Disclaimer: I do not one Living Dead Dolls.

This was a contest entry I wrote this year and it took FIRST PLACE! The concept was simple. Write a short story based any of the doll from the "Living Dead Doll" horror toy line. The doll all have a simple poem and Death certificate. Even if you haven't heard of Living Dead Dolls you can still enjoy this story as a shot. That being said, please enjoy…

Descent Into Madness

Sybil's Story

My best friend Sadie died today. She was killed on her way home from school, they haven't found all of the pieces yet. I was shocked to hear the news but it's not that uncommon here, in the town of Mezco. Killing, haunting and all around weird stuff seems to seep from every part of this town. My name's Sybil and when I'm old enough, I'm getting out of here before I'm swallowed whole or something.

But since I'm only twelve that's still a long wait, I'll be lucky if I even survive until I get to high school. Kids die or get killed all of the time around here. My parents died about a year ago. I don't know all of the details but they say my dad went crazy killing Mom and then himself. Then they all started looking at me whenever I would pass by, like I would snap at any moment like dad.

My older cousin Tara, everyone calls here Tragedy, is making me see a shrink to help me deal with my parents death. Yeah right. I'm not stupid, she's just making sure I don't have the crazy gene from dad. Tragedy's been taking care of me since then. It's not that I don't like her but I liked her better as a cousin rather than a substitute parent.

I can tell she resents it a little that she now has to take care of me instead of going to collage like she planed. At least her boyfriend agreed to stay with us. I don't know his real name but she calls him Misery. He's not as scary as he look, he real nice actually. Maybe she'll get lucky and I'll die as well. After all, no one was safe in this town, just ask Sadie.

She was sort of a scary girl, not the kind you would mess with. She had a habit of careering knives with her and some said they saw her torturing animals in the woods. But she was my best friend, my one real friend. The other girls I hang out with don't really count. Lottie is a quiet girl I know from the clinic, where I see my shrink. She has depression or something, she never wants to talk about it. She doesn't seem to want to talk much at all, she just kind of fallows me like a shadow.

Cookie see me as her good deed of the day. Like I said, I'm not stupid. She's the head of our school's local girl scout troop and a perfectionist that borders on insanity. They should send her to see a shrink. She has her own friends but lives next door to me. So she decided to make me her pet project and befriend the local crazy girl. I've tried telling her to get lost but she just won't take the hint. Not because she likes me, but since I'm a project of hers, she's determine to "help me" because Cookie doesn't fail. Ever.

I'm not trying to shoo her away at the moment though. Since Sadie was killed everyone's been going to school in groups. Today was no exception and trailing behind our odd little group was Simon. Simon is actually very pretty and could easily be one of the more popular girls in our class. There was just one problem, the girl was deathly afraid of cats. Yep, another one from the clinic. I think she might be allergic or something but the way she totally freaks out every time she sees a cat is rather embarrassing. In this group I almost look like the normal one.

I really miss Sadie. She was someone I could talk to, hang out with, and always count on. She didn't treat me like a crazy person, even though I thought she was a little crazy at times. She probably fought back, and I hope she left the killer with a few nasty scars too.

I was sitting in home room the morning after her funeral, listing for my name to be called out for roll call when the teacher, Miss Erie, accidentally called out Sadie's name. The room was quit for a few moments but as she was about to cross her name off the list the door burst open. Standing there with her long flowing black hair and schoolgirl uniform was Sadie. As crazy as this sounds everyone saw it.

"Sorry I'm Late!"

Sadie, had apparently come back to life.

***************************************************

I stopped to take a sip of water and catch my breath. I don't know why I told all of this to Dr. Dedwin, he'll probably have me locked up any moment now.

He looked at me from over his clipboard and sergeants mask, he never took that darn thing, and tapped his pencil. "And what was your reaction Sybil?"

I sighed, might as well continue. "I sat there in shock, like the rest of the class. It was Sadie but not Sadie. She introduced herself as "Edie Slooam Stich" and that's when Miss Eerie remembered we were suppose to be getting in a new transfer student that day. It was really strange, the name sounded fake to me, she could have been Sadie twin!"

I don't remember much after that but I did go up to her after school. I insisted she was really Sadie but she just thought I was crazy and left."

"Do you still think it really was Sadie?"

