Thriller: Horror: Spirit Doll (Mystery Suspense Thrillers) (Haunted Paranormal Short Story)

by Stephen Kingston

  Anne felt horrible for Joan and smiled over at her in sympathy. “I hope so too, and I’ll pray for you.”

  “Thank you, that’s mighty kind of you.” Joan responded with charm, her smile brightening as Meg came out and the nurse called Joan’s name.

  “I hope everything goes well, Joan, it was nice to meet you.” Anne said, wondering how she’d never met the sweet, gentle woman before. Apparently there was two years difference in their ages but still, it was a small town.

  Meg stopped as she came to Anne, finished with the receptionist, and gave Anne a card. The church’s name was printed on it with the address and phone number.

  “I know this is your first so if you need any help or advice feel free to call me. And of course, you can always stop by the church any time. I hope to see you Sunday.”

  Anne appreciated Meg’s offer and took the card with a thank you. “I’m sure I’ll be there Sunday, if I’m not mistaken my mother attends your church. Well, she used to anyway. I’ll see you then.”

  “Good, I hope everything goes well for you, Anne. See you soon.” Meg pushed through the door and left Anne alone in the waiting area.

  Now, with nobody to distract her, the coming visit with the doctor weighed on her mind. She didn’t have long to wait, though, and she said her goodbyes to Joan as the nurse called her name. The efficient woman dressed in all whites took Anne’s weight, height, and blood pressure before leading her to a room with an exam table and two chairs.

  The nurse seemed brusque and somehow unkind to Anne. The woman hadn’t cared a whit that the blood pressure cuff had been on so tight the contraption had left marks on Anne’s skin. Anne rubbed at the marks as she walked into the exam room. She settled on the chair and didn’t have to wait long before the doctor came in.

  “Hello Mrs. Rasnake, I’m Doctor James Nelson, and I understand you’re expecting?” The man said, walking into the room after knocking, the nurse close behind him.

  “Yes, the doctor I saw last thought I must be about three months along.” She informed the man while he looked at the notes the nurse had written.

  Anne did as she was told throughout the exam, nervous about the doctor seeing her naked lady parts but knew that was his job. Visiting a baby doctor was something new for her generation, most women still just visited general practitioners in rural areas like she lived in, but her mother had all but insisted she come here so she had to appease her.

  The thoughts distracted her as the doctor looked her over and then wrote some notes. Then he started to ask questions such as the father’s age, occupation, and health history. Anne made up what she had to, hoping she remembered the lies later, and started to grow uncomfortable as the doctor started asking questions about the father’s mental health and how Anne planned to care for the baby.

  “What do you mean how do I plan to care for the baby?” Anne asked, looking at the doctor more closely than she had before.

  Doctor Nelson was probably in his late 40s, a little paunchy but charming in a way that reminded her a little of Jim. Anne wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  “Oh, it’s just a normal question we ask new mothers now. In your case you’ll obviously be alone and that can be quite difficult. We like to know if there’s going to be any problems later, both medically and financially so we can prepare for those circumstances. We consider the mother and child’s overall wellbeing here and discuss alternatives if need be.” The doctor said with a smile that was meant to put Anne at ease but somehow didn’t.

  “I’ll be fine doctor, never fear. My baby will have everything it needs, one way or another.” Anne said with some force, wanting the man to understand.

  Anne could be very timid but her child was sparking a backbone in her, something she had never felt before. The feeling was fierce protectiveness and it stunned Anne to feel it so deeply. She put her hand over her stomach, already a habit now, and told herself to calm down.

  “Good, I’m happy to hear that Mrs. Rasnake. Now, I’ll need to see you again in a few weeks, you’re progressing just fine, no worries at all. And if you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to call on us. Maintain your diet and get regular exercise if you can and all should go fine. It’s been lovely to care for you, Mrs. Rasnake, do you have any questions now?” Doctor Nelson asked, standing over Anne, as the nurse came at her with a tray.

