Stay With Me
Stay With Me
Jared put
the finishing touches on his hair before grabbing his jacket to head out to his
first ever blind date. It wasn’t really a blind date because over the course of
the past four and a half months he had been chatting and getting to know a
girl, who at first only went by the name dreamluvr59. He had finally taken his
friends’ advice and went to a dating site and after a lot of trial and error;
she had popped up in his inbox. At first for the first few months they had only
conversed through an inbox and messenger and then they had video chatted. She
had told him her real name was Dolly Sweet. He’d laughed at first thinking it
was just another fictional name she’d chosen for herself, but no her real name
was Dolly Sweet. He smiled as he said her name in his mind. It made him think
of candy and she was just as sweet as candy.
He grabbed the flowers he’d bought
after he’d gotten off work and a box of chocolates. She had told him that she
loved sweet heart roses and loved chocolates that came in boxes. It was cliché
and a little cheesy but he wanted to make a great first impression. Dolly had
finally invited him to dinner at her house and had sent him the instructions to
get there. He had tried for hours to get his GPS to program the address but
oddly enough the GPS had come up with nothing so he hoped she’d given him the
correct directions so he wouldn’t be late.
Jared set out for what he hoped was
an eventful night. He pictured her heart shaped face, her golden blonde hair
that was always pinned back that reminded him of a fifties pin up girl, and
those blue eyes that reminded him of a summer sky. She had told him she was
just an old fashioned kind of girl who wanted to meet someone to have fun with
and talk to. They had really hit it off, or so he thought. He drove through
town and hit the country roads hoping to make it to her house before it got
dark.
About an hour later he finally found
the road he needed to turn off on. Jared had almost passed the small dirt road
that looked as if it hadn’t been traveled down in some years but what surprised
him the most was when he finally seen the housing edition she spoke of. Twelve
little houses all neat and almost matching except for their colors lined both
sides of the street. Each house had an outside light that was illuminated and
well-manicured lawns. It reminded him of those old timey black and white
fifties' shows. He chuckled as he passed a mail box that had a little sign
hanging from it that said The Nelsons. The
next house was a bright blue and it was the address that Dolly had given him.
He pulled in behind what looked like a 1957 Chevy Convertible. Dolly really was
into the retro vibe.
Jared grabbed his gifts for her and
turned his car off then got out and headed to the door. He heard soft music
playing inside and rang the doorbell. There was a light feminine voice that
called out, “Coming. Be right there.”
Jared made sure his tie was
straightened and had his smile in place. The door opened and there stood Dolly
dressed in a light blue dress that still fit with the retro fifties thing going
on. It had a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. Her hair was in a high pony
tail. She was dainty yet had curves in all the right places. He held out the
flowers and candy.
Dolly squealed in delight as she
took the gifts and invited him into her home.
“Thank you. I love them!” she said as she held the roses up to her nose.
“You’re welcome Dolly. It’s great to
finally meet you in person.”
She smiled as she closed the door.
“I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding me. I don’t really like to live in
big cities. I like the quiet. Sit down and I’ll go put these in water. Would
you care for a drink?”
Jared nodded, “Sure, I’ll have
whatever you’re having.”
Dolly smiled and excused herself
still being the perfect hostess. Jared looked around at the front room.
Everything right down to the décor was retro even the television looked like
one of those sets from probably when his grandfather had been a kid. The pictures on the walls were vintage,
probably her grandparents and older relatives. There were a few of her but not
too many. Most women he’d been out with had all sorts of personal photographs
and a few had some that looked as if they should have been in an adult shop. He
was relieved that Dolly so far didn’t seem to be too high maintenance or
self-absorbed. When she returned she
handed him a glass of iced tea and set down a platter of tiny finger foods
which consisted of little cubes of cheese and meats with little fancy tooth
picks in them. She sat with her legs modestly crossed and motioned for him to
sit.
“Do you like the oldies? I love
Ricky Nelson, Billie Holiday, and Bobby Darin. They are my favorites.” She chirped.
He gave a friendly shrug, “The
oldies are okay. I mostly listen to what’s current but I can learn to
appreciate the classics.”
They talked for the next hour until
a bell went off. She excused herself and Jared inhaled the heavenly scents
coming from the kitchen. Dolly perfectly set the table laying out her meat
loaf, green bean casserole, bread basket, mashed potatoes, and salad bowl. It
was an All American dinner. She invited him to the table and when he was seated
she sat herself, very daintily placing the linen napkin across her lap.
“This is some spread! It looks
delicious.” Then for added praise, he added, “My compliments to the chef.”
She beamed as she took his salad
plate and filled it before her own. They chatted some more as they ate and
moved to the main course. When they finished that and he was nearly bursting at
the seams, she cleared the dishes and returned with what else, hot apple pie.
After they finished the pie, they
moved back to the front room where she brought out a few games for them to
play. He hung on her every word and loved the way her face lit up when he’d say
something funny or gave her a compliment. It had been a great first date so far
but he knew the hour was growing late. When he looked at his watch, it was
nearly eleven o’clock.
“Wow, I’ve kept you up pretty late.
