In Nightmares We're Alone Read Online Free Page B

her in the pillowcase, I throw it into my closet and dump all my dirty laundry on top of it. I shut the closet doors and pull the little latch to lock them.
    I’m safe. I have to be safe now.
    Except…
    That sound a minute ago. The doll room door opening and closing. I was so afraid of Kaylie I almost forgot. What if Beth is out in the hall now? What if she’s crawling to my room from out there?
    I run to my door and hold the knob. If it starts to open I can hold onto it. She can’t be stronger than I am. Not if she’s that small.
    I hold the knob for a long time before I realize I’m being stupid. Beth couldn’t even reach the knob.
    But I can’t go to sleep now, with something going on out there I can’t see. I can’t go to sleep unless I know I’m safe. And if I open the door to see if she’s out there, that’s when she can get in. She could be there right now, just outside the door, knowing I need to open it for my own peace of mind, biding her time…
    But that would mean she opened the door to the doll room. And if she could open that door…
    I turn the knob slowly. I squeeze my eyes tight and take a few deep breaths. She can’t be there. Sissy told me. The scary people in the story are the crazy ones who thought witches were real. I pull the door open a crack and look down at the floor.
    Nothing. No doll. No witches.
    I open it more. Slowly. Inching it little by little and keeping my hand ready to slam it shut as soon as I see the glow of heterochromia in the hall.
    But when the door is open all the way, still I see nothing. I stick my head into the hallway and look.
    The house looks empty, and the door to the doll room is shut, but the light is on inside.
    I put a foot out into the hall and tiptoe toward it. The closer I get, the more I hear a muffled voice behind it. I’m halfway to the door before I breathe a sigh of relief realizing it’s just Mommy. I tiptoe up to the door and put my ear to it.
    “She doesn’t mean it,” Mommy is saying behind the door. “Macie has a wild imagination and she can be difficult sometimes, but she’s full of love. She’ll get used to you soon. She’ll love you like I love you. And we can all be one big happy family like we were supposed to be. That’ll be nice, won’t it? I’m so glad you finally came back to us. We’re so happy to have you here.”
    I stand there in terror. Beth is stealing Mommy from me. Mommy talks to her dolls sometimes, but not like this. Not about her life. Not about me. Beth is casting a spell. I’m sure of it now.
    I’m still standing there paralyzed when Mommy puts Beth back on the shelf and opens the door. She almost bumps into me in the doorway and screams.
    “Macie. You scared me. What are you doing out here?”
    “I… I was thirsty.”
    Mommy shakes her head, trying to catch her breath. “You should think about whether you’re going to be thirsty before you go to bed. Come on. Let’s get you some water and then you need to sleep. It’s a school night.”
    She looks back over her shoulder. “Goodnight, girls. Goodnight, Beth,” she says as she shuts the door to the doll room.

Monday, September 27th

    I’ve never been so happy to leave for school in the morning. All weekend I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that doll. Every time I close my eyes I see blues and greens floating around on the insides of my eyelids and all of a sudden I can see her face in front of me.
    Kaylie’s still in my closet under that pile of dirty clothes. I haven’t had it in me yet to throw her out again but I didn’t want her staring at me while I sleep either.
    For Show and Tell one of the boys is holding up a doll he got for his birthday. Boys call them action figures, but they’re just dolls with their clothes painted on. This doll, it wears army clothes and comes with a knife and a gun. I know this because I’m listening to him talk, not because I’m looking. I don’t want to look at the weaponized doll. I’m afraid