Legal Stuff: I do not own Negima. I also do not own Luke Mason or Izashima, they are provided courtesy of Hydriatus. Therefore I don't own anything in here; save for the doll, but I think it counts as more of an idea rather than an OC and even then it doesn't belong to me, because…

Authors Stuff: This was inspired by the song "Creepy Doll" by Jonathan Coulton. For those who are unaware, he was the man who composed the song "Still Alive" for Portal and the song "Code Monkey" which is the theme for "Code Monkeys" on G4. It doesn't follow the song perfectly because I didn't feel it would make a very long story so changes needed to be made. The ending has been made into even more of a twist.

Notes: A bold number in brackets mean there is a note about that part of the story after the story. So a (1) would signify that the "1" at the bottom is the corresponding note. Basically like a citation, but I'm using them for funny notes or stuff that'd seem weird as a note within the story. Okay? Good.

The Thing in the Box

By Dark Dragon Dave

Evangeline A.K. McDowell is a name that has a lot of weight behind it. For as long as she has lived she has as many names. She has an obsession much like anyone else. Hers is collecting dolls. Usually it is a bit hum-drum. Just go, get, and put on display. But there was another reason for her collection. She is "The Dollmaster," a terrible mage who uses puppets for combat. Still, it was something she enjoyed doing. Mind you her house was quite filled now but there were a couple spaces that are still open for dolls.

This hobby belies her age. She was several centuries old and had the activities of a five year old. But she was Evangeline A.K. McDowell, so who was going to mess with her? Nobody, that's who. Yet, with all of that, there are those who haven't heard her name. And there are fewer still that have heard her name and do not care, and even less who know they are better and are.

The blonde vampire walks past a shop she has gone by many times before that sold antiques and other odds and ends. The kind of things that got lost the first time for a good reason. Something catches her eye this time. It has obviously been used and abused in its time. It is severely damaged which gave it an aura of fear. The sun ostensibly doesn't want to fall upon it. The area around it seems shrouded in a strange shade. She had to have this.

"5000¥?! (1) Is he out of his mind?!" Evangeline asks herself. But she really wants it. "Damn." She knows she will be taken for a ride if she caves in. A few paces back and forth would help clear her mind. She sees it every time she turns and faces it. She checks to see how much she has on her. More than enough to buy it. "Scam artist." With a deep sigh she breaks down, renouncing herself to a purchase. "If this was a full moon I'd just take it."

The door rings a bell as she enters. How stupidly quaint. The inside of the shop is dark and smells of the dust of antiques. That musty smell of old and forgotten. She liked to think she didn't have that, thinking that she was still quite a catch, despite being what she was. Enough of that, she is here to get ripped off and go home. A blonde boy of about 16 is leaving, with a box in his hands, just as Eva enters. Her expression quickly changes to a scowl.

"Oh, holy-" He gets out before he quickly stumbles to go hide.

"I know you're there Luke Mason. No point in trying to hide. I'll get you sooner or later." No reply comes forth from Luke as to whether or not he was there. She gives up on Mason and continues up to the old man behind the counter. "Izashima." She says flatly.

"Evangeline-sama…" He hesitates on the next bit. "What brings you back? And why do you insist on harassing my employees?"

"Employee. Get it right. As for business, that doll out front in your window. I want it."

Luke takes this moment to sidle out the door, taking special care to not move the bell much.

"Ah yes, that one. I think I am giving it away at that price." Izashima says with confidence.

From the glass of the window, one can see Luke Mason making a run for it.

Eva looks perturbed. "Giving it away? Are you out of your freaking mind?"

Izashima could practically feel the pressure she was applying. "Yes." He took a deep breath. "You see it's not just the doll. The doll is part of a combo."

Evangeline raises her right eyebrow. "Really? What does this set include?"

The shopkeep reaches underneath his counter. He brings up an old wooden box, hand carved and with a silver lock on the lid and a silver key. "These come with it." The box had a gloss finish that had started wearing off. The bronze hinges had grime on them from the many years of poor care the box had received. It even looks like the box had been burnt at one point. The key was highly scuffed. There is something scratched into the key, looks like three letters, but she can't read it in the lighting conditions of the store. It had been almost completely worn away from what she could tell.

Evangeline gives him a dead stare. "You're kidding right? You're asking 5000 for a damaged doll, a ruined box, and its old key? What do you take me for?"

"Ah, but Eva-sama, I cannot go lower than that. It simply must be sold for 5000."

Eva smiled a devious smile at him. "That so?"

Izashima trembles a bit during this, "Y- Y- Yes. That's the only price I can take for it. Really." He can't take it anymore. Her glare is just too much. "I suppose I could let it go for half. But that's as low as I'll go."

"Heh. You buckled too quickly." She gets her money and pays Izashima. He goes and gets the mangled doll and brings it back to the desk. He places it in the box and hands it, and the key, to her.

"As always, it was a pleasure to serve you."

"Yeah, I bet it was." Evangeline says as she takes her purchase. She leaves quickly to put her new doll in a spot in her place.

She arrives and immediately opens the box. Chachamaru has joined her in the moving process. After a bit of arranging she sits it down amongst her other dolls. There we go. Everything just so.

