At about two o clock that afternoon, Hayden thought that it would be good idea to get out of the apartment for a while, so she decided to visit her sister. Her older sister, Eclaire, was the only family she had left. Ever since they were little girls the two of them had been extremely close. As she walked out of her apartment building, Hayden signaled for a taxi; fifteen minutes later the driver pulled up to her sisters building.
"Thanks," Hayden said to the driver, handing him a ten dollar bill.
Hayden walked up to the buildings intercom and rung for her sister.
"Hello?" Eclaire asked.
"Hey Eclaire, it's me."
The door buzzed as her sister let her in. Hayden took the elevator up to the fourth floor and as the doors opened she was met by her big sister.
"You didn't have to meet me, I could have rung the doorbell." Hayden said as her sister hugged her.
"It was no bother, I missed you. Eclaire responded. "So how are things?" She continued as the two of them walked to the apartment.
"As good as can be expected." Hayden responded. When they reached the apartment, Eclaire made some tea and the girls sat down.
"I've been thinking about mom a lot lately." Hayden stated.
"I hope you haven't been blaming yourself for what happened. You know that wasn't your fault." Her older sister responded seriously.
Hayden couldn't help but think about the hard time she had been having over the past couple of years, taking care of her mother who had developed schizophrenia. Her mother had made her miserable to the point where she couldn't have anything else to do with her. Hayden had decided that their mother would be better taken care of in a mental institution, to which Eclaire had agreed. Both girls had continuously visited their mother in the hospital for months, but eventually their mother became more violent and the visitations stopped completely. A year later the girls' mother died alone in her room at Point View Psychiatric Hospital. Hayden took it especially hard; she loved her mother more than anything, but during her last years she had become a totally different person, cursing her out, hitting her, and having hallucinations. In the end she couldn't take it anymore, she wasn't strong enough for it; she wasn't strong at all.
"You have to move on." Eclaire told Hayden. "Mom would have wanted both of us to."
"I know," Hayden responded plaintively.
"I got a doll in the mail today." She said, deciding to change the subject.
"Yeah?" her sister said, happy to be talking about something else.
"Yes, she's beautiful, she looks..."
"What?" Eclaire asked as she noticed her sister had stopped talking.
"She looks a lot like the ones mom used to get us when we were little girls, only this one is taller."
"Who sent it?" Eclaire asked as she felt a sensation that was one of fear creeping up the back of her neck; fear not for herself but for her sister. It was ridiculous she knew, but she couldn't help it.
"I don't know, there was no name or return address." Hayden responded.
"That's weird." Eclaire stated, trying to shake off the strange feeling.
Over the next few hours, the girls drank tea and Eclaire decided to fix dinner. They ate and talked about more positive things. Pretty soon Hayden decided that she'd better get back to her own apartment.
Outside she hailed a cab and relaxed in the backseat. The driver pulled up to her building fifteen minutes later and Hayden got out. Opening the door to her apartment, Hayden realized she was exhausted; all she wanted to do was get some sleep. She walked to her living room, turned on the light and stopped when she saw the doll. Hayden couldn't help but think that the doll looked like a real human girl standing in the corner. She was so life like and she reminded Hayden of someone, she just couldn't put her finger on who. Finally, Hayden crossed the living room and made her way toward the hallway; far too aware that the dolls eyes were following her.
