She turned back toward the door, and opened it. "Kurt, there is something weird going on in here. But no talking dolls. Can you..." Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled back from the door, which slammed closed behind her. She reached for her gun.
With her hand on her holster, Officer Danielle Chase spun around. And she saw a human sized rag doll in front of her. The toy had thick yellow yarn for hair and wore a dirndl dress that was sewn into her cloth skin.
She sleeves of her dress were stuffed spheres around each of her shoulders, and there were a few mismatched patches on her dress, like she had been torn or damaged and then repaired by a kind hand.
She smiled a broad, painted smile and waved her mitten hand. "Hello," she said with a sing-song voice.
At that moment, something strange overcame Danielle. She breathed in deeply and the world fell into a haze. Her hand fell from her gun and she stood perfectly still.
Oh, God. The kid's story was true, she thought. Danielle breathed in deeply, and tried to focus and push the fog of her mind away.
"I'm Danielle," she said, almost forcing the words out of her mouth, "I'm . . . here to help."
The rag doll scrunched her eyebrows, "We don't need help," she said happily.
We? the police officer wondered. Then she heard a ticking noise and looked up to a flight of stairs next to the living room and saw another toy.
His skin was plastic and shiny, and like Danny the Rag Doll wore a broad painted smile on his face and apple red circles on his cheeks. He wore a sharp red jacked with gold epaulets, and a tall black hat with a red feather plume. He marched in perfect time to the ticking sound that came from inside him. And he held an old style toy musket in his hand.
Tom the Toy Soldier, Danielle thought.
Vaguely, the officer heard a noise behind her. No, not a noise. Someone talking. Someone calling her name.
She half turned and saw Kurt standing at the door, gun in hand. Danielle always did like Kurt. He was a good cop and a great partner.Through the fog of her mind, Danielle started to understand him.
"Officer Chase, are you okay?"
She nodded, and thought that was a silly question. She felt fine.
"Jesus, Danielle. What are you wearing?"
That confused the already confused police officer. She looked down, and she still wore her officer's black uniform. But her shoes were not standard issue. They were pink ballerina slippers with ribbons banding around her ankles.
"Ooooh, a new friend!" Rag Doll Danny said. To Officer Chase, her words were clear as a bell.
It's already too late for me, Danielle thought, but I can still help Kurt.
She wanted to tell Kurt to run. To stay as far away from her and the house as possible. But it was hard to talk, and hard to move.
As the rag doll began to approach the other officer, Dannielle did the only thing she could. She jumped in front of Danny and wrapped her up in a hug. The doll was stuffing through and through, and she felt wonderfully soft.
But while she stopped Rag Doll Danny, Officer Danielle could do nothing as Tom the Toy Soldier ticked and moved, shouldering his rifle and aiming it at Kurt . . .
