Find the Teddy Bear

Chapter 4

The girl stared at the empty chair in shock.

"Mr. Rose..." she whispered desperately, but the bear didn't appear. She felt her heart clench. She was so close...

Suddenly swept over by panic at the fact that she was in an unfamiliar room, Belle turned around and ran for the door. She attempted to open it, but it was locked.

"Jerry?" she called for her cat friend, but there was no answer.

The door was colored quite pleasantly, in a creamy-white. Belle felt a sudden calm envelop her, and she started liking the room he was in.

She hoped her parents would find her soon, or Mrs. Johnson, but she decided to enjoy the place while she was there. The little girl turned back towards the room, and a smile made its way onto her face.

Memories of dead cats were swiped away from her mind, and the only unpleasant thoughts in her mind were that the smell of lavender was a bit too strong.

Her curious eyes landed on the dollhouse, and she squealed in excitement. Forgetting all caution, she ran towards the white dollhouse, her feet feeling the soft carpet underneath.

Halfway towards the house, she stopped in her tracks. She looked down at her feet to see that she was barefooted.

She was sure that she had sandals on just a minute ago.

Must've slipped off...

She dismissed the fact and started running towards the dollhouse again, all enthusiasm back. She slowed down as she got closer, looking at the splashes of red paint she failed to notice from the distance. Weird.

The dollhouse was closed, and she undid the plastic hatch at the side in a hurry, feeling extremely impatient. The house was as big as her, so she grabbed one side and pulled it with all her might, until the two halves formed a straight line, marking it ready for her to play in.

She was standing at the wrong side, though, and she felt annoyed by the fact that she didn't open it from the other side. Now she had to circle the huge thing, and her feet were in pain from all the walking she'd done previously.

She sighed, feeling like an old lady. The girl giggled at the thought, and skipped happily around the house until she faced the insides.

She suddenly froze in terror, her eyes locked at the dollhouse.

Only that it wasn't a dollhouse any longer.

Instead of little rooms for dolls to stand in, she was facing a hallway. A long hallway.

Inside of a dollhouse.

She blinked a few times, but the hallway remained. It reminded her of a hotel hallway, and there were dim lights every few meters, leaving some space swallowed by darkness.

How the dollhouse contained a hallway was beyond Belle. She was too horrified to ask herself that question.

She was about to run away and hide somewhere when something caught her eye. A few meters away, in the hallway, in a patch of the floor that was lighted, she saw Mr. Rose. Her teddy bear.

He was sitting there, seemingly calling her to take him. The light illuminated him, chasing away the darkness only a few centimeters away. She felt an urge to just run inside and grab her dear bear.

Belle glanced behind her, her heart beating wildly. The room didn't change.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and took a step forward, ducking as she stepped into the "dollhouse", a.k.a. hallway.