Why me?

6

Alice had some difficulties falling asleep. She couldn't close her eyes for a second without thinking about the terrifying woman's face that was standing up there, with her mouth wide open and bloodshot eyes staring at the ceiling and then slowly lowering themselves down onto Alice. She got up a couple of times to get a glass of water as her throat was so dry that it almost hurt, but each time she went out of the room, she could hear a conversation, so she just assumed it was Berta's television, or at least it was like that until she decided to sneak up and take a quick peak at what was going on there, who was talking for so long. What she saw and heard left her speechless.

"I know, Frank", said Berta, looking at a puppet that was laying opposite her bed, on a high stool that looked like the ones for babies who couldn't yet sit on normal ones. "Yes, I understand. But it was a good start, don't you think?" Berta's face lowered and she frowned as if she got a not-so-positive answer.

"Oh well. She can't escape, that's for sure. Don't worry, you'll get what you want, my darling", she said and her arm slowly went up to touch the puppet gently, brushing her fingers against the smooth silky face.

"Really?", she suddenly exclaimed as if the puppet had just spoken to her and her lips curled up into a smile that sent chills down Alice's spine. "Oh, hello there, Alice", Berta said without even turning around and Alice quickly started running back to her new room, where she locked the door and crawled beneath the yellow blanket, shivering all over. Soon enough, there were knocks at her door, slow and calm at first, but as she didn't reply nor move an inch, the knocking became loud and violent, so much that with each kick it seemed as if they were to fall off of their hinges. Alice's eyes filled with tears she couldn't hold back and they streamed down her face into a puddle between her legs.  "W-who is it?", she said in a shaken voice and as soon as she said that, the frenetic knocking stopped, but she didn't hear any footsteps moving away from her room... Which meant someone was still out there. Someone who didn't really seem like Berta as she couldn't have had so much strength to knock so harshly, but one thing was certain: that someone was staring at her through a hole in the door, a hole that was carved into the wood a little bit higher than the lock. Alice wanted to scream, but instead just covered herself completely and buried her head into the pillow. Nevertheless, she could still feel  that she was being watched and that terrible feeling made her want to be anything but alive at the moment. After about five a.m., the eye suddenly disappeared, but Alice only dared to uncover her head and look an hour later, when she could already hear some dishes being moved around, clanging against each other. It was almost time for breakfast.