"Looking back it was clear that it wasn't her. Sadie had a brown and a blue eye, the new girl had only blue. Also Sadie never wore her uniform to school, that should have tipped me off right away. She told me she burned it."

The doctor didn't say anything for a while and I was getting impatient. "Well, are you going to tell me I'm crazy or not?"

"I don't think your crazy Sybil. You just lost your best friend and very suddenly too. It's not all that uncommon to see loved ones wishing they were still around us. The fact that you recognized the mistake is a good sign." He glanced at his watch. "I'm afraid we'll have to pick this up next time, our time is up for the day."

And so I left feeling oddly a bit better then when I walked in. Only a bit though, Sadie was still dead.

**********************************************

The next day, passed by in a blur. I knew it wasn't her but I couldn't stop staring. At some point she told me to quick stalking her, I can't remember if I did. I remember walking home with Cookie, Lottie and Simone when a little white kitten jumped out trying to catch a stray little butterfly. It was so cute…until Simone started shrieking like she was being murdered. The little girl who owned the cat ran to her mother who then threatened to call the cops on us.

Thankfully we dropped Simone off first and as soon as the door was closed Cookie started venting. "Oh my God, that was soooo embarrassing. Does she always freak out like that?"

I nodded at the girl scout. "Oh yeah. Every single flippin' time. I don't know what it is but it's like she thinks every feline is going to kill her."

Cookie thought for a moment then snapped her fingers. "You know what we did in scouts last year?"

All I could think of was, 'No, and I don't care about you or your stupid little chic.' but kept it to myself. She was going to say it anyway, and I was in no mode for an addition lecture about how great the scouts were.

"We wrote down and told each other our fears. And together we helped each other face them. That's what we need to do, we'll help Simone get over her fear of cats!"

"And what, we through a fake cat into her bedroom to show her there's nothing to be afraid of?" I said sarcastically.

"That's a great idea!" Apparently sarcasm is lost on Cookie. "Great thinking Sybil. Meet me and Lottie at Simone's house tonight and together we'll help her get over her phobia!"

And with that, Cookie ran off before Lottie or I could protest.

*************************************************

I was tempted to ditch the scout and the "Rainy day girl" but I knew Simone's parents were out of town and I could probably convince her to do-I mean, help me with my book report. I was the last to arrive and I could already see Cookie holding the sorriest excuse for a fake cat I had ever seen.

"You're not seriously going to use that are you?" Cookie looked down at the plush cat. It had an oversized head, large green buttons for eyes, and a big pink bow tied around it's tail.

"Well, it's night and she's should start off small, and-"

"If she were blind she wouldn't be fooled by that thing."

Lottie, who didn't normally speak up raised her hand. "Um, maybe this isn't such a good idea guys. And um, maybe we should just forget about-"

"Meow!" We all turned to see a small black kitten looking up at us. I reached out and picked it up easily. It purred in my arms as I petted it gently. "Ah, isn't she cute?" I said as it started to lick my finger. "Even Simone couldn't resist this little cutie." Cookie smiled and opened the window. The little kitten practically jumped into Simone's room. All we needed to do was wait until she got back from the bathroom. But then a thought struck me.

"Hey guys, let's sneak inside and make sure she can't leave her room, she's still likely to bolt at the first sign of a cat no matter how cute it is." Cookie looked a little uneasy and Lottie looked like she'd rather be anywhere else but neither protested. I knew where Simone kept a spare key and we waited in the hall. As soon as she closed the door to her room, as expected, she let out a shriek. The three of us pushed against the door keeping it closed even as she pounded.

"LETMEOUT! LET ME OUT!!!" It was actually kind of funny until we heard the cat hissing and roaring.

"MEOOOOWWW!" Simone screamed again but this time it sounded different, like she was hurt. But that couldn't be, that harmless little-

"Is someone there *gasp* please let me out! *gasp* Can't *gasp* breath! GASP" We all stood frozen at the door. I thought she might be allergic but... "Sybil, we should open the doo-" I coved Lottie's mouth but Simone had already heard.

"Sybil? Is that *gasp* you?" I didn't answer. "Sybil *gasp* please! You got to let me out! *gasp* can't breath!" Lottie moved to open the door but I stopped her. I wasn't sure why, but I was scared. Would Simone tell someone? I could get into serious trouble, they might lock me away like they wanted to do with daddy before...