The vampire looks at her latest doll with a sense of pride and accomplishment. While it may not have been the best looking doll in her collection it certainly was the most imposing. It had worn clothes at one time but now it is simply naked. The various beatings it must have taken to the head show. One eye remains open at all times and there had been someone who tried cutting its mouth open wider but they had stitched it shut. For a moment… Chachamaru could swear that the doll looks right at her. She quickly disregards it and goes back to what she had been doing before her master called her to assist.

As she steps away, several dolls fall off the shelves and tumble to the floor. Chachamaru picks them up that way her master didn't think she was shirking her duties. They must have come loose when they moved everything around. No problem picking them up and putting them back. When she stood up the new doll seemed to be looking at… no, more like looking through her. She disregarded it as a small system bug and left the room to go complete her other duties.

Later that evening Evangeline returns from a nice game of Go with the headmaster. Chachamaru went with her as well. When they enter, they find that there are things strewn all over. Papers, books, plates, all kinds of things flung all over. Similar to a very angry, disorganized army coming in, making camp, and having a drunken party. Then, while in a drunken stupor, deciding they didn't like the ambience, packed up and left.

"What the hell happened here?" Evangeline asks. Chachamaru didn't have a clue. "Do a scan and see if anything is missing."

The robot scans all she can for an initial report. "Master, initial analysis show that there is no way it could be a robbery. No glass is broken or missing and the door has not been kicked down."

"Think about who lives around here. I don't think they'd use mundane means."

Chachamaru nods and agrees. She runs through everything very quickly and efficiently. "There is nothing missing not even a scrap of paper. Everything is here, right down to the last pencil."

Eva thought for a second. "Good. Pick this up, will you? I'm taking a bath."

"Yes master." Chachamaru kneels down and starts picking up a small number of books.

Evangeline prepares to enjoy a nice soak while Chachamaru straightens up. Eventually she's in the water.

"Ahhh…" She relaxes, letting the stress of the day wind down. Dealing with that bunch of idiots, even if it is indirectly, grinds you down like millstone. The warm water is absolutely exquisite.

Splish… Splish…

The soaking vampire reacts by spinning around to get a good view of the room. "Hello?" Just her, the water, and nobody occupying the room. She didn't make that noise, so what did? As a reflex, she focuses on her ears. All she can hear is the sound of the water splashing about normally.

"It was nothing, I guess."

Relaxing herself, she continued her bath.

She emerged later feeling much better. It is late enough that she yawns as she leaves the room. Since there is nothing left to the day she figures it is time to go to sleep. That and she is completely worn down. The peanut gallery had been particularly obnoxious today. She prepares for sleep and then climbs into bed.

Several hours of sleep pass by. The warmth of her sheets is just starting to get extra snuggly. (2) The sound of children laughing lilts into her ear like a light breeze across a dusty road. She groggily opens an eye half-way. In the usual late night daze she looks around without moving her head. Darkness over there… and there… and yes, there too. Shut up, I'm going back to sleep. Bother me again and I'll ignore you just like this time. I swear it. Eva rolls over and moves the blankets.

Morning comes back again like it has many times before and will many times yet to come. Eva sits up and looks around. She moves the covers and gets out of bed, her feet touching the cold floor. This makes her wiggle her toes. All nice and warm and the first thing you do is touch a cold surface. Well, enough complaining, it's time to start the day.

As she walks to the washroom she totally ignores what is to her right. Chachamaru is working on fixing it. Shortly after closing the door she opens it again and looks at what is going on.

"What the hell is going on? What were you up to?"

"I do not know, master. I found things this way." Chachamaru says. "I am trying to straighten up."

Most of Evangeline's furniture is stacked up in a strange pyramid-like pile. Chachamaru is moving chairs back to where they came from. There are cups, a few dolls, and other things stacked up. The vampire spots her toothbrush, snags it and a cup, and heads to the washroom. A few minutes later she emerges with clean teeth, a must for her and what she is, and minty fresh breath.

The furniture pile was mostly adjusted by the time she got out.

There were more important things to do now. "Leave it for now, Chachamaru. Let's go to class."

"Right master." As she prepares to leave, Chachamaru gets the feeling the doll her master purchased yesterday is staring at her again. Before she closes the door, she gives the doll a long look, analyzing it as much as she can before Evangeline tells her to hurry up and that she doesn't have all day.

"Master," she comments as they head to class, "I think that doll has been watching me."

"Don't be silly Chachamaru. It's plastic and therefore can't look at anyone." Eva explains. "It's just the fear the doll instills. And speaking of that, you shouldn't feel fear."

They continue walking in silence towards the school. Chachamaru was sure there was something wrong with the doll. Though perhaps Evangeline was right, maybe there was something wrong with her after all. She could see the logic in her master's argument. It was just a beat-up piece of plastic after all.

The two of them arrive in class and sit in their places. With the level of activity, today promises to be another temple grinding day. The boya comes in and at the start of class announces something that doesn't apply to her. She ignores it and starts daydreaming. After several minutes of this, Negi presses his luck and asks her a question.

"What?" Eva has a stern look on her face.

Negi looks he has made a major faux pas, like someone who brought up the wrong topic in a conversation at the wrong time. "Right, sorry. Moving on…"

"Stupid kid. Just leave me alone." She thought. Man this is boring. Harassing the child only has so much enjoyment in it. Bored out of her mind she starts daydreaming again. Thinking about what Chachamaru had said to her earlier. There had to be a bug in her system.

