Lizzie, Part Two

Part Two of a two-part short horror story

Lizzie, Part Two

“I want you to have something,” Carol said, rummaging through the large cedar chest.

“What is it?” Margot pulled her robe closer. Her mother had called her into the bedroom to give her something special. Something she said she should have given her a long time ago. Margot watched her shuffle papers from the trunk. Her eyes burned, tired from another poor night of sleep. Feverish dreams of the fire, and the cursed doll tormented her into the wee hours.

Carol’s eyes lit up. “Aha, here it is!” She pulled out a leather bound book with Syrillic writing. “Great Grandma Katrina’s Bible. My Grandma always read from it every night – it’s in Russian. Put this under your pillow at night, and carry it with you in the daytime. It’ll keep you safe.”

“I didn’t know great grandma was Russian,” Margot said, her eyebrows raised. “So, you do believe the doll is cursed then, don’t you?”

Carol was silent. She closed the chest and handed her daughter the leather bound Bible. “I think there are some things we just can’t explain.”

***

Margot pulled into the village library parking lot and walked over the carpet of orange and red leaves and up the stone steps. She was determined to get to the bottom of the whole thing. Is Lizzie truly cursed? And what about Gus, was he stalking her or was it just her imagination? Dear God, she shuddered, not wanting to think about the implications of the creepy old man peeping through her windows and invading her dreams.

Margot approached the Library Records desk, holding on to her purse strap for support. The librarian behind the counter looked up from her monitor and offered a smile. “Yes, may I help you?”

She cleared her throat and gripped her purse strap tighter. “Hi, I’m looking for a newspaper article, I believe from around 1905. There was a huge fire in Jacobstown, and a little girl died?”

The librarian scrunched her nose. “Hmm, that doesn’t sound familiar. Was it in the Jacobstown Gazette? You’ll have to check the microfiche records, come with me and I’ll show you.”

They walked down the hall, past rows of dusty books and newspapers to a small desk hidden away in the corner with a swivel chair. Margot felt a sense of dread. This corner of the library was dark and cold, set in a historical part of the building where village secrets were locked away. She thanked the librarian, who showed her how to use the microfiche, and scrolled the knob to the very first issue of the Jacobstown Gazette.

The headlines, set in an old fashioned font, became a blur – the foundation of the very first hospital, the election of the first mayor, marriages and death notices all came up on the machine. She scrolled ahead a few years. A headline caught her attention: Fire Destroys Langdon Property, Daughter Killed. Margot’s breath caught and she brought a hand to her mouth. She studied the black and white photo underneath the headline and gasped at the complete ruin of the old Langdon manor. Her eyes locked on a small group of people, the girl’s family and the fire chief in old fashioned clothes. posed against the rubble.

Margot whipped around in her chair. “Excuse me, m’aam, how do I enlarge this photo?”

The librarian scurried over to her half frowning and Margot remembered she shouldn’t shout in the library. “Sorry.” She whispered, pointing to the photo on the screen. “How do I magnify this photo?”

The librarian turned a small dial and the photo grew to fit the entire screen. “Thanks.” Margot feigned a smile and scanned the grainy faces. She looked at the last person in the group and jumped from her seat. “How is this possible?” The familiar crazy eyes and round stubbly face of Gus stared back at her, holding Lizzie in his arms. A chill scurried down her neck. Her vision went gray and she gripped the arms of her chair to keep from fainting.

****

The librarian helped Margot up off the floor and gave her a cold bottle of water. Margot thanked her and blamed her low blood pressure. She sat in the swivel chair, her white knuckles gripping the arms, and waited for the room to stop spinning. She managed to drive herself home after assuring the staff she was okay.

Margot locked herself in her room in her mother’s house and sank down on the bed. Her heart fluttered and her legs were still wobbly from the library visit. She vowed she was done with Lizzie and Gus and wanted them gone from her life. She shuffled through her purse and found the business card crumpled at the bottom. Clutching her Grandma’s Russian Bible, she pulled out her cellphone.

“Hello?” The voice was creaky and distant.

“Is this Gus?”

“Yes?” The line crackled.

“Come get your damn doll,” Margot spat, squeezing the Bible.

“Who’s this?”

“You know damn well who this is. Come and get it.”

Another crackle filled the silence, followed by a deep sigh.

“No, no, you signed for her. You signed the certificate.”

“I don’t care, I don’t want it anymore.”

