Halloween Stories 2018

Dolly Sleepover

Our two daughters love playing with dolls. They prefer dolls over any stuffed animal, so this past Christmas, my husband, Jake, and I bought two antique dolls, one for each daughter. The girls were so happy and they played with the dolls for hours.

Last night the girls didn't want to part with the dolls for the night and gave quite a fuss. Jake and I don't allow the girls to bring their dolls to bed with them since, in the past, they've stayed up really late playing with them instead of sleeping, after we had already tucked them in and kissed them goodnight. So, they have to leave their dolls in their play room until the morning.

This morning Jake had to go to work so I had gotten up when he did so I could say goodbye. Our youngest daughter, Maddie, is four so she's not quite old enough to go to school yet. Our oldest, Riley, is six but her school was off for Christmas break for the next two weeks. Since I was already up, I decided to make the girls a special breakfast since I knew they'd be getting up soon. While I was in the kitchen making breakfast, I heard one of the girls make their way down the stairs.

"Thank you, mommy," Maddie said as she walked into the kitchen holding her newest doll.

"For what, sweetie?"

"For brining Lilly to me last night." Lilly is what she named the doll.

"I brought Lilly to you last night?" I looked at her with a confused expression.

"Yeah, you brought Riley her doll too."

"Really? When did I do that?" I continued

"In the middle of the night when I was sleeping because I woke up and my dolly was with me and Riley had her dolly too."

"Maddie, sweetie, are you sure it was mommy that brought you your doll?"

"Yes," Maddie nodded. "Daddy wouldn't bring me my dolly, so that means you did."

I glanced down at the doll she was hugging, now terrified of what we might have brought into the house.

That night I told Jake about what Maddie told me this morning and he suggested that we leave the dolls in the playroom and close the door. So, once we got the girls into bed and kissed them goodnight, we made sure that the dolls were in the playroom then we shut the door.

The next morning, I found the playroom door was wide open, so I checked on Riley and Maddie who were still sleeping. The dolls were placed neatly beside them. A cold chill went through my body at the sight of the dolls staring back at me as they rested beside my daughters.

Again, that night we put the dolls in the playroom and shut the door but this time we locked it. The doorknob is only able to be locked from the inside. We have a key that we use to lock up the room from the outside.

Once the door was locked the two of us headed to bed. "Now there's no way the dolls can end up in the girls' room tonight." Jake told me while he hid the key.

During the night I woke up to the sound of someone walking around in the hallway. Thinking it was one of the girls getting up to use the bathroom, I rolled over and went back to sleep. It's not uncommon that the girls get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, so I didn't think much of it.

The next morning, I was awoken by my husband shaking me. His eyes were filled with fear and confusion. "The door is open." He said softly, trying not to be too loud.

"What? It is? How?"

"I don't know, the key is still where I hid it last night. The girls couldn't have reached it. The door is unlocked and wide open, come look." I got out of bed and followed him to the playroom. The door, just as he said, was unlocked and wide open.