"Of course!" said Coralina with a big grin. "The dollhouse has a curse. And me, and Mom and Dad all have it!" She smiled at Beth.
Beth did not smile back. Coralina stuck a piece of the fruit roll up to her face and grinned. "Look, I've got a tasty beard..."
"Stop trying to be funny. Why are you so happy?" said Beth with a very somber and serious stare at her sister.
"I feel like you missed the memo," Coralina said. "First the nightmares. Then you break a bone, then blood pours out your nose. I already did those. Next is super anger – do you remember when I jumped out of the car?"
Beth stared at her sister and nodded.
"That was anger. It felt really big, like a water balloon was inside me, and it was exploding over and over again. Or maybe... maybe like a volcano? I don't know. More like a water balloon, I think, because I like to think of the tiny bits of rubber just popping apart in a violent explosion." She smiled at her sister and pulled out the box of crayons. "Want to color?"
"No," said Beth. She swallowed. "How do you know this?"
" I was listening to Mom and Dad talking about it in the night. And..." Coralina paused, clearly thinking hard. "Well, let's just say I kinda just feel it in the air too. Like right now, I'm very happy. And next... I think I'll get scared like Dad. And then I'll kill everyone." Coralina grinned and flipped to a page in the coloring book with a little tic-tac-toe board.
"Kill everyone?" asked Beth. Her face grew pale with worry. The skin was muted and shiny with sweat. "Does that mean Dad is about to kill everyone?"
"I don't know. Probably," said Coralina. "I'll go first, okay?" And she drew an X in the upper right corner.
Beth stared at the tic-tac-toe game, then back up at her smiling sister, and back down at the game. "Is there any way to stop it? Can we stop Dad?"
"I think Mom is going to try to kill the witch, and I don't think it's gonna work. But she really wants to try, so I think that's what Mom and Dad are doing right now. Did you hear her trying to get us a sitter? And now she's just gonna leave us here with snacks and crayons." Coralina put a crayon in her sister's hand and tried to get her to draw circles somewhere on the board.
With a bit of numb denial, Beth put a circle in the middle square.
"You are gonna lose now," said Coralina as she put an X in the lower left corner.
Beth swallowed. "I think we should go help them."
"Okay, but Dad might kill us. I'm not just saying that," said Coralina with a big bright smile to Beth.
Beth stood up and opened the side door. Coralina and she stepped into the woods.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kelly limped forwards in the dark cabin. Her foot was throbbing, and the pain was increasing to the point of her almost being unable to bear it. As soon as she stepped inside the cabin, the door slid shut behind her. The darkness was overwhelming.
She wasn't sure anyone was in the cabin with her. Slowly, she shuffled forwards. "Hello?"
Anger was throbbing through her stomach, pounding out her eyeballs. The only relief she felt was the quiet relief of darkness. She turned back around and reached for the doorknob, but she couldn't find it. She had the intention of opening the door, letting some moonlight in. A tiny bit of light would help. But she couldn't find the door.
She couldn't find anything. She continued to shuffle around the room and didn't find any furniture; she didn't find anything at all. Eventually, she made it to another wall, and this time, she kept her right hand on the wall with her limping foot next to it and she slowly circled the room. It was solid, no doors. Nothing. It was as if she had somehow entered into a cardboard box. It was completely pitch black.
She was angry, furious even. "Let me out. Where am I? Let me out of here!"
Her angry little fist pounded the perfectly smooth walls.
But not even her husband, standing right outside the cabin, could hear her screams.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
"Kelly?" Mark whispered, but his whisper was so slight that it would've been a shock if she had heard him, even if his lips were pressed to her ear. Fear was choking the words in his throat.
Fear. The nearly final stage.
The final stage was slaughtering everyone he loved. He didn't want to think about that stage. Would he relish their murders? He certainly hoped not. He hoped he wouldn't kill anyone.
He was nervously holding on to the rifle. It was a security blanket. He tapped on the door gently but to no avail. Kelly did not respond, and neither did the witch. Panting, with his heart pounding bitterly in his chest, he slid along the outside of the cabin, peeking in the windows. Nothing, just curtains. In fact, the inside of the cabin seemed so dark that he wondered if the witch had left entirely.
But then where was Kelly?
Had the witch stolen her?
The fear that had been building threatened to squeak out of his throat in tiny piercing screams. It took all his effort to keep his mouth shut. Because he was afraid if he opened it again, they would never stop pouring out of him. The unearthly, ungodly screams of a terrorized man.
He slid around the cabin even further. At the back of the cabin, he found the door. Carefully, he turned the handle.
This door opened.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Coralina and Beth slowly wandered through the woods.
"Is the most fun you have ever had?" said Coralina with a big grin. "I'm having a blast."
"Be quiet," said Beth. She swallowed and her tiny fists were clenched. "We are hunting."
"I love hunting with Dad. I already killed a buck. You still have your first kill to make," said Coralina.
"We have to be quiet when hunting," said Beth.
Coralina skipped forwards crunching sticks and leaves under her feet. She made no effort to silence her footsteps. Unlike Beth, who was carefully moving and cautiously looking around as she walked.
