Chapter Text
"Daddy, daddy look! Look at my drawing!" Screeched a small voice, accompanied by the tell-tale sound of an excited child running down the hall.
A small 5 year old girl with light caramel skin and hair as white as snow came barreling into the living room, right into her father's lap with her back to his chest, her braids bouncing with every movement she made. She held the paper out in front of her so both her and her father could view the amazingly drawn picture portraying the middle-aged man sitting in the same recliner he sits in now, watching T.V. while the little girl sits in the floor holding what appears to be a doll, upon further inspection, playing. The man smiles, recalling the scene drawn out before him that took place just the day before. However, his smile soon falls as he takes in the rest of the picture. In front of the girl, is a woman holding another doll that he recognizes as his daughter's. It isn't just any woman, though, and that's what sends chills down his spine. No, it's a woman he recognizes quite well. His wife. His now deceased wife and mother of his child. Playing dolls with the mentioned girl, both seeming so happy in the drawing despite the places where the stitching on her neck came undone, revealing a gory mess around the woman's neck.
The child turns to him and smiles brightly, wanting to see her father's reaction to her masterpiece and hear his praises and approval. However, all she sees is the man staring at the paper in her hand with wide eyes, a pale face, and mouth ajar.
"Daddy? Is something wrong? Do you not like my drawing? I can fix it for you if you don't like it.." She said, voice soft as she observed her father's behavior and tried not to show her hurt despite wanting to cry on the inside at the prospect of upsetting her daddy. Her voice seemed to break him out of his daze as he looked at her, albeit a little shocked. The emotions in his eyes made the girl's bottom lip quiver and tears prick in her eyes as she saw what looked like fear and something that she could only explain as anger burning behind his irises.
His heart broke a bit as he saw the girl's face fall and he shook his head, clearing the fog from his mind. "I.. I love it, sweetheart, I promise. Why don't you go pick up your crayons while daddy puts this on the fridge? After, you can come back in here and we'll talk about it, does that sound okay, baby?" A big grin spread across her face at his approval and she nodded excitedly, hopping out of her father's lap and running down the hall to her room. The man stood and walked to the kitchen, picking a large magnet and using it to put the picture on the fridge while covering the image of his soulmate's portrait.
He stalked back into the living room and his chair just in time to hear footsteps coming down the hall. The girl emerged and sat on the floor in front of her father, smiling up at him.
"Devin, honey, although I really like your picture, why did you draw her in it? That scene was what happened yesterday but she wasn't there, so why did you draw her there? I'm not mad, sweetheart, I'm just curious." He asked, gauging the girl known as Devin's reaction. She tilted her head to the side and looked up at her father in confusion.
"'Cuz she was there, Daddy, don't you remember? Mommy was playing dollies with me, didn't you see her?" Had he really not seen the girl's mother sitting with her? This seemed to not be the answer he was expecting as his eyes widened again and his mouth dropped open slightly before he regained his composure. "Sweetheart, she wasn't there. Mommy wasn't playing dollies with you. Are you feeling okay?" He asked, feeling her forehead and frowning when nothing seems out of the ordinary.
"Yeah she was. I'm okay, daddy, are you okay? What do you mean she wasn't there? Can't you see her too?" This made his heart jump in his throat. "You see her? Right now?" He asked, face slightly paled. Devin nodded and watched her dad curiously. "Sweetheart, I'm going to need you to stay right here, alright? Daddy has to go make a call, don't move."
She nods again and crawls over to her dolls to get one of her favorites, a yarn doll made to look like her. It came in a set of three, custom made for the family. Devin's doll is an exact replica of the girl, simply smaller and made of yarn. It has her white hair, typically done in two braids on either sides of her head, the one vibrant magenta eye on the right side paired with the icy blue eye on the left side. She picks up the other two as well and crawls back over to where she was, placing the dolls in front of her with her mom's doll next to her dad's doll to the right of her with her doll in front of them to the left. She recreates scenes from back when her mother, Evaline, was still alive while her father talks into the phone in the other room.