Scarlet's Doll

Chapter 3- Eerie Whisper

I gasped. Mom squeezed my shoulder. Raven and Mom was in great shock.

Then in the middle of the silence. Scorch started to giggle.

Another one of his stupid jokes. She tossed the doll from hand to hand and grinned at me. “You’re really stupid Scarlet. You’ll believe anything.”

I remember one of his sarcastic pranks from which he put powder on my hair blower. As I turn the blower on, the powder scattered everywhere. He made a huge mess actually. My face and hair was covered with those fine particles. And then later I found out that it was flour. Mom scolded him not to play the computer for a month.

“Just give me back my doll Scorch!” I cried angrily. I dived across the living room and grabbed for it. He started to pull it away but I held tightly.

“Hey! You ripped it!” I shrieked.

He had. I held the doll up close to my face to examine it. Scorch had ripped and loosen the right hand of my doll a bit. Thank goodness! 

“Scarlet. . . Scorch. . . please,” Mom begged, crossing her arms again and lowering her voice. That’s what Mom do when she is starting to get steamed up. “Behave. We have a guest.”

Scorch crossed his arms and pouted back at Mom. What an immature person, I thought to myself.

Mom turned to Raven. “How is Azure doing?”

Raven pulled off her sunglasses and tucked them into her raincoat pocket. She had silvery grey eyes. She looked older without her dark glasses on.

“Azure is fine,” she replied. “Working hard. Too hard perhaps. Sometimes he disappears into the jungle for days.”

Raven sighed and started to unbutton her raincoat. “I’m sure you know how Azure loves his work,” she continued. “He spends every minute exploring the jungles of Narcsus. He wanted to come and visit. But he couldn’t leave the island. So he sent me instead.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you Raven,” Mom said warmly. “I’m sorry we didn’t know you were coming. But any friend of Azure’s is more than welcome.”

I then sat down and fully examined Raven. She wore dusky colored trousers and a short-sleeved dusky shirt. It looked like a real jungle-exploring suit.

“What can I offer you?” Mom told her.

“A cup of coffee would be nice,” Raven replied. She started to follow Mom in the kitchen. But she stopped and smiled at me. “Do you like your present?”

I gazed down at the doll in my hands. “It’s beautiful!” I declared.

That night before going to bed, I placed the doll on my dressing table. The black buttoned eyes stared straight ahead.

Raven told me that the voodoo doll was over one hundred years old. And Uncle Azure found it at Narcsus. I leaned against the dressing table and stared at it. It was so hard to believe that it once belonged to a person. Maybe the doll was used for witchcraft, wizardry or sorcery at those times. Or. . . maybe not.

Maybe it’s from a girl before and is used as a toy or perhaps used as a decoration. The possibilities are infinite. I just put into mind that there’s nothing scary about the doll.

“There’s nothing scary. . . There’s nothing scary. . .” I whispered.

I wish Uncle Azure were here. He would explain everything to me.

Raven was sleeping in the guest room down the hall. We had sat in the living room, talking about Uncle Azure all night. Raven described the work of Uncle Azure was doing in the jungle island. And the amazing things he was finding there at Narcsus.

My Uncle Azure is indeed a very famous scientist in the world. He has been on Narcsus for nearly ten years. He studies the rare animals in the jungle. And the plant life too.

I’m so fond of listening to Raven’s stories. It was as if I’m there on Narcsus. I hope I could visit there.

After our chit-chatting downstairs, I then climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. Silvery moonlight washed into the room from the bedroom window. In the bright moonlight, I could see it clearly, staring at me from the table-top, bathed in shadows.

What a horrible sneer on it’s face, I thought with a shiver. Why is it locked in such frightening expression?

I fell asleep staring at the ugly red doll.

I slept heavily, without any dreams.

I don’t know how long I slept. But sometime in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a terrifying whisper. A whisper close up to my ears.  I can feel it’s sweltering voice really near to my ears.

“Scarlet. . . Scarlet. . . Scarlet. . .”