Ariel

I was driving home last night and I found myself involuntarily biting my lip and feeling the cold sweat on my brow beginning to dry. My day...well let's just say it wasn't the best I had. I spent most of the morning making sure everyone was still doing their damn job. Steven didn't show up for work again. It was kind of a blessing really, all he did was play stupid computer games and go on distracting everyone with those damn stories...what did he call them? Creepysketti? Creeporolli? Whatever I didn't care. He was gone and I could hire someone who'd actually appreciate their job. I should have fired him a long time ago, it certainly would've saved me a lot of time and pain. And in this crumbling economy, there are tons of smart men (and even more eager fools) who would be very opportunistic to have a well paying job.

 

Anyways I spent the rest of my day speaking to my contacts and sorting through bills and arguing with employees... and finally meeting my secretary Anna at the end of the day to finish up business and getting ready for the next days appointments. Anna wasn't the best of secretaries but she was smart, ambitious and pretty... Oh no we didn't have that stereotypical relationship, she'd never fall for me no matter how much I paid her; me being a married, accomplished businessman in his mid thirties and she was just a young intern fresh from high-school, obviously she knew an opportunity of a lifetime when she saw one so I hired her. After all, that's how you make it to the top.

 

So come the end of the day I got in my car and proceeded to brave the ever congested city streets. I didn't live too far away from downtown, but it always took me a full damn hour to come and go to work because fucking people don't know how to drive...and just before I turned onto my street, I spotted what looked like some recently fresh roadkill, but as my morbid curiosity forced my gaze closer to the object, I noticed it was...a doll. Odd, I thought. It really wasn't, due to the fact that some little girl probably dropped her favorite dolly while crossing the street. Still, it wasn't a common occurrence either to find such a thing in the middle of the road. I almost drove away.....almost...I don't think it would have made any difference though....not now anyways. Again, my curiosity took over and I pulled over to the side of the road and exited my car and made my way over to the doll; my new Mezlans clopping loudly against the ebony pavement. I picked up the toy and immediately dropped it in disgust. The doll's eye sockets were completely removed and void of any light or color. Grime and dirt littered it's face from previous vehicles running over it, thus also contorting it's limbs and neck in different positions. What I had mistaken for blood and guts and whatnot, was really the red, cheerleader outfit it wore with a large "M" in the middle and a torn hole on the bottom of the skirt where the...unmentionables would be. I assumed the "M" was for a football team, though what team it was I was unfamiliar with. I personally don't keep track of football. I prefer different forms of entertainment only an intelligent man could pursue. Not all this brutishness. But that's beside the point. Point is that it disturbed me so badly that I dropped it and went back to my car and headed home. It sent terrible shivers across my body and gave me awful chills. I decided to stop thinking about it. But when I got home I was startled again by the appalling appearance of the doll but being clutched in the arms of my daughter Emma.

 

I simply held my mouth gaping wide open, stuck between a mixture of shock, disgust, fear and bewilderment. My wife came to me with a frown on her face, peering straight at me. Before I could say anything she beckoned me to come into the kitchen and in my daze I complied. She whispered harshly, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sweat began to form on my head, I just kept staring at her in confusion. She realized I didn't have the first clue what she was talking about. "Why would you give that thing to our daughter?"

 

Upon hearing this, I quickly snapped out of my daze and replied, "What? I didn't give that to her! That thing is so horrible! How did it even get here?!"

 

"Well, then," she huffed. "I suppose then it wasn't you who left the card wishing our little baby Emma happy birthday from Daddy. I found it on the porch, John! That wasn't you!?" My face flushed white as the only word I could muster was a meek "no." My wife's attitude changed abruptly from anger, to worry. "Then if it wasn't you, then who the hell sent it?" I hadn't the slightest clue. I wanted to explain to her about earlier, but didn't want to make her upset. I simply said I didn't know. We peered to observe Emma, gleefully playing with the doll amidst all her other dolls and toys without a care in the world. We turned back to each other and nodded thinking the same thing.

 

As much as we both despised the doll, we agreed that it would be cruel to take away a present that I supposedly gave her. And she was happy with it, so it wasn't like it was exactly a bad thing. Sooner or later she'd grow out of it and find it just as creepy as the rest of us and toss it. Until, then though, we decided to take it after she fell asleep and threw it into the washer. God knows what filth was smeared across it. At least when we gave it back to her, it was sanitary. My wife attempted to stitch the rip under the skirt, but the fabric just started deteriorating under the needle, so it was left alone.

 

My daughter decided to call her Ariel, because it was her favorite princess. I disagreed as it resembled anything but the lovely mermaid, but what did I really care? It was her doll now, she could call it whatever the hell she liked.

 

I should've destroyed it when I had the chance...

 

That morning I went to retrieve the doll and discovered it was gone. I heard Emma giggling in the next room and found her with the doll. Since my wife was still asleep, I assumed it that Emma had climbed into the dryer and pulled it out and began scolding her for going into the dryer without waking mommy or daddy. It could've been dangerous, but I calmed down a bit, realizing it was fine and my parental fears had gotten the better of me. I knelt down to her and hugged her, saying I was sorry... but she gave me a peculiar glance. It looked something between suspicion and confusion. Then she said it.

 

"Ariel says you're a mean man, daddy." I froze. I couldn't believe my ears.

"She...what did you say?"

