Short story: The Doll

David was preparing for his parents arrival. Tidying up here and there around his newly furnished house, he'd just graduated college near the beginning of the year and shortly after had landed himself a nice, high paying corporate job. 

After several months of saving paychecks he'd saved enough to buy a small but luxurious house on the outskirts of the city. It was almost Christmas and his parents would be coming over for the first time to see his new house and spend Christmas with him. His father was very excited about his new job, he kept telling David he was on the road to a successful life and in all honesty David felt the same, which is why he'd worked so hard to finish school and get this job.

David was busy wiping down the counter tops of his kitchen when the doorbell chimed.

"Ah that must be them!" He exclaimed.

"One moment!" He yelled at the door.

David briskly walked to the front door and opened it, smiling as he expected his parents to be standing there, but to his disappoint, it was not his parents, just a package from the post office.

"I didn't order anything?" David said out loud to himself as he picked up the package and inspected it.

It was addressed to him, David Fernwood.

"Strange." He whispered as he walked inside with the package and closed the door behind him, he sat down on the couch in his living room and gently opened the small paper parcel. Once opened he stared at the small, soft doll that had come in the package. It looked like one of those fake, plushie, rip off funko toys. He didn't recognize the character, it was just a simple goth, black haired girl with heavy makeup painted onto its plush face. 

"Very weird. The post office must have sent this to the wrong address.. I wonder why they put my name on the package?" David said out loud. He shrugged and tossed the doll onto the couch. 

"Oh well I'll call the post office tomorrow and sort this out." 

David started to clean again but suddenly felt strange. He failed to notice the doll on the couch glowing a sickly green. He leaned over the counter as he felt light headed, it was like something was tugging at his soul, trying to pull him out. 

David begin to panic as he felt his body collapse to the floor and his vision shifted. He was looking at his unconscious form from above. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything but stare in terror down at his body. Something red and sticky shot out from the doll and landed near David's unconscious body. It started to vibrate and shake like jello in a bowl, the red goop started to grow and grow, then it took on the form of a human body. It's color changed from red, to the same shade as the pale little goth Doll on the couch.

It's texture changed after that as skin formed around the goopy mass. David felt himself being pulled downward towards the newly forming body. Every second that passed the goop resembled the doll but in human form. 

David felt himself crashing downwards before everything went dark.

When he awoke everything felt strange. He slowly got up and felt a feeling a vertigo. He looked down in horror to see his lifeless form, still breathing. It was like watching himself from a third person perspective. He looked down at the new body he was inhabiting. Fear and panic begin to rise in his throat as he let out a blood curling scream. He looked at the mirror hanging in the hallway and his mouth dropped. He stared at the 16 year old goth girl  in the mirror and let out a shrill screech, the girl did the same.

"This can't be happening." David said as he stared down at his small hands. The moment he heard his voice is when his sanity started to Crack. He pulled on the thick dark hair on his head and let out another scream.

"This can't be happening!!" He yelled.

David heard a chuckle from the living room and spun around. He stared at the doll as it glowed, it's appearance was changing, now it looked like a plushie version of his former self.

"It was the doll.. It was the fucking doll! It's cursed!!" David screamed as he ran towards the doll and picked it up.

"Change me back!" He screamed in the dolls face.

The doll gave no response. It simply Sat there in his hands limp. David continued to scream at it growing more and more frustrated. He begin to panic as he heard a car pulling into his driveway.

In his moment of panic he begin to bang the dolls head against the kitchen counter while he screamed "change me back!"

David failed to notice that every hit against the back of the dolls head was affecting his former body.

Once he finally noticed the damage was done and it was too late. 

David shrieked as blood pooled around his old bodies head, a deep, blunt trauma wound could be easily seen. The blood seeped into the white carpet staining it. 

Suddenly the doll begin to glow again and a mallet hammer, covered in slick wet blood appeared in David's small hands.

He dropped it beside his former bodies head in shock and threw the doll against the steel refrigerator in the kitchen. More blood started to seep from his old bodies mouth. 

David collapsed to the floor as he begin to shake, he stared at his old body in horror as a sudden realization came over him.

"This.. This looks like I.. I killed myself." He gasped as tears started to pool around his eyes. What the fuck was he going to do.

A knock at the door caused his adrenaline to hit the roof and he felt as though he was going to have a heart attack.

"David?" He heard his mother's voice from the door.

"Honey we're here." She said.

David Sat there in pure shock, unable to move. He heard someone push open the unlocked door. Then he heard his mother scream as she witnessed her son laying dead on the floor, a strange girl beside him sitting near a bloody hammer.

Epiloge:

David's lips trembled as he was led by several guards through the north wing of the women's prison in upstate New York. The guard unlocked a door to a cell block and David was pushed inside. He heard catcalls from several large butch women. He shook in fear as he realized even in a women's prison he was still probably one of the smallest inmates. He climbed the cold, metal steps to the upper level of cells and made his way to his assigned cell. He opened the door and set his blanket and mat on the empty bottom bunk. To his horror he saw the doll, sitting perched up atop a pillow on the upper bunk. He swore that it briefly smiled at him, but at this point his sanity was practically gone, he couldn't tell the difference between reality and fantasy anymore. 

End.