The Doll Maker

43 minutes. 43 minutes until I am free from this stupid lecture. Mr. Trus is the most boring teacher in the entire school, and of course I have him last period, which is the class that never seems to end. Today he just goes on and on about a poem from the Civil War. Most of my classmates are texting each other, but not me. I got my phone taken away two days ago because I "hit" my little brother. That little snitch, I never touched him, but he needed a cover story for why his left eye was as black and blue. He puts on a damn good show, pretending to cry, his lip quivering, nose running; and every single time Mom and Dad, believe that he is telling the truth. They always take his side, because he's nine and I'm fiftteen.
I turn to face to the back of the classroom to look at the clock, 40 minutes, three minutes have gone by. I have to resort to my backup plan, which I hate to do but at least it will waste some time in this never ending class. I count all thirty desks, then count all twenty-four students, and I say their names in my head. In my head I recite what all of the twelve posters say, that are placed around the the vast classroom. I count all one-hundred and thirty-three floor tiles, first the off-white ones then the vomit like green ones. I look back at the clock, only 30 more minutes to go. If this class doesn't end soon, I am going to fall asleep at my desk.
Last night when I was finishing my homework, I remembered that I had a language arts essay due in the morning. It was already 11 and it took me 6 hours to finish the essay, which left me with about an hour left to sleep. I had to put a lot of makeup on this morning to cover up the five pound bags under my eyes.
As I turn around to look at the clock, I heard the most dreaded sentence on the face of the earth. "Kaila, can you please tell the class what the poem I just recited was about?" Mr Trus asked.
I spin around in my chair to see that everyone in the class is staring at me, some smiling, others whispering. I gulp and say "It was about the Civil War." Everyone in the class starts to giggle. I can feel my face turn as red as a fire truck.
"Clearly it was about the Civil War Kaila, but what was the lesson that spoke to you as I recited the poem," said Mr.Trus. I'm screwed, I think as I try to recall what Mr.Trus was talking about. As I'm about to make up an answer every phone in the classroom starts buzzing wildly. As everyone looks at their phones their eyes go wide, like a deer in headlights, some people gasp, and one girl passes out. I ask the girl sitting across from me what happened, and she shows me her phone. I read the luminescent screen and to my surprise a girl was found dead by the river this morning. That's all I had the chance to read before the bell rings and the girl snatches her phone away from me.
I go to my locker and pack up my backpack in a daze. As I zipper up my backpack someone grabs my shoulders and screams 'Got you!' In my ear. Terrified, I jump and squeal. I turn around and see my older brother Jack laughing so hard his face is turning red. I can't help but laugh too because Jack always manages to scare me half to death.
As we exit school to walk home Jack asks "Did you hear about the girl who was murder and dressed up like a doll?"
"I heard a girl was found dead,not that she was murdered and dressed like a doll," I answer, now more tense than I was before.
"Oh right you got your phone taken away, well when we get home look up the story on your computer," he says. I nod and we walk home in silence the rest of the way home. When we reach our perfectly manicured lawn Jack goes to the mailbox to get the mail. I continue to walk up to our house which, today seems whiter than usual. I walk inside, go to the kitchen and grab an ice cold bottle of water from the fridge and a party sized bag of cool ranch doritos. I creep up the stairs then walk to my room. I kick off my shoes, drop my backpack onto the floor, grab my computer, and plop into my big black fur beanbag. I take a big gulp of water then open my computer. The first thing that pops up was an alert that says Be cautious and stay alert, lock your windows and doors, serial killer on the loose. I click on the link under this peculiar message. As an article pulls up I stuff a handful of chips into my mouth. As I read I become more and more apprehensive. The girl who was murdered was a senior, two years older than me and in Jack's grade. Her name is, was Sara Greene. Jack walks in and looks at my computer. "It's pretty sad, right," he says. I nod my head and give a half smile. He sits down on my bed and says "Don't you find it weird how the murder dressed the her up as a doll and put her in a doll like position."
"Yeah, the one thing that is bothering me is that they sent out an alert about a serial killer on the loose, and there's only been one murder. They can't call the person who did this a serial killer if they only killed one person," I say.