Mercifully the day ends. She leaves quickly to go do anything else. After such a dauntingly dull and irresponsibly uninteresting day she decides that she is in need a bit of caffeine. There's only one place to go for all of your caffeine needs when you happen to live at Mahora.

Evangeline sits back in here chair outside of Starbooks. The clatter of people wandering about is quickly ignored by her. This is more time to space out. As she relaxes, she hears something.

Ha ha ha.

The sound of children laughing. This runs a cold chill down her spine and makes her snap around to find a few children playing. She lets out a deep exhale. Rationalizing that she's overworked, she slouches back. The fools of 3-A have her nerves all worked up, that's all. Just sit back and drink the damn coffee already!

With a tentative grasp, the small vampire takes a sip. Could it be that there was something extra in the doll? No, there couldn't be. She'd know… wouldn't she? Without her magic there isn't way to force the issue. Not until the full moon. This curse is such a pain in the ass.

Another sip of coffee and more thoughts. There'd be some way to know, but not now. If there is something residing in the doll it certainly wouldn't let itself be known at this time. There are plenty of ways to find out, but she'll need to wait. Whatever it is, it'd have to be pretty powerful to keep itself off of her radar like it has so far. And it's not like she doesn't have experience with poltergeists.

Wait, wait, wait. This is stupid. It's a random bunch of coincidences. She lives, sort of, amongst an entire collection of mages. One of them is just pissing with her. She'll talk to the dean and he'll get it to stop. It's not like she's completely powerless in this situation. Besides, something like this happened when she first arrived at Mahora.

Back in those days, many mages tried to mess with her. They wanted to get in a few jabs against the Undying Mage without having to feel her retribution. With a sense of failure, she brought it up to Konoemon. After that, the pranks stopped. If she could have done it on her own she would have. At the time, she was unaware of the full moon loophole. But when it did come round, boy was there a lot of payback. That was the last time anyone had the gall to mess with her.

"Master?" Negi asks Evangeline from out of her field of vision.

The vampire snaps out of her reflecting on the past. She turns to the boy and asks, "What do you want?"

"You seemed out of it today in class. Is there something going on?" Negi asks.

She takes another sip of coffee. "It isn't any of your concern. I can handle it on my own." The paper cup gets set down a little harder for emphasis. A friendly threat stating back off.

Negi gets the message. "Right. I just want to make sure that everything is fine."

"It's everyone else. Remember, I am not some idiot teenager."

"I understand that." Negi stands to leave. "I'll take my leave now. And please, if anything is going on, let someone know." He turns and walks away, leaving the vampire by herself again.

Damn, stupid kid. Stay out of things that aren't your business. Concern is nice and all, but save it for Asuna, Nodoka, Yue, or any of the others. They're the ones who need it. She takes another drink and decides to go see if she can jar any information from the doll. Either she'll get an answer or she'll look like a fool for talking to a doll. With coffee in hand, Eva heads home.

A few steps up to her house and Evangeline is in front of her door. When she tries to open it, the knob refuses to turn. Hell. Evangeline pats herself down, looking for a key. Well she didn't have one on her. Luckily, she has thought ahead for just such an occasion. A hole in a nearby tree provides a safe haven for a spare key. Not exactly the most genius idea, but hey, it works.

Her hand and the key are covered in webbing. A few quick swipes and the cobwebs are all gone. She heads back to her door and tries her key. No click signifies it isn't locked which makes this another mystery. What could be blocking the door? The simple way to find out is to go around to the other side and peer into her own window. If Chachamaru was here she could find out but Satomi needed her for maintenance.

Evangeline places her face up against the glass of the window. Hmm… It seems that her door is blocked by a stack of books. There is starting to be more and more evidence for the argument that there is something residing in that doll. She goes back to the door and braces herself against it. Her shoulder serves as the pressure point and while holding the knob in an open position, shoves the door open slowly. A number of books react to the shove by falling to the floor.

"Okay. This does it you stupid doll." The ireful Evangeline says to the room while heading to a drawer. "I'll show you who the boss around here is." With a swift movement she opens it and grabs the key to the box. Next she grabs the box off a shelf and heads to where the doll rests.

"Start talking or you're going in here." Upon further review, that had to be the weakest threat ever. "Better start talking or you are going in the box and I'll finish the job someone else apparently tried."

Nothing from the doll comes forth protesting whether or not she should do this. That did it. Evangeline grabs the doll and holds it with a firm grip around the neck. Something triggers inside the doll.

The sound of a simple speech box starting and within a moment the doll says, "You're my best friend."

"Well that's a load of crap." responds Evangeline. "I know that there's something there. Make yourself known or I will destroy you."

Again the doll doesn't respond. It chose to remain stoic while getting spoken to by its very angry owner.

Evangeline comes to a realization. "Oh, look at me. I'm talking to a common, ordinary doll. I can't believe this. Chachamaru has worked me up is all. Good thing there isn't anyone here to see this or relate it in a story; I'd look like a complete idiot." She sits the doll down and starts to walk away.

An inky black shadow issues forth from the doll and makes its way to Eva, who has stopped to put the box back. The collection of fumes flows over to the blonde and the end of it forms into a cloud shaped like a demonic skull. The doll opens it mouth and makes a nearly inaudible hissing. Evangeline gets the same sense that she's being watched. Just before she turns, the doll withdraws the vapor and closing its mouth, leaving not a clue as to what it just did. The centuries old vampire turns and looks at the doll. It seems to be looking slightly to the left. Its stitched mouth still closed. Has its expression changed? No, that's impossible. She's just looking too much into it. That class has her believing all kinds of things. While it's possible it just isn't likely.

