A flashlight in the shadows.

chapter 37: dolls can talk.

The smell of beautiful, freshly cooked bacon filled the house the next morning. I grumbled as I rolled over on my side. Last night had been filled with horror, but I was extremely tired. Jane came and knocked on the door, letting herself in.
"Hey. Time for breakfast." I groaned and threw a pillow at her.
"I'll be down in a minute." She nodded and left. She had learned how to use her crutches efficiently, thanks to Jacob. She still hadn't said anything about her current relationship with him, but I was pretty sure it was more than patient-therapist. I sat up in my bed and pushed the hair from my face, looking over at Bennett's room and biting my lip. It wasn't until that moment that reality struck me; Bennett could actually die. He could be gone from this world, out of my life, forever. The thought chilled me to the bone and I forced it away. I yawned and started down the steps.
When I reached the kitchen doorway, I was surprised to see Cassandra standing over our stove, making bacon. She flipped hair from her face and sighed loudly.
"Alright, what kind of eggs do you want?" Jane sat at the table and shrugged.
"I don't care." Cassandra turned to face me and smiled.
"Good morning Sarah, what kind of eggs would you like?" I bit my lip and stared at her for a moment. The light in her eyes dimmed a little, but she didn't falter. I finally sighed and said,
"Fensten." She frowned and tilted her head.
"Fensten eggs? How do you make that?"
"Its basically an over easy egg cooked in the middle of a piece of bread." I explained to her how to make it. She followed my instructions step by step until we had made a fensten egg. She scooped it up and set it gently on a plate, handing it to me. I sighed and sat down with it.
"So, who taught you to cook?" She asked me, smiling and leaning on the counter. I kept my eyes glued to the food.
"Dad did." Her smile faded and she nodded.
"Oh." Then, after a minute, she smiled again.
"He is a wonderful cook."
"Yeah, he is." I stated, not making eye contact. Jane looked uncomfortable with the silence and bitterness between Cassandra and I, so she decided to make conversation.
"So..Sarah, what happened last night?" Cassandra perked up and nodded.
"Yes, please tell us." I ran a hand over my face and sighed.
"Too much. It's a very long story." Jane frowned and shrugged.
"We have time, talk." I sighed and shrugged.
"Ok..." I explained everything. I started with where Isaac took us and his weird question. Then I talked about Bennett rescuing me and my response to his question. Then I explained very vaguely that he ended up hurt and us going to the hospital. It was a weird thought, to think that all happened in just one night. When I finished, Jane and Cassandra stared at me wide eyed. Jane set a hand on my shoulder.
"Sarah...come here," she pulled me into a tight hug. I let myself cry openly in her arms. I could care less that Cassandra was there. Jane patted my back and tried to comfort me.
"It's ok. Bennett is going to be ok." I sobbed, sad and thankful that Jane understood something that took me a long time to; Bennett was all that mattered right now. I could get over Isaac being schizophrenic and the fact that he tried to rape me. But it would take forever to forgive myself if Bennett died.
Cassandra pulled out the chair next to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I didn't protest, because it felt nice to have someone comfort me, even if it was a person I wanted nothing to do with. My phone started playing love me like you do. I picked it up and sighed.
"Hey, Kendra." A short pause came.
"What? No articulate?" I giggled a little while wiping some tears away.
"Not today."
"Well, have you been watching the news?" I frowned.
"No?"
"Youd better start. Like, right now." I nodded and went to the living room, turning the tv on. Jane and Cassandra followed me. When I changed the channel, the news story started;
"Scott Wilson, here, with the latest local news. Just last night, local teenager Isaac Newman was taken into custody by police after allegedly trying to rape a young woman by the name of Sarah Appleton. Although Sarah was not found at the scene, Isaac was found brutally assaulted. He told police, quote,
'The voices told me to.' He is awaiting psychiatric care from the Trenton mental institution." Jane rubbed my shoulders. A knock came to the door. Cassandra got up and answered it. After a second of talking, she called me to the door. When I reached the door, I was greeted by Bennett's mom. She smiled half heartedly at me.
"Sarah, I need to ask you a favor." I nodded.
"Anything." She sighed with a tear in her eye.
"Bennett..." A hand fled to her eye and a small sob escaped her. I shut the door and stood on the porch with her.
"Yes, I know." She gathered herself and continued.
"I need to see him, his stepfather is at work,can you please watch cc for me? I-I can pay you-"
"That won't be necessary," I interrupted. She just looked at me and nodded.
"Thank you Sarah. You're a wonderful girl." This only made me feel more guilty knowing that if he died, it was my fault. I told Jane and Cassandra where I was going and walked over to Bennett's house with his mom. We walked in to the kitchen.
"Alright, I should be home by 1:00. She can have anything but soda and she is only allowed to watch an hour of tv, my husband's orders. Here's my number, please call if you need anything. Any questions?" I thought for a second,
"Is she allergic to anything, and can we go for a walk?" She sighed and thought for a second.
