The Beginning

"You buy another one?" Diana's loud voice stopped her sister to get another step inside the living room.

She glared at the big male doll in her sister's arms. It seemed difficult for Tiara to bring it here and there, as its size was as big as her —well, as big as a human being! The doll was practically hugging Tiara making her seemed almost invisible in Diana's sight.

Hearing her defensive word, Tiara pouted her lips and tightened her arms around the big doll.

"This doll is from my boyfriend." She snickered. Furrowing her brows, she asked with dark intent and amusement. "...Are you jealous?" She smirked as Diana' was shocked at her accusation.

"No, and I will never ever be jealous of you getting that thing!" Diana pointed rudely at the male doll and she accidentally let her blue eyes fell on its figure.

Her body instantly froze when its dark hollow eyes seemed to lock with your blue eyes for a few seconds until Diana glowered at her for staring at it, and pulled the doll more into her arms. Her action made the doll forcibly turned its head into her sister's neck and broke its eyes away from her blue eyes.

"Then why are you staring at him?!"

"It is 'it', not him!"

Their mother entered the room, sighed heavily as she watched both of her daughters argued about dolls again. She really wanted to have a quiet and peaceful time in this house, but it would never be fulfilled as both of them always quarrel every time and every day.

"Tiara," The old woman with black hair interrupted before things get heated up, her hands were on her hips. "Don't leave that doll of yours everywhere as you always did, okay?" Hearing that, Tiara nodded curtly. "Not just that doll, but others too."

With that, their mother walked out of the room, not bothering to glance back at them. Diana jeered at her sister before following their mother's step to give some help in the kitchen. Before that, her eyes glanced at that doll for a few seconds before her body shivered in a weird way as if it was giving her a warning not to go near it.

She'd never felt this weird feeling around her sister's other dolls, but this male doll seemed to give her creep response.

"I hope she would keep that doll in her room forever." The black-haired girl muttered to herself as she cut the tomato on the board in half by using the sharp knife in her hand.

"What?" Her mother asked her out of nowhere, seeming to hear her muttering incoherent words.

"Eh?" Diana was surprised that her mother could hear her small voice even she was a little bit far away from her figure. "N-Nothing."

Her mother that somehow could read her mind gave a small yet comfort smile at her. "Don't worry." She went beside the girl and patted her head softly. "She'll get bored of them eventually."

That was one of the reasons why Diana really loved her mother as she was the only one who could understand her feelings and difficulties. The words she said seemed to give her the reassurance that everything will be fine as always.

"Okay." The girl nodded with a grin on her face making her mother chuckled in relief.

Her laughs filled the big living room as she watched the funny scene of The Goblin on the television. Though she quickly silenced herself as soon as she remembered that her parents were asleep in their room, she couldn't help but let the chuckles escaped her mouth when another funny scene appeared.

"You're so loud."

Diana rolled her eyes when her sister's voice disturbed her happy time. Turning her head to look at her, her blue eyes instantly widened at the sight of the big male doll in her arms.

Gulping her saliva down her throat, she turned her gaze back to the television, trying to regain her composure, "Leave it in your room, Tiara." She tried to distract herself but her body betrayed her well-being as it shook slightly in fear.

"No way." Tiara hissed as she sat beside her younger sister on the couch.

Noticing this, Diana quietly lifted herself and sat a little away from her annoying sister and that thing. 'She dares to put that damn doll beside me!' Diana growled when she saw Tiara grinned mockingly at her as if she knew what she was thinking.

"Oh, Dan.." Her sister moaned woefully as she patted the doll's head. "She hates you even when you do nothing to her." She embraced the doll, nuzzling her head in the doll's neck.

Diana cringed when she saw that. "Ew," She wanted to throw up so bad as her older sister flirted with the doll-like an idiot. "You even named that with your boyfriend's name?"

"He gave it to me, and this reminds me of him." She smiled in serenity.