"Ariel says you're a mean man...you're not mean are you, daddy?"

"Of course not! Why would she say that?" I was half-serious. I mean, sure I was a little harsh to everyone at the office, but....what my girl was saying...where would she get such an idea?

"She won't tell me, daddy. She says she will soon." I felt an unnatural sense of dread come over me and left the room. As I left I said I had to go to work and I'd be back to see her later tonight...

 

I should've never left.

 

I thought about this the whole day. My mind was restless. I shut the door to my office and locked it. And despite the constant rapping on my door from everyone, I sat in my chair, struggling to contemplate what was going on. After a couple hours of sitting down, I concluded that maybe she was just upset with me for scolding her, and that I'd make it up to her. I got up and answered the door. Several of my employees were glaring at me with both frustration and confusion on their faces, eagerly awaiting my response. I simply told them to all take the day off, and apologized that I had been acting the way I did. Confused, they turned to each other, nodded, and left without a word. I went back inside and made the remaining calls and transfers I needed to do for the day, alone. When I was finished, I went to my car, and went home...

 

I got back to the house with a sigh of relief, it was going to be alright. All I had to do was walk in, give kisses to my family, and have a wonderful day with them...

 

I couldn't have been more wrong...

 

When I walked in...I tiptoed my way into my bedroom and carefully creaked open the door...I sank to my knees...two bodies...naked and writhing were on my bed. My wife, moaning in ecstasy as the unknown man continued to thrust again and again.....That bitch!!! I should've known!!!

 

Then what happened next was a blur...I pulled out a knife from the kitchen and went back to the room. I did it once...I can do it again. The screams they made as I removed his tender parts with a swift slash. Then I plunged the knife in his throat, his eyes widening with pain as I jiggled the knife still sitting in his neck. When the life finally drained from his eyes, I removed the knife and turned to face my wife, now huddled in the back of the bed with the sheets hiding her naked form, terror struck. I smiled. I had done it once, I certainly could do it again. And I climbed onto the bed, knife in hand and grabbed her throat before she got the courage to leave. A tear fell from my eye. I loved this woman, and so I told her....just as I slipped the knife straight into her heart, twisting it so I could at least end her quickly.

 

After it was finished, I turned to see my daughter staring at me, mouth hanging ajar. Again, I removed the knife and held it behind my back...I knew what I had to do...I'd just get a...a new family! Yeah, that was it! I'd just start all over again! Haha! No one would have to know.......I approached Emma, a single finger, beckoning her to come closer.

 

She shook her head and I heard a chuckle from somewhere in the room.

 

"Ariel says she wants to play with you, daddy," and at that, she ran off................I froze and stood there completely silent.... I could definitely hear a faint laughter from the far edge of the bed from where I stood. I stared intently at it..........................and slowly....ever...so...slowly, the tiny, blonde haired and empty-eyed doll poked its head out. An almost wild giggle came from it's unmoving lips...

 

"I found you John," a familiar, young voice said. "We....have found you." My eyes widened in awestruck horror as I dropped the knife....I knew whose voice that was.....I couldn't believe it.

 

"Ar...Ar....Ariel?"

"It's Anna!!!!" The doll shrieked. It was true...my worst fears now realized... "Oh, but I'm not here alone. I'm sure you remember Steven, your wife Michelle, her lover who you just met, Derrick, and I'm sure you can recall all the others you've taken...We've been waiting for this...for a long, long time." My mind crumbled! This wasn't real! No it couldn't be! But what else could it be!?

 

I got up and scrambled to go into the closet, leaving the knife behind me... I could hear the tapping of light footsteps on the carpet behind. I screamed as threw the door shut and locked it.

 

How did I not see it!? Anna...fresh from high school... the head of cheerleader squad! I knew I wanted her when first I saw her... And I finally got the chance yesterday! End of the day, I threw her face-down on my office desk, door locked and no one around. Oh how I did enjoy my time with her... but I couldn't let anyone know my secret...I took the letter opener and gouged out her eyes before finally shoving a magazine down her throat. I took her and tossed her body into the dumpster.....

 

"There's no use hiding, John. It's far too late for you now. You remember Steven. Heehee, well he was a really big help to us. He tried to warn you, but you shut him up and cut out his tongue. Now, he's told us everything we needed to know, we waited for so long to get you...and now we have."

 

Steven...he was my most recent of employee deaths, excluding Anna. I wanted to remove him so badly. I hated the man. He never got anything done... I tied him to a chair, and had a little fun removing various parts of him, until he was nothing but a pulp. I should've fired him though, as he was what sparked rumors around the office. It might've been worth the $1000, but in this economy...you have to do what you have to...and I really hated him. I kept arguing with everyone that he had just gone up and quit, but they weren't convinced. Not after this being the 3rd disappearance in two months making a total of 10. I had gotten good at it. Really good. Like I said, I preferred to play games, only intelligent men could play....and I was about to lose.

 

I curled up in the darkness and peered down the keyhole. My breathing got heavier...and heavier as I saw the doll, looking straight back at me, knife in hand. I could hear the sirens coming down the street. They still didn't sound close enough.

 

"We're going to have so much fun with you, John. We waited for thirteen people. Thirteen lives you stolen. And now we shall have yours," she giggled as she slipped the knife into the simple keyhole....and turned. The sirens were just outside the house.

 

Then....the latch.........unlocked........

Done