Daddy's Little Girl, Too

Chapter 18: Dolls of Death

Nancy decides to take a day off from being a house wife. There will be no laundry, dishes, or cleaning of any kind. Today is a day for her to relax and unwind. She decides to read the book Dr. Nazari has lent her, THE TWIN MIND.

As Nancy thumbs through the book, Emma plays quietly in her room. Ever since the day at the hospital, Emma has spent much of her time alone in her room. Nancy doesn't mind it so much, as long as Emma is playing nice and her disturbing behavior is at a minimum.

Hoping the book would help shed some insight on twins and the connections they share, the further Nancy reads, the more confused she becomes. The books states that although there are thousands of documented cases where twins have experienced some sort of telepathic connection with their siblings, that scientifically there is no hard evidence that twin telepathy actually exists. Sadly, if science can't prove something, it is not accepted as being real.

Nancy finishes the chapter she is on and closes the book. She sighs aloud wondering; how can so many accounts of telepathy be so easily disregarded as mere coincidences?

Nancy decides to check on Emma. It's been over an hour and she hasn't heard any noises coming from her room. Nancy peeks in, curiously, "What are doing?"

Emma sits with her back to the door. She keeps her toys hidden from her mother's sight. She looks to Nancy innocently. "Just playing."

Nancy smiles, believing her child isn't misbehaving in any way. "Okay, have fun." She pulls the door closed slightly.

Emma resumes playing. She picks up her baby doll and looks at it. The hard plastic head has been removed and the cotton stuffing of the soft body is poking through the hole of the dolls neck. Emma uses her red marker to color the cotton and around the edge of the hole to depict a bloody stump. She draws short lines on the torso of the doll and colors around them so that they resemble knife wounds leaking blood.

Emma knows her mother would not approve of her destroying her toys like this, so she hides the doll and cleans up all other evidence of the massacre.

***

After lunch, Nancy picks up the book again. It is for the sake of having something to do, than actually wanting to read the book any further. She is regretting the decision to avoid household chores. With a lack of things to do, and boredom setting in, the day seems to linger on longer than usual.

Nancy must force herself to continue. Each page becomes more difficult to read than the last. Unlike reading a novel, this book is missing a crucial part of a good read; a plot.

The phone begins to ring, although not soon enough. Nancy gladly jumps from her bed and tosses the book to her nightstand, not bothering to mark the page she was on.

"Hello?"

"Nancy? I have wonderful news. We did it!" The voice of her friend, Janette Landell sounds clearly through the phone.

Nancy is overjoyed. "You did it? You adopted?"

"Yes... finally. Sorry I didn't call you sooner." Janette giggles.

"I'm so happy for you. Did you go to Newfolks?"

"Yes. They were as great as you told us...they uh..." Janette suddenly becomes silent.

"Hello? Janette? Are you still there?"

'sniffle' "I'm here." 'sniffle'

Nancy can hear the change in her tone, like she is crying. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing... it's just, something awful happened while we were at the agency. I'm still pretty shaken up about it."

Nancy is curious. "What happened?"