"You're right that is weird," answers Jack. "I think that there is more to this murder then the police are telling us." Later that night as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep I can't help but think Sara Greene. So I jump out of bed and grab my computer. When I open it I squint my eyes, because the screen is as bright as the sun in my dark room. I look up 'murders in Norwalk Connecticut' and click on the first link that pops up. As I read I start to feel my heartbeat quicken, then my jaw drops and my face turns as pale as a ghost. I don't believe it, 6 more murders like this have happened during the last two months all over Connecticut. I continue to read, and as I read i find similarities between them and Sara Greene, until I finish the articles I sit there on my bed not able to move, I feel as if I am frozen under ten pounds of ice. Finally I get up and put my computer on my back on my desk. Then slowly walk back to bed. I look at the clock and it says 4:15, I haven't been able to sleep all night, well at least it's the weekend and I don't have to worry about school tomorrow. So, I just lay there and stare blankly at the ceiling. As I stare I can feel myself slowly drift into sleep.
When I open my eyes, my room is flooded with light, I look at my clock, which says it's 9:15. Crap, I slept in. By now my family already left to go to Jack's football game. I stretch like a cat would, then get out of bed and walk toward the door. As I reach my door, I realise there is a note taped to it, how did I not notice this before, I wonder. I open the note, it says how i was sleeping like a baby so mom didn't want to wake me up blah blah blah and that there is money on the counter so I can go to Dunkin Donuts. Yes! I love Dunkin Donuts. I walk to my dresser and pull out a pair of jeans and a sweater. I swiftly slip the cloths on and grab the coat that is hanging on the back of my chair.I run to the bathroom, brush my hair and teeth. Then sprint down the stairs. When I get to the kitchen counter I see the money and my phone. I smile, and grab both my phone and the money. As I walk to Dunkin Donuts I check all my texts and notifications. Everyone is talking about Sara, who was murdered yesterday, and I wonder if they know that six other girls have been murdered the same way as Sara.
As I begin to walk away from Dunkin Donuts my phone buzzes, shoot, Mom is going to be back home in 10 minutes. It took me 25 minutes to walk here. Damn I'm going to have to use the shortcut way if I want to make it home before Mom. As I sip my coffee I begin to pick up my pace. Instead of continuing down the street I turn into the woods. I follow the trees that have carved plus signs in them, last year Jack and I made them as a shortcut back to our house. As I hastily walk through the dense forests I take out my phone out to check the time. 5 minutes, if I pick the pace up a little, I'll make it back just in time.
As I took up from my phone I run right into someone, my coffee spills all over my sweater. I curse, I can feel the burning hot liquid seep through my sweater and burn my skin. I apologize to the person I ran into, as I pick up my phone and the paper bag that carries my doughnut. When I look at the person I ran into I feel my face turn white and I scream. The person I ran into is a girl from my school, her name is Heather. Her eyes are glassy, her lips are glued shut and forced into a smile , she is wear a pink dress with a huge ribbon in the front, she has shiny black shoes on, and she attach to a metal pole and stand. She is dressed like a doll. I back away slowly, and my body starts to shake uncontrollably. Then the world goes black.
As I slowly wake up I look around, and I am no longer in the woods. I am on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. I try to sit up, but a jolt of pain goes through my head and I wience. I continue to sit up, but more slowly this time. I look out the doors of the ambulance and see a news crew and police officers running about. And a girl in a body bag coming out of the woods. No, not just any girl, Heather, crap that wasn't a dream. I start to feel nauseous when a car pulls up. Not just any car, my car. Mom, Dad, Will, and Jack, who is still in his football uniform, all jump out of the car When mom's eyes meet mine, hers go wide, like a deer in headlights. She runs through the herd of police and news crew and comes up to me and hugs me like she hasn't seen my in 5 years. The rest of my family isn't far behind them. After a lot of hugging mom asks her what happened. I tell her about taking the shortcut, and running into the body, and then waking up in the ambulance. A police officer comes over and asks to talk with my parents. They walk away to talk in private and Will and Jack come to sit in the ambulance with me. Jack is the first one to speak, "that's a pretty nasty cut on your head".