Hearing that, the black-haired girl glanced back at the television. The frown on her face faded away slightly, knowing that she didn't really want to ruin her sister's happiness in keeping that doll. It was not a lie that this male doll was giving her goosebump, and Diana admitted that she really disliked that feeling.

That was when something happened.

Her sister's phone rang from her room and the sound startled her from deep thoughts. Sighing heavily, Diana took one of the biscuits in the plate on the table in front of her. Blinking for a few times, she ignored her sister that was saying something very fast to her and kept on distracting herself by watching the television.

A loud sound of thumping entered her ears making her body jolted a tad. Twirling around, Diana wanted to ask her older sister whether or not she heard it, but to her dismay, she was not beside her. A dread feeling engulfed her when she saw that only the doll was sitting beside her as if it was wanting to accompany and keep her away from loneliness.

Gulping the small lump in her throat, Diana stood up almost immediately and looked around the living room.

"Tiara...?"

The living room seemed so tense and dark all of a sudden.

" Tiara?!" She walked out of the living room to her older sister's room with quick, large steps. "Tiara?" She knocked on the door a few times.

"What?!" The voice from the other side instantly calmed her nerves as Tiara shouted from the other side. "I'm talking to Dan in here!"

Every night, Tiara and her boyfriend would be arguing with each other, but it would be totally different in the morning ㅡ the things that they fought with each other seemed to vanish into the thin air after they confessed their love.

'She's here. I thought she was gone.' Diana sighed, but a scowl tugged her lips when she realized that Tiara was leaving her alone with the damn doll. "I thought you were gone, idiot!" She shouted back in anger and frustration.

With that, Diana ran toward the living room with a red face indicated that she was totally pissed off at her older sister. Before she put her feet in the living room, her mind went blank, trigger by the quiet thing in the living room. Clenching her hands, the girl watched the doll from afar and unconsciously hiding behind the wall.

She took a peek and noticed that it didn't even move from its place and somehow, from her view, it seemed to watch the television like a real normal person. The sound of the television quietened down slowly in her ears as she tried to look at the doll closely.

Hesitation gripped onto her well-being, wanting her to decide whether to enter the living room or not. She wanted to watch the television, but with the doll there, she felt like she didn't need to watch it anymore, but at the same time, Diana knew that couldn't leave the television open if she wanted to go to her room.

Their mother would get mad at her if she let it be. Having a sister certainly didn't give her benefit much and she knew she couldn't really rely on Tiara as she was still fighting with her boyfriend in her own room.

Diana huffed, suddenly feeling like she was in a horror movie.

'W-what should I do..?'

Glancing at her older sister's room, Diana was hoping that she would come out and take away the damn creepy doll from the living room. She could practically hear her heart was beating really fast, pounding against her ribcage. Her breath became uneven as she continued to look at the doll from afar.

"I'm sure mom would understand me." With a nod, she muttered quietly, wanting to believe her own words.

Diana wanted to turn around, but her feet didn't even want to move from its place.

"Urgh!" A quiet groan came out of her mouth on how frustrated she was at her fear of not wanting to leave.

Deep inside, she truly knew that if she left the television be, their mother would really get mad at her just like the big dinosaur in the Jurassic Park that she had recently watched, and their father definitely wouldn't be there to take on her pathetic side. Diana couldn't put the blame on her older sister either, but if Diana were to put the blame on that male doll, others would think she was the crazy one.

Inhaling the air deeply, the girl gazed back at the unmoving doll. His ㅡ its face still facing the television as its blank orbs watching her favorite drama without blinking.

'It's a doll, Diana!' She scolded herself. Finding an act of small courage in your dilemma made her head spinning wildly. It was better to take action while the feeling was still there. 'Here I come!'

Taking a step into the living room, her eyes still didn't move away from the doll as she was afraid of it moving to her figure and eat you alive. Then, she increased her pace rapidly to grab the remote on the table. Her hand was shaking as her finger pressed the 'off' button on it.

