"The Dollhouse Motel"
I was planning to attend a meeting tomorrow morning, but wasn't able to make it to the town that it was scheduled to be held in before dark, and I was beginning to feel drowsy, so I stopped at the nearest motel for the night. It was a relatively small and cute building, and the sign read, 'Dollhouse Motel'.
Stepping into the lobby, I noticed that it was mostly empty, the only other person being the receptionist. I approached the counter, and the receptionist looked up at me, a small, kind smile forming on her face. She seemed young, and had short midnight-black hair and bright emerald eyes. "Oh, hello! I didn't see you there. Welcome to the Dollhouse Motel! My name is Maria, how may I help you tonight, sir?" She seemed friendly enough. I asked her if there were any vacant rooms available for a reasonable price, as I had an important meeting that I needed to be at in the morning. "Of course! We have an available room just down the hall. Normally, we only charge twenty dollars for a night, but we have a special deal tonight. All customers who are new to our motel gets one night's stay, completely free of charge. How about it?" She leaned forward slightly, the smile never leaving her face, as if willing me to say 'yes'. But, I had to admit, this seemed like too good of a deal to be free. "Well, as good as that sounds, I don't think it's fair. I mean, this place seems too good. I simply won't allow myself to stay in such a place without paying." Her smile faltered for a moment. "Well, I suppose that if you truly feel that way, then you can pay me back...later. Perhaps before you leave in the morning?" I nodded. "Of course!" She grinned and handed me my room key; number 21. "It's just down the hall to the left. It's the very last room, you can't miss it. Oh, and… Enjoy your stay."
Just as I entered my room, I froze. Against the wall by the bed stood a tall life-size doll. It had long blonde hair tied into twin braids which sat limply on its shoulders, and gazed straight on with strikingly blue eyes. It wore a dark blue gown with a decorative crest around the belt, which closely resembled a victorian-age dress. I couldn't deny that I had always felt a distinct sense of unease whenever I saw a mannequin or doll. 'Well, what did you expect? This is the Dollhouse Motel, after all.' I thought to myself.
Laying in bed, I kept tossing and turning. I just couldn't sleep like this. I felt as though the doll was staring at me, its eyes piercing into my very soul. The very thought sent a wave of nausea over me. Slowly, I turned over in bed, and felt even more disturbed to find that the doll was, in fact, looking at me. Or, more rather, it was facing me. Either way, it was creepy, because I could have sworn that when I had first entered the room, the doll had been facing the door. Hadn't it been? 'That's it.' I stood up and walked over to the closet, pausing momentarily to glance back at the doll to make sure that it wasn't moving… It wasn't. I opened the closet and found a simple white sheet. 'This'll do.' I cautiously walked back over to where the doll stood, stopping to stand in front of it. Its face looked…so real. Not wasting any time, I placed the sheet over the doll's head, hiding its disturbing face from view. "There. That's much better. Perhaps now I'll be able to get a good night's sleep…" I turned back and slipped quietly into the bed, the press of the soft mattress against my back and the soft chirping of crickets just outside the window lulling me into a dreamless state.
The sound of tapping awoke me at some point. Judging by the obvious lack of sunlight, I would have guessed that it was either extremely late at night, or just really early in the morning. I sat up and peered around the room, a hand absently rubbing the excess sleep from my eyes as I attempted to locate the source of the noise. However, as soon as I sat up, the sound stopped, leaving the room in complete silence. For a moment, I simply disregarded it as my mind playing tricks on me, and lied back down. Once my eyes were closed, the tapping began again, and my eyes snapped back open. I sat up once again, now much more aware that something was happening, and it wasn't my imagination. I glanced at the contents of the room; the closet was still closed as I had left it, the windows were closed, and the doll stood where it had been before, still staring at me. Wait… I looked back at the doll, and suddenly felt lightheaded as I noticed that the sheet now lay crumpled on the floor, rather than its previous location over the doll's head. The doll… It stood staring directly at me, and I felt as though it were truly staring at me through glassy eyes. Now that I was fully awake, and my heart pounded in my chest, I had the chance to really observe its face. The doll's mouth was pulled up into a sinister grin, its lips blood-red. It had large eyes with long black lashes, which only served to make it appear even more real. I felt so uneasy sitting there staring at it, so I slowly picked myself up from the bed, and inched my way over to where the doll stood. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it seemed to be closer than before. Stopping to stand before it, I reached my hand down to grasp onto the sheet like a lifeline, never taking my eyes off the doll's face. I once again placed the sheet over the doll's head, making sure that it was centered, as to not accidentally slip off. I stilled as a sudden gust of cold air hit me, sending shivers through me. I looked over at the now-open window, and gaped like a fish. 'How…?' I stepped forward and gripped the window pane, feeling the smooth cold glass slide under my touch, before shutting and locking it. I looked back at the doll again, and nothing had changed. "Perhaps this is all just a terrible dream. Surely, I'll wake up soon, and then everything will be okay." I turned and slipped back into the bed once more, sinking back into the sheets, merely listening to the sound of a distant ticking clock.
Thump. My eyes snapped open. I must have dozed off, as I woke laying on my side. I turned over and froze in place, my heart stilling in my chest. Standing over me, staring into my eyes, was what appeared to be the doll. Then, I nearly wet myself as I watched its lips move in speech. "Hee, hee! I don't recognize you. You must be new - there's no way I could forget such a pretty face." The doll's voice crackled as it spoke, just barely above a whisper. Suddenly, it leaned in and raised a thin plastic hand to rest against my cheek, and I backed up as far as I could, my back hitting the headboard. "Aww, don't be so shy! I won't hurt you…" It leaned in even farther and grabbed my wrists, pinning them above my head against the headboard. "Such a lovely face you have. You'll make a wonderful addition to our collection~!" My mind spun. "Wha-? What do you mean?! What are going to do to me?" My voice came back to me, and I shouted out the question that burned in the back of my mind. "Oh, don't misunderstand, darling. As I said, I'm not going to hurt you. We just want you to join us - be just like us…" It hissed out. "W-who's 'we'?" Just as the question slipped past my teeth, the door creaked open, and I watched in horror as various different dolls staggered and drug themselves into the room. The very last to enter was all too familiar. Maria. She stepped up to the bed, standing at the foot and staring down at me, her grin now seeming much more evil. "Well, it's midnight," she waved her hand behind her, as the clocks throughout the building began to chime with the new day, emphasizing her statement. "so if you'd like, we can arrange your payment plan for now." She stepped forward, the moonlight streaming in from the window casting onto her face, causing her eyes to glint. Then, I realized that her eyes were glass. "Y-y-you're…?" I stuttered, not even able to finish my sentence. Maria stopped to stand beside me, her grin widening. Then, I noticed the hand that she held behind her back. She glanced down at her arm, realizing my unspoken question. "What? This?" She pulled her arm out, revealing a slightly pink plastic mask. "This is going to be yours soon. I hope you don't mind latex."
Author's Note: This was just something I wrote on a whim. I'm not not exactly sure where it came from (left field), but all I know is that if there's one thing that I hate more than anything in horror movies and video games, it's dolls and mannequins. I just hate them! xD Welp, I hope you enjoyed my randomness, anyways, and I'll try and get back to The Animatronic Demon King as soon as possible, okay? See ya'!