The Strange Mansion

Chapter 4

I sure didn't know where to start. Many things to be seen in this room. There wasn't enough light for me, but I started looking around, anyway. Suddenly I saw a wooden board with a ring of keys hanging on it. I thought I would find something there. Sadly, none of them looked rusty to me.

Shelves were everywhere. I searched and searched. Finally, I found it. The key was laying on the wooden table, next to the broken lamp. It was old and rusty, perfect for the lock upstairs. So, I took it.

The room felt cold all of a sudden. I quickly left and walked straight to the bathroom. The chest was still there, but the bathtub was filled with red liquid. Didn't dare to touch it. I used the key to open the chest. Because it was rusty, it took me a few moments before it could be unlocked completely.

Candles. Lots of candles. Mostly white. The candles were coated by a thick layer of dust. This chest must have been here for a long time. And I decided to take one.

Just like that, I left the room. I was pretty sure that was it. There was nothing else in the bathroom except the chest. Mr. Porter was standing on the other side of the first floor, waiting for someone.

I came up to him.

"Ah, Miss Ellen," he started, "have you found the key you wished for?"

"Yes," I said, "and thanks for... showing me the way."

"You're always welcomed," he replied.

I carried on. On this side of the floor, I could see three more rooms, just like the others I've walked in. But this time, the design was a little bit different.

I decided to enter the closest one. It was locked and the door won't open. I entered another one. The room was small and filled with clothes.

"Pretty...," I whispered to myself.

There were many beautiful dresses, gorgeous shoes, and accessories. That was probably it for this room. Nothing else to check, I left the room and moved on to the next one.

The other room was a bit bigger. It contained chairs, dressers, and dolls. Lots of dolls. The dolls had pretty eyes. They were dressed with pretty clothes. A dollhouse soon appeared in my eyes as I walked farther in the room. Small tables and little chairs were set up nicely as if they were waiting for someone to come and play.

Some of the dolls were sitting on the little chairs, but strangely, one of them was left with no clothes on. It was a life-size doll with beautiful curly faded pink hair tied into two small pig tails, leaving the rest of the hair behind its back. Its thin lips were painted with plum lipstick and its skin was pale.

It was beautiful. But its eyes were sad. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind. I walked back to the previous room and chose an appropriate dress for the doll. The top of the dress was white. It looked very much like a shirt, wore over by a black overall dress. I picked up a black headband with white flowers, white socks, and shoes. Then hurried back to the doll.

I knelt down and began dressing it up. The doll was sitting on a big comfy red chair. Its hands were touched together, resting on its lap. I put on the black headband and white socks. Little by little, it was finally finished. The doll was now dressed up nicely.

In silence, a loud noise suddenly echoed behind me. My heart skipped a beat as I turned around, only to see a gray hair brush lying on the floor. I paused for a second, then quickly picked it up.

I began brushing the doll's hair. Finally, it was done. Then I spotted another doll resting in the big doll's hands. It was never there before. I got creeped out a little bit. But I could manage to keep myself calm. I stood up and took a look at the mysterious doll.

Then I grabbed it. It was made out of cloth and black string. The faded pink strings on its head represented hair and dark purple buttons as its eyes. Now I realized, it kind of looked similar to the big doll that I've dressed up.

"So, this is what they called...

A voodoo doll...?"