"I suppose I'll have to pick these books up by myself then." Within a couple of moments, she starts to regret not having Negi come back with her. With a sigh she starts to pick up the books. "And I had them all alphabetized by author too." A small stack of books in her arms later and she is at the bookshelf they came from. Moving books and placing books back on the shelf, just what she wanted to do. In a few minutes she has them all back where they belonged and is ready for another load.

Something resurfaces in her mind. "Oh, my coffee. It's probably gotten cold by now."

It wasn't cold but rather room temperature. Spitting it back into the cup, she says, "Bleh. Just as bad." Well that leaves three options. The first two are a no, so go with third. Down the drain. Such a waste.

After half an hour she has cleaned up the books. "Done." A quick glance at the doll and… wait. Which way was it looking before? She can't believe she's falling for this garbage. "Come on. If you're haunted let me know. I'm a vampire after all. I might actually be willing to talk to you."

The doll neither admitted to being haunted or needing a friend.

"Listen. I know what it's like to be stuck in one place for years. Perhaps we could swap stories."

Still not a word from the battered toy.

"Fine, be that way. Let us see how you like being put outside, eh?" Eva picks up the doll and heads to the door.

Later that evening, Chachamaru returns to find Evangeline coming back from the woods. She has a bit of dirt on her face and a shovel.

"Master?" Chachamaru asks.

"I got rid of the doll." The shovel wielding Eva explains. Chachamaru and her go inside. Eva leaves the shovel sitting outside next to the door. It doesn't matter if it gets rusty because she uses it surprisingly very little. Plus she rinsed it off in a nearby stream.

Chachamaru didn't think it would actually happen. "You did?"

Evangeline got ready for another bath, as digging a hole is dirty work. Clean clothes, various washing paraphernalia, hot water… Check, check, and check.

She slinked into the hot water secure in the knowledge that that would be the end of this doll nonsense. No more odd senses, no more stuff strewn about. Done. Now all there was to do was relax.

She emerges from the bath room again, expecting to see something on the floor or something stacked up and was pleasantly surprised that such was true. Chachamaru had made something to eat while the doll burying Eva was taking a bath. Now this is typical. A quiet night at home. They didn't actually happen all that often but sometimes the quite times are the best.

This night, while Eva sleeps, a wild animal tries to dig up the doll Evangeline had buried. It looked like a standard wolf. Maybe it was attracted by the scent or maybe something… else. It dug furiously at the ground. Eventually, it uncovers what it was working so hard to uncover. The wolf bit into the arm that was sticking out and yanks the doll out of it earthen confines. As it stands there with the doll in its mouth, the wolf dies. Its eyes filled with an unholy light.

It runs off towards Evangeline's cabin with the doll still in its mouth. When it gets to Eva's cabin it places the doll on the porch and, in a flash of light, promptly falls on its side, motionless. The doll remains on the porch until morning, when Evangeline and Chachamaru are sure to notice it. A black vapor comes out of the doll as it opens its mouth. The vapor encircles the wolf like a delicate blanket. In a flash it is nothing more than bones. Picked clean by some unholy force.

Evangeline finds herself in a dark alley sitting amongst some garbage cans. A few people stood around one of them that they turned into a burn barrel for warmth. It was cold and there was a light snow falling from the nighttime sky. The people were obviously homeless as is noted by their tattered clothing and disheveled appearance. She stands up and starts to walk away. Some new hobo is approaching the rest of the group. He's wearing a pair of dirty, tattered jeans, beat-up white shoes, and a filthy grey hoodie.

He brushed past her rather violently, knocking her down as he passed. She stands up to confront him but when he turns around she sees his face. The face was that of a demon. He grabs her violently by the right shoulder and tosses her to the wall. She recovers and grabs the man by the arm and the man's arm detaches in response. In a state of surprise, she stands there holding the man's arm. In a flash of inspiration she rears back and home-run swings the arm and connects with the side of the man's head.

This scrap attracts the attention of the other homeless and they begin to swarm Evangeline. Apparently they are all working together. She fights her way loose and runs out of the alley. The homeless stop and turn back into the alley. Eva stops and watches them sink back into the darkness. Silently, a car rushes towards her, just as she turns to look at it, it makes contact and-

Eva sits up in her bed and breathes heavily. She gathers herself and calms down.

The sun rises again on what Evangeline hopes will be a better day. Chachamaru opens the door, ready to start a new day, and is the first to see what is on the other side of the door. At first she doesn't quite understand, but not a moment later it hits her. There is the doll and pile of what had been an animal of some kind. A wolf by the looks of her scans of the teeth and skull. Chachamaru backs up which catches the attention of Evangeline.

"What now?" asks the shorter of the two. She steps up to where the gynoid was just standing. With a look down, she receives the answer to her previous question. There was the doll she had buried and the remains of an animal. "What the hell happened?!" Eva points down at the returned toy. "Why is that doll here?"

Chachamaru formulates. "Perhaps that wolf dug it up and then… I can't think of what may have happened after that."

Evangeline kneels down and grabs the doll again. "I like you." The doll states.