Simone pleaded for a few more minutes, getting quieter each time, and then there was silence. I'm not sure how long we waited there but eventually we opened the door….I wish we just left or better yet, never came at all. She was lying on the floor face down with one hand stretched out toward the door and the other around her thought. Cookie bent down and turned her over. She jumped back in horror. Her mouth was wide open like she was gasping for air and her eyes were almost bloodshot. Her whole face looked swollen and there were scratch marks all over her body.

"Oh God, she's dead!" Cooked said as she backed away from the body. "What are we going to do?! I can't go to jail, I can't go to the chair I don't wanna DIE!" I had to slap her to calm her down.

"Get a grip, this was just and accident." I told her but it didn't seem to be helping much.

"It stopped being an accident when you held the door shut!"

"Hey, this whole thing was your idea!" I yelled back.

"It wasn't my idea to use a real cat! If you knew she was allergic-"

"STOP IT!" Shouted Lottie, it was the first time I've ever heard her shout out before.

"She'd already dead, we can't help her now." She glanced around the room. "This was just an accident and…we were never here." Cookie seemed to calm down at her words.

"Your right. No one knew we were coming to here. We close the door, there's cat hair everywhere, and the window's open. A cat got in and Simone died before she before she could get to the door." She said as she was pacing carefully concocting the plan. "Don't mention to anyone we were hear. If you are questions say you were at home but if they catch you in a lie tell them I had you over my house. My parents are out of town for the week and I'm not suppose to have company over that why you lied at first. Getting grounded is better than going to jail. Now help me move her back."

We moved her back to the way we found her and swore to never speak of this again. We didn't know we were seen.

****************************************************

While it may have been Lottie's idea to make Simone's death look like an accident, the poor girl couldn't sleep. They found Simone's body two days later and just as they had planned, they labeled it a tragic accident. But getting away with murder in the eyes of the law didn't mean her conscience could forget.

"I've got a headache." She said going through her medicine cabinet. It was then she saw the huge bottle of aspirin her mother used to help with her migraines. She wasn't suppose to take aspirin with her medication but she hadn't been taking it lately so she figured it was alright. Grabbing a bottle of water she went to her room to nurse her aching head. She just wanted some rest. She popped two but didn't stop there. As she continued to down the medicine like candy she couldn't help but think of Simone. She could barely keep herself together normally she should have know she'd never be able to handle…

"I feel dizzy…" The aspirin was almost half gone but she kept eating ignoring the nausea and abdominal pains. As she started to loose consciousness she thought she saw someone standing outside her window but a moment later it didn't matter.

*******************************************************

I hear about Lottie's suicide when I got to school the next day. I tried to talk to Cookie about it but she'd been avoiding me since Simone died. She rambled something about needing to bake more cookies and ran off before I could get two words out. I tried to forget about Simone but I couldn't. And now Lottie was dead. I knew she had depression but I didn't even think to check up on her. I knew Simone had allergies as well but none of that stopped me. Maybe my neighbors were right. Maybe I did deserve to be locked up in a…

I paused, not sure what I was seeing. It looked like Sadie for a moment, staring at me, but then I realized it was just Edie holding…a small black kitten. I shook my head, it was just a coincidences, it had to be. I glanced back but she was still staring at me and still petting that stupid cat. I couldn't take it anymore. I skipped the rest of my classes and ran all the way home. First Sadie, then Simone and now Lottie! I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the tears rolling down my face. I wanted my mom! I wanted her to be alive and tell me everything was going to be OK, even if it was a lie. I saw Tragedy's car in the driveway and remember she had the night shift tonight.

I was glad, I just needed someone to be there for me. She was still sleeping so I crawled into her bed and woke her up. She was angry at first but then I told her about Lottie, I couldn't tell her about Simone. Finally, as she held me close, I was able to let out all of my pent up emotions. I cried myself to sleep.

*****************************************

Cookie was dealing with things the best way she knew how. She kept busy and pretended they didn't exist. Right now she was grateful tomorrow was "Cookie Day" at school. It was a yearly tradition for the girl scout to bring in cookies for the entire school. This year however they hit a snag. Their supplier raised his prices so much they would spend almost all of their entire yearly budget. But never fear, Cookie had a plan. Several of the girls would bake the cookies at their homes while the runners would pick them up and take them to the school. Cookie of course had the biggest batch and had been baking since she got home. It was almost midnight but she wasn't about to stop, she was almost done. As she was boxing up the last batch she noticed something strange.