"Why haven't you killed a deer? Last summer, you had that one in your sight, and wouldn't pull the trigger. I remember, because you are the best target shooter out of all of us. So I want to know why you didn't kill that buck," said Coralina. She turned and grabbed some leaves and threw them in the air so they would flutter down around her. "Wanna play princesses?"
"Be quiet," said Beth, and she took Coralina's hand.
It didn't take long for them to be helplessly lost.
Chapter Forty
Eventually, Kelly settled and sat down quietly. Her foot was throbbing and she lay back on the floor with the cast raised into the air, leaning against the wall. She had her hands crossed across her stomach, and her eyes were shut.
She didn't think that getting out was really feasible at this point. She wasn't sure how she had gotten in.
She tried to play over how she had ended up in here. She turned the handle to the cabin, and the door swung open. It was dark inside the cabin. She shouted, "Hello?"
Then she heard the wind blow. She took one step forwards and then... this place.
It had to be a cellar. That was the only explanation for what was happening. She had been knocked out, somehow, then dumped inside the cellar of the cabin. It made sense, it meant that her husband was going to have a hell of a time finding her. He was so afraid.
She tried to remember the layers of the curse. Nightmares was how it started, and then, broken bone. Bloody noses.
What was next?
Anger. She remembered her husband's constant fear. And how little Coralina was acting like a maniac inside the car. While Coralina was angry, her husband was... happy? He wanted ice cream.
What was after that?
Being afraid. That was the one that Mark was feeling right now. He was scared in those woods. He was so afraid.
She counted them up in her head, six stages. There were only seven total.
Her husband was going to murder someone next.
The anger she had been feeling boiled to her head and just as she was about to stand and try to break her way out, she had a soft, drowsy
feeling of happiness wash over her.
Chapter Forty-One
The door let out a unearthly squeal as Mark pushed it open. He stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. There was an odd, earthy smell. "Hello?" he said quietly. Fear still rumbled through his body. He was grateful, for it meant that he was still in the fear stage, and he knew what would happen next.
He’d give anything to make it stop, stop being afraid, stop having the curse. His hands tightly gripped the rifle. He wished he could sniper the witch from outside of the cabin. The inside was so dark, he couldn't see her.
And he was pretty sure his wife was already inside, but he didn't hear her anywhere either. He fumbled on the wall, plying at it in nervous long, swiping gropes. Finally, his hand felt the familiar switch and he flipped on the light.
The room brightened, and his eyes took a moment to adjust. The witch was sitting in a rocking chair, her hair sticking out wildly. Just then, the bulb burst, and they were plunged back into darkness.
He raised the rifle and fired.
He was in a cold sweat, and he had never fired into the dark before. It was against all of the rules of gun safety. Never shoot a target you can't fully see. Don't shoot when scared. Don't shoot at people.
He was breaking every single one of the safety rules, but he didn't hear anything except for the ringing of the shot in the small cabin. His ears were throbbing from the achingly close bullet. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, trying to adjust to the darkness.
Then he felt a soft breath in his ear. "I'll take that."
The witch grasped the rifle and gently pulled it from him. He was so afraid, he didn't even try to stop her. She set it outside on the back porch.
Mark found that he couldn't move. He was frozen. He tried to turn his head and look at her, but he couldn't. He tried desperately to say something, to lunge for the rifle, but he did nothing. Instead, she shut the door and locked it, the rifle still sitting on the porch.
Chapter Forty-Two
Coralina and Beth continued to move through the woods, although neither of them were sure where they were headed anymore. "Do you think I'm going to have it too?"
"Have what?" said Coralina enthusiastically.
"The curse," said Beth, her voice was trembling.
"I can't imagine that you won't enjoy it. It's really quite pleasant," said Coralina, and then she turned and grabbed her sister and kissed her on the forehead. She was skipping and dancing around.
"Are you connected to the witch? I think Mom and Dad are trying to find the witch. Can you feel her, because the curse is hers?" said Beth, her little mind whirring. They were so lost.
Coralina frowned. "I don't know." She leaned on a thin tree and took off her right shoe, shaking some debris from it.
"Do you remember her cabin? She had ice cream," said Beth, hoping that the sweet promise of ice cream would motivate her sister enough to help her find the cabin.
Coralina instantly grinned and said, "Well, now I'm definitely going to find that cabin!" She carefully put her shoe back on, grinning the whole way. "Do you think it's strawberry? I like strawberry ice cream. I mean, chocolate is pretty good, but strawberry is my favorite. What you like, Beth?"
"Strawberry sounds good to me too," said Beth, grabbing her sister's hand. She swallowed and felt none of her sister's exuberance. She was terrified because she understood that this curse was bad: Dad had a broken finger, Mom had a broken foot, and Coralina had her broken bone her arm. Beth didn't want to break.
Beth had this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that the only way out was to kill the witch. Once she had thought it, it was like a drum beat in the background of her mind. Kill the witch. The witch must die. Her hair was on end, but Coralina was just grinning and laughing as if they weren't in danger.
Coralina grabbed her hand and led the way confidently. "This way."
