by P. J. Night
What else could Emmy do? She swung her backpack around, unzipped the front pocket, and pulled out the little doll. She put it on the counter in front of Christine as hard evidence.
“This is what I bought,” Emmy said, gesturing to the doll.
“What’s this?” Christine said, picking it up. “We don’t sell anything like this.”
“It’s what I bought,” Emmy said again. “It cost four dollars and thirty-two cents. I remember because it’s exactly how much money I had in my wallet that day. And the room was in the back, near the puppets.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so!” Christine exclaimed, her face lighting up with sudden understanding.
Thank goodness I’m not going crazy, Emmy thought. Christine does know what I’m talking about. She’ll make everything make sense.
“I know what you mean now,” Christine continued. “Yes, there is a door back there. Of course. It’s been there for as long as I’ve owned the store. I think it used to connect Zim Zam to the store next door. But that store’s been closed forever, and anyway, the landlord told me to never open that door, so I don’t. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the key.”
Emmy’s heart sank. Christine didn’t know what Emmy was talking about after all. “No, I-I was in there,” she stammered. “It’s a whole separate store, with a woman selling things.”
Christine was nodding kindly, as if Emmy were a small child telling a tall tale. “It really sounds like a dream, sweetie,” she said again. “And the doll came from somewhere else, somewhere you don’t remember. You have lots of toys and dolls and stuffed animals at home, right? And you don’t remember exactly where each one came from, right?”
Emmy felt her face get hot. “Yeah,” she said, pretending to go along with Christine’s dream theory, because what else could she say or do now? She stuffed the doll back in the front pocket of her backpack and left Zim Zam as fast as she could.
Once outside, she gasped for breath. She walked around the building, and then the block, to see if there was another way to get into the little shop. Nothing.
Emmy felt crazy. She had to go back into Zim Zam and look again. Christine was busy with another customer, and once more Zoom arched his back and hissed at Emmy as she entered.
Like she had the first time, Emmy slid behind the rack of puppets and got close to the door. Close enough to see something that chilled her to the bone.
It was something etched into the wood above the bolt. Words.
And the words were, “I’m watching you, Emmy.”
Emmy stood stiffly and stared at the words. A million thoughts rushed through her head at once. Who had written these words? The old woman? She’d seemed nice, but then Emmy remembered how the woman had gotten Emmy to admit that she hated Lizzy, which she never would have done if the woman hadn’t pushed her in that direction. Emmy’s mind began to race.
What did the woman know about the doll? What was her purpose in selling me the doll? Was it to test if I was a good person or not?
And what about that lavender candle? Why was it so important that I light the candle? Did the candle activate a spell that, besides controlling Lizzy’s behavior, also controlled mine? Have I been controlled by the doll too? Was that why I suddenly turned into such a mean, spiteful person who hurt my best friend and spied on her, and took such pleasure in seeing her suffer?
She had to get out of there. Christine was still busy with a customer and had probably never even seen her walk in again in the first place. Emmy walked slowly home, reminding herself to breathe.
She had so many questions, but she knew one thing: It wasn’t going to be so easy to get rid of this doll. And now she knew for sure that no good could come from keeping it.
CHAPTER 11
Emmy walked home feeling superaware of the doll’s presence in her backpack. The doll may as well have been on fire in there; that’s how aware Emmy was of it. What was she going to do with it now?
Well, tomorrow was garbage day. Emmy knew this because it was her job to take out the garbage to the sidewalk every week. She also knew that the biggest, deepest garbage can in the house was in the kitchen. It was also the grossest—full of eggshells, coffee grounds, and apple cores. If she stuffed the doll deep in there, no one would find it and it would be out of the house before she went to bed that night. And it would be totally gone early tomorrow morning when the trash was picked up.
Emmy felt a little bit better as she imagined herself asleep that night, slightly awakened by the noisy rumble of the garbage truck. She thought about how she would feel hearing it drive away, knowing what it was carrying inside. She usually found that sound annoying because it woke her up, but this time it would be a welcome annoyance. She imagined the doll ending up at a big dump where no one would ever possess it again.