"That's weird, did I leave the window open?" But she brushed it off thinking she must have just opened it to cool her baked goods. She was in in so much of a rush she realized she had forgotten to test her prized homemade thin mints. Very few could make them taste like…

"Did I forget something? They taste…off." Not bad, but not up to her usual standers. "Oh, maybe I should remake them, but it's so late and I don't have enough chocolate to finish-" Suddenly she couldn't breath. She grabbed her throat and gasped for air. As she struggled for breath she saw someone standing by the door.

"Enjoy the cookies, Cookie?" the intruded said with a smirk. That was when Cookie realized they must have slipped poison into the batter while she wasn't looking. "I'm sure the school will love them. They always enjoy your cooking." Even as her vision began to blur she recognized her killer's voice.

"It's you…" but could say no more as she too left this world to face judgment in the next.

****************************************************

Cookie's fellow girl scout Jubilee, and her mother, arrived at her house at 6:30 the next morning to pick up and help deliver the massive amounts of cookies to the school. She was about to knock when she noticed a note on the front door.

"Jubilee, all of the cookies are packed up and ready to go. But I had a really high fever last knight and won't be able to go to school today. I'm really sorry, you know I'd be there if I could. The boxes are in the garage and the key is in the usual place.

-Cookie

Jubilee looked at the letter and frowned. "Since when does Cookie take a day off from school especially on Cookie day?" Her mother went to get the key hidden in a fake rock in the garden.

"Poor girl must have worked herself sick. Lets let her sleep."

**********************************************

The night passed in a blur, before I knew it I was back in school. All of the kids were hyped up for Cookie Day. It was a little weird that I didn't see Cookie around anywhere but I figured she was just avoiding me again. Suddenly, Edie stepped in front of me forcing me to stop in my tracks.

"Hey." She said with a smirk. I didn't know what to say this was the first time she's actually talked to me instead of just staring at me.

"Hey, ah, nice weather we're having." She smirked again looking so much like Sadie it was scary. She pulled out a white umbrella twirling it around her.

"Oh I don't know, looks like rain to me." I backed up in horror. The was Lottie's umbrella, I could see her initial's embodied on it.

"Edie…what did you…" she put the umbrella away and patted me on the back.

"Nothing my dear." and she walked away. "Nothing at all." I didn't know what to think. Did Edie kill Lottie and made it look like a suicide? I needed to sit down and think. Luckily it was lunch time and the scouts were busy handing out cookies left and right.

But while I was reaching for my lunch money I found a little note that someone must have slipped in.

"Don't eat the cookies!" That was weird but then I saw who it was from. "Lot of Love, Sadie" I dropped my bag in shock. It was her handwriting. It even had a tiny caricature of herself next to her name, like she always did. I looked around for Edie, who could only have been Sadie. "Edie Slooam Stich", how could I not see it! If you rearrange the letters you get, "School Time Sadie" one of her nicknames. I was about to go searching for her when all hell broke loose.

It was like a horror movie, kids were getting sick and some were dying all around me. The note, I realized, was a warning. "Oh God Sadie, what have you done?!" The police and ambulance arrived as fast as they could but for many it was already too late. I could barely think straight. It was like death was everywhere. Like this town was being swallowed up whole!

I has to get away, the dead and dying were clawing at my feat trying to drag me into hell! I ran with no destination in mind but it wasn't a surprise where I ended up. "Mezco cemetery." I had to be sure, I had to know. It wasn't long before I spotted Sadie's grave, or what should have been. The earth beneath the tombstone was dug up with no body. Somehow she faked her own death.

Suddenly a hand grabbed me from behind. "I got her captain!" shouted a policeman as he hand cuffed me behind my back. "She's the one alright. She fits the description of the suspect seen leaving Cookie Ving's home around the time of death."

"What? Cookie's dead? How?" This couldn't be happening.

"Sybil Van Dorn you have the right to remain silent!"

"No, it wasn't me! It was Sadie! She faked her death and poisoned the cookies! It wasn't ME!"