  The woman wrapped a tight band around Anne’s arm and shoved a needle into her arm, missing her mark the first time. Stabbing at Anne’s arm again the nurse clearly grew frustrated as the vein was missed once more. Anne was trying not to cry out at the pain and was about to tell the woman to stop when the nurse finally stabbed her once more, the needle sliding smoothly into Anne’s vein. The woman looked up in triumph as she drew Anne’s blood and Anne saw a flash of something more there, a taunting that dared Anne to protest.

  Anne did not like this place and did not like the people but her mother had insisted and she liked the other ladies she had met. She didn’t want to come back but knew she was going to have to if she wanted to keep her mother quiet. She looked up at the smiling doctor and realized she still hadn’t answered his question.

  “No, I don’t have any questions doctor, thank you.” Anne said as the nurse grabbed her arm, putting more pressure than necessary on her wound to stop the flow of blood before jabbing another needle into the top of her arm without explanation.

  “What was that?” Anne yelped, surprised.

  “Just a vitamin.” The nurse said, slapping some gauze and tape over the area. “Go home now.”

  Anne winced and walked out of the exam room, feeling a tingle of fear and anger at her treatment. Anne paid at the reception desk, hoping her savings from her pay and the extra money Jim had occasionally insisted she take along with the money he had thrown at her would tide her over for a long time. She’d have to be frugal but she thought it could be done. Anne then drove home quickly hoping it would keep her mother from making inane accusations, only stopping to pick up some food for dinner on her way. Anne hoped her mother was in a good mood today. She didn’t think she could take much more today.

  “Oh, that’s how nurses and doctors treat all of their patients girl, stop whining. Obviously you aren’t too good in the decision making department or you’d be where he is now instead of where you are. Stop judging him and do as he tells you to. He’s the doctor; he knows what’s best for you.”

  “But, Momma, he acted like he wanted to take my baby!” Anne protested as she prepared the meal she’d brought home with her. “He kept asking me about how I planned to care for it, like I wasn’t going to be able to provide for my child.”

  “Any why shouldn’t he? Girl, that man is a good doctor and he is doing well by you. If he knew the truth he’d probably throw you out on your ear. So do as I tell you, keep your mouth shut and do as he says.” Sophie pointed at her threateningly with a wooden spoon as she mixed cornbread up, that mean look back in her eyes.

  Anne quickly ducked her head and went back to frying pork chops. Obviously her mother was still more concerned with bending Anne to her will than being a mother to her. Anne shut her mouth and said nothing more about her concerns.

  As she sat down to her meal, however, a thought occurred to her. She could ask the reverend’s wife about the doctor on Sunday and see what she thought of him. Anne knew most of her friends had moved away and she didn’t have any left around here really any more so her options were limited.

  “Girl, stop worrying over that doctor and eat your food, your baby needs it.” Sophia said, slapping at the table.

  Anne finished her dinner and went to bed, wondering why she was so paranoid. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones or something? Hadn’t she read that in a women’s magazine, that women sometimes went crazy during pregnancy? And what was that shot about? Paranoid or not Anne cradled her tummy throughout the night, keeping the world away from it.

  Chapter Three

  Anne regularly returned to the doct
or over the next five months, always seeing Meg and Joan there. The women had become friends and Anne often saw them outside of the church and the doctor’s office. Anne was doing some volunteering at the church’s office, as she could, which pleased her mother, and pleased Anne because it got her out of the house while keeping her secretarial skills sharp.

  The shots continued, one every week, and Anne’s suspicions were steadily growing. Something was off about that doctor, she just wasn’t sure what. Her mother insisted, like the magazine, that she was just being paranoid but Anne knew something wasn’t right.

  Anne had learned that both of her friends were also getting the shots and they both couldn’t stand the nurse but didn’t think there was anything suspicious about the doctor. Apparently Joan and Meg both had felt the sting of Nurse Pracket’s needles. That didn’t please Anne but she at least knew she wasn’t alone.

  “Where are you Anne?” Sophia called through the screen door.

  “I’m out here on the porch, Momma, do you need me?” Anne asked, putting down the mail order catalogue she’d been looking through.