"That's a flaming bag of crap." The vampire girl takes the doll inside and grabs the box. "I think I understand why this box and key came with it." She throws the doll inside and locks the lid with the worn key. "If I am right, this will solve our problem. I will return this to that shop later. I intend on getting my money back." She places the key in her vest pocket.

Content that the box will hold it, they head to class. Eva and Chachamaru, going through the woods as they have done many times before.

Once again, Evangeline finds herself in class. Why she tortures herself… That's one of the great mysteries. That and if she's not going to be much more than a "security guard," why does she need to go to class? There is a lot of stuff going on that she doesn't quite understand. Maybe someday she should get her life in order.

As the "security guard" sits in class, Negi stands up in front. He's going over an English lesson she knows all too well. Having heard the same thing for 15 years and already being a fluent English speaker. The boy moves about as he speaks about the works of Chaucer.

How he is considered the one who proved English as an art form on par with more notable languages of the day. Negi spoke on his history, such as being born in 1343, the child of a vintner, his work as the page of a noblewoman and a collector of metal scrap. He eventually ended up being captured during the early parts of The Hundred Years War.

As the boy moved about he stopped by the windows. Maintaining his focus on the book while it looks like he looking out the window. Something catches her eye as she looks at Negi. A small head pops up from the bottom window. It seems to scan the room and then crawls up the glass. Evangeline recognizes it as the doll she locked into the box. She sits up quickly and runs over to the window.

When she gets to the window she says, "Damn it. I locked it in that box! What the, how the hell did it get out?"

Negi and the class are surprised by this sudden outburst. "Locked what in a box, Eva-san?"

"You didn't see it?"

Negi shook his head like she had asked him something is a weird language. "No…"

Damn it all. The doll was messing with her. There is no way she is going to just lay back and let this happen. Oh, no no no no. First thing after class is over Ishazima is getting a return.

"Eva-san?"

To make her, The Undying Mage, look like a fool in front of these people. Her blood boiled at the thought. If she had access to her powers, there'd be no way that the doll would get away with these mind games.

"Eva-san?"

If she had the equipment she'd see through to boiling it in oil. That is the way to teach it who was boss. She hasn't seen a good "oil boiling" in years. Perhaps it was time for another one.

"Eva-san?"

"What is it boya?!"

Negi really didn't want to make her angry… "Um, could you take your seat please?"

Evangeline gives him a huff and goes back to her seat. What a nightmare this day is turning out to be and the worst 2500¥ she's ever spent. She sits in her seat in an obvious huff. That doll… how could it have been unseen? It shouldn't be able to mess with her mind but it was. She sits there a bit longer psyching herself out until…

Everything goes dark.

She wakes in an unfamiliar place with a light in her face. From what she can tell it was awfully bright. Her mind is still swimmy from… wait, why is her mind swimmy?

"Uhh… What happened?" She awakes and finds herself strapped to a hospital bed. The bright light is that of the operation light shining down from above. Except for the light above her the room is pitch black. "This has to be a dream. I'm taking a nap, that's all. Maybe I'll get lucky and Negi will rouse me. That way I can quit wasting my time here." Her voice carries the obvious hints of anger as she struggles against the bonds that are keeping her attached to the table.

Something vaguely humanoid skitters by in the darkness.

"I can see you. You're that annoying doll from the shop! You can't hide from me!" Now she's really fighting against the bonds. These bold new attempts are as fruitless as last time. A strap rises up and suddenly she finds that her mouth is being covered. It tightens quickly which causes her head to strike hard against the uncushioned table. What was really bad that she felt her head smack against the table.

With her head in this position she could only see clearly to her left and right. Footsteps from what would be the direction of her feet. Once they stopped, she could hear the sound of murmuring. The kind of indistinct chattering that you hear in a doctor's office when the door to the room is closed that gives you the feeling that, perhaps, the voices are speaking about you and debating about how long you have to live. Children laugh again and she looks to her left. She is just in time to see a monstrous black thing, seemingly made out of some kind of slime formed from the darkness itself, swell out of the emptiness around her. Its shiny white and very pointy teeth open to reveal a massive gaping maw that is bearing down on her. It an instant the teeth clamp down and-

Negi rubs Eva's shoulder to try to rouse her. "Evangeline? Wake up."

With a snap, Eva awakes and lets out a small exclamation. She realizes it is Negi and get into an odd state of confused, scared, relieved, and angry.

"Are you okay?" asks the young teacher.

"Yes I am, really."

Negi tries to console the clearly shaken vampire. "If you need anyone to talk to… You know I'll listen."

During that sentence Evangeline regains her composure and mental state. "Nice try but I really don't need your help. Don't go all 'psychiatrist' on me. What's going on is not and will never be any of your concern."

"Okay, but keep me in mind… just in case." Negi turns back to the class, who were all looking back at the two, and continues teaching.

That doll again. This is starting to get irritating. Somehow that doll was able to mess with her. Based on this, she came to two possible conclusions. It was either:

A: More powerful than her. (This thought makes her angry.) Or…

B: It knew specifically how to deal with her kind. (This was highly unlikely but not impossible.)

After an afternoon of self-debate she has settled on Option B. Soon, but not soon enough, the day ended. With a sense of urgency she rushed home to the doll. The door to her house swung open slowly and calmly which, depending on various things, is either good or bad. In this instance it is bad. Evangeline and Chachamaru enter.