Okay, step one, she thought. Following through with her plan, Emmy went into the kitchen and looked around. Was anyone around? Sam was upstairs, her dad was in his office, and her mom was still at work. Okay. The coast was clear. Emmy fished the doll out of her backpack. Then she held it in front of her. “You are not Lizzy,” she said to the doll, hoping that would break the curse. Finally, she shoved the doll down as far as she could into the garbage can. Her stomach turned as she reached through all the gross garbage. She couldn’t wait to wash her hands, which she did immediately.
Suddenly Sam was behind her. Emmy jumped. “What were you doing digging in the garbage?” he asked. She hadn’t heard him come in.
“Why are you so nosy?” she snapped at him. She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but the thought of anyone knowing anything about that doll sort of sent her over the edge.
“I’m not,” Sam said defensively. “I’m just asking.”
“I thought I dropped my bracelet in there by accident, so I was digging around for it,” Emmy lied quickly.
“Oh,” Sam said. “Did you find it?”
“Um, no,” Emmy said.
“Well, the garbage doesn’t gross me out,” Sam said. “Do you want me to keep digging in there for it?”
Emmy felt bad for speaking to him so sharply. She tried to soften her voice.
“It’s okay, I think I lost it somewhere else,” she said. “But thanks.”
There were still a couple more days of school before the weekend, and Emmy and Lizzy ate lunch together both days. Lizzy was looking a little better. She’d gotten a stylish black hat to replace her big clumsy winter hat. And the other kids seemed to have lost interest in making fun of her hair, or lack thereof. Lizzy looked like she’d finally gotten some sleep, and though she seemed a little sad about not sitting with Sophie and Cadence—Emmy caught her glancing over at their table a few times—she was acting a lot more like her old self. Both days, when it came time to exit the lunchroom, the two girls walked the long way around the room so they wouldn’t have to walk directly by Sophie and Cadence. Emmy still felt guilty for what she’d done, but reminded herself that Sophie and Cadence hadn’t been good friends to Lizzy anyway.
Friday night finally rolled around and Lizzy came over before dinner. As Emmy opened the front door, a warm feeling came over her. She had missed Lizzy so much. She was so happy to be having this sleepover—and so glad she hadn’t done any permanent damage with the doll. Lizzy was still on crutches, of course, but her leg was going to heal completely, and her hair would grow back, Emmy told herself. Just as Emmy’s would.
And normal is exactly how things felt as Emmy and Lizzy sat at the dinner table with Emmy’s family, eating lasagna and sharing highs and lows of their days as usual.
“How about you, Lizzy?” Emmy’s mom asked. “What were the high and low of your day?”
“Well, I know the low,” Lizzy said quickly. “The low is every morning when I wake up and look in the bathroom mirror at my crazy hair. My hairdresser tried to fix it, but it’s just not right yet. I guess it’ll just have to grow
out.”
Emmy’s mom nodded sympathetically. “That must be hard,” she said. “And it will grow back, honey. Too bad we can’t say the same for you, dear,” she said with a grin to Emmy’s dad.
“Very funny,” Emmy’s dad said sarcastically. “So what are you two up to tonight? I seem to remember that not much slumber goes on at your slumber parties.” It was true. They usually would stay up quite late and Emmy’s parents would have to shush them a few times.
“Crispy rice pizza, of course,” Emmy said, and she and Lizzy both giggled. Just hearing those words together was hilarious. Emmy had seen the recipe on the side of the cereal box and brought it to school that day to show Lizzy. You made a batch of regular crispy rice cereal treats, then pressed them onto a pizza pan. You melted more marshmallows, stirred in red food coloring, and spread that on top for sauce. Then you added coconut to look like cheese, and chocolate chips for the pizza topping. You sliced it up just like a pizza. She couldn’t wait to make it. She was in such a good mood, she figured she’d even share the finished product with Sam. Then again, she didn’t want her little brother to interfere with her perfectly good evening.