She didn't dare to look it in the eyes as she threw back the remote on the table, didn't care the hard impact on it.

Quickly turned around to exit after taking a few steps away, she heard voices coming behind her. Gulping loudly, she wished that this was a dream — a nightmare that she wanted to forget. Realizing that the voices were coming from the television that she had turned off, she bit her lower lip.

Tears were trailing over her pale cheeks as her body was frozen and trembling in its place. Diana was too terrified to move even the slightest bit.

THUD

A sound of something fell onto the ground entered her ears. Her eyes widened when she heard something — footstep was heading to her way.

'Please no!' Praying desperately in her heart, she suddenly could feel something warm coming behind her body. It didn't even touch her, but it was so near that she could feel its warmth.

"Shh…"

Hot breath was blown on her right ear, making her body jolted up. Without looking behind, Diana shrieked at the top of her voice. Shutting her ears with her clammy hands, she hoped to block the voice.

"Diana!"

Her eyes were closed as she listened to the indistinct familiar voice.

"Diana!" Someone was shaking her shoulders really hard. Maybe they wanted her to open her eyes, but as stubborn and afraid she was, she didn't want to open them. Something entered her mind.

'Maybe that doll could change their voice and all of that!'

Diana couldn't help but open her eyes when she felt a hard blow on her cheek. "…Tiara?"

Her sister's breath was heavy as if she had run miles away as she glared at the girl. Sweats slightly trailed her forehead and Diana knew what she had done to her. She just slapped her hard on the cheek.

"You scared me, idiot!" She yelled at her face, not caring if her saliva spatted on her younger sister's face. Before Diana could reply to her back, she already engulfed the shaking girl in a tight hug. "Don't scare me like that.." Sobs escaped her mouth.

Blinking weakly, Diana didn't know what to do as she let Tiara cried on her shoulder.

Her body had finally stopped shaking and the spinning in her eyes had already gone. The only thing she could do to get rid of the small guilt in her heart was to reply to the hug, patting her back softly.

"I-I'm sorry," Diana mumbled quietly, "I thought the doll — "

Her sister pulled back slightly as her teary eyes glared at her. "It's about Dan?"

"It's not Dan." Diana rolled her eyes. "It's it —the doll!" She stated bluntly and slowly turned her head to look at the couch.

It was still there. Unmoving and was still facing the television.

"I thought there was an intruder or something!" She cried and broke Diana from her train of thought. "You shouldn't scare me like that ever again, okay?" She caressed her younger sister's red cheek. " —and I'm not sorry for the bruise on your face."

There was no guilt in her eyes after gazing at the red cheek. "You slapped that hard?!" Diana snarled at her as a frown decorated her face.

"I had no choice, idiot!"

The arguments between both of them continued, but it was so full of contentment and affection of being a family. However, Diana still couldn't forget about what happened earlier with just her being with the doll in the living room.

'Was it just my imagination?'

She pinched the spot between her eyebrows to ease pain in her head. Looking at her daughter's fidgeting form, she sighed loudly. Hearing her scary story of last night, her mother hoped that it was another ridiculous story that she created to get rid of that doll.

"Please, no more of this story, Diana."

The girl bit her lower lip and looked at her mother that was sitting opposite of her. She really hoped that the woman would believe in her story. "I'm not lying, mom." Putting her hand on the place where her heart was beating fast, she let out the words that her mother wouldn't like to hear, "I swear on my life - "

"Enough, Diana!" Her body jolted, startled that her mother was raising her delicate voice on her. "You're imagining about it like a child you are." She continued and at that moment, Diana could see she was stressed about it. "So don't you ever create another silly story about dolls ever again!" A heavy huff came out as soon as she finished her word.

The room was surrounded by a tense atmosphere. Diana felt a sudden prick on her eyes as her sight went blurry. She knew that she had to get out of the room before the tears came out. She didn't want her mother to see how vulnerable she was at this moment.

"I thought you'd believe me.."