"What?" I look about the ambulance for a mirror or something. Once I find a small mirror I look at my forehead. I curse, there was a huge bandage on my head , and I could see the blood that outlined the cut underneath. I bring my hand up the right side of my face, to touch the cut, and I wince in pain. So that's what I felt when I woke up earlier. After about 10 minutes, mom and dad come back to the ambulance. They say that I have to go to the hospital to make sure I don't have a concussion and that I have to talk to the police. I nod. The EMT comes back to the ambulance and says that only one person can ride in the back with me to go to the hospital, because the police will be riding in the back, asking me questions. I say that I would like Jack to ride with me, and he stays where he is, and Will and my parents leave. Two cops get in the back and sit across from Jack. The police officers ask a lot of questions, and I answer the best I can. Jack verifies a few things for them, and then we are at the hospital, the cops thank me and hope that I get better soon.
The EMT's wheel me into the ER and the doctors give a CT. They tell me I don't have a concussion, and they stitch up he cut on my head. About two hours later we leave the hospital. When we get home Mom ushers me upstairs and tells me to get some sleep. I can't believe that she expects me to sleep after what just happened. I grab my computer and my headphones, and go to Channel 7 News, I saw a camera back at the crime scene that had the Channel 7 News logo on it, so I see if they posted any videos on this morning. Turns out they did. I watch the video and to my surprise the police confess that there have been 6 other murders before Sara Greene's murder, and now they give the murderer a name, the Dollmaker. For the rest of the weekend I rest so I can go back to school on Monday. By Monday everyone knows that I found Heather's body. All day they ask me questions like, What did she look like? and Are you the Dollmaker?. A few people ask how I'm doing, and if I'm okay. I give my condolences to Heather's friends, who are very shaken up about the whole matter. All day Jack texts me, which is nice, but slightly annoying. This goes on until Wednesday when another person was found dead. The victim goes to my school, well um I mean, she went to my school. Her name was Maddy, she was in a few of my classes, she was very nice. At lunch everyone is talking about Maddy, and all of the girls in my school, me included, are very jumpy.
As I pack up my backpack to go home I get a text from Jack. It says 'Hey, sorry it's such short notice, but I'm staying after school today to finish an essay for Language Arts.,
You've got to be joking right now, I can't walk home by myself not with the Dollmaker still out there! Kaila, get real what are the chances that the DollMaker is going to get you, like 1 out of 1,000,000, you'll be fine. I tell myself this repeatedly as I walk out of the school. After I leave the school grounds, I anxiously start to walk faster. I know that nothing will happen to me, but I can't help it. As I continue to walk, I have a feeling that I am being watched, I pick up my pace, and turn down a street that will get me to my house faster. The feeling doesn't go away, I start to jog, and I constantly looking looking from side to side, and behind me. It's been 5 minutes, and I haven't spotted a single person, and I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I decide that it is probably a good thing so I slow down to a walking pace. I was never an "all-star" in gym class, so I am panting and trying to regain a normal breathing pace. Then out of nowhere I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head, and then the world turns black.
As I slowly regain consciousness s I try to move but I can't. I took down the length of my body and find that I am strapped to a cold medal table. I look around and see that I'm in a, what looks like the old abandoned paper factory that's outside of town. That's when I notice the equipment all around me. There is a table full of surgical tools, a rack of clothes, piles of shoe boxes, a huge makeup case, 3 gigantic canisters of something, trash cans, and what look like human sized metal stands. Wait, shoe boxes, clothes, the medal stands...Oh My God. No, no, no, no this can't be happening. I can't breath, I begin to hyperventilate. I tug against the straps that are keeping me prisoner. My head begins to spin, and everything starts to get fuzzy then the world yet again goes black.
In the darkness I feel a jolt of pain in my hip, and then another jolt, and then another, until I am pulled out of the darkness. I took around and remember where I am. I look in front of me and find who and what was causing the jolts of pain at my hip. It was a taser held by a, wait this can't be right, a girl who looks a few years older than me. This doesn't make any sense, where is the Dollmaker?
"Who are you?" I croak out.
The girl smiles from ear to ear and happily says "You know who I am." I give her a questioning look and she frowns a little. "I'm the Dollmaker!" She says cheerfully and takes a little bow as if she just finish a play.
I gasp and quietly say "That's not possible."
