Lucy had been given a small doll as a gift from her parents. The doll was to them by an ancient great aunt who had now passed away. Lucy was secretly unnerved by the doll which had nasty black eyes that seemed to follow her around the room and a cross expression on its face.
Nethertheless, Lucy had to accept the doll, as she was well brought up and didn't want to upset her parents by informing them that she disliked it. The note which came with the doll said its name was Annabella, which seemed to suit her. Now Lucy was now even more afraid now that the doll had a name. It seemed to make the doll just a little bit more human, and if it was even a little bit human then what was it capable of?
Lucy knew that it was just a doll and it couldn't do anything to her. It was only a doll after all and it was only up to her knee. To put her mind at rest she put Annabella in the cupboard under the stairs, where she wouldn't have to see it. That night when she was about to drift off she heard a brief dragging noise, and finally a scattering sound of footsteps.
By now Lucy was pinned to the bed in fear, when she heard a voice say "Lucy, I'm on the first step," but that was all she heard because Lucy started to scream in terror. Lucy was so scared that she didn't sleep a wink that night, but stayed awake in her bed till the break of dawn when her mother came to wake her. Lucy tried to explain what she heard last night but she was just so tired. Her mother simply passed it off as "Nothing more than a dream" and Lucy began to think she was right.
Lucy begged her parents that she might get rid of the doll, but they insisted that it had been the great aunt's wish that it would be left to Lucy. She reluctantly went to sleep that night, telling herself that it had just been a dream. She checked the cupboard under the stairs, but found Annabella right where she left her.
That night Lucy fought sleep but eventually succumbed to it. At 3:02 AM she woke up sweating, and heard the voice again. "Lucy, I'm on the fifth step," it said, then the scampering noise came to a stop and all was silent for the rest of the night. The Next day, Lucy told her three friends, Molly, Leia and Luna about the doll but they just laughed in her face.
Lucy worked out that Annabella was climbing four steps at a time which meant that there was only one more night 'till she reached the top. That night Lucy decided to shut her bedroom door. Her mother noticed because Lucy normally kept her door slightly open to let the light from the hallway in.
Lucy had always been afraid of the dark. Lucy asked if she could keep her bedroom light on but her mother said that the light would be far too bright and would keep her up at night, while Lucy knew that she would stay up all night anyway. Because Lucy was more afraid of the doll than the dark, she closed the door and didn't turn on the light.
Just as she began to doze off, Lucy heard a noise come from outside her bedroom door. "Lucy. I'm on the top step Lucy," it said. Lucy was terrified now. Her heart pounding inside her chest; she knew if she stayed in her bedroom she would not be safe, so she got up and planned to make a run towards her parents' room. After all, even if the doll got her, it was just a doll. Right? She got out of bed and with a tiny trembling hand pulled the door open with a yank and started to run.
When morning rose her parents found her at the bottom of the stairs was a tiny body alongside Annabella. Her parents guessed that she had needed to use the bathroom in the night, but didn't turn on the light, lost her footing, snapping her neck, killing her stone dead. Annabella was cuddled under Lucy's arm. In her parents grief they thought Lucy loved the doll very much, since she had it with her when she perished. They decided to bury her with Annabella. Everybody said what a tragedy it was, especially how her great aunt died in the same way.
Written by Harvey The Hunter
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