  “Best to put that catalogue in the fire, girl. We can’t afford nothing out of it no how.” Sophia said, handing Anne a bowl of potatoes and a knife. “Here peel these so we can make some mashed potato cakes with them. Might be all we have to eat this week.”

  Anne knew she still had a good wedge of money left in the bank but she wasn’t spending it all on her mother and fripperies. She was trying to save it to get her start in Charlotte once her baby was born. She’d go out and get some groceries though, just to keep her mother quiet.

  “I’ll get some groceries later. What do you know about Doctor Nelson, Momma? How did you know about him anyway?” Anne asked Sophia once more.

  “My friend Mary-Lou’s daughter went to him. He was very good with her, even though Mary-Lou’s baby was stillborn. He took real good care of her.” Sophia said, dismissing the subject from her mind and walking back into the house.

  Anne thought there sure were a lot of stillborn babies in this town but knew that poverty was endemic in the area. Poverty bred unhealthy adults which led to unhealthy mothers who couldn’t birth live babies. Still, it didn’t seem right.

  “I’m going to head into town, Momma, and get some groceries; I’ll peel these potatoes when I get back." Anne picked up her purse and keys and headed out of the door.

  Once she got into town she went over to the library but couldn’t find any information about the doctor there, no newspaper reports or anything. She didn’t know where he’d come from, nobody seemed to know anything about him when she asked, and all anybody could tell her was he lived in a really nice house up in one of the quieter parts of the area.

  Anne soon gave up and packed the groceries away in her car before heading home. Driving was getting far too difficult as her belly expanded and the baby seemed to be playing kickball with all of her organs today. At least she knew her baby was alive and healthy in there, Anne thought as she drove home.

  “Oh, I’ve spent time in a few states now, Anne. All the education and training I needed meant I had to move a few times but it was worth it in the end. Now, let’s have a look at you.” Doctor Nelson said as Anne sat back on the exam table.

  Anne glanced over at Nurse Pracket but knew better than to ask the woman anything. She’d just make sure the needle twisted as it went in later, as she’d done before when Anne had asked the woman about her life, hoping some chit chat might lighten her up a little. It hadn’t and the woman’s devious little ways of hurting Anne had increased over time.

  Anne dreaded her shot today but knew better than to protest. She couldn’t sense any harm to the baby, or herself, so she’d subjected herself to the shots without complaint. Meg and Joan had them as well and didn’t complain. Anne finally gave up on the idea that something was going wrong and dismissed her concerns once and for all.

  The doctor wasn’t trying to steal her baby and wanted only what was best for Anne and her child. He’d made an unfortunate choice in nurses but there wasn’t anything nefarious going on here.

  The doctor patted Anne’s tummy as he finished his exam and Anne sat up, pulling the blanket around her. “I believe your little bundle of joy will be arriving soon. Everything’s progressing normally and I have a feeling we’ll be meeting your baby by the end of the week, Anne.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Anne said as she tidied herself up and prepared to leave.

  “Don’t forget your shot, Anne.” Nurse Pracket said, giving Anne a hateful look.

  Anne tried not to grimace herself and held her arm out to the nurse. The shot was painful but not as bad as Anne had expected.

  Driving home that evening Anne felt so silly, her fears seeming to be completely unfounded. Doctor Nelson was respected in the community, nobody had any complaints, and he’d been kind to Anne, charging her only half of his normal rates. He’d done the same for Joan and Meg. The man was truly kind and Anne finally admitted, she had nothing to worry about.

  Anne was refolding the green, yellow, and white clothes she’d bought for the baby, some of the clothes gifts from Meg, quietly in her room when she first started to feel something wasn’t right. Meg had quite a collection of baby clothes after nine children and had given some to her that were neutral in color. Meg had tried to give some to Joan but the woman politely refused, afraid of being jinxed. She had her own collection, anyway, Joan said, and hoped she’d get to use them this time.