"And how did you know it was poisoned cookies?" This was her plan, I realized. She set me up from the beginning. But why, she was my best friend. "WHY!!!!"

****************************************

They all said I would end up this way. And here I was, in a mental hospital dressed in a straight jacket, a perfect fit. There were tons of questions and accusations but I didn't hear any of it. All I could think of was Sadie and that probably didn't help my case. Suddenly there was a knock at my door. "You have a visitor."

"Tragedy?" It had to be her she was the only one I had left in the world. And I was with her the night Cookie was killed and when the killer poisoned the cookies. She'd believe me!

"I'm afraid not." It couldn't be, but it was.

"Sadie!" She reached up and popped out her one blue contact revealing her trademark mismatched eyes.

"Seems like her boyfriends was on the run from some gang members and someone tipped them off that he was staying at his girlfriend's house." This couldn't be real.

"No she can't be-"

"It was really messy you should be glad you weren't there to see it." A rage that had been building up for a long time suddenly came out.

"You BITCH! How could you, we were best friends!" Sadie smirked and looked at me with those eerie eyes.

"Simple I wanted my best friend back." I stared back, she was crazy. "You don't remember do you? Oh course not, you never remembered any of the really fun times we had together. I wasn't the one who cause all of this. You were."

"You belong in here more than me if you think I'm going to fall for that."

"But it's true, you really are just as crazy as your father. He had a split personality as well. But you remember how you killed Simone don't you?"

"Tha-that was an accident."

"Not from what I saw, that's when I knew the real you was starting to resurface. You're the one who thought up the cookie idea and ratted on Tragedy's boyfriend Misery. We went together to take care of Lottie incase she blabbed, but she beat us to it. You even killed me."

I looked up startled. I wanted to deny it but I could see images of her dying at my hands. Images of Lottie and Cookie, Images I didn't want to see, ones wanted to forget.

"You see dear, all of my fiddling with black magic and satanic rituals actually worked! I was able to sell my soul for the ability to resurrect myself and anyone I chose. I've been sent to turn this Hell hole of a town into a portal to Hell itself!"

Her eyes started to glow slightly, I was afraid, because now I knew everything she said was true. This town really was damned.

"Sorry about putting you through all of that but I was still a little angry that you killed me. But forgetting all about it was just plain rude."

I hung my head in defeat. "What now then, are you going to kill me too? If you are, then just get it over with."

"Oh you're going to die that's for sure, but first we need to fix that split personality of your."

"We?" Just then Dr. Dedwin came into the room. "Doctor?"

"Have no fear child, I'm just going to open your brain and remove the undesirable personality from you."

Was it true, could he really cure me? "So, you can remove my evil side?"

He started to laugh. "My dear you misunderstand, we like you evil side, it's this personality that we need to remove."

My blood ran cold, this was worse then death. They didn't just want to kill me, they wanted to erase my very soul. "NO! No you can't do this! I'm not evil! I want to be a good girl!" I screamed as some orderlies came to take me away. "Somebody stop him! He's trying to kill me! He's going to tear my soul apart!"

But my insane ranting fell on death ears in this place. As I was taken into the OR I could see Sadie waving at me. She was never my friend, she only liked the other me. As I went under I started to laugh. I realized what I should have realize from the start, "We are dead and THIS…IS…HELL!"

***********************************************

The town was burning, it's beautiful flames devoured everything and everyone in it's path. Sadie had fun raising the dead kids, their souls now fully corrupted by the hell fire, and sent them all to reek havoc. This was the destiny of Mezco, the very reason it was created.

"Hey girl!" It was Sadie, my best friend. "Enjoying the view?"

I chuckled. "I always thought this town was going to hell, ha ha ha."

"We do, do nice work, don't we." She said with a smile.

Still, I felt I had something to say to her. "Hey, sorry I got carried away before. I didn't mean to kill you but you know me. Sometimes I just can't stop myself. And you did have me killed as well."

Sadie tossed her hair looking back into the flames. "Then we call it even." She turned around a noticed how peaceful the next town over looked. Smiling she said. "And since we've both passed away…"

I cracked an evil grin, I was so glad we got rid of that winy brat. It felt good to now be in full control. I smiled just thinking of what we could do next. "Then it's time to play!"

THE END