"Oh, it's quite possible," she says in response. She pulls over a wooden stool and picks up a scalpel. "My parents didn't want a child," she said "So they barely fed me, I was a skinny as a twig. They never gave me toys or presents. My mother was always drunk and my father was always so angry, so they both hit me...a lot. When I went to school I had to hide the bruises they gave me. They called me the meanest names." She continues to talk, but I'm not listening. I need to find a way out of here "Hey!" She yells. "Are you listening to me?" I spit in her face and she screams wildly. After she wipes my spit off of her face she stabbed the scalpel into my thigh. I scream in agonizing pain, and begin to cry. "Shut up!" She tells me, and I bite my lip to keep from crying. She continues to tell me about her messed up childhood, and that she is only doing this because humans are more fun to play with than Barbie dolls, and blah blah blah.
This girl is insane, I have to get out of here. Without her noticing I scan the room looking for something that can get me out of this chair. Nothing, she moved everything out of my reach. I continue to listen to what she is saying, she tells her name is Jordan and that there is no point in screaming for help because I am miles and miles away from any houses and the torture she was going to inflict on me and how the stuff in the canisters is a special glue that she will fill my body with. Before Jordan leaves she takes the scalpel out of my thigh and bandages it up. She doesn't turn the lights of, which is strange but I think I can use that to my advantage. For a while I just sit there, making sure that she is gone, the silence is eerie and yet peaceful. I look down at the straps that are keeping me here, and find the latch that tightens the straps. I reach for them, but they are just out of reach. 2 more inches, just 2 more inches, damnit. If only my arms where a little longer. There is only one way for me to reach the latch, and I flinch at the thought of it. If I want to get out of here alive I am going to have to dislocate my shoulder.
I grab the strap and get my feet ready to push off of the foot rest at the bottom of the table. I push of the foot rest and hear a loud pop, I bit down on my lip to muffle my screams. I reach for the latch as the tears stream down my face. Yes! I got it, now all I have to do is loosen all of the straps and sit up on the table. I close my eyes and smile, and cry tears of joy. As I try to walk a spike of pain shoot up my leg. I moan and lean back on the table. I look around the room for something that can help me get out of here. That's when I see my backpack, I smile and limp to it. I unzipper the smallest pocket and pull out my phone. Alright, this is great, I just hope that there is reception out here. I open my phone and, yes! There are 3 bars. I call 911 and tell them that I am in the old paper factory outside of town. The lady on the phone says that she is sending cops and an ambulance and they will be there in 5 minutes, that's when I hear a door open. I stuff my phone into my backpack and limp as fast as I can to the tray that is filled with surgical tools, and pick up the largest scalpel there. I limp over to a stack of cardboard boxes and hide behind them. Someone curses, then I hear a crash. The person who came in is talking to herself, crap it's Jordan. I begin to sweat and my body shakes as footsteps come toward my hiding place. Jordan bursts through the boxes to my right. When she spots me she pounces toward me. I try to crawl away, but she grabs my ankle. My leg is on fire, and I dropped my knife when she bursted through the boxes so I clearly have the disadvantage. I continue to crawl away inch by inch, and now she is on her feet she runs toward me and jumps on top of me. She flips me so that we are face to face. Her eyes are wild, her hair is a mess, her breathing is heavy, and her breath smells like she hasn't brushed her teeth in weeks. She pulls a knife out of her pocket and stabs me in the arm, I scream in pain.
"You've been a bad girl," she says as she stabs me in my other arm. She slice my calf, and then drops her knife. I am crying, and my entire body feels like it is engulfed in flames. She punches me repeatedly, until I can't feel my face. I am losing, but, oh my god, I look out the windows and see red and blue lights. I begin to cry, thank god, I'm not going to die, I'm going to live. As Jordan turns to look at the blue and red lights I knee her in the gut and push her to the side. I limp away from her and see that the door is opening and cops are flowing in, I limp toward them, and that's when I hear a gunshot. I whip around and see Jordan holding a gun aimed at me. Something pierces my torso and I fall to the ground. I am gasping for air, and I can feel the blood flowing out of my torso and onto the cold concrete. The paramedics reach me and tell me everything is going to be okay. They get me to the ambulance and hook me up to various machines. They are trying to stop the bleeding, but it's no use, I feel the life draining from my body. There is so much going on in the ambulance, and the monitor with my heart rate it so so loud. I close my eyes. I hear the monitor begin to rapidly beep.
At least they got Jordan, now she can't hurt anyone else. I will be her last victim. As the monitor continues to beep faster and faster I think of my mom, my dad, Jack, and Will. I think of school and my friends. I think of everything good and bad that ever happened to me. Damn I just wish I had more time...