The Lost Daughter

Chapter 20: The Doll

Charlotte drifted off to sleep, trying to get her mind off of things. She was pretty paranoid by the situation right now with summoning demons and talking to the dead. What was going on, and was this really Holly's true intention?

Besides, since when was there a spell book in the library? Weird...but quite impressive that Holly was some sort of mage, in a peculiar way.

Soon, Charlotte drifted off to sleep...

Back In Time, March 1945, 2 more days

It was almost close to the deadline. The day Mary disappeared. The day she was found dead. The day that changed Charlotte's life forever.

Charlotte awoke in her bedroom in her old farmhouse, and when she crept inside Mary's room, she was still asleep. Safe and sound. Whew!

She went downstairs to cook up breakfast. As she was cooking, she had a lot of things in her mind. Were Mary and Holly related in some sort of way? Of course, Holly was "formed" in Mary, but their relationship together? Was there anything they had in common, despite Mary's kindness and Holly's enigma?

Does Holly know everything? Is she...alive here in this alternative reality? Is she...not who she is? Was Holly an evil and enigmatic spirit coming to haunt or take revenge? If so, why was Charlotte the target?

She got distracted with so many things going on in her mind, then the stove started to show flames of smoke. Thank goodness she turned it off before it catched on fire. Otherwise, there would have been a dramatic turn of events.

Charlotte was still paranoid about this. Her friends keeping secrets from her, black magic and dark arts are real, the paranormal and supernatural beings are real. In the modern '60s setting...

Ghosts are real. Wait a minute, am I just a ghost or spirit in this alternate world? Well, people can see me and they can't see ghosts. Right? Or am is this dream set in heaven? Or a ghost world? Charlotte thought to herself.

By the time Charlotte was done cooking up breakfast, Mary woke up, holding a stuffed teddy bear in her arms. Mary was full of glee today, and her mother wondered why.

"Mommy! Today's the day!" Mary shouted excitedly.

"Honey, what's today?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm going to my best friend Judith's house today! Her father is driving his carriage here!" Mary exclaimed, eating breakfast in peace.

Charlotte almost choked on the water she drank. Judith Smith is Mary's best friend from school, and Mr. Smith, Judith's father, is considered a bad influence. The Smith family were high-classed but filthy rich and the parents spoil their eight children rotten.

Their reputation, especially Mr. Smith's, intimidated most of the town folks (including Charlotte) and the childrens' teachers and classmates. When they did something bad, he uses his "special" intimidation and lecture or can use money.

Besides, Mr. Smith gave Charlotte and everyone else a creepy feeling. Rumours about him sparked, but he doesn't care about any of those. If you were rich, popular, famous, high-classed, well-known, well-loved and well-respected, you were allowed to be their friend.

But for Charlotte, she isn't gonna let any of this happen. She let it happen in the past, but she was going to change it.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. We can't. We have to go shopping, then go do farm work and take care of the barn animals. Sorry," she lied.

"Aww. But it's okay, I guess..."

After breakfast, they went shopping. They bought some new clothes, new accessories and went to the toy store next, where Mary was fascinated by the doll that was beside her.

"Look, Mommy! She's my new friend! Her name is Anne-Marie!" Mary exclaimed, proudly showing her Victorian porcelain doll to her mother.

Charlotte got an eerie feeling about the doll. It had a chipped eye, pale skin and even a thumb that looks like it's been eaten by the previous owmer of the doll. She wondered why someone would sell something that looked so worn out and used.

"Uh...why don't you look for something else? The doll looks old..." Charlotte told her.

"But I like this one. Yes, it's broken, but she said she's a special doll." Mary muttered.

Charlotte stayed silent, looking at the doll as she frowned.

"Mommy? Can we buy it? Please?" she pleaded.

Charlotte checked the price, frowned and put it back on the shelf. Mary frowned as she did that.

"I'm sorry, darling. It's too expensive. Besides, you should get a doll or just a toy that's cheap," she told her. Mary frowned a little bit, but understood.

A few mimutes later, she grabs a Raggedy Ann doll wearing blue and white checkered fabric all over. She had a bonnet over her red, string hair, a dress with a white apron on it and white tap shoes on.

Charlotte checks the price, seeing that it's cheap, and buys it for Mary. Mary happily plays with the doll for the whole day and when she goes to bed, she thanks her mother.

"Thank you, Mommy! You're the best!" she gushes. "Love you!"

"No problem, dear. I love you, too." Charlotte replied, kissing her forehead, then heading off to her own room to sleep.

The next morning...

Charlotte wakes up and shakes it off. She was back in her own room in the orphanage. Since she was off-duty, she just relaxed and wrote in her journal.

Mr. Fano, on the other hand, was working and seemed panicked. He exchanged a few glances at Bailey and the children, biting his fingernails.

"Boss, is everything okay? You seem pretty urgent and upset about something. Is something wrong?" Bailey asked.

"Please...call...Daphne and Mr. Reinald right now. We need to have an important discussion..." Mr. Fano mumbled. Without question, Bailey did what he said and they came within a matter of minutes.

They all gathered in his office, rather curious.

"What the hell is going on? I was in the middle of dancing!" Daphne shouted, but Mr. Fano hushed her.

"Calm down. I found something last night in one of the childrens' rooms," he told them.

"So, this is why you called us over here?! To complain and vent about something being in the kids' rooms?" Daphne shrieked, impaitient.

"Okay, okay. It's not something...it's someone..." he said.

"What is it?" Mr. Reinald asked.

Mr. Fano took it out of his cabinet and dramatically paused, saying...

"Her..."

It was a Raggedy Ann doll.