"She can't eat anything with msg, but that shouldn't be a problem, and yes you can go as long as she wears her coat and hat."
"Ok, have they said anything about Bennett'd condition?" She sniffled and nodded.
"They, uh...they said he lost a lot of blood. But they said he should be ok. He can be released tomorrow." I sighed in relief. She sighed again and nodded.
"Well, I'll be going now. She's in the back yard."
"Ok, tell Bennett I said hi." She smiled and nodded, walking out the door. I bit my lip and started towards the door. When I got outside, I saw her up in a tree, petting chestnut. I smiled and walked up to the tree.
"Hey, cc. How's it going?" She spun around and smiled, setting chestnut to the side and climbing down the tree.
"Sarah!" She leapt down and hugged my legs. I smiled and patted her head.
"Hi cc." She looked up and frowned.
"Why're you here?" I bent down and swept some hair from her face.
"Your mom went out to do something and asked me to watch you. Is that ok?" She nodded quickly and smiled.
"Yeah! Hey, will you play Barbie dolls with me?" I giggled.
"Sure, where are they?"
"In my room, come on!" She took my hand and led me up the stairs to her room. At first, it all looked normal. She had a bed in the corner with a pink bedspread that had a horse on it. She had a ton of stuffed animals everywhere and a white vanity mirror in the other corner. Her bathroom was painted yellow and had a Dora the explorer shower curtain. As we walked in, I asked,
"Are your dolls hiding from us?" She giggled and shrugged.
"Maybe, can you guess where they are?" I tapped my chin with my index finger and bit my lip.
"Hmm...are they, under the bed?!" She checked under the bed.
"Nope, guess again!"
"Hmm...I'll guess, in the bathtub!" She giggled and shook her head.
"No, not in there." I scratched my head and shrugged.
"Hmm...are they...in the closet!?!" She shrugged and opened the door. What I saw inside was something that you don't typically find in a little girls bedroom.
There was a small chair in the middle of the closet. The inside of the door had a big red cross drawn in marker. There were two candles on either side of the chair, matches next to them. Her dolls sat on the top shelf,along with a billion porcelain angels. A wooden cross sat on the chair, a bible was placed under it. I took it all in. Cc saw my expression, and I could tell she was embarrassed. She grabbed her dolls, handed them to me, and shut the door. She took my hand and tugged it.
"Cmon, Sarah. Let's go sit on my bed and dress them up." I found myself speechless. She pulled a shoe box out from under her bed and opened it, revealing a ton of doll clothes. She didn't say anything but,
"Which one do you wanna be?" There were two girl dolls and a boy doll. I shrugged,
"How about the blonde one?" She smiled and nodded.
"Ok, you be her, and I'll be the brown headed one." We dressed the dolls up and played for a while, but curiosity eventually got the best of me. I asked her,
"Cc?"
"Yeah?" I bit my lip.
"Sweetheart, could you tell me about your closet?" She continued looking at the doll. She thought about it. After a minute or so, she shrugged,
"I don't really want to talk about it." I sighed, but an idea popped into my head.
"Ok, instead do you wanna play a game?" Her face lit up and she nodded.
"Ok." I picked up the boy doll and handed it to her.
"Just do what I ask, ok?" She nodded.
"Ok."
"Ok...now, pretend that the girl doll is you." She smiled.
"Ok, but can I name her something else?"
"Sure."
"Ok, Katie."
"Alright, now...I want you to pretend that the boy doll is your step dad, k?" She hesitated for a moment, but then nodded her head for me to continue.
"K, I want you to pretend that I'm not here. It's just you and him. What happens?" She looked at the dolls for a few minutes, thinking of whether or not to do it. After about 3 minutes, she started by moving the boy doll in an up and down motion;
"Katie, be daddy's good girl and get in the car." Then, she took the girl doll and moved her up and down,
"I don't want to go." Then she switched again to the boy doll,
"Did you hear what I said?! Get in the car or else!" Then she took the boy dolls hand and had it grab the girl doll by the hair and drag her into the imaginary car. Once they took a short ride, he grabbed the girl doll by the hair again and dragged her to an imaginary chair.
"Now, remember that if you tell anyone at school where you got these bruises, I'll kill your mommy," she made the boy doll say. Then, she used the stuffed animals as other people and had them take turns beating up the girl doll, tied to an imaginary chair. When they were all finished, she used a piece of paper to represent Bennett. Then she had the boy doll say,
"Now, we offer a sacrifice in the name of Lucifer, our only hope for ultimate power!" Then, she ripped off a piece and threw it in a fake fire. Then, she had them all drive home together and had the girl doll run off the bed and into the closet. When she got to the closet, she set the doll on the chair and closed the door. Then she looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"She's praying in there. It's the only place where she's safe." She started crying. I felt many emotions at that moment. Anger,sadness, pity. I got up and wrapped her in the tightest hug I could offer. She sobbed into my arms, embracing the comfort. I stroked her hair,
"It's ok, cc. Everything is ok." But before she could respond, we both heard the door open, and a very unwelcoming voice called out,
"I'm home!"

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Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye! :D