Page 48 of My Sweet Dollie, You Have to Love Me
“No…” I whisper.
A fog from the cold down here leaves my mouth.
I’m in a basement. A flooded basement.
And I’m alone.
With a splash, I jump from the chest into water that comes halfway up to my knees, not thinking about my leg.
More splashes come as I limp through the freezing water, wincing as I move.
“Dollie!” I scream, praying that she’s not dead, as I flip over the coat.
She isn’t inside.
I spin, squinting and searching the dimly lit area.
“Dollie!” I keep screaming, feeling through the dirty water to make sure she hasn’t sunk to the bottom.
The door atop thirteen rotten steps creaks open.
Thirteen, thirteen, thirteen.
An unlucky number.
I move to the foot of the staircase and place myself on the bottom step so there are only twelve steps between me and the door.
“Dollie?” I whisper, hoping it isn’t her, and she did as I asked and ran to get help.
Help could be on the way.
This could be it.
“Mom, Dad?”
All my hopes fade to nothing when Colin—the monstrous clown—appears in the doorway first. He opens it wider with a loud groan from the old hinges to reveal Dollie on his hip, her sleepy head on his shoulder, and blood on her lip.
Her little face is a ghostly shade, and I can’t see from here if she’s breathing or not.
But she’s not okay.
She’s not moving at all!
My heart sinks straight to the bottom of the dirty water.
Colin takes one step, and my mind whirls.Eleven. There is an odd number of steps between us.
And odd numbers do something bad to my mind—they torment it, except for lucky number three.
Another step from me makes us even.
“Is she okay?”
Another step from him and no answer.
Another from me.
Another from him.
