The storm
was raging as Ruby rushed to the fireplace in the living room, her heart
beating wildly. She piled the fragments of the doll onto the hearth, her hands
shaking as she struck a match. The flames flickered, casting eerie shadows
around the room, and she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
“Annabelle,”
she whispered, her voice barely audible over the howling wind outside.
“Annabelle, I free you. I release you. Go back to where you belong.”
The fire
roared to life, consuming the fragments of the doll with a blinding flash of
light. Ruby shielded her eyes, feeling the heat wash over her, and then
everything went still. The storm outside stopped, the wind died, and the
oppressive weight that had hung over her for weeks lifted, leaving only
silence.
She sat
back, staring at the dying embers, and felt the tears come—tears of relief, of
sorrow, and of a grief she couldn’t fully understand.
The house was quiet again, but this time, it felt
like a peaceful quiet—a stillness that was no longer haunted by the echoes of
the past.
A New Beginning
Ruby’s
parents found her asleep in front of the fireplace when they returned home, the
remnants of the dolls nothing but ashes. She told them everything—the dreams,
the whispers, the history of the doll—and for the first time, they believed
her. They didn’t question the strange events that had plagued their house, and
they didn’t try to explain them away. They simply held her close and promised
that they would never speak of it again.
The
following week, Ruby buried the journal beneath the old oak tree in the garden,
marking the spot with a small stone. She didn’t want to forget what had
happened, but she didn’t want the memories to haunt her either. She knew the
spirit of Elizabeth—and Annabelle—was finally at rest, and it was time to move
on.
Months
passed, and life returned to normal. The dreams stopped, the whispers faded,
and the house felt lighter than it had in years. Ruby found herself smiling more,
feeling free in a way she never had before.
And
sometimes, when she sat by the old oak tree, she thought she could feel a
gentle breeze on her cheek, like a ghostly kiss—a reminder that the past was
never truly gone, but that it could be laid to rest.
The doll,
and the darkness it carried, were finally gone. Ruby was free.
The Unfinished Story
Life
gradually returned to normal for Ruby and her family. The house no longer felt
oppressive, and the eerie shadows seemed to have vanished. Ruby’s nights were
free from nightmares, and she began to feel like herself again—no longer
plagued by the haunted whispers that had dominated her thoughts.
Months
turned into a year, and the events surrounding the doll faded into a distant
memory, something Ruby was content to keep buried. Yet, she couldn’t shake the
sense that the story wasn’t entirely finished. There were moments—brief
flashes—when she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, or
heard a faint giggle in the distance, but she always dismissed them as tricks
of her imagination.
Then, one cold autumn evening, everything changed.
[…] left home around 8:30 AM. The streets were quiet. The cool breeze touched our faces, and the city looked fresh. As we reached closer to the church, […]