Your Cries, Unheard

A woman who lived alone hears her name called out late at night.

“Hallie…”

I stir from my sleep and throw myself onto my left side towards the wall. The bed screams as I land with a thud. It’s only two in the morning, the void of darkness still devouring the world outside. It’s eerily silent. Whether or not I heard what I think I heard, I don’t know. I only just fell asleep. Sleep is…not a good friend of mine. Probably got insomnia. My mind doesn’t stop, not to mention the burden of nightmares. My body relaxes again and my eyes close shut.

“Hallie?”

I flinch. Yup, I definitely heard it that time. A massive flood of adrenaline shoots through my veins, heart pounding like a military drum against my chest. I don’t dare move a single inch. Eyes wide. Darkness encases me. I hear hushed breaths that brush my skin as if…whoever this is…is right above me. I count down the seconds with bated breath to keep myself from hyperventilating.

I live alone. I have been since I moved away from my little suburban town. This place isn’t much better, although it is less crime-heavy. No one visits often, I don’t really talk or meet people around here, nor does anyone gladly make themselves at home-

“Hallie!!”

Oh. It’s only her.

“Where are you?”

I crawl out of bed and wipe my eyes. I stagger through the dark. My fingers find the light switch. I squint as the light nearly blinds me. It submerges the room but I don’t feel any less out of the darkness of this life. There’s a bat by my door I keep in case of intruders. It won’t be needed. Heaven forbid I ever do.

The voice isn’t mumbled. It isn’t clear either. Just above audible. Muffled. Mercury runs around my legs as I open my door. He hisses and bares his teeth. A couple of pets to his dull gray fur seem to calm him down. He must’ve heard her too. Walking out the door, I catch sight of Mars, sound on his cat tree in the spare bedroom. He’s used to it, it seems.

Mercury stays close to my legs in a protective stance as I walk through the maroon-coloured hall. Every creak and crack in the shadows of my house makes me jump and beg that it's not him. Every hallucination of perceived movement makes the blood run cold. I hate walking around at night. But I know what to expect. I’ve done this before. I peer through the dark till I find a lamp and turn it on. That feels better. I continue on my way, walking down a short flight of stairs.

“Can you hear me? I’m lost!”

Yes, I can. Unlike then, I think. Somewhere along the way, Mercury had run off probably back to his cat bed. That means it’s just me. I bite the inside of my cheek with enough force that I’m sure I taste blood. My hands clench into hard fists that stain my knuckles white as I check around every corner. Almost there. I’m coming. I’ll be okay.

I don’t know why I’m not rushing. Maybe I just like hearing her innocent voice in my ears. It gets louder now as I inch closer. There, I see it. Sitting on the old, rotten, dusty fireplace. A doll, wearing a scarlet dress and brown hair done in braids, stares. Its soulless eyes pierce
through me like a sharp, metal blade.

“W-who are you? Can you help me?”

I grimaced. Its-her mouth moves with each irreplaceable word. I step through the entrance to the living room. I glance towards the door that leads to a deck. I jiggle the handle. Locked, just how I like it. The curtains are drawn, just how I like them. Safe. He can’t take her away again.

I approach the doll and I can see her non-motorized head turn and jerk as if being manipulated. Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump. I recognize that sound as a heartbeat controlled by no mechanism. A light, a pink one, flashes in the doll’s chest. It flickers as if fighting an invisible force that traps it inside. Her eyes shift to peer at mine. It would look terrifying to any onlooker. It still is for me, but I’ve learned to deal with it. This is what I wanted after everything.

“Please, help me find my sister,” she pauses. “What-what is that in your hand?”

I want to say “nothing”, but I know she’s not talking to me. I stare blankly. I fight the fierce tears that torture my eyes. I wanted this. I must deal with this. This is my burden to carry. I told her I’d never let her go. If only I had heard her cries.

“Wait!-Let me go! Hallie! HELP ME!”

Screams. Her screams. They tear and claw at my ears and stab and twist a knife into my gut. It's so high-pitched a glass could shatter like it does my heart. Tears threaten to liberate themselves down my cheeks. She screams for what seems like an horrific, agonizing eternity until she finally grants me mercy. The silence is thick, suffocating. The heartbeat weakly pumps on. She chokes out a few strained words.

“Hallie. It hurts.”

I place a hand on the doll's knee and shush her. “It’s okay, I’m here…I’m here now”
———————————————————————————————
“I-It’s okay, I’m here…I’m here-here now.”

I found her like this. Blood flowed like a torrent from the gashes on Katherine’s still body. It coated the grass, dying it a deep red as the trees surrounded us like a cage. I cursed the unknown name of the sickening man who brought the knife down on my sister. Leaving her to suffer in this misery of unbearable pain. Tears travelled down her cheeks and her teeth clenched. I held her close. Not caring about the blood that inevitably stained my hiking gear.

“Help is coming. Just-just hang on.”

Katherine exploded into a coughing fit. She covered her mouth, blood smearing her face and her hand coming back red. More blood trickles down her nose. Her body paled. All I could do was pray and hope and comfort my sister who was gradually fading away in my arms. Her breaths became laboured and shallow and her eyelids fluttered open and closed.

“Don’t you dare die on me, you’re all I have. We’re all we have. I can’t lose you. I won’t let you go.”

Katherine smiled with a quivering lip. I knew she was scared. She’d never say it. She placed her trembling hand over mine.

“I love you, Hallie. I’ll say hi to Mom and Dad for you.”

Just like that, her eyes shut forever. Her head rolled back and her limbs and hands went slack. As life left her slender form, I vowed to never let her go. No matter the cost. The shouts of arriving help were drowned out by my anguished wails.
———————————————————————————————
The doll falls silent. No swivel of her head, no words, nothing. My ears ring. I don’t move, frozen in place. Waiting for one last thing. The light in her chest blows out like a candle, her soul resting until the next full moon. At least, that’s what that witch told me. It never seems like that. The heartbeat doesn’t stop, the heart from Katherine’s body keeps the doll possessed.

It feels so cruel. To keep her chained to this world. The world that decided she was a waste of space. Her soul should be free, dancing with our parents. But it’s here. Held hostage in this wretched doll. But I vowed to never let her go. I vowed to always hold her close. I could’ve saved her. Guilt sinks its teeth into my heart. I can’t let her go. Not now. Holding on desperately to the past.

Never again will her cries go unheard.