House of Dolls

Her Hidden Secret

Katherine's body was flooded with adrenaline as she finally made it out of her hell. She broke free and killed her captor, or so she thought. She didn't look back as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, only concerned with her freedom and getting help for herself and the others who remained at the house. Katherine ran for nearly fifteen minutes to the nearest house. She hadn't seen a single car on the desolate road on her way to help.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she came across a long gravel driveway. "Oh, thank God," she exclaimed as she leaned forward, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Katherine then drew herself up and dashed to the front door of George and Mary Wheeler's house. They were a retired couple who had moved from Pittsburgh's busier city to a smaller town to retire.

They were rocking in their chairs when they noticed a mangled, barefoot girl running in their direction. As Katherine saw them, she began to sob and George slowly stood up, motioning for his wife to remain seated.

George retreated from his front porch and approached her, his face contorted in horror at Katherine's expression. "Oh my God, child, are you all right?" George inquired as he rushed to help the woman who appeared to be abused.

"Please contact 911! I was kidnapped and imprisoned for... I'm not even sure how long." Katherine's sobs became more intense as she realized she had no idea how long Nathan had her imprisoned.

Mary noticed her distress and rushed to her aid, assisting her up the porch. As they approached the stairs, she motioned Katherine to sit in her chair, saying, "Oh my, you poor thing, let me go get you a blanket." Mary went back into her house, got a blanket for Katherine, and sat next to her while her husband dialed 911.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you?" Mary inquired, moving Katherine's face toward her and noticing the wounds on her face.

In between sobs, Katherine could only say, "Nathan did this to me." She hung her head and sobbed even more.

"Who is Nathan?" Mary inquired, her brow furrowed, as she leaned in closer to hear.

"Nathan Hickey did this to me, and he had three of us down there." Katherine began to wail as she remembered the other three girls who had remained at the house.

As they waited for the cops, Mary and George continued to console Katherine. It had taken them nearly ten minutes to arrive at the Wheeler residence, followed closely by an ambulance. Officer Stanley stepped out of the first police cruiser and approached Katherine. He was astonished by Nathan's evil handiwork on her face, which had not yet healed.

"Who did this to you, sweetheart?" Officer Stanley questioned as he kept a close eye on Katherine.

"Nathan. Nathan Hickey," she said, taking deep breaths.

When she mentioned that name, Officer Stanley took a step back, his jaw dropping. The paramedics rushed to Katherine and began assessing her. They brought a stretcher to lay her on while transporting her to the ambulance. Katherine ascended the stretcher and leaned over to Officer Stanley, "There are three more, and one died. I believe he buried her somewhere near his house."

Officer Stanley quickly radioed for all remaining officers to head to the Hickey home after learning of three other live victims and one deceased. Katherine then reached out her hand and grabbed Officer Stanley's arm, saying quietly, "I killed him, though," as she leaned back onto the stretcher.

He dashed back to his cruiser, eager to get to the Hickey house. George and Mary were stunned by what they had just heard. "Do you need anything else from us?" George yelled to Officer Stanley.

"Just stay at your house, and I will be in touch, so if you can, stay put," he said as he began to enter his vehicle. Officer Stanley then dashed to Nathan's house.