Standing hastily, Diana walked out of the room feeling dejected.

Just when she thought that her mother was there for her well-being, she pushed her daughter away and released her irritation at her fragile heart. She even called her a child just because of the story that she had told her. Diana refused to glance at her mother that was raking her hair in a pathetic and agitated manner.

"I'm sorry, Diana..."

She huffed in annoyance as she looked at small dolls that were being gathered in a large box. Diana didn't know why, but her sister was somehow feeling suffocated with too many dolls in her room and she even dared to ask her to bring that box to the back storeroom.

"Why you didn't keep these damn dolls too?" Glancing at the male doll on her sister's bed, Diana could feel your body shivered suddenly.

"I only need this handsome doll," Tiara smiled widely as Diana looked around her bedroom. The only doll that was in her room was that damn creepy doll, Diana noticed. "Dan said to only keep him by my side, not the other dolls."

"You talked to that doll?" A frown made its way to her face as she felt the sudden want to walk out of her sister's room. "You…can talk with them?" She hesitated to continue the words.

Loud laughs erupted from Tiara's mouth. Glaring at her, Diana disliked how her sister found this matter funny. She continued to watch her as her annoying sister laughed for a few minutes straight. When she was done, she panted heavily as she wiped a tear that trailed over her cheek.

"I thought that you are an intelligent sister," She chuckled a tad as she found the frown on Diana's face funny. " ㅡ but it turns out that you're a funny person and an idiot!" She stated wittily and looked around to find a person to share this hilarious thing.

Clenching her hands tightly, Diana swirled around and exited the room with the big box in her hands. "I'm done with you." She mumbled quietly as she tried to restrain your annoyance.

"Thank you and take it to the storeroom!" She shouted with a grin tugging her lips.

As Diana walked to the storeroom to put the box full of dolls, she eyed at one of the small girl dolls. It didn't scare her at all, but why did that male doll terrify her? She pondered and quickly tried to push away the thought.

Searching for a great spot to put the box, she shook her head for a few times to shake the dust away from getting onto her face. Letting go of the box, she dumped it onto the ground harshly.

"This place is absolutely great for all of you." A smirk graced her face in a triumphant manner.

One more doll to go!

Playing Mystic Messenger on her phone, Diana laughed quietly as a tint of pink covered her cheeks. She already fell for one of the characters in the game. How she wished to be in this Mystic Messenger game and be happy together with them.

"Oh… Seven!" She let her hand caressed her cheek. It felt so hot!

Quiet and soft knocks on her door broke her from unreachable wishes that were lingering in her mind. Scratching her hair in slight annoyance that someone was brave enough to disturb her from playing the game, she gazed at her door.

"Who is it?" She raised her voice a tad, but the person on the other side didn't even reply.

Then, it happened again — they knocked for a few times, but never give any reply or even say something to her.

Diana sighed as she combed her tangled hair with her fingers and stood up from the bed. She stopped for a moment and paused the chat the Mystic Messenger game. Reaching the doorknob, she was ready to ask them to give her explanations on why she was being disturbed.

"Why are you…" She trailed the word and looked outside of her room in searching for the figure of her sister or her mother. "What?" Diana frowned deeply in anger. "Hey, don't play with me!" Diana shouted outside her bedroom.

Her blue eyes were still searching for someone that was pulling the prank on her.

A gasp escaped her mouth when she remembered something.

Her parent was out to go shopping and Tiara had to go to extra classes this evening.

So… who was the one who knocked on her door?

Her body suddenly shivered and she gulped loudly. Turning around, she entered her room and her fingers fumbling to lock the door. Stepping away from the door, her eyes still lingered on the door.

There were a few seconds of silence before ㅡ

Thump, Thump

Flinching at the knocking sound, she continued to back away and sat on her bed. Taking her blanket tightly in her hands, Diana wrapped it around her body.

She suddenly felt cold, and there was no one to help her this time.

"Why it must be me?"