Becky's Doll

Chapter 20

EVERYTHING WAS DARK EXCEPT for the faint bluish light of the moon that invaded the room through the wooden planks of the shed. It was so cold and my fingertips felt numb with the piercing chilliness. I didn't how I got in here. But I was trapped.

The rough ropes that bound my limbs cut through my skin, causing an itching sensation. I twitched my toes uncomfortably at my inability to scratch off the irritation in my skin. Why was I bound? Something breathed down my neck. Warm, foul smelling breath wafted my nose. My heart clenched with fear.

I turned my head. The ghost, it had a sinister smile in its face. The wrinkled greyish skin on its face gleamed in the moonlit shed. It was no longer burnt looking. How did it change so fast? However, it had no pupils. The bare whiteness of the eyeballs creeped me out.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice shaking."Why are you doing this?"

To my surprise, it answered,"Revenge. You need to take revenge for me."

It sounded like a wind howling in deep estranged deserts. But each word dangerously stroked my left cheek. I shuddered and suppressed my growing urge to scrape the skin off my cheek.

"Revenge? Against whom? Why should I take revenge for you?" I asked, my voice less shaky. The ghost clucked its tongue, agitatedly.

"If you can't. Just give me your body and I will do it."

"No," I said under my breath. The ghost tilted it's head, staring at me through its colourless opaque eyes. The skin on its forehead was peeling and the red tinged flesh underneath was visible. It bared its teeth at me, displaying the blood stained canines. The digestive juices churned in my gut.

"No?" The ghost repeated. The muscle on its right cheek constricted, pulling its black lips upwards in its right side as an attempt of a lopsided grin. The contraction of the right cheek muscle however stretched the muscle on its left side, causing the skin to tear. Grey dead skin peeled to the floor and a patch of reddish pink was now visible on its cheek, contradicting with the dull hue of its skin. It put a rather burnt hand on its cheek and felt its raw flesh.

"No? I need a body as soon as possible. And you are the right one. The other little kid is too feeble and powerless for my task."

"No," I declared loudly. The ghost laughed. A strange laughter that echoed in my brain. My head throbbed and red flashed before my eyes. I wanted to insert my fingers into my ears and shut down the noise. The shrieking noise resounded within the inward distance between my ears, as if the ghost was laughing in my brain.

The laughing had adversely affected the ghost. Almost all the grey skin peeled from it's face. I cringed at the now slimy bright pink surface of its body. Bits of dull grey skin stuck to it. Bluish veins protruded out and ran through its body. It looked like a model used for studying muscular anatomy of humans except that it was talking to me and moving about.

"Too late," It said as it rubbed rough circles in the bare skin of my shoulder with its burnt nails, scraping off the skin there. I gulped loudly. Before I could react, it had plunged its lupine canines into my skin. My fear had numbed my pain. Its saliva along with my blood dribbled down my arm. Searing pain shot through my body. I felt paralysed.

I struggled against my bounds. The ghost finally released it's grip on me. The burning sensation on my wound was hit by the cool wind worsening my pain. I hadn't noticed the tears dripping down my cheek. I screamed loudly in unbearable pain.