  Anne felt tenseness, a strange pressure in her groin but dismissed it as gas and placed the clothes in the bassinet beside of her bed. Standing she put her fist in her back, trying to ease the tension she felt there as well. This pregnancy business was for the birds! She’d enjoyed most of it, feeling her baby grow within her body, the strange changes her body had made as her baby developed, and especially how thick her hair had grown but this pain business was starting to get old. Even the growing love she had for the baby was starting to become overwhelmed by the fatigue and discomfort she was feeling. Anne hoped the doctor was right and that the baby would soon be in her arms, rather than kicking her in the bladder.

  Looking in the mirror in her room she saw that even the extra-large shirt she’d bought was starting to get too small for her now. This baby better come soon, she thought, or I’m going to have to walk around naked. Waddling into the kitchen, the skirt she had on tight across her abdomen but still swirling around her legs, Anne decided to make herself a cup of mint tea for the gas.

  “You alright, girl?” Sophia asked from her rocking chair by the fire. The seasons had changed now and Sophia was in her usual winter spot, in her rocker beside of the fire. She had a pipe lit, full of cherry pipe tobacco, and though Anne hated cigarettes she loved the smell of pipe tobacco.

  “I’m alright, Momma, just not feeling well at the moment.” Anne said, maneuvering herself onto the sofa. She put her feet on a pillow she placed on the coffee table, and sighed, sipping at her tea.

  “It’s almost your time. I know that restless feeling, I had it with you. Yes, your baby will soon be making its entrance. Then the real shame begins because you won’t be able to hide from it for long.” Sophia said with venom, shooting a glance at Anne.

  “What are you talking about?” Anne queried, not sure what her mother was talking about.

  “Ain't you ever wondered why you’ve never met my family girl? Or about your daddy?” Sophia asked, knocking the dead ashes of her tobacco into the fireplace.

  “You said my daddy died in the Korean War, I thought it would be too painful for you to discuss it so I didn’t ask you about him. And I assumed you were an orphan. Do you mean we have family elsewhere?” Anne looked at her mother, wondering why she was revealing all of this now.

  “Your daddy wasn’t no soldier, he was a fisherman that knew how to sweet talk a fourteen almost fifteen year old girl that didn’t know any better. I ran off when he refused to marry me, came up here where an old aunt of mine lived, and
never went back to that part of my life ever again. I’m actually from out by the coast, but came up here to hide the shame I’d brought onto my family when my own mother kicked me out. We still got family down that way, I reckon, but this is our life now. But one day you’ll have to explain to that youngin’ why its life is like it is. Or keep telling lies. I ain’t telling no more. You’re old enough to know the truth now.”

  Anne was stunned into silence. Her virtuous mother, who set out flowers for her dead “husband” every Memorial Day had baldly lied to Anne her whole life. Gawping at her mother, her mouth opening and then closing, Anne wasn’t sure of what to say. Then her pains started and she soon wasn’t worried about the lies her mother had told her as much as the liquid flowing down her legs.

  Anne had been heading to the bathroom when the clear fluid came out and she yelled for Sophia.

  “What are you screaming about now, girl?” Sophia groused, rushing to Anne’s side.

  Anne looked at her mother in shock but Meg had told her what this meant. “Get the car, Momma, we have to get to the hospital now.”

  “I ain’t driving that car into town, someone will kill us!” Sophia shouted as she saw the pool of fluid at Anne’s feet.

  “You’re going to have to, Momma, I can’t drive like this!” Anne stopped speaking to let out a shout as the pain intensified.

  “Oh, it don’t hurt that much girl, stop your caterwauling! Come on then, get your shoes and your bag. Let’s go.” Sophia muttered as she grabbed her own coat and hunted down Anne’s keys. “If I die I’m going to haunt you until judgment day, girl, I swear it!”

  Sophia put the car into drive and she pressed her foot down on the gas. The mid-sized car fishtailed for a moment but Sophia corrected and they were soon on the main road, heading to the hospital.

  Anne’s labor had begun but the baby refused to move. The doctor examined her, a procedure that left Anne screaming in agony, and determined that the baby was breech with her little legs tucked up over her head with her bottom sticking down instead of her head. Doctor Nelson told Anne she was just going to have to wait and see if the baby turned.