Alice and Her Doll

Chapter 9

*****

The doll slipped out of Alice's arms as she slept peacefully. She hopped on top of Alice's dresser and carefully opened the vent that led to the attic. She climbed through and closed the vent. 

When she had reached her destination, the doll wobbled over to her Infector. 

"I did it," Sally said in a squeaky, but creepy, voice.

"Good, good. He should be here any second, now,"

As if right on cue, the boy pulled down the attic stairs ever so quietly, and climbed up.

"My dear boy!" the Infector sounded happy in an evil way. "You came!''

The boy just stood there, his black eyes focused ahead of him, nodding slightly. 

"And here's what I need you to do," 

Then the Infector and the doll whispered to the boy all of the convoluting plans and actions he would perform in the future. 

******

Carrie sat on her bed, putting the finishing touches on the painting of the large camera that would be given to her mom as a birthday present. 

She smiled as she thought of her dear mother's reaction as she received the painting. Her thoughts were interrupted as Carrie's phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw that Ben had texted her.

"How are you?" it read.

Carrie replied. "Fine, still a little shaken from what happened yesterday...."

"Yeah,"

"I'm just worried about Fiona......"

"Poor Fiona, after the lights turned back on and we found her outside throwing up, I just felt so bad."

"It's not your fault. I guess we both need some time to relax and have time to ourselves. ;)"

Ben concluded, "Well, I gotta go and run errands for ma. Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yes, go ahead. :)"

"If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to ask. See ya later, friend."

"Bye,"

As Carrie typed her goodbye, she thought of Ben and how nice he'd always been to her. She thought he was a good kid. He was kinda cute, too.

Carrie stopped her thoughts and said aloud to herself, "You're just friends."

"CARRIE!"

Carrie hid her painting under her bed. Then she hopped back on her bed, pretending to look at photos on her phone.

"Come in, mom."

"Sweetie," Carrie's mom gasped for breath. "We need to go, now."

*****

When Carrie and her mom arrived at the Cooks' house, they were speechless.

Their big tree in the front yard was being hosed down by the fire fighters. Only a little black stub remained.

"Wha-what happened?" Carrie ran over to one of the fire fighters.

"Someone set this tree on fire, but we don't know who," the man replied.

Carrie walked quickly to Megan, Ray and Alice who were standing in the front yard, talking to a policeman.

"Looks like we're done asking questions, ma'am," the policeman concluded. "We'll work hard on finding who set your tree on fire,"

Megan looked a little shaken. Ray wrapped his arms around her. Alice just sat on the grass, staring at the burned-down tree.

Carrie bent down and Alice's eyes lit up. "Carrie!" 

"Alice, when did your tree, um....well, burn down?" She said, softly.

"Um," Alice replied with a thinking expression. "I was sleeping, and then I saw a light outside and I  went to get mommy and daddy. They called 911 very early in the morning."

Carrie smiled sympathetically at Alice as she clutched her doll and stroked her hair. She really loves that doll, Carrie thought.

Carrie's mom was talking to Megan and Ray. "I'm so sorry! If you need anything, just call us."

"Thank you, Tara," Ray said with tired eyes.

Carrie wanted to talk to Megan and Ray, but her mother was practically dragging her to the car. 

"Mom!" Carrie said when they were in the car. "I wanted to talk to Raymond and Megan!"

"No, they have a lot on their plate and I have to go places. I'll drop you off at home," 

Carrie rolled her eyes. She took out her phone(she recently got an iPhone as an early Christmas gift) and checked the time: 9:36 am. Carrie thought hard and decided it was Sunday.

She started texting Fiona and Ben telling them about the catastrophe with the Cooks' tree, but they didn't reply.

The ride home was silent and tension was thick throught the air.

Carrie thought about who could have set the big oak tree on fire. What a horrible thing to do, Carrie thought. And right after a little girl's birthday, too.

But the person who set the tree on fire didn't care. He was just following orders.

*****