Chapter Forty-Three
The gunshot was so loud that Kelly couldn't stop herself from screaming. It was so loud. Her ears were throbbing and her heart was pounding painfully in her chest.
Her stomach suddenly cramped, and she doubled over. "Shit, not the baby," she whimpered to herself. She carefully placed her hands on her belly and tried to still the terror that was running through her body. It took all her effort to take a long, deep breath and try to calm down. "You and me are gonna be fine," she whispered, slowly trying to calm the frantic panic pounding inside her. She was still lying on her back with her leg propped up. It was throbbing uncontrollably.
But her heart was still clunking around like their truck engine. "Baby, I know you're still a little one, but I know you can hear me. I talked to both of your sisters endlessly while they were growing inside my belly. It's your turn now."
Her ears felt tight and alert, and if she had been a deer, she would have flickered them back and forth. The danger felt painful and real and bright. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes tightly and counting to ten. It was so dark her eyes being open made no difference.
She could suddenly smell the bright scent of lemon Pine-Sol cleaner. It was so potent, she suddenly wondered if her husband was upstairs, after having shot the witch, and was now cleaning the floors.
But why would he do that?
Why would he clean the floors? Wouldn't he just look for her?
Unless...
Unless the witch had shot someone, and she needed to clean the blood off of her floors. It was such somber thought, the witch had shot someone.
She clenched her fist tightly and tried to count to ten again, but she only got halfway there before a sob came crawling out of her face. Both hands went flying up as if to push the tears back into her eyes. "You need to get a grip," she said to herself with a soft whimper. It was so dark and she was absolutely exhausted. And there was something about the Pine-Sol smell that made her think of her mother. The fear suddenly started to fade and apathy started to creep through her skin. Soon she fell asleep.
Chapter Forty-Four
Mark woke up in the dark.
He could hear the soft snoring of his beloved. He was so disoriented that he wasn't sure if they were in their bed; something felt terribly off. There was a thin thread of fear running through him before he had even fully awakened. He was in danger, they were in danger. Why were they in danger? Weren’t they home? The fear was buzzing inside him like an angry wasp.
He turned to swing his legs off the side of his bed, and it was at that point that he recognized that he wasn't on a bed. He was on the floor. A very dirty floor. He fumbled around in the dark until he found Kelly.
"Kelly?" he whispered and shook her.
She woke up, and in the darkness, she whispered, "Mark?"
"Yes, it's me. Where are we?" he said with a whimper. It was so dark he couldn't see her. He started to wonder if his eyes were still shut.
"Some sort of box. I couldn't find anything on the walls. It’s just perfectly square all the way around.”
"I had a dream about this. We’re in the dollhouse, that's what I think. She's going to stab us with needles!" said Mark, terror running through his voice. He was absolutely convinced that the only explanation for what was happening was that his dream had come to life. The witch somehow had the magical power to slip them into the dollhouse, in the small room. Just like his nightmare.
Then she would stab a giant needle in his eye.
The fear was so big and so bright that he let out a muffled sob, then buried his head into his wife's shoulder. She wrapped her arms tight around him and held him, even though she was utterly confused by his pronouncement.
"Are you sure?" she said.
"What else could it be?" he whispered back between heaving, terrified sobs.
Chapter Forty-Five
It was Coralina who first saw the cabin. She let out a delighted little scream. "There it is! I sure hope she has strawberry ice cream." She immediately dropped six-year-old Beth's hand and started to run in a race towards the cabin.
The small, brave child pounded on the door with a shout. "Do you have any ice cream?" She started laughing really hard at the terrified Beth, hiding in the woods.
The younger girl pressed herself into a small bush, covering up as much as possible. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and she was utterly mortified that her sister would run and pound on the witch’s door with such demands. Coralina shouted again, "Beth! Come on, she's gonna have the ice cream in here. Come on, Beth! Where did you go?"
Her tiny body was pointed at the woods, staring at her sister. She waved dramatically to her little sister, begging her to come. Beth almost shouted, but her voice caught in her throat as the door behind Coralina opened slowly and silently. Two large black hands slid out of the darkness and yanked her older sister into the cabin. The door slammed, and Beth let out a garbled cry of terror.
Then she clapped her hand tightly on her mouth and tried desperately not to pee. Terror was coursing through her tiny body, and she was feeling utterly helpless. What could a six-year-old girl do to save her family? Not much, especially when she didn't even like to talk. She was a shy child, not a warrior. And now she was alone, in the woods, next to a witch's cabin.
But if she didn't save them, who would?
Chapter Forty-Six
Coralina stepped into the cabin and peered around in the dark. She couldn't see much of anything, for the lights were off. She turned around and fumbled at the wall. She quickly found a switch and flipped it on. When she turned back, she saw that she was in a little one-room cabin. There was a kitchen along the back wall, a bed to the right, the couch to the left. There was a large fireplace on the far left. Sitting in front of the fireplace was a rocking chair, and in the rocking chair was an old lady. Her hair looked electric and spiky. Her nose was long and twisted, as if someone slammed it in a door a long time ago.
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