Olivia

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Cover Art:

Driven Independent Media

Website:
http://drivenindie.com/

Printed in the United States of America

This series is dedicated to my nieces and nephews who love horror stories. There are so many of you that I won’t name you all. Just know that I love you guys to the moon and back. This one is for all of you. You’re my inspiration. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to read this story until you’re older.

It all started with a hideous doll.

When Dana Price finds a creepy doll in her daughter’s bedroom with the name
Olivia
sewed onto its dress, she assumes it belongs to the previous owners of her new home. She doesn’t think twice about tossing the doll into the trash. Unfortunately for her, the previous owners don’t like that. What starts as a girls’ night out with her best friends quickly turns into a nightmare.

Will Dana survive the worst night of her life?

Or is death a better option than what
Olivia
has in store for her?

She never wanted kids.

She was happy with her life, just the way it was. Clara O’Toole stared down at her belly. It seemed even larger today than it had yesterday. Her old clothing no longer fit. She was forced to wear the hand me downs her neighbors had given her.

It was embarrassing, demeaning. Women of her stature didn’t wear hand me downs. But her husband, Roger, said the economy was too bad for her to continue spending money the way she had been. They had to save for the baby, he said.

She didn’t want to save for the baby. She didn’t want this baby, period. This whole experience was turning into a nightmare. Clara had thought marrying the town’s wealthiest man would grant her the freedom and riches she desired. The youngest of six, no one had ever expected her to marry so well.

In truth, she hadn’t expected it either. But Roger had moved to the small town of Ellisville and fell in love with her the moment he laid eyes on her. For months he’d given her whatever she wanted, until a tornado came through town and destroyed most of the homes.

Having lost almost everything, the people no longer flocked to the clothing store Roger owned which meant he wasn’t spoiling her the way he once had been. However, the drastic state of their finances wasn’t dampening the happiness he felt over her being pregnant.

If anything it was making him feel optimistic. He already had names picked out for the child she was carrying. If it was a boy, the child would be named Roger after him. If it’s a girl, they would name her Olivia, after his grandmother.

Clara didn’t care what the baby was called. She saw this child for what it was, a money grabbing distraction that was going to force her to gain weight and eventually lose her husband’s interest. Soon, she would be just like all the other fat cows walking up and down the aisles of her dad’s small church. She would no longer be known as pretty little Clara Rose. And it was this baby’s fault.

If only there was something she could do to get rid of it.

“Ayanna make sure you pack your tooth brush,” Dana called upstairs to her six-year-old daughter who was getting ready to spend her first weekend with her dad since he and Dana got divorced.

“Okay mommy.”

Holding her house phone to her ear, Dana walked away from the staircase and back into the kitchen where she finished wrapping turkey sandwiches for her daughter to take with her. Her ex-husband didn’t like to cook.

Though she knew he wouldn’t let their child starve, she wanted her baby to eat something besides pizza and hamburgers. Dana listened as her mother chatted away on the other end of the phone.

“Dana, are you sure you can afford this new house? And why did you have to move all the way to Ellisville Mississippi. That’s the most backwoods place I’ve ever heard of. I got the picture you sent me. There are no houses around you. You’d have to go miles to reach your nearest neighbor. Who will you run to if you need help? You should’ve just moved next door to me.”

And have you dictate how I raise my child, no thanks,
Dana thought. But that wasn’t what she said.

“Ma, how many times do I have to tell you that Ayanna and I needed a fresh start?”

“Yeah, that’s what you say. But I know the real reason why you moved there,” Harriet continued as if her daughter hadn’t spoken. “You’re trying to get as far away from that bastard ex-husband of yours as you can.”

“Mama!”

“Well he is a bastard. I knew his mama and that woman was loose back in the day. She probably has no idea who his father is. And Kelvin is just like her. I don’t know why you’re allowing my granddaughter to go stay with him, and by herself? Even when you were married he never kept her alone. What if he loses her?”

Dana rolled her eyes. Her mom was constantly telling her how it wasn’t wise for her to let Ayanna visit Kelvin by herself. Her mother was overly dramatic. Nothing was going to happen to Ayanna.

Ayanna was perfectly safe with her father. And Kelvin was a great dad. He loved their daughter. It was his cheating ways that ruined their marriage, not his ability to take care of their child.

“Dana, I think you’re making a big mistake sweetie. I can feel it in my bones.”

“Mama, that’s your arthritis.”

“Don’t sass me, child. I don’t like this feeling. Something bad is going to happen and you’re not trying to do anything to stop it.”

“Okay, mom.” Dana slid the sandwiches into Ayanna’s lunch box. She didn’t have time for her mother to start lecturing to her about returning to her New Orleans roots. She didn’t believe in that voodoo mess the way the rest of her eccentric family did.

“Let me teach you a spell real quick. It’s for protection. All you need is a few items…”

Not happening
. “Well, look at the time mom. I have to go. Kelvin will be here any moment and I’m not done packing Ayanna’s bags. I don’t want him to have to wait long for Ayanna to get ready. You know the man doesn’t see well at night.”

“Another reason why you shouldn’t be sending my grandbaby to him. If you won’t say a protection spell over that baby, I will.”

Dana sighed, “Bye ma, I have to go.”

“Okay, but before you go, I wanted to tell you that though I’m not happy Ayanna is going away with that man, I’m glad you’re having a girls’ night with your friends while she’s away. You deserve it.”

Her mother was right. She did deserve it. Though she was going to miss the hell out of her baby, she couldn’t deny she was excited to have her friends, Kiera and Shelly, come over tonight.

