She goes to wake up little Allison. Her curly blonde hair laid out on the pillow. “Wake up Alli, time for school!”Allison rose out of her bed. Rhonda goes downstairs to make breakfast. Her eye bags were as dark as tar. She slams bread into the toaster. Meanwhile, Alli struggles to get a look in the mirror so that she can brush her teeth. The toast pops, Alli comes down right on time. After breakfast, mum waves her goodbye, as she takes little steps onto the school bus.

It’s 4.30pm and Allison hasn’t come back from school. Rhonda phones the school, however the school said Alli left on the school bus at 3.15pm. She burst into tears. Her face was as red as a tomato. She headed to the Melrose Main Street to ask villagers if they had Alli. None of them had. Rhonda went to the police station. She arrived at the station and an officer started questioning her about Allison. “Full name?”, “Allison Edgar”, “Age” “9 years old”, “What was she last seen wearing”, “ A grey skirt, Melrose Primary tie, knee high grey socks, her hair in plaits with two blue ribbons.” Rhonda started to feel as if everything around her was distorting. She fell to the ground. After 2 minutes the officer offered her a glass of water. The chief told Rhonda that they will look out for Alli.

Two weeks had passed and no sight or news of Alli. It would’ve been her 10th birthday on the 16th of February. Rhonda had bought her a dollhouse but there was no point. She planned on selling it. On the other hand, Allison was locked in a barn. It was filled with hay, grass and there was a white horse locked up. A tall, bulky man walked in, he had a plate in his hand “Eat” he said. Allison refused, but everytime she would say no, he slashed her thigh. You couldn’t even see his face, he was masked. He was masked to cover his cruel, dark desires. Rhonda drove to the Main Street to sell the dollhouse, a slim and slender woman bidded to buy it. However, the lady asked if Rhonda could bring it to her house, as she didn’t own a vehicle.

Rhonda drove to 11 Capilaw Road. An old Victorian style house. An unmowed lawn and cracked windows. She felt eerie. It was not a house you would see in a normal neighbourhood. It didn’t belong. Anyways, Rhonda got out of the car, picked up the dollhouse and started walking toward the house, suddenly she stopped, her heart skipped a beat, a blue ribbon lay on the ground. It looked just like Alli’s and Rhonda was sure it was hers. Quickly, the lady, supposedly her name was Mrs Rebecca MacDonald, walked up to Rhonda and guided her into the ‘home’. The home smelt of metals mixed with blood and sweat. None of the lights were on, only the light shining dimly through the window. Rhonda placed the dollhouse on a table. She noticed a book shelf that was hanging off the wall. Mrs MacDonald offered her some tea. As she walked away, Rhonda tip-toed to the book shelf; it was a hidden door.

She slowly and quietly opened the door, to find a staircase leading to a secret basement. Rhonda took a deep breath and hoped for the best. She sneaked downstairs and found a stable-like looking room. She came across a stain of blood, she knew someone and something was hiding here. She looked around and saw Alli. Rhonda rushed to unlock Alli from one of the stables. However, the man stabbed her with a knife. Rhonda was dead. His next target was Alli, he opened the gate, took out his axe and cut off Alli’s head. Alli was dead. The man cut off Rhonda’s head and laid both the heads on an operating table. He grabbed two human size dolls and sowed their heads to the dolls. After sowing, he added the dolls to his collection. Now Rhonda had known that she would always be punished for what she had done.

Diya Dileep