I finally face that presence.
It was a man.
A man with a mask, covering half of his face, tears streaming around his eyes, the strangest thing was-
It looked like the doll.
And then, I scream.
He gets startled and moves back.
"W-who the hell are you! What are you doing here! How did you enter my house! Why are you looking like that doll!" I say
"Because I am the doll." He says, his voice smooth like ocean, he was looking straight into my eyes, he was strangely intriguing.
My hands were cupping my face, I was totally shocked, he sits on the chair.
I look at him, still guarded and cautious
"Tell me that I am dreaming." I say
"You are not." He says
"But how-" I say and then he cuts my sentence
"I know it's hard to believe, I don't even know who I am, the thing is I can't remember any of my memory, everything is blurred." He says, he was looking conflicted and vulnerable
I move close to him
I touch his face with my finger, being cautious.
He flinches back
"What are you doing?" He says
"You can't touch ghosts because they are invincible, then why I am able to touch you?" I say being confused
"I should have stayed as a doll." He leans back on the chair folding his arms
"I have questions for you." I say
"If the questions are sensible." He says
"I am a journalist so I talk with sense." I say
He takes a deep breath and replies
"Fine."
"What's you real name? What blur memories do you still remember? Are you somehow connected to my grandmother? Why do you wear that mask? Why do you-" he cuts me off
"Woah woah, relax Ms. journalist let me answer one by one." He says, his expression being indifferent but not cruel
"Fine." I say
"I don't have any name." He says
"Huh?." I was surprised
"Or I don't remember atleast but in my blurred memories, the person used to call me doll." He says
"Doll? That's a strange name. Tell me about your blurred memories" I ask being curious
"In all of my blurred memories, I am in this room, in a same position that you saw me first as a doll, on that shelf. I remember a woman's voice and a strange song. Whenever I get flashbacks of my memories, my head hurts so badly and my body freezes." He says, his voice being low, he was fidgeting with his hands... They were trembling
I feel bad for him
"Do you remember anything when you were a doll?." I say
"Nothing, just those blurry flashbacks." He says
"So answer another thing." I say
"Ask." He says
"Have you transformed into a human form before too?" I say
"Yeah, only a single time." He says
"How was it last time?" I say
"My head was hurting last time and blood was dripping from my eyes." He says
"Damn."
I sit back, deep in thought.
Is it a dream? How can it be possible? I should have entered this place when I was a kid so I would have been able to question my grandmother, is my grandmother's death somehow related to this? It can't be.
I look back at him, he was looking same like the doll I saw, the doll isn't on the shelf now, where'd it go? Is he really that doll?
"You are staring at me, weirdly." He says breaking the silence
"I apologise, I was just deep in thought." I look away. I was still feeling uneasy, yeah it was obvious and normal to feel that way after knowing something you should stay away from
Grandmother was hiding many things, was she not the warm and sweet person I used to spend time with?
"Where should I go now?" He asks, his presence was creepy like that doll, but I have observed that he looks innocent and vulnerable
"You can stay here until your memories come back." I say, I won't mind someone living here and yeah I don't think I will be able to sleep here in this house because of what strange things are happening nowadays. Also where will this poor man even go? Or whatever he is
"Can I trust you?" He asks
"Huh I should be the one asking that, you are the one who popped out of this creepy old workshop." I say, being frustrated but not at him but on my grandmother
My phone starts ringing
I take the call
"Yes? Office dinner? Gosh I totally forgot about that!" I cut the call
"You should go inside the house, you can't stay here all day." I walk inside the house and he starts following me behind
I start walking towards my room, rushing to change into a dress after taking some minutes to get ready
I walk out of my room and see him looking out of the window, have I freed something I wasn't supposed to?
"Wait here until I come, you can get comfortable with the house." I leave the house after saying this to him
As I sit inside my car, my heart was beating in a rush
"Agh I don't want to see that stupid man again, the manager."
As I enter the party, I see the manager
A weird smile plastered on his face, checking me out shamelessly
Pfft what an idiot
"Lycia, my darling!"
Oh no he's walking towards him
I fake a smile
"Hello manager" I just wanna run away
"You look beautiful in that dress, let's meet the other guests together." He says
I look around, there was not a single employee from my office
Wait- what the hell?