Chapter Text
The sound of a doorbell rang through the house as the Shvagenbagen family was eating dinner. They all sat silently in surprise.
"We have a doorbell?" Heavy, the younger brother muttered, his mouth full with food.
"I thought that thing was broken.." Victoria said, looking at her husband, Glam, who was also just as shocked as he placed a plate of food on the table.
"Me too, I guess not many ring it..." Glam said. "Dee, why don't you go answer it?"
Dee nodded and stood up, walking towards the front door. This was unusual for them, very rarely does someone approach their house, especially this late. Was it the police, perhaps? An angry teacher coming to speak with his parents? No, what greeted him when he opened the door was even more unusual. Lying on the front step were two ragdolls that look exactly like him and his little brother. They were made of yarn, scrap fabric, and buttons.
"What the fuck...?" Dee murmured under his breath, picking up the doll in his likeness and examining it. It looked accurate, down to his piercings, freckles, and the choker on his neck, as if the person who made it had been watching him for quite some time.
He looked around, trying to see who had left it there. And just across the street was a figure, dark and hiding behind the lamppost in front of the newly-built house. It stared at him with round eyes as if in wait. The sight made the hair on his skin stand on end, his breath quickened.
"Hello?" Dee yelled. "Is this yours...?!"
It only stared in reply.
Dee looked down at the doll once more, realizing there was a loose string on its back. He pulled on it, and out of the doll fell a small jar full of teeth, eggshells, and dirt. Dee screamed and immediately dropped the doll, slamming the door behind him.
"Dee?" Glam called, concerned as he rushed to his side, gripping his shoulders. "Dee, what's wrong?"
"THERE'S AN ACTUAL FUCKING PSYCHO OUT THERE!" He yelled.
"What?" Glam asked, opening the door. He scanned their surroundings, but no one was around. "Dee, there's no one there."
"Huh?!"
Dee looked back out the door, the shadowy figure was gone.
"But dad, look, whoever it is, they left these weird dolls!" Dee said, holding up the dolls.
"Oh, how nice of them!" Glam exclaimed. "They look just like you, they must admire you a lot."
"But the jar!"
"What jar?"
"What...?" Dee murmured, looking down and trying to look for it on the floor. It seems it had rolled away. "Dad, I swear, when I opened the doll, a small jar fell out and it was full of fucking teeth!"
"Dee, are you sure you're not seeing things? That sounds very concerning." Glam asked, raising a brow. "You know, I fear some things can be hereditary..."
"I didn't inherit shit from you, dad!" Dee yelled.
"What's going on there?" Victoria called. "The food's getting cold!"
Glam sighed and closed the front door.
"Dee, it's very much obviously a gift... it may be a weird one. But who are we to judge what's weird or not?" Glam said. "I mean, we have a hall of just chains hanging from the ceiling. For most, that would be really weird. Just calm down and be grateful that you got this gift."
Glam handed Dee the small doll in his likeness as he led him back to the dinner table. Heavy was stealing some spaghetti from Dee's plate.
"Oh uh..." Heavy stammered. "It's not what you think."
"You can have it. I've lost my appetite." Dee said, slowly sitting down. Heavy noticed the mini Dee ragdoll in his hands.
"Is that a doll?" Heavy asked.
"Yes, the new neighbor gave you one too, Heavy!" Glam exclaimed, handing Heavy his ragdoll.
"The new neighbor? Is that what all the noise was about?" Heavy asked. "Really, Dee, you were scared of a doll?"
"Didn't the same thing happen in a horror movie?" Dee muttered. "You know, Coraline?"
"Coraline's not real, dumbass."
"Well, I'm just saying..." Dee said. "You didn't see what I did..."
Once dinner was finished and the table and dishes were cleaned, Dee went to his room. He set the doll on a shelf, its back turned towards him so it wouldn't see anything. He felt paranoid and insane, but something about the new neighbors was... off.
Teeth... why teeth?
Dee sat up and took another look at the ragdoll, features stitched with yarn and thread, eyes made of button. It didn't look like an ordinary ragdoll... it was a voodoo doll, the kind meant to control people. Did that stranger mean to cast a curse on him?
'That's it...' Dee thought. 'I'm not taking any more of this creepy witch shit.'
Dee snatched the doll from the shelf and opened his window, carefully stepping out onto the roof. He held on and kept his balance as he did multiple times before. He went down a ladder and landed safely on the ground, walking towards the trashcan.
"Good fucking riddance..." Dee murmured, looking down on the doll. He went still when he sensed the smell of cigarette smoke. His mother? No, she wouldn't smoke at this hour of the night...
"That's my sister's gift you're throwing..." Said a voice. "How rude of you..."