Episode 15: Dollface

“Burn that damned doll, Erin.”

“Are you sure that’s a smart idea? You and I could burst into flames.”

“Shit! You’re right! Bury it then.”

“Not a bad idea.” Erin looks at Cotton sitting at their feet. Erin, Kyra, Eerie Barker, and his son Elijah had relocated to the front yard feeling safer about things after their encounters in the woods. Eerie was still recovering from his possession, as well as his bruised ego, namely his scrotum. His son was forced to basically punch him in the nuts to break the spell that had him destroying poor Kyra even after the deceased voodoo priestess Bambia had lifted away from her host. Kyra was still walking funny but feeling pretty darn good after some of the best sex she had ever had. It was like she could hear James Brown in her head, singing It Feels Good.

Cotton with Brimley Stone’s ghost inhabiting her poodle took Erin’s hint and began digging. Seeing how pathetic her tiny paws were doing Benjamin Parrish within the Great Dane Scooby Boo took over to quadruple the depth that Brimley was achieving. At two feet deep Erin called it. “Good enough dad.” A glance at Kyra’s pearly whites and glossy gaze before burying the doll Erin could almost hear James Brown say, “Can you dig it.” Weird how close their thoughts were in being such good friends. She hoped burying this doll did not suffocate them.

“Dad?”

Eerie winced over Erin’s speaking to her dog as she had his thoughts alluding to “Do I even want to know?” This entire situation was more than he could handle but he was sticking by the ladies who helped protect his son. Not only that but he was smitten by Kyra, who didn’t seem to hold any grudge, hugging on to his arm for comfort. It was nice to have a lady friend again, whether it went beyond that it was just too soon to tell. That, and there were obviously things to learn about his ancestry in ways he could have never predicted. Pride took over. Just seeing his childhood hat on Elijah made him smile. What comes around comes around again. Boomerang!

“My dad’s ghost is within Scooby Boo here. Cotton there has Brimley Stone’s.”

“Wait! What? Brimley’s still ... her funeral is the day after tomorrow at 4 PM, Kindly Funeral Home in Belltower. I got word to her daughter; she will be there. Ummm? She inquired about the poodle. She might want to take it in.” Cotton immediately sat up on his rear and put his dirty front paws together as if begging Erin not to let her daughter take her. Elijah sensing her distraught spoke up.

“Can I have a dog dad?” Not quite what was expected in Brimley’s defense.

“We’ll see son.”

“You will, I’m blind remember. A seeing eye dog would be quite beneficial.”

“HaHa! You’re hilarious. Keep your thinking cap on and hush a spell.” Elijah did quiet down once Kyra patted his shoulder. The three of them huddling close felt like family. Heck, everyone here in attendance had an amazing connection now. All save one lonely soul. Erin knew this and paused to extend an opened hand to the newest ghost on the property. Taking her hand meant everything to Rosalita Montoya. Not only was her former spirit released as a safeguard to protect her children, but she could also now make physical contact just as Genevieve’s boys could.

Before the sigil deportation then return to Souillon House at the unwitting hands of the witch Agnes Bloom, Rosalita was bound to the afterlife without such an ability to touch or better yet inhabit another. At this moment she was just happy to be accepted by Erin, she whom protected her children. A tight grip held; Erin knelt in front of the hole dug by Scooby Dad. “Here I lay us down to sleep, of the Lord our souls to keep.” Laying the doll within the dugout she began covering it with dirt. The second the doll was completely covered both Kyra and Erin lost their breath and began gasping. So much for hoping they weren’t digging their own graves.

Brimley within Cotton immediately realized their error and dropped into the hole to dig the doll back out and carefully lift it up into the air shaking it about. The ladies found breathing much easier. “There goes that idea.” Erin coughed, her eyes tearing up. She even felt Rosalita rubbing her back as if to comfort her. “This stupid doll is freaking invincible. Whatever spell it has on it has us bound to it in every way.” Lifting her necklace Erin winced, “Show me the way to be rid of this Gemma.”

“Uhhh? Erin?” Kyra pointed at the hole to see the blockade sigil hovering ground level over the hole. Just as fast as if a wave of expanding energy the blue light spread out over the entire yard showcasing the spell of containment. It was as if the whole property was one humongous sigil, then it completely faded from sight. The spell rejected the voodoo taint within it. “The boys can’t go out back, only the front yard. The slaves cannot go into the front yard or the house. That doll was designed by the slaves so that means it should be able to be buried in the backyard.”

“Where they can get a hold of it again.” Erin grumbled. “This is not good guys.”

“Yo, Erin!” Eerie stepped around Kyra and Elijah, “Can I see the doll?”

“Don’t go turning us on.” She withheld it with a sneer and a point.

“Pretty sure I can do that without the doll.” He chuckled. “Out in the woods when I put my finger up inside the loose threads of the doll something jabbed my finger and drew blood. I have a hunch it was my blood offering that started the full-on possession. That means there’s a needle inside this thing.”

“To be used to stab the doll?”

“He is a doll.” Kyra giggled. “Sorry! Just an observation.” Elijah laughed at her jest. Erin then passed the doll over to Eerie. Careful handling it he used his pinky to try and peel the cloth aside enough to try peering into the unsewn portion. Erin and Kyra were already feeling their pussies heat up and tingle at his slightest interaction with the intimate area on the doll where their pubes were mystically bound to the material. Uneasy, the wider the hole the well, wider their holes. Vulvas felt the intrusion. It took everything they had to avoid sharing their wonderment.

“Hard to see a needle but there is something else up here, but my fingers are too big to get at it. If I do go digging, you gals will be making a scene again.” Already brewing Big Guy!

“The ragdoll is kind of stiff in certain areas.” Erin nodded, “I just took that as it being the bones so to speak, the frame to hold the doll in its formation.”

“Could be but... “ Plucked out of Eric’s hand the doll hovered in the air before him, his jaw dropping, “What’s going on?”

“Rosalita has it.”

“Who?” The Barker’s had not been introduced to the Montoya’s or their passenger Vienna Edwards as of yet, let alone their mother.

“I’ll get to that in a few minutes. Long story. I just felt we needed to concentrate on this first. Long story short Rosalita Montoya? Eerie Barker. Eerie? Rosalita.” He felt a pat on his hand that gave him the shakes. “Calm down Big Guy, she’s a friend.” Like Eerie had, Rosalita turned the doll as if searching it over. Her fingers not being flesh and blood or bone were capable of a tender approach. Digging within the unsewn hole the ladies didn’t feel a thing other than a floating sensation akin to sea sickness. Threads popping to the rear of the doll the ghost gently removed the needle and brought it out into the open air. That needle was dropped into the hole. The second it hit Eerie felt sick to his stomach and turned away bending over to vomit.

“The needle was tuned into your DNA I bet.” Erin sighed, Kyra rushing to Eric’s aid to comfort his illness. As he stood up and caught his breath, they heard his puke hiss on the ground and become vapor, a sudden masculine scream in the distance alerted them all toward the forest. “Ancestor dot cum, just felt that release. I think you were still bound to your possessor on a deeper level thanks to your blood.”