“Another one of your crazy concoctions?” Emmy’s mom said. “Well, just be sure to clean up after yourselves.”
“We will,” Emmy reassured her mom. “Anyway, may we be excused?” She thought they’d go up to her room and brainstorm costumes. The costume party was only a week away, and they’d better get going with their ideas if they wanted their costumes to be any good.
“Sure,” Emmy’s mom said, and Lizzy and Emmy went up to Emmy’s room and closed the door. No sooner had they done so then Sam barged right in, wanting to be a part of things.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Emmy said to Sam.
“Sorry,” Sam said. “I wondered if you guys wanted to play zoo.”
“Not tonight,” Emmy said. “It’s girls’ night. And please don’t barge in here again.”
Sam turned and left without a word.
“I hate it when he does that,” Emmy said to Lizzy. “I’m making a sign.” She went to her desk, took a piece of paper and a thick purple magic marker, and wrote NO LITTLE BROTHERS ALLOWED! in big block letters. Then she tore two pieces of tape off the roll, put the sign on her door, and closed it again.
“There,” she said. “We should be safe now.”
Lizzy laughed. “I don’t mind,” she said. “But then again I don’t know how annoying it can be to have a brother or sister.”
“It can be very annoying, I promise you,” Emmy said. “Now, let’s make a list of costume possibilities. I have one. Bacon and eggs.”
Lizzy laughed again. “I love it,” she said as Emmy wrote it down. “Okay, here’s another one. Paint can and paintbrush.” Emmy wrote that down, too.
Lizzy’s face lit up. “Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy!” she said, referring to two dolls they used to play with when they were little. But the very thought of dolls freaked Emmy out and she tried to think of another idea quickly, even as she wrote that one down.
“I think dolls would be kind of creepy, actually,” Emmy said.
“Really? Why?” Lizzy asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Emmy said. “The way clowns are creepy. I just think dolls are creepy.”
“Raggedy Ann and Andy would be easy costumes to make,” Lizzy said. She was obviously in love with the idea. “And we don’t have much time before the party.”
“Hey, how about we start on the pizza?” Emmy asked suddenly, putting down her pencil and notebook. Maybe Lizzy would forget all about the doll costume idea.
The girls went downstairs and started getting set up for cooking. Emmy got the marshmallows, butter, and box of cereal out of the pantry and put a big pot on the stove. She turned the heat on low and added the marshmallows and butter.
“Can you stir this while I get out the other stuff?” she asked Lizzy. Lizzy smiled, took the wooden spoon, and began stirring. Emmy got out food coloring, coconut, and chocolate chips and set them on the kitchen counter for the next step. As she did so, though, she heard a familiar whine.
“I want to help!” Sam was suddenly standing in the kitchen. His expression was part hurt, part angry.
“I told you it was girls’ night,” Emmy told him.
“It’s okay,” Lizzy said. “He can help.”
“No, he can’t,” Emmy said. After everything she and Lizzy had been through, she just wanted some alone time with her best friend. Was that too much to ask? “He’ll mess everything up.” Sam turned and left without a fight.
By then the marshmallow and butter had melted together. Emmy poured in the dry cereal as Lizzy stirred hard, and then they poured the hot mixture onto a pizza pan. They used their hands to press the mixture down until it looked like a pizza crust. Emmy forgot all about her annoying little brother.
“Okay, now for the best part,” Emmy said, “The sauce. We melt more marshmallows and butter together with red food coloring. Want to stir again?”
“Yup,” Lizzy said. It really was just like old times.
The mixture looked totally gross, like blood. Lizzy stirred it quickly so it wouldn’t burn.
“Ow!” she said suddenly.
“What?” Emmy said, looking at her. Lizzy was grimacing and holding her neck.
“What’s the matter?” Emmy asked again.
“I suddenly got a really bad cramp in my neck,” Lizzy said. Emmy could tell she was in real pain.
“Weird,” Emmy said sympathetically.
