White Collar Fic: Haunting Doll
Title: Haunting Doll
Type: Fic
Author: Dennih23
Rating: G, Kidfic
Characters: Elizabeth Burke
Spoilers: Pulling Strings
Summary: How Little Miss No Name Came into El’s life
Wordcount: 1300
Disclaimer: White Collar is the property of Jeff Eastin, just playing with them for fun.
Thank you to Rabidchild67 for the Beta and words of wisdom.
The Haunting Doll
She could not believe it --- she thought she was rid of that doll. But no, after all these years her parents found it and had the doll restored. Just in time for El’s birthday. It was their big surprise. El didn’t know what to say, just “I’m going to go show Peter”. All she really wanted to do was get that doll out of her home.
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It had been confirmed, El had chickenpox. She was currently confined to the guest bedroom away from her sister. Her parents did not want two schoolgirls with chickenpox and separated them immediately. Elizabeth felt like a prisoner being confined to this room. “No visitors, just plenty of rest” is what her father said.
Elizabeth glanced around the room --- she was bored. The guest room was nothing like her bedroom. Her bedroom was bright, fun, and all her favorite things were in her bedroom. When she closed her eyes she could see it --- brightly colored in yellow and orange, her dolls and stuffed animals lining the dressers, and the dollhouse her grandfather made her. Her bed was on one side and her sister’s bed on the other. But right now she had to stay in the guest room.
“Honey Bee - time for breakfast” her mother called out as she came into the room. El immediately saw a brightly wrapped package sitting on the tray next to her breakfast. “Your grandmother sent you a get well present - finish your breakfast and then you can open it”. Grandmother Mitchell always sent the best gifts. El imagined a wonderful soft and cuddly stuffed animal or a beautiful elegant, doll that would brighten her day. Or maybe it was a book that she could get lost in, daydreaming about faraway places.
El quickly ate her breakfast and grabbed the present. She could hardly wait to see what her grandmother had sent. She enthusiastically tore off the wrapping paper to see a doll --- a very sad doll. The box said “Little Miss No Name”. The doll had huge eyes and a tear running down her face, her dress was made of gunny sack material with a red patch. Elizabeth did not know what to think --- the doll was sad looking, and nothing like any of her other dolls. Her other dolls were bright and happy, this one was just plain creepy. El shivered a little bit when she saw the doll.
Her mother walked over and looked at the doll - “She looks like she needs a good home. I am sure you will give her lots of love. Be sure to send your grandmother a thank you note.”
El sat down and wrote her grandmother a thank you note. Unsure of what to say, she really did not like the doll, but did not want to hurt her grandmother or her parents feelings. She thought about it, and decided she would play with the doll for now, and hide it in her closet when she returned to her own room.
Fever set in over the next few days and every time Elizabeth woke up, she felt the doll staring at her, making her feel worse. She was convinced the doll was evil, and making her sick. El decided to hide the doll under the bed, and was surprised to find the doll magically sitting on the nightstand next to her when she woke up. How did this get here? Nobody would have checked under the bed for the doll would they? It bothered Elizabeth that the doll was on the nightstand, but she rolled over and went back to sleep.
When she woke up the doll was no longer on the nightstand, but in the bed next to her. She almost screamed, it frightened her so much. Again she put the doll under the bed, and the next time she woke up it was sitting on the dresser across the room --- just staring at her like the doll knew she hated it. The dolls glare scared Elizabeth and she thought, “I need to get rid of it.” She crawled out of bed and hid the doll in the closet this time so she would not have to look at it.
She slept fitfully for awhile and then El opened her eyes to find the doll next to her again. This time she was so frightened she screamed and threw the doll across the room. She wanted the doll to go away and leave her alone. She began to cry and her mother rushed in hearing her sobs.
“What’s wrong Honey Bee?”
“The doll.” was all she could say between sobs. Her mother thinking that El wanted the doll, brought it over to her, and placed it on the bed. Mom wiped El’s forehead, “Oh Honey Bee, you are really warm. Your doll is right here with you, try and get some sleep.”
El kept crying after her mother left the room and kept looking at Little Miss No Name. She was afraid to sleep, for fear that the doll would harm her in some way. Finally she fell asleep again waking to the doll staring at her, and she thought the doll spoke to her - “You don’t like me, and I hate you”. Elizabeth put the doll under the bed again, and cried herself to sleep. When she woke up the next morning the doll was once again in the bed with her.
During her recuperation El would find places to hide the doll, but every time she woke up, it would be back in the bed with her. She was sure the doll was finding her own way back. Finally after two weeks of being haunted by her new doll, El was able to go back to her own room. She looked around for a place to hide it, but could not find one. After awhile she started to consider the basement, and went to check it out. There it was, the perfect spot - behind a loose brick, all she had to do was stuff the doll inside the hole and replace the block. It was time to make a plan.
The next morning she told her mom and dad she was taking the doll to school to show all her friends. Leaving the house, she headed for school, then quickly turned around and went home. Sneaking into the basement she hid the doll. Now she just needed to convince her parents she had lost it.
Upon arriving home from school, El began crying. Her mother ran up to her, “What’s wrong Honey Bee?”
“I lost my doll. I put her in my backpack, but when I left school, I noticed she was gone. I’m so sorry that I lost her.” El kept up the act of crying, and her mother told her it would be all right, the doll would probably turn up the next day.
El played her part for the next couple of days pretending to be sad when all she wanted to do was rejoice in not having to look at the doll again.
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Yet, here she was years later looking at the same doll standing on her kitchen counter. Peter - wonderful, caring Peter who understand her better than anyone - gave her a knowing look, and then ‘accidently’ knocked the doll off the counter, where Satchmo ran off with it, hopefully to bury it where no one would ever find it again. El made a mental note to be sure to buy Satch a nice, big bone. Then she looked over to Peter and decided that her husband was the best birthday present ever.