Foreign Touch. ۵ ᴅᴏɴɴᴀ ʙᴇɴᴇᴠɪᴇɴᴛᴏ

2.

You shift uncomfortably in your sleep, even though it's freezing outside you can't help but feel hot. Maybe you have a fever? You pull off the covers and keep changing positions to try and get some rest but it doesn't help. You groan, feeling defeated you sit up and stretch out your arms. You let out a yawn and push yourself up to stand up, looking around you take in the environment around you. It looks so creepy and dark. The dolls don't do the surrounding darkness any justice.

Speaking of the dolls, they seem to just be staring at you like they were watching you sleep. That thought alone make a shiver run down your spine, even though you have a liking towards dolls it doesn't make any of this seem any less scary. You make your way to the bottom of the stairs, you look up the staircase and glance at the dolls resting against the stairs and railing. None of this seems to be making you think of running out of the house like most people would, you kind of understand her obsession with dolls. They're like things that you can give their own personalities to, you can make them seem real.

You slowly walk up the stairs, slowly gliding your hands over the railing and taking in the old vintage style she seems to take a liking to. You make it to the top of the stairs and look around, making sure to tiptoe in case she is asleep. You don't want to seem snoopy, you just want to see more of her home. You find even more dolls on the second story, staring right at you, "You guys really make me feel like you're actually alive." you chuckle to yourself and pick up a little doll that sits on top of a cabinet. You gently examine her, she has blonde hair, blue eyes with long eyelashes and she's wearing a long, old vintage dress.

She seems to have some scratches on her cheeks and arms but you pay no mind since everyone has their scars, "You look so real." you whisper. You feel goosebumps slowly appear on your arms as you hear the floor creaking from behind you, you quickly turn around and expect to see the lady behind you but you see no one. You dart your eyes around and see nothing, the darkness keeps you from seeing anything that might be lurking in the dark, "Hello?" you whisper loudly.

Pit pat pit pat.

Small footsteps run past in front of you to the room down the hallway, "Miss, is that you?" you feel terribly stupid at the question but needed to ask just in case. Quiet giggles come from in front of you, you set down the doll back onto the cabinet and tiptoe your way down the hall. You grip onto the hem of your shirt as you stick your head into the room that you hear the doll snickering in, "Hello?" you push the door slightly open to reveal a bed, cabinet and desk with a few lamps. It looks like a bedroom with not much in it. The door creaks quietly as you rest your arms back to your side and flick the lights on, surprised when you see no one in the bed.

You walk and glance around in the room carefully to make sure that you don't alert anyone that you're snooping. A sudden break of glass on the floor breaks you from your snooping and you twist around quickly on your heels, "What was- Oh!" you yelp loudly as you see a doll in a wedding dress in a frozen pose staring up at you. It looks like it was going to try and jump out at you. It's face is cracked, it's body is wooden and clearly scraped, it's eyes are wide and emotionless. It lets out a loud laugh as it holds its middle torso, "Didn't have to scare you to make you scared!" it calms down and keeps staring up at you.

You're holding onto the wall as your body and deeply pressed into it, "You- you're talking.." she climbs onto the bed and starts jumping, "Of course I'm talking! I'm not one of those boring dolls that just follow you around with their eyes," she continues jumping, "I'm special.". You slowly inch your way towards the door, keeping your back on the wall, "Dolls aren't supposed to t-talk back." you whisper. She jumps down from the bed and makes her way towards the door, following you, "As I said, I'm special." she laughs out.

You have the sudden urge to kick her and run out of the house but considering how dolls there are, what if they come alive and attack you all at once? What if the lady comes out and attacks you herself? The doll runs out of the room, going between your legs, while giggling to herself. You subconsciously bite on your bottom lip as you follow her, not being able to see her in the darkness of the upstairs, you walk downstairs and look to your left. You flinch a little at the doll in the painting, the same doll that scared you in the room but calm down quickly, "Wow. She's so gorgeous." you whisper to yourself as you run your eyes down the painting of a woman and the doll from before.

Your head tilts slightly at the doll and then towards the woman, "Is this the lady?" you hear snickering behind you and quickly twist your body around. You look down at the doll at the bottom of the stairs, "Yes, that's Lady Beneviento. You don't know?" her voice get higher at the last part. You slowly shake your head at the doll, "Are you her favorite or something?" you ask the doll, slightly scoffing at yourself for making a conversation with a talking. doll. She snickers at your question, "Of course I'm not her favorite! She loves us all the same." she shakes her cracked head making her veil swish around behind her.

You glance back at the painting, "She's gorgeous, why does she hide her face?" you look back at the doll. The doll seems like she's thinking for a moment with her wooden fingers tapping on her chin before she comes up with her answer, "I think that's something she should tell you herself. Face to face." she laughs to herself at the last part. You slowly nod with a uncomfortable smile tugging at your lips, "Where is she?" you ask as you slowly walk down the staircase. The doll jumps up and tightly grabs your hand, dragging you along the house until you two get to a elevator, she looks up at you to press the button and you're about to do so.

As you move your hand up to press the elevator button, the elevator dings, the doors slowly open revealing the lady of the house, "Oh." is all you say before you back up to get out of her way. You can see her head tilt slightly, the doll jumps excitedly as she runs over to her and jumps up into her arms, the lady quickly holding the doll like a toddler on her hip. She steps out of the elevator and faces you, "What are you doing up?" she asks, you're surprised to hear her voice but you're more surprised at how quiet it is, almost like a whisper, "I couldn't sleep." you say and she slowly nods.

She turns and starts walking, you following behind her, "The dolls here are really spectacular, did you make them?" you eagerly ask her which causes her to turn to you and she nods, you can hear a tiny pleased hum as she turns back around and continues to walk. You quickly follow behind her and you both get to the kitchen where she gently sets down the doll in a high chair, it's legs dangling as she stares you down. You try your best to not create eye contact with the doll as the lady makes you both some tea, "I'm sorry for being such a inconvenience. I'm sure you didn't really need someone like me coming into your home, I do appreciate the generosity." you fiddle with your fingers.

She looks back at you and nods, "If I may ask," you look at the doll and back to her, "what are your names?" you ask. The lady turns back around to the tea so you look at the doll, "I'm Angie and this is Donna!" she eagerly says. You look at the woman, Donna, "Donna? Such a pretty name." you say noticing how her movements quickly stop, the doll, Angie, quickly stands up in her chair and stomps her feet, "What about my name?" she blurts out. You chuckle at her childlike actions, "Angie is also a beautiful name. I haven't heard the name Angie in quite a while. Very unique." you softly say.

Here you are, talking to a doll and it's actually talking back.