“I know,” Lizzy said. “I’ve never had a cramp like this before.”
Suddenly they heard a voice behind them. Both girls practically jumped out of their skin. But it was just Sam again. So annoying!
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
Emmy turned around to see what he wanted. He was holding something in his hands. Something that looked a little too familiar to Emmy. The doll! And he was gripping it in a way that looked like he was trying to rip its head off. Which, Emmy remembered, he was once very fond of doing to her Barbie dolls.
Everything began to move in slow motion for Emmy. She could feel her heart beat in her ears. She rushed over to Sam and pulled him out of the room so Lizzy wouldn’t see what was in his hands or hear the horror in her voice. “Where did you get that?” she hissed, grabbing the doll from Sam’s grip. She was so terrified that she almost felt as if she were outside her own body, watching this all happen. She examined the doll carefully. A few stitches were loose around the doll’s neck, but thank goodness nothing worse.
“In the garbage,” Sam replied. “It’s perfectly good,” he added. “Why did you throw it away?”
“It’s none of your business,” she said, stuffing the doll quickly into her pocket before she went back to the kitchen. “Are you okay?” she asked Lizzy.
“Yeah, the cramp went away,” Lizzy said, no longer clutching her own neck.
“That’s good,” Emmy said, both relieved and totally freaked out.
“What was that about?” Lizzy asked, as she absentmindedly continued to stir the sauce mixture.
“Nothing,” Emmy said, trying not to sound as scared as she was. “Just be glad you don’t have a little brother.”
Emmy heard footsteps behind them and she spun around and glared at Sam, who had dared to return to the kitchen. “Get out of here,” Emmy scolded. What a horrifyingly close call. She couldn’t even imagine the scene if Sam had actually been successful in ripping the head off, though of course that wouldn’t have been as easy to do as it was on a Barbie doll. “And stay away from my stuff,” she added.
“I wasn’t even in your stuff! I found it in the garbage!” Sam retorted.
“Okay. Please just leave us alone,” Emmy said, calming down a bit. She had to hold it together in front of Lizzy. Lizzy would wonder why Emmy was coming undone the w
ay she was. Sam left the room.
The doll is safe in my pocket, Emmy told herself. As long as I keep it in my pocket nothing else bad can happen. She was beginning to breathe normally.
“So what now?” Lizzy asked Emmy.
“What do you mean?” Emmy replied. What was she going to do? Clearly she hadn’t broken the spell on the doll. How would she ever get rid of that doll once and for all?
“What’s the next step?” Lizzy asked. It was then that Emmy realized Lizzy was talking about the recipe and wasn’t going to press her any more about what had just happened.
“Oh.” She laughed in a way that she hoped sounded completely casual. “We spread the red stuff on the pizza to look like sauce. Wanna do it?”
“Sure.” Lizzy smiled. Emmy watched her friend use a rubber spatula to scrape the red mixture out of the pot and onto the pizza, where she spread it around evenly to look like a pizza with sauce on it. She couldn’t take her eyes off the red gooey stuff as she thought about what might have happened if Sam had actually beheaded the doll. Her stomach turned. It was all Emmy could do to keep herself from getting sick.
Once Lizzy was finished spreading the sauce, Emmy sprinkled shredded coconut on the pizza to look like shredded cheese. She tried hard to act like everything was normal, and tried to put out of her mind the thought of what could have happened.
“Let’s do the chocolate chips together,” Lizzy suggested. They were really in a groove, Emmy thought. They were working together just like old times. It was going to be okay. Emmy just had to calm down and not think about what could have happened. They pressed the chocolate chips into the pizza and admired their creation.
“I know!” Lizzy said suddenly. “Do you have any gummy fish? We can use them for anchovies.”
Emmy grinned. What a brilliant idea. She was starting to breathe a little more normally now. “I’ll go check,” she said. Emmy’s mom usually didn’t keep much candy in the house, but she did have a sweet tooth for the little red gummy fish. Emmy went into the pantry where Lizzy couldn’t see her.