Short Horror Stories

The Living Doll

It was Christmas and Keiko and Aiko were very excited. Especially because Grandpa always brought cool presents. "Hello!" Grandpa arrived. "Grandpa!" Aiko, 5, hugged him excitedly. "Good gracious! You're heavy!" Grandpa laughed and handed them their presents.

Keiko, 10, opened her present to find a realistic looking doll. She examined the doll. Its eyes looked so real and her mouth looked like smirking at her, mocking her. The doll blinked. Keiko suddenly got scared of the doll.

"That's nice." Aiko said with disappointment. Keiko just realized that Aiko only got a music box. "Hey, you wanna trade?" Keiko asked. "Of course!" Aiko said happily.

Since then, Aiko always brought the doll with her. One day while playing with her friends, Aiko got hit by a car.She was dead instantly. The doll was smiling happily beside Aiko when her friends reached her. When Keiko saw her sister in the coffin, she also saw the doll beside her.

But when she got home, Keiko saw the doll sitting on top of her dresser. It startled her. Her mother came in. "Mom! Why is the doll here? Isn't it buried with Aiko?" Keiko asked, scared. "Oh, I just thought that you will miss Aiko and that doll can be Aiko's replacement. Literally." Her mom explained.

At night when Keiko wanted to sleep, she saw the doll looking at her. The pupil of the doll's eye really came down and stared at her. It creeped her out.

--- morning ---

"Wake up, Keiko!" Her mom called. Keiko stirred and wake up. She rolled to her side and saw the doll laying next to her. "Ah!!" She yelled, surprised. Her mom opened the door. "Oh look, you slept with the doll. I bet you dreamt of Aiko last night." Her mom said. "Mom, did you put it in my futon?" Keiko asked. "No." Was her mom's simple answer which freaked Keiko out.

In the afternoon, she decided to throw the doll away. She put it in a trash bag. Later that evening, when Keiko sent to her room after dinner, the doll was sitting on the dresser again. "Ah!" It surprised her. Her mom came in. "Keiko! How dare you put the doll in a trash bag. I almost throw it away!" Her mom scolded her.

--- Sunday ---

Keiko went to the temple and gave the doll to the priest. The priest kept the doll on the altar. When they went to Aiko's death anniversary, a small girl around the age if Aiko went to the front and took the doll happily. But Keiko could swear she saw the doll's hand gripped the girl's skirt tightly.

A week later, the news flashed about a girl who died falling of a building. It was the same girl as the one that took the doll. The doll was found on the crime scene gripping the girl's collar, like its pulling her so that she fell.