Eva walked up to the box and lifted it off the shelf. She reached into her vest pocket and pulled out the old silver key. The key slid effortlessly into the lock on the box and as she turned the key the tumblers made a satisfying clattering. She opened the lid and saw the doll, in the box.

"You dirty, filthy…"

The voice of the doll starts up. "I love my mommy."

"Go to hell," suggests the angry 'mother.' "Better yet, let's go back to where I got you. At least I can get my money back." She closes the lid and the two head out.

The vampire and the robot arrive at Ishazima's store to find it closed. A sign on the door says so. Luke makes the mistake of showing up while Evangeline and Chachamaru are there.

He is fiddling around for some keys and not looking where he is going. The blonde boy almost walks into her. "Oop-" he states when he realizes who is face to face with. At this point he has to make a decision. Run like a coward and live, or man up and face Evangeline… and likely die. So we're all in agreement with 'Run like a coward.'

He begins to turn around and almost gets a step away when a hand grabs his shoulder. It's small and powerful. Well his life was good… maybe. At least it won't be in the way anymore.

"Luke, Luke, Luke." She drags him to the door and places his face close to the door. "What is the meaning of this?"

Luke's voice wavers his response. "He's on vacation. I'm only here to make sure the store is safe and tidy."

"Well I have a return." Evangeline says and in response Chachamaru holds out the wooden box.

"I'm not allowed to make sales or returns."

"Then hand over 2500¥"

Luke laughs nervously which, in his mind, isn't the best thing to have done. "I don't have any money on me." If she was going to kill him, he really wishes she'd do it and get it over with.

Surprisingly, she lets him go. Luke doesn't like where this is going. This situation has 'bad' written all over it. His heartbeat quickened. Chachamaru holds the box closer again. Without a threat or really a word of any kind the two leave. Luke's head begins to spin so he takes a sit down right in front of the door and collects his breath.

He starts to laugh discordantly as he realizes he isn't dead. His laughing becomes more even as he goes on. Things are looking up.

Chachamaru looks on in confusion. She wasn't quite sure what her master was up to. They are heading to a spot where there is some new construction going on. They walk for quite a bit until they eventually come to said construction site. Evangeline looks around until she finds what it is she is looking for. The blonde takes the box, removes the doll, and sets the doll down on an anvil. She then finds and hands Chachamaru a sledgehammer. Chachamaru takes it.

"Crush it, Chachamaru."

The green haired construct tightens her grasp on the sledge, lifts it above her head, and with every last bit of strength she can muster, brings down the hammer on the doll. Hopefully banning it for the rest of eternity. Pieces go scattering off of its form. A leg here, an arm there, small pieces everywhere.

"Hmm… Not quite enough damage for my tastes." Eva comments. She walks over to the doll and looks right into its creepy eyes. "Unless, of course, you are willing to talk now."

"I love you this much." It replies.

Eva nods. "Fine, if that's your game, there are plenty of things lying around with which to destroy you with. Saws, arc welders, bricks, and with the trucks here, we have flammables. Burn, baby, burn."

"We are best friends." The doll offers up. Its one good eye moves as it speaks.

Eva clicks her tongue. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's where you are wrong. I tried offering to be your friend. You opted to try to drive me insane. And trust me, better than you have tried and failed miserably. Anyway, last chance doll, before I end you."

The doll's voice lets out a giggle.

"That did it!" She looks around for a more suitable form of execution. In one alcove was a chop saw. That'll do.

Eva takes the doll and heads over to the menacing blade. She finds a pair of safety goggles and puts them on. Don't want any parts flying into her eyes. (3) She flips the on switch and the blade begins its high-pitched whining. With the kind of smile on her face usually reserved for mental patients, she grabs the handle of the toothy disk and brings it down slowly as to prevent the target from getting flung away.

"Ehhehehehee" Evangeline laughs as the saw makes short work of the doll. "I'm not done yet!" She says as the blade rises up and slows quickly to a stop. She grabs the two pieces and goes to a nearby belt sander. As if she's been on a construction site before, the blonde quickly finds the on switch and starts the sander up, it too making a high-pitched whine. With her right hand, and an insane expression on her face, she takes the lower half of the doll and shoves it down on the belt. Plastic dust instantly forms and sprays out in a cloud, quickly covering Eva in a fine dust. The belt sander makes short work of this half and Eva switches hands to put the second half down. In seconds, this part also becomes dust in moments.

As if a great storm has passed, Evangeline switches the machine off and becomes more calm. She's tranquil as she removes the goggles and brushes the plastic dust off of her. "Well that's over with." A deep exhale escapes her.

Chachamaru looks at the box. "What about this, Master?"

"Well with as much as I spent on the set, I might as well keep it. Let's go back now. I want to wash this dust off of me and be done with this nightmare once and for all."

The two of them go back to the cabin. As Evangeline opens the door she expects the worst. Nothing is strewn about. No books or furniture stacked in an odd manner. This is the way things should be, all nice and orderly. "I'm taking a shower. I want to remove every last speck of that doll."

The shower was one of the best she's taken in recent memory. She vanquished a doll today, which doesn't sound like much but this was the best thing that could happen to it. Now it is fine plastic shavings all over a construction site. Today was a great day.

Chachamaru places the box down by the fire place and goes to find some chores to do. Honestly there wasn't much since they've had to do a bunch of cleaning up recently. Someone knocked on the door. Without a moment's hesitation she answers the door.

Negi was on the other side. "Hello, Chachamaru-san."

"Hello, sensei. What brings you around?" Chachamaru let Negi in. They head to the couch and sit down.

"I'm worried about Evangeline. She was acting awfully strange in class today. Is everything okay?"

Chachamaru shakes her head. "Not for the last couple of days. Master bought a doll and it turned out that it may have been haunted."

"Haunted? By a ghost?" Negi thinks of Sayo for a second.

Chachamaru once again disagrees. "No. It matched all the criteria for a poltergeist."

"Poltergiest!" Negi exclaims.

Chachamaru looks at him and tells him, "It shouldn't be a problem anymore. Master destroyed the doll."

With a great exhale, Negi calms down. "Poltergeists aren't something to trifle with. They are notoriously hard to destroy."

"It was the reason for the outburst today in class. It had been messing with us since basically when she had purchased it two days ago." Chachamaru explains. "Today was the only time I have seen master close to losing it."

"Is she okay now?"

Chachamaru nods. "I believe so. The doll's destruction seems to have lifted a great weight off of her."

Eva finishes up and towels off. She uses another towel to wrap around herself. She exited the bath room and saw Negi and Chachamaru sitting together on the couch. "Negi-boya, why are you here? You're not still concerned about me, are you? Keep it up and I'll think that you have a crush."

Negi becomes red at the thought. "I- I- It wasn't that. I just want to look out for the well being of my students… and you are one of them. So it's my duty t-"

"Shut it." Eva silences him. "I'm getting dressed."

The petite vampire enters her room and drops her towel. First, underpants. She searches through her dresser drawer and finds a nice black pair. Ooh… comfy. Now she needs the proper attire. She moves quickly over to her closet and opens the doors. Decisions, decisions. Admittedly, most of her outfits are black. She picks out one of her medium range black dresses, not to fancy, not to dressy. It was only the boya after all.

When she comes back down Negi and Chachamaru were still sitting on the couch, though there are less things to talk about since they see each other practically every day.

Finally Chachamaru asks, "Would you like something to drink, sensei?"

"Yes, that would be nice."

"Some tea." Evangeline says. "That would be good right about now."

Chachamaru gets up to go make tea and Evangeline takes her place. "We've been shirking on your training." The black clad vampire tells her young protégé.

"We should train after we finish tea then."

And as if those words themselves are a curse flung casually into the world, the dolls grasp upon Eva's life manifests itself. Dark wisps rise up from floor underneath the pillar that holds the resort. The vapors surround and infiltrate the resort, shutting it down from the inside. No escape. Eva can sense something going on.

"What the hell?!" the caught off-guard Evangeline shouts and rushes to her ill-fated resort. Negi and Chachamaru follow right behind. The trio arrives to find the darkened resort.

"What's happening? What does this mean?" Negi asks.

"It's that damn doll again! I just know it." Eva states

Negi says, "But I thought you destroyed it."

"I did," Eva answers, "with a belt sander. But it doesn't seem to have been effective. What do I have to do?"

Negi looks confused. "I don't know. I'm not well versed in the undead."

"Tell me about it." Eva mutters to herself. It seems he's completely forgotten.

Eva sighs. "I don't suppose there's anything I can do right now. The doll is plastic dust all over a construction site."

"If you want you can stay in my room. I can always sleep on the floor if necessary."

Eva didn't like the idea. "No. It knows where I am. There's no running from this thing. It is now my lot to handle." She turns to Chachamaru. "Tea. We need tea."

Chachamaru acknowledges and goes to make the tea she intended to before the interruption. Eventually the tea is made. The two 'teachers' enjoy their tea and when they finish, decide to part company.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

Eva levels a stare at him. "I can handle this." She knew what she was dealing with now and that it will show its face again.

Negi looks apologetic. "I'm sorry. But after seeing you this afternoon, I'm worried. Have you considered an exorcism?" The vampire girl gives him a hard look. "Right, forgot. Sorry."

"I don't need the help."

"Okay then. Good night, master."

As Negi is walking to the door Eva tells him. "When this is over, you are going to train twice as hard. Understand me?"

Negi caught her drift. That meant that when this was all over that he wouldn't just be dog tired, he'd be, well, 'dead tired.' "I'll see you in class tomorrow, but if you are still having problems, please take the day off."

She scoffs at him. "Really, this is a minor inconvenience at best. The next time the two of us meet, I'll be the winner and the doll will become a bad memory."

Negi leaves after bidding his farewell one more time. Eva sits on her couch alone, waiting for the inevitable return of the doll. Over an hour passes and sleep takes her into a loving embrace.

The small blonde finds herself in the halls of Mahora. It's raining heavily outside, the sound of which is punctuated by the flash of lightning and the inevitable sound of thunder. The view of the grounds is 

obscured by the sheet of water running down the glass. Evangeline looks around and notices that the lights are out, the only source coming from what little is coming in from outside and what is provided by the lightning. With a few confident steps forward, she comes to an intersection.

She looks forward, then to her right. Both hallways lead into a darkened nothingness. "Why am I here?" The answer to this escapes her. Indecision makes her go right. For some reason, she gets the feeling that getting away from the windows is a good idea.

This hall is dark and seems to be getting darker by the moment. Her vision goes fuzzy for a second and a throttling pain forms in her head. It's bad enough that it makes her drop to her knees. She holds her head and looks down. The sound of plodding footsteps approaching draws her attention upwards just in time to see a massive humanoid bring an axe down hard-

Evangeline is brought back to reality, screaming. Damn it. And as she expected the doll is right in front of her on the floor. "You son-of-"

"Wanna play together?" The doll asks.

"I've had all I can take of you. Chachamaru!" No replies come from Chachamaru. "Chachamaru?"

A note by the couch informs Eva of the fact Satomi had called about needing to fix a bug that showed up in her programming and she thought it best if they take care of it now, before the android needed to use that application.

"Looks like I'm on my own." She gives it one of her sinister smiles. "There's one sure way to get rid of you. You see I figured it all out." The off-kilter vampire stares at it while she explains. "The box, the key… It all makes sense." She stands up and gets the box. Laughing slightly, she opens the lid and tosses the doll inside. "We've been here, I know, but you see… it all makes sense now. Those burn marks on the box are from the last person to try and destroy you this way."

Yes it is all so clear now. Eva goes over to her fire place and gets soon gets a fire going. She laughs like a pyromaniac and goes to get the box from off the couch.

"I love you. Please don't do this." The doll moves its eye to look at its executioner.

Eva can see right through this. "Lies" She slams the lid shut and uses her key to lock the box. This seals her fate. With a bit of psychosis, the blonde tosses the box into the fire to watch it burn. The flames lick up the side of the box as the sound of the wood burning crackles. She doesn't notice the smoke rolling into the room. The light of the fire is slightly hypnotic. It is now that Evangeline notices the smoke.

"What the hell?" A wave of smoke rolls across her face, seemingly to tell her what the hell. She immediately heads for the door but the knob refuses to move even the slightest bit. "Damn." The only other thing is to head for a window and bust it out. That avenue is also blocked when she sees the windows are boarded over. "How?!"

As she struggles for answers, the inside of the room sets ablaze with burning fire. It quickly spreads from the outside in. The fires tears away at her clothing and she comes to a conclusion. The fire is a figment created by the doll. No matter how intense the pain she felt was. Her regenerative abilities prevented the fire from doing much actual damage. It wasn't any fun taking in the searing hot with every breath as the flames ripped away at her lungs. There was one way to stop this remove the doll from the box.

Evangeline looked for the key that fell out of her burned away pocket. She quickly located the searing hot key and risked the burns to pick it up. Just before she dropped it, she noticed the three letters in the silver key that she couldn't make out before. Perhaps the flames ate some of the grime off the key or maybe the heat accentuated the letters, she wasn't sure, but the letters were visible now. "E-V-A."

"Was this destiny?" Eva asks as the flames become even more intense. They finally begin to do some damage to the enduring vampire. Evangeline screams as the flames burn her. Over her own sounds she could hear the doll speak to her one last time. It was reciting some kind of spell. Slowly, she could fell her mind fill with another presence. That of the doll, or rather, what was inhabiting the doll.

"I love you this much." The thing says as its parting message to its victim. The two of them burn into non-exsistance. "Unfortunatly for the both of us this is a one-way trip."

As the flames carry on in to the night, Chachamaru returns a little later to find her home a pile of ashes. She immediately runs over to the site and surveys the ashes. Her master is nowhere to be found. But in the pile of ashes, sitting there as if nothing had happened to it was the wooden box and the moonlight glinted off the key as it sits in the ashes.

Chachamaru decides to hand the box over to the mages and let them deal with it how they see fit. This leaves her in quite a predicament. She no longer has a place to stay. If she stays with Satomi, she'll constantly be poked and prodded unnecessarily, Negi might not have enough room for her, and she didn't know the rest well enough to ask for lodging. Sensei was masters disciple…

That night Chachamaru goes to Negi's room and tells him what had transpired. Everyone in the room agrees to let her stay. Even if she only stays for the night.

The next day most of those who knew her personally arrived to show their respects. Negi was in tears. "I offered her to stay until we could get it cleared up. If she had accepted..."

"I can't believe she was destroyed by a simple poltergeist." Asuna says, unaware that the doll had taken her and itself down.

The group spent over an hour there, wondering… And while it was tragic loss, time heals all wounds, as the old adage goes. But how would this development affect the story line of the canon? Where would Negi get his training? That is another story for another time and another narrator.

The Thing in the Box



End

Afterthoughts: I hope you stuck around for this part. I found the length of this to be a bit daunting too. There are two reasons I wrote this. The first is I always feel bad if I have to kill a canon characters. Theru once told me "It's painful, but it really gets a point across." So while I had the concept in my mind, her words made me look at this as a learning experience. What better way than to take one of my favorite Negima girls and burn her? While I still feel a slight bit of guilt about this as I type this, I'm sure I'll get over it.

The second being, getting myself used to doing large chapters and being more descriptive. I hope I made some headway in this department, because I feel this has always been one of my faults. Bard Moon Rising fell into that and Twins Testing Trouble is also a victim. So I'm trying to improve. I can't tell you about it but I can draw a picture of it but carrying around a sketchbook all day can get a bit difficult and odd.

Now For Those Note Numbers Within The Story:

(1) Exchange rate as of when I wrote this: 5000¥ roughly 50.18 USD

(2) I now hate the word "snuggly."

(3) Always wear safety glasses when working with this kind of machinery, people.

Thank you for coming along on this twisted little one-shot!