“Thanks, ma, but I really have to go. Oh and before I forget, Ayanna said thank you for the dolls you sent her. That’s probably what she’s up there doing now, playing with those dolls instead of gathering the toys she wants to take on her trip.”

“She’s a child. She’s supposed to play with her toys. Stop trying to make her grow up fast. And tell her Granny loves her.”

“Yes, ma, I’ll tell her you love her. Bye.”

Dana released a sigh of relief once she hung up the phone. Her mother may be old, but she was damn sure long winded. Calling her daughter’s name as she went, Dana made her way up the staircase to see what was taking Ayanna so long. She found her daughter sitting on her bed playing with a purple and blue teddy bear.

“Ayanna, your dad will be here soon. I’ve got your clothes packed. Now you need to pick three toys to take with you.”

“Just three?” Her curly haired baby whined. “But granny sent me so many. I don’t know which to choose.”

Her mother really was going to have to stop spoiling Ayanna the way she did. “Just choose the three you like most for now. The rest will be waiting on you when you return.”

“But I like them all.”

“Ayanna choose three, or leave them all here.”

“Okay, okay.”

As Ayanna sorted through the toys, Dana walked to the foot of the bed to grab her daughter’s suitcase. She nearly screamed at what she found peeking from under the bed. Her hand flew to her chest as her heart raced.

How the hell did that get down there?

A hideous doll wearing a tattered dress stared up at her. Dana bent down and picked the doll up. Though small, the toy was rather heavy. Frowning, she turned to her daughter, showing her the terrible looking doll.

“Did granny give you this one too?”

Ayanna eyed the doll. Scrunching her face up she said, “Ew. No, granny didn’t send me that. Where did you get it? It stinks, mommy.”

It did stink. It smelled old, like it had been stuffed in a closet filled with mothballs for years. Her mother would never give her daughter something this horrific. It must’ve belonged to the family who lived there before them. How the hell had it gotten under her daughter’s bed?

“I’m going throw it away, okay.”

Leaning away from the smelly doll, her daughter nodded her head as she shoved her teddy bears into the backpack. A horn blew outside.

“Daddy,” Ayanna yelled, her little brown face lighting up with a beautiful smile. She tossed her backpack over her shoulder and raced from the room.

“Be careful on the stairs, Yanna. And zip up your backpack.”

“Okay.” Her daughter’s footsteps slowed down as she made her way downstairs. With a doll in one hand and her daughter’s luggage in the other, Dana left the room and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

She tucked the doll under her arm so she could grab the sandwich bags, then she made her way over to the front door. Her heart was immediately flooded with mixed emotions as she watched her daughter and her ex husband hug. She missed him, there was no denying that.

But she would never be one of those women who stayed in a miserable marriage just for the child’s sake. There was no way two unhappy parents could raise a happy child… no way. She made her way over to the car as he buckled Ayanna into the backseat. When he turned to face Dana, she handed him the suitcase and the sandwiches. He raised his eyebrows at the sandwiches.

“You don’t cook,” Dana explained before he could say anything.

“But I have a phone. I know how to call Pizza Plaza.”

“Exactly.” She shoved the items into his hands then strode past him to the back of the car where she leaned through the window to talk to her baby.

“Be good for daddy, sweetie.”

“I will mommy.”

“And don’t forget to call me every morning and every night.”

“I won’t forget mommy, love you.”

“Love you more.” Dana blew her daughter a kiss, which her sweetie caught then blew one right back to her. She stood up, blinking tears from her eyes.

“She’ll be fine,” Kelvin told her.

“She better,” Dana gave him a stern look before stepping away from the car.

“See you Sunday.” He got into the car, cranked it up and backed out of her driveway.

Dana continued waving to her daughter long after the car was gone. It was only one weekend. It wasn’t like she would be gone for months. She sniffed, still blinking back tears. Even though it was just for the weekend, it was still harder than she’d thought it’d be.

She walked over to the trash that was waiting at the side of the road. She stared down at the doll one last time. The years had not been good to this toy. The dress it wore was so dirty she could barely tell what color it had once been.

Its face wasn’t plastic. It was made out of cloth, which was dirtier than the dress. The doll’s blonde hair was in two pigtails. The toy wouldn’t be so ugly if someone hadn’t gone to great lengths to make it that way.

It had buttons for eyes, but someone had colored the buttons black, giving the doll an eerie stare. Because of the strings sticking up in the middle of the doll’s face, Dana assumed it had once had a button nose.

Not anymore. Someone had torn the button off and drawn an X where the nose should be. Dana smiled as she touched the nose. Someone had probably created this doll in love and the thing got left behind when they moved leaving it easy prey to future children who moved into the house. And not all kids treasured toys as her Ayanna did.

This was one toy her daughter would not want to treasure. And it wasn’t just because the doll smelled and had black eyes. The worst part of the doll was its mouth. Whoever drew the mouth on the doll must’ve had a horrible childhood.

The doll appeared to be screaming and paired with its black eyes the thing looked like it was in pain. That thought sent a chill over Dana’s flesh. Lifting the trash lid, she tossed the creepy looking doll inside then placed the lid back over the can.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she stared up and down her street. The sun was slowly fading away, streaking the sky with beautiful hues of orange and red. Her mother was right, living way out here, alone, was kind of scary.

There were no streetlights and the next house was through the woods and up the hill. However, the price for this land had been too cheap to pass up. Plus she and Ayanna deserved a fresh start away from gossiping friends and bullying kids.

Dana walked back to her house and closed her door. It was time for her to get changed and to pop some food into the oven for her and her guests who would be arriving shortly. This was going to be the first girls’ night she’d had in years.

She couldn’t wait to reunite with her friends.