Forlot: The Mom Who Lives Next Door - Book Twelve

Chapter Twenty-Six

Gabi Dollson started jumping up and down in excitement. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! You hear that, Vincent? We are not the only ones! Well, I am not the only walking and talking doll, but whatever." She took the dummy's hand into hers, and his wooden arm flopped up and down. "Jump with me, Vincent. Jump with me!"

There was no denying that Vincent's wooden cheeks were pink as he began jumping with his girlfriend.

I was curious as to why the doll was overjoyed. Did she even take a good look at the other dolls? They were broken. Split apart. And my mother did say that they were alive. Were.

"Uh, Gabi?" I said, my voice echoing throughout the basement.

She turned her wooden head in such a creepy and disturbing way. "Yes, Jackson?"

"You and Vincent do realize that all the dolls here are not fixed...right? Some of them are missing arms or legs. A few are even missing their heads."

As this sank into her wooden mind, Gabi stopped with her jumping. Her boyfriend jumped one more time before stopping as well.

"Oh." She said. "So I see." She shrugged. "Well, that should not be a problem. Donna can fix them."

"Your mother...did a good job...fixing us," Vincent complimented.

"That is correct, Vincent. Now, if she could only give me a new record and voice box, I would be all set."

"Dude," Milo said to me, tapping on my shoulder. "What is the matter with your mom?"

The four turned our attentions to Mom, and the first thing that we found odd with her was that her face was pale. I mean, it was as pale as toothpaste.

Not only was her face pale, but so was the rest of her. Her skin was extremely pale!

"Mom? Are you feeling alright?" I asked with concern.

"Yes, Jackson," she answered almost immediately. "Yes, I am doing fine, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"But what? Something has to be wrong for your skin to be the way that it is now."

"I...I just realized...what Kira has been up to." She rubbed her temples using her fingers. "How could I have been so blinded? She only pretended to not know me. And the reason that she refused to let my daughter take Gabi home was because she reminded her of this." She glanced all around. "This place."

What did she mean by that? I got the first part. That Kira pretended to be clueless about my mom.
——————————————————————————
"I do not believe that we have met," Mom said. She held out her hand. "My name is Donna."

Kira forced on a smile and shook her hand. "The name is Kira, and these are my kids."

"Ah. So you say that these are yours?"

"Well, not biologically. I am marrying their dad."

"Ah." One of her eyes twitched. "I get it now."

She pointed to her eye. "What is wrong with your eye?"

"Do not worry about it. It does that from time to time. Perfectly normal for me."
——————————————————————————
But that last part. That Gabi reminded Kira of the dolls in the basement. Kira claimed that she was not fond of puppets and dolls, saying that they were too creepy. And that was agreeable, considering what she claimed Gabi Dollson to be.
——————————————————————————
Kira noticed the doll in Amy's little hands and snatched it. She examined it. "Amy, you cannot get this doll."

"Why not?" Mom snapped.

"Have you not heard? This doll is cursed."
——————————————————————————
I took a quick glance at Gabi Dollson.

Then again...

"Donna?" Milo said. "Could you please explain to us what is the matter?"

Mom did not say a word. She just walked across the basement to the other shelf. There was a very small line of hardcover books, and she ran her fingers along the spines. When her fingers landed on the last book spine, she grabbed ahold of the book and slid it out of its place.

Mom blew off dust and cobwebs that were on the book and made her way to the table. She set the book on the wooden table. Milo and I rushed to her and stood on either side of her, while Gabi and Vincent climbed up the table and stood on it.

At this time, Amy was fast asleep in my arms. I had to keep myself from gazing at her because she was so darn cute!

What my mom had to show us was more important.

The book was green and made from leather. There was no title on the front.

"This is a book like no other," Mom said. "You will see what I mean in a minute."

She opened the book and flipped through it. All the pages were old and either stained or ripped at the edges.

The book must have been so old that I swear that I saw a spider, a live spider, crawling out from one of the pages and into a corner of the basement.

All of a sudden, I got the chills and hugged myself.

Did it just get cold in the basement? Or was it just me?

"Kira must have used a potion that was mentioned in this book," Mom explained. "The potion is a pretty blue and usually kept in a small bottle."

"Wait. Are you saying that...Kira is a witch?" Milo asked.

"Oh, no. She is crazy, but she is definitely far from a witch."

"What does this alleged potion do?" Gabi asked.

"It is one of many potions that cannot be made. Instead, you get it from a wizard. And what the potion does is turn people, specifically humans, into puppets. The boys transform into dummies, and the girls transform into dolls."

I slowly lifted my head to both of the shelves. The dolls. Their body parts spread all over the place.

"These dolls were never dolls," my mother continued. "They used to be children. Human girls."