Kagirinai Soen
Eternal Silence
by: Miyaka Minamoto
Soft music was playing in the background. A familiar melody, one Alice had heard before.
One year for her sixth birthday, Alice's mother had given her a singing doll, almost the size of herself at the time. A sweet harmony, and a beautiful pre-recorded voice rang out from within it's wooden figure, almost as if the doll itself were singing.
That's where she'd heard it before. Except this time, there was no voice, only the soft whisper of the tune itself could be heard, resonating from within the walls of the old house. That can't be possible, Alice thought. That doll went missing three years ago, after my family was murdered! She scrambled to her feet and hurried to the front door, slipping occasionally on a wet substance she didn't care to know about. With each step, it seemed as if the melody was getting louder, as if the door was growing further and further away.
Alice had begun to panic, tripping over her own feet in her haste. She reached the door at last and pulled the handle so hard, it nearly came right off. She turned and turned, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually, she gave up, slamming her fist against the door as if she believed that would make it open. Standing there in the entrance of the creaky old building, she could hear almost nothing but the tune that had been playing ever since she arrived at that god forsaken place. It kept getting louder and louder, until finally it seemed as if it were directly behind her.
She turned reluctantly, looking down the hallway. She could see nothing but spider webs, and a broken down table. There were fresh cut red roses standing in a tall vase on one end of the table. That's odd, Alice took a few steps forward to get a closer look, I thought they said this place was abandonded, it sure seems that way... but then, what are these flowers doing here?
Her foot bumped against something as she was walking. She moved back a couple steps, she looked to the floor in front of her, and saw a toy laying abandonded on the dusty floor. Was that there before? Alice wondered. Having her curiosity get the better of her, she knelt to the ground, again feeling a slippery wet substance beneath her.
Momentarily distracted, she touched the ground with two of her fingers, then brought them back to her face for further examination. Although, it was almost impossible to see much of anything in the little moonlight that seeped through the transparent linen curtains, casting a silvery light throughout the small hallway. It was in that little moonlight that the object she had originally been curious about recaptured her attention. This time she realized immediately what it was.
"Harmony!" Standing there, a few feet in front of her, red splatters all over her once pristine white dress and long wavy blonde hair, was the little doll her mother had given her, and which had disappeared along with her family three years ago. Alice was frozen in fear, confusion overtook her. How did she end up here. Why is there blood on her dress ... What's going on here!? Alice slowly began to rise from her place on the floor. She glanced once more to her hand and saw the same red, sticky substance on her fingers that had appeared on the doll's dress.
"Hi ... Miss Alice." The doll's mouth hadn't moved, however, a sugar sweet voice echoed from inside Alice's mind. She shivered violently, and slowly began to back away.
"H-How..."
"How am I talking?" The voice sounded innocent enough, but something about it made the hair on the back of Alice's neck stand up, suddenly the room was much colder.
Oh my god! No, I never should have come here! Damn! As Alice was internally cursing the foolish actions that got her there, The doll, Harmony, had begun to move in her direction.
Alice took a few more steps back, until she bumped against the front door. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes from the fear dwelling within her, and when she bumped into the door, the tears spilled over. With her vision blurred the way it was, she could no longer make out the details on the doll's dress, she could barely see the doll itself anymore. Shit!
"Ahaha! You're funny! Come on, play with me!" Alice slumped to the ground, and placed a shakey hand to her mouth to stifle a small scream that was threatening to escape. She began sobbing, and at that moment there was a crash from upstairs. Alice used this as a distraction, trying hard not to think of what the crash could've been in a house that's supposed to be abandoned. She struggled to get to her feet and bolted down the hallway to her right.
She had no idea where she was going, and that frightened her, but at least she was rid of that creepy doll. She didn't stop running until she reached the back door. However, when she reached for the knob and turned, that door too wouldn't budge. Panicing more than ever, she could hear the music drawing nearer.
"Ahaha!" a shrill laugh informed Alice that the doll was just outside the room she was in. She quickly scanned her surroundings, finding a nearby closet and taking shelter. "Alice? Why won't you play with me?" Alice covered her mouth and tried her hardest not to breathe as the music got louder and louder, until finially it stopped somewhere near the door to the closet Alice was hiding in.
"You know, I was very lonely these past three years. My heart just tears apart thinking about it. The memories pierce into the mended crevice, but I can't live on memories forever Alice. The warmth of my tongue has completely cooled, and I can't sing that song I adore. So how about I take your voice instead? Maybe then I won't be so lonely, because I'll always have a part of you with me!" With that, Harmony continued into the next room, still searching.
Slowly, cautiously, Alice pushed open the closet door and looked around. There was no sign of Harmony anywhere. She carefully crept out of the closet, and made for the nearest window. She tried her hardest to open it, but that too, wouldn't budge. Alice was beginning to lose hope. Thinking she would never make it out, she began to cry again. When she heard a noise from behind her, she snapped her head around to see the doll once again.
"Hi ... Miss Alice" A clash of thunder rolled across the night sky, rattling the windows and shaking the entire house. Then a bolt of lightning lit up the whole room, revealing a shining silver object in the doll's hand. Alice's knees gave out on her, and her tears spilled over, pouring down her cheeks and dripping onto her skirt. "Let me hear your voice, Alice!"
Harmony lunged forward and plunged the knife in so deep, it had begun to protrude through to the other side. Harmony removed the now bloodsoaked knife from the hole she created just below Alice's breast. "Ahaha! You're still alive? How do you think it feels to have your voice torn from your very throat!?" Another bolt of lightning flashed throughout the small room, exposing the stitching across Harmony's face, arms, and neck. The doll took the knife and began carving it deep into Alice's throat with a deliberate slowness. N-No! I can't... d-die here! i- Alice began to scream, but it soon turned into a gurgling, choking sound. No one could save her now.
"Teehee!" Harmony giggled as she began viciously tearing away at the flesh that was Alice's throat, blood squirting on the walls, the floor, the cupboards. The knife lay abandonded, forgotten completely on the floor.
"Still, you do not answer... Miss Alice." Harmony had stepped back once she had finished clawing away at Alice's throat. She had a torn piece of flesh clutched in her hand. Harmony seemed to be admiring her work, looking over the gorey scene before her. "Eternal silence shall be your punishment for my misery... Alice" She added, before a small drop of warm, salty liquid fell to the floor in front of her, echoing through the now silent house.