I better be going.” He said as he started to stand.
“Oh no, I stay up late a lot. You
don’t have to go.”
How he wished he could have stayed
just a little longer. She placed her hand on his and he covered it with his own
as he looked into her beautiful face. She had the most perfect Cupid’s bow
mouth that begged a man to kiss but he didn’t want to push things and he still
had to get up early for work the next day. So with a heavy heart, he lifted her
hand and kissed her knuckles, “Dolly, I have to go but I would like to see you
again.”
“Have a night cap with me first,
okay?”
Jared figured one more drink
wouldn’t hurt so he agreed. She disappeared once again into the kitchen. In a
blink she was back with two glasses of red wine. He took the glass and relaxed
as he sipped it, enjoying her company. He’d only drank half of it when he felt
strange almost a little tipsy.
“I think I better stop now because I
have a long drive home. Next time you’ll have to come to my ap-“ and everything
went black after that.
***
Jared felt a dull ache in his head.
He felt as if his body had been replaced with concrete as heavy as his limbs
felt. Just opening his eyes seemed to take great effort. He tried to remember
the last thing he was doing right before he’d fell out. Slowly he sat up. His
dull ache had turned into a full blast jackhammer inside his skull. Shaking his
head was a horrible idea. Jared groaned as he grabbed both sides of his head.
Still the question remained, what had happened?
There was music but no Dolly. Fear took
root inside him. Surely someone hadn’t broken into her home, knocked him
unconscious, and harmed her? Focusing all his will power to his legs he
stood. Looking around, Jared noted that
nothing seemed out of place. Everything was just as neat and tidy as it had
been when he had arrived. He looked through the curtains out of the big picture
window and it was still dark outside and the neighbors were still tucked into
their homes safe and sound.
“D-Dolly?” his voice was raspy and
his throat ached.
There was nothing but the soft
crooning voice of Ricky Nelson. He made it to the kitchen and there was no one
there. Panic started to grow inside of Jared. There were no signs of entry or
Dolly. He felt his jacket pocket to retrieve his phone, but it was gone. He
looked around and didn’t see a phone. He finally heard a faint stirring. It was
like a scraping noise. He followed it and it led him to a door that was
slightly ajar. There were stairs that
led down and at first Jared was
concerned since he was still unsteady but he had to know if Dolly was down
there and what or if anything had happened.
Slowly he descended each stair.
“Well
I’ve laid my cards on the table, and it’s oh so plain to see, That I’m ready,
willing, and able To love you faithfully…It’s up to you, No, it’s not for me to
say, You love me too, oh but I hope you feel that way…”
It was Dolly! Jared felt like a
hundred pounds had been lifted off his chest. He was about to call out to her,
but something stopped him dead in his tracks.
Sitting at a small folding table
were two skeletons styled to look as if they were having dinner. Dolly was
sitting with her back towards him.
“Daddy, just wait until you meet
him. He’s so handsome and already I can tell he loves me. I think he’ll want to
have that big ‘talk’ soon, maybe even ask a very important question.” She
giggled as she tilted her head thoughtfully, “Oh mother, I would be willing to
bet it was your apple pie that won him over.
No one can resist your apple pie Mother. “
Jared had seen plenty of movies and
none of them could hold a candle to the horror he felt. Well nothing except or
when Dolly turned her head and smiled at him with eyes that were touched with
madness.
“Well hello there Mr. Sleepy
head. You’re not supposed to be down
here just yet. Mother and father weren’t ready for you but since you’re here
you might as well meet them.”
His chest was tight and Jared knew
he had to get out of there and get out of there now. He took a step back. She stood, her smile leaving her face.
“Jared? Why are you looking at me
like that? Come sit down and I’ll explain things.”
Jared almost stumbled on the first
three steps, “Explain what Dolly? I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. You
need help.” His head was splitting and for a moment his vision blurred. One thing was for certain; he had to get the
hell out of this place and far away from Dolly.
Dolly sighed and shook her head. For
a moment she looked like a child who had lost their favorite toy.
“Well if that is really how you
feel, then I guess Daddy was right,” she looked over her shoulder as if she
were having a real conversation with the skeletal body dressed in a man’s 1950s
tweed business suit.
Jared was already up the stairs
before she could finish. Jared pushed aside his splitting skull and ran through
the hallway and past the kitchen to the front door. He jerked open his car door
and forced his hand to stop shaking long enough to put his key in the ignition.
He turned the key but nothing happened. He tried it again, and still nothing
happened. Jared popped the hood while keeping an eye on his surroundings. He
looked in horror as the battery, distributor cap, and his hoses were sliced and
some removed. Fearful she would come out with guns blazing, he started
shouting.
“HELP!”
“HELP ME PLEASE!” Jared cried as he
ran to doors banging on them. No one opened their door.
One by one, he banged on each door
and all the windows. Just as he was about to knock on the last door, he heard her.
“Jared, Oh Jared where are you?
Look, I know what you must be thinking but I think if you let me explain you’d
see we can work through this.”
Not even looking back, he turned the
knob and surprisingly enough, it opened. The black and white television was on
but there was no sound. The living room and pretty much the whole house looked
exactly like Dolly’s. Unlike Dolly’s house, a family sat at the dining room
table covered in dust. Life sized dolls sat at the table. There was something
odd about these dolls. They didn’t look plastic yet they all wore large plastic
over expressive smiles on their faces and their eyes looked so lifelike. He
went over to the father and touched the hair. There was something sticking out
and Jared fingered it, curious. To his surprise
and horror, it was a bullet. That was a strange thing to be inside a mannequin.
He looked at the hole and part of the skull spilt apart and the terror
deepened, he was holding what looked like a piece of human skull with mummified
brain matter in his hand.
The hand of the little girl had what
looked like bone poking through one of the finger tips and the boy across from
her had a similar hole in the back of his skull. The mother’s cheek disintegrated when he
pressed slightly into it. Half a jaw of very human teeth was exposed and two
and two started to add up in Jared’s mind. Suddenly the lights in the entire
house went out and he could hear Dolly humming.
Quickly he ran to the back door, but it was locked. He tried the windows but they were locked as
well. He grabbed a fire poker and tried to break a window but the glass would
not break. Jared decided he was going to
have to hide. The only thing wrong with
that idea was that this was Dolly’s playground and her rules.
“Jared, are you hiding from me? I do
love games. I think that it is very important for two people to like things and
I have never had more in common with anyone than I do you. Are you in here Jared with the Bills?” She
was down stairs looking for him.
Jared was hiding in one of the
bedrooms. It was styled for a boy’s room with vintage looking cowboy design
wallpaper and matching bed spread.
“Jared, do you want to know how I
met the Bill’s?” He held his breath as she continued to search for him. He had
to get out but he had to time it just right.
“Well Bill, like you I met through a
dating service online. Oh he was nice to look at but when he got here he didn’t
like that I was an old fashioned girl. When Bill met Daddy, he said some crude
things. I don’t like crude language.” her voice was getting louder;
closer. “Jared, he called me crazy and
well he wouldn’t do. So I improved him and gave him his own little family.”
Jared flattened himself against the
wall holding the iron fireplace poker tightly in his hands until his knuckles
whitened. She was in the hallway.
His breath stilled in his chest, his
heart raced, and sweat began to trickle down his cheek.
“Jared, I want a little family of my
own. It would be perfect me and you. We’d have a perfect little home, lovely
neighbors, and you’d always have me.”
Jared watched as the door knob
slowly turned. His eyes scanned the
darkened room. He held his breath as the door began to open. Jared held his
breath. He’d have one shot and that was it. It was either him or her and he
sure wasn’t going to end up being part of her macabre fantasy family. Jared had
never hurt or killed anything or anyone in his life but in this moment he had
no other choice.
The door opened and in walked Dolly.
In her hand was a .38 Special handgun and from the looks of it, she knew how to
use it. Jared waited until she’d walked
far enough into the room before he swung. Dolly didn’t know what had hit her
until it was too late. Jared ran as fast as he could.
One Year Later
Jared sat in the chair trying not to
feel the panic that rose up within him every time he did one of these
interviews and had to retell the story of how he nearly was another victim of
Dolly Sweet. Over the past two years, she’d lured and trapped over sixteen
victims and then killed them. The housing edition had been a display for a
project that had been abandoned over twenty years ago and somehow she’d rebuilt
it and used it as her own set of dollhouses.
Jared had spent two days hiding and
running through miles of forest before he trusted his surroundings enough to
get help. He’d alerted the police and they had been just as horrified as he had
been when they got confirmation of what he’d reported was true. Dolly wasn’t even
her real name. No one knew what her real name had been but it was believed she
was an escaped mental patient named Irene McCarthy who had been a resident of
Whispering Hills Mental Hospital since she was eight years old. Dolly had been found and sent to another
facility out of state that was half way across the nation where he was safe
from her. Jared had written a book, a suggestion from his therapist, as a means
of therapy. He’d called it The Deadly
Dollhouse. This interview was his last. His friends were taking him on a
vacation down to the Bahamas for two weeks of fun and sun. After the show, he
opened the door to his brand new Prius, always careful to look in the back seat
before opening the door and sliding in.
He sat his packages on the passenger
seat and let out a deep breath. He inserted the key and started the car. He drove out of the parking garage and nodded
at the guards and attendants. Jared even signed an autograph and headed out. Jared
undid the top button of his shirt and started to relax. Finally he could put
all this behind him, he felt. Jared reached over and turned on the radio.
“There
is someone walking behind you, turn around and look at me. There is someone walking behind you, turn
around and look at me…”
Never
did Jared ever
listen to oldies, especially not after Dolly. His heart was racing, almost
seizing and there in the review mirror was his worst nightmare come true, Dolly
and just as he was about to scream he felt the bite of the wire around his
neck, the pain as he was being suffocated, and felt her breath against his ear.
“I forgive you Jared. Now you can
stay with me forever!”
The car went off the road and over
an embankment before hitting a tree. Later
when Sheriff’s arrived on the scene, all they found of Jared were the packages
and his body minus the head.
No comments:
Post a Comment