Twisted Ones

Jessica's curiosity had already dragged us too far into the woods. The dirt road we were on already felt wrong, like it wasn't meant to be driven on anymore. The trees leaned inward, branches knitted overhead, blocking out the sky. Then, thats when the house appeared.

Didnt really seem abandoned, but also not lived in.

Just...as if it was waiting.

Its boards sagged like they were tired of holding themselves up. The windows were fogged from the inside, as if something breathed behind them. And of course Jessica didn't hesitate.

My girlfriend Emma whispered to her,

"Jess... please."

But Jessica was already almost to the door, basically pushing it open.

Inside the House

As we entered the house, the air felt stale, like it had been trapped for decades.

Dust floated in slow spirals, moving slower than gravity should allow. And Jessica couldn't help but wander ahead, and eventually she was drawn to a small wooden box on a table.

It was carved with swirling patterns that looked almost like fingerprints that was pressed into the wood. She flipped its latch and inside were two ventriloquist dolls.

A boy and a girl.
A Brother and sister.

Their painted eyes were glossy, almost wet, like someone had cried over them recently and Jessica laughed nervously.

"Creepy... but kinda cool."

And before we could even stop her, she slid her right hand into the boy doll, left hand into the girl.

The dolls dangled from her wrists.

Then thats when Jessica froze.
Her shoulders jerked.
Her spine straightened with a crack.
Her fingers twitched inside the dolls' hollow heads.

Emma grabbed my arm. And told her

"Jess? Jess, take them off."

Jessica whispered, "I can't-"

CRACK!

The girl doll deliberately whipped herself across Jessica's own face, snapping her head sideways busting her lip open.

Emma gasped. "Jess!"

Jessica's eyes filled with tears.
Her mouth trembled.

But her hands were trapped inside the dolls and they controlled everything on their own.

The dolls inhaled sharply, like waking from underwater.

"Brother... we're back."
"Yes, sister... finally."

Jessica tried to speak again.
"Please-"

CRACK!

The girl doll struck her again, harder, forcing her head to jerk back.

"Don't speak," the girl doll hissed.

"You're a body, not a voice."

The boy doll giggled, delighted.

"She's scared. I like when they're scared."

Jessica's body then bent backward, spine arching unnaturally as the dolls used her arms like puppet strings.

"Let's play," the boy doll said.

"Hide and seek."

The girl doll added,
"If we find you... we keep you. If we don't... you go free."

Jessica's body dropped to all fours. Her arms twisted backward.
Her legs folded sideways.
Her torso bent in half.

She crawled like a spider but her hands were dolls, tapping the floor with wooden knuckles.

"Run," Emma whispered to me.
And We did.

Hide and Seek

The house seemed bigger as we ran. Hallways looked longer as if i was hallucinating, even feeling in a state of shock.

I didnt want to believe what we witnessed but reality made the air feel thicker, like the house was breathing. Jessica's body crawled across the ceiling above us, limbs bent at impossible angles. And the dolls clung to her hands like they were seated in flesh rollercoaster.

Their painted faces dangling upside down, grinning. Jessica tried to speak

"Please... help-"

CRACK!

The girl doll forced Jessica's hand to strike herself again and breaking more skin on her own cheek even while upside down.

"Don't beg," the doll snarled.
"It makes you look weak."

Jessica's body dropped behind us with a thud.

"Ready or not..."
the boy doll sang.
"...here we come."

Emma pulled me into a narrow pantry. We held our breath. Jessica's limbs scraped along the walls outside, tapping, searching, dragging its the boy porcelain face along the wall.

Tap.
Tap.

The girl doll's voice echoed,
"Come out, come out... wherever you are..."

Jessica tried to whisper something - maybe a warning.

CRACK!

Her hand, the doll struck her again knocking her unconscious, and began laughing cruelly.

The doll slid under the door, elbow bending backward, wrist twisting, the doll's head scraping the floor as it reached. Emma covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

Then he boy doll called out,

"Sister, lets check the kitchen!"

Jessica's body scuttled away, limbs clicking like insect legs, dolls tapping rhythmically.

We bolted out, sprinting toward what we thought was the front door. But the house was unnervingly confusing. Jessica then dropped from the ceiling in front of us, landing in a twisted heap before unfolding upright.

The dolls lifted her arms like puppeteers.The girl doll hissed,

"Found you."

As it reached for Emma I kicked Jessica's shoulder, sending her tumbling. The dolls shrieked, furiously, and we made a run for it.

All we can hear was the loud echoeing of jessica body, or limbs hitting the floor in pursuit of us and we made it out the front door.

I slammed the door behind us as we burst towards pur car.

The Escape

Emma fumbled the keys, hands shaking. I yanked the door open. But Jessica didn't follow. She opened the front door and stood in the doorway of the house, body limp but upright, the dolls still on her hands.

The boy doll waved one of her arms.

"Good game."

The girl doll tilted Jessica's head.

"We're keeping her. She's ours now. Thank you for giving us her to free us!"

Jessica's regained consciousness and locked her eyes onto mine in a panicked state.

Right before she opened her mouth to scream, they covered her mouth as her body stepped backward into the darkness, the void, the house.