“Don’t you see? It’s not the doll.” Static cut off his words.

“What the hell are you talking about?” The blood emptied from Margot’s face and she vowed not to faint again. Silence. Then more static.

“This is about you, Margot. You. The doll doesn’t matter. Whatever’s happening over there, you are the one responsible. You’re making the doll do these things.”

“You’re crazy! This doll almost got my family killed, I want you to come and get it!”

Carol tapped on her door. “Everything okay in there?”

Margot hid the phone behind her back. “Everything’s fine!”

Margot waited a few extra seconds to make sure Carol wasn’t in earshot. “Now, you listen to me. I saw a man who looked like you in the old newspaper at the library. And I know you’re a part of this. I’m done playing games and I want you to take it back.” Margot’s throat was on fire. If Gus wouldn’t come get the doll, she’d drive it to his antique stall herself.

An unnerving silence filled the room. She looked at the cellphone to see if he was still on the line. Still a connection but no sound. Where did he go? Angry tears shot down her cheeks, she had had enough of horrible men like Gus and Dan tormenting her. Wiping her nose, she cradled her face as the tears flowed. She bolted upright as soon as he spoke again.

“I can meet you if that’s what you really want.” He paused. “But, I can’t guarantee she’ll come back with me.”

Margot’s heart skipped a beat. Her lips formed the words, but nothing came out. She took a breath. “Meet me at the coffee shop on Bridge Street.” She gathered her purse and bolted out the door, forgetting the Russian Bible teetering on the edge of the bed.

****

A green 70’s style sedan pulled into the donut shop parking lot, the rain pelting off the hood in the dark. Margot’s stomach churned as she sat in her Jeep with the headlights off, watching. The drumming of rain drops over the windshield grew louder. The sedan parked in a corner spot with the engine running. Margot grabbed both handles of the pink bag from the back seat. She pulled her hood over her head and got out, jumping over the puddles. She tapped on the driver’s window.

Gus rolled it down with an unsettled look.

“Here, take it away. I never want to see it or you ever again.” She handed him the bag. He nodded silently. Margot backed away and watched him pull out onto the main street with the pink bag in the front seat. He disappeared into the darkness.

The rain came down harder as Margot hurried back to her car and slammed the door shut. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and pulled out in the opposite direction, relieved he had taken the doll. Now, we get our lives back.

Margot glanced at her rearview mirror and adjusted it. Lizzie stared back at her from the backseat. “No!” she screamed, looking back at the doll.

Lizzie curved the corner of her lip in a mischievous smile.

This is not happening. Margot turned the corner hard and the doll fell over. She sped up and the rain thundered down. She glanced at the rear view mirror as the wiper blades swished back and forth pushing rivers of rain water over the windshield. Lizzie lay on her side, bouncing on the back seat. Margot floored it through the intersection.

A boom shattered the windshield. A scream and a car horn and Margot’s head bounced. Her blood spattered the window. The Jeep had run a red light and crashed into an oncoming pick up truck.

Margot moaned. She turned her head and the intense pain shot up her neck and into her head like a bolt of lightning. Voices rose from outside the Jeep. A paramedic tore open the door and asked her a question, but she couldn’t make out what he’d said. She managed to look back. Lizzie was gone. “Where’s the doll?”

“Don’t try to talk too much, we’re going to get you to the hospital.”

Margot’s head boomed and blood poured from her lip. “The doll. It’s in the back. Get rid of it.”

The paramedic shone a flashlight around the interior. The beams reflected Lizzie’s widening grin as a flame flickered and danced, licking up the back seat. “What the hell?”

Margot groaned and coughed and pushed the paramedic away. She summoned all her strength to climb out of the smoking Jeep and stagger to the lawn across the busy intersection. She felt the cuts to her face and the blood loss weaken her and she crumpled like a rag doll. Her face smacked the hard ground and she tasted iron and cold dirt and grass.

She sensed someone there with her. Gus gently put her head in his lap. He played with her hair as she coughed up more blood. She looked up at his round stubbly face and his voice was deep and cut through the quiet. “You signed for her, Margot. You signed for her, remember?”

Thanks for reading!

If you’re in the mood for a collection of sci-fi stories, please check out An Orb Over the Strawberry Moon and Other Sci-Fi Tales, out on Amazon. Click the link here: An Orb Over The Strawberry Moon and Other Sci-Fi Tales