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A little girl, named Katie Knight, was given a small doll by her aunt and uncle. The doll was a gift from her great grandmother of many generations ago, who had now passed on. Katie, was instantly unnerved by the doll, which had nasty little black eyes that seemed to follow her around the room and a sinister grin on her face.

Nevertheless, Katie had to accept the doll, as she was well brought up and didn't want to upset her aunt and uncle by refusing to take it. Her parents told her that the doll's name was Arabella, which made Katie even more afraid of it; it seemed to make it more human. Even so, it was just a doll, barely reaching above her knee, so to put her mind at rest, she hid Arabella into the little cupboard under the stairs, under some boxes where her parents wouldn't see her.

Katie wasn't your typical, "Girly Girl" she was more tom-boy esque. She was more into playing outside, or hustling you for your last penny. So dolls never did anything for her, not even when she was much younger.

It wasn't until a few nights later, when Katie was lying in bed, that she heard a noise...a shuffling sound that went on for about five minutes. Then, a brief dragging noise and finally, a scuttling like light footsteps running very fast. Katie was paralyzed with fear instantly, her knuckles turning white from clutching her blanket. She waited. Silence. After a few minutes of listening closely, she dismissed it as her brother getting something from the kitchen. He always liked to have a midnight snack. Nothing to be worried about, that is until.

She heard a voice - soft and eerily childlike - quiet enough not to wake her parents. Katie always slept with the door open and the lamp in the hall on, as she was still a little scared of the dark, despite her "too cool for school" demeanor. Therefore, she could hear more through her open door. Katie heard the voice say "Katie, I'm on the first step"...And then a loud scrabbling again, as whatever was speaking apparently turned tail and returned to wherever it had come from.

The little girl didn't sleep a wink that night, but laid in fear until the break of dawn when her mother got her up for school and when she tried to explain what had happened, her parents passed it off as "just a dream". The next night, Katie fought against sleep, but eventually drifted off, only to be woken again by the sinister voice:

"Katie, I'm on the fifth step."

Katie was crying by now, and again, she didn't sleep that night. The next night, Katie decided to shut her bedroom door and reluctantly slept without the light on. Just as she was about to doze, Katie heard the noise, and then the voice:

"Katie, I'm on the top step..."

She knew that her door was closed, but she was still terribly afraid. Her heart pounding, palms sweating, body shaking, she slowly go up to investigate; she screamed!…

Katie's parents and older brother found her body at the bottom of the stairs. They guessed she was on her way to the bathroom without switching on the hall light and had fallen down the stairs, breaking her neck.

Arabella, the favorite family doll, was found beside her body - smiling.