "I don't know why they are here! All I know is that this is where the broken ones come!"
"So where did you get that dress and crown?"
"Off that mannequin in the center of the room."
"Why is that the only mannequin that is not in a bag?"
"I don't know! Maybe she's the leader of the other dead useless mannequins in the barn!" Megan laughed at her own little stab at the life size clothing dolls. "They are also out in the corral. Just lined up in body bags." She turned to her team, smiling and showing off her beautiful dress. "Anyone else want to comment?" She only saw horror struck faces. Megan knitted her eyebrows. "Why do you girls look like you have seen a ghost?" She exclaimed. No response but the scared faces of her team. "What are you looking at?" She turned only to be face to face with the mannequin she had taken the dress and crown off of. Megan was paralyzed with fear as the mannequin spoke in a dark hissed voice. "That dress does look good on you, but it's mine. I want it back." Megan screamed and told the girls to run and get out of there. The team turned towards the door but was blocked in by other mannequins who had risen from there bags and were standing in front of the doors. The girls stopped in there tracks looking for a way out. Claire saw the door to the corral and sprinted towards it. The girls followed her outside where they were once again surrounded by cold smooth dead dolls. "How did something like this even happen?" Claire screamed. "It's because Megan took that dress off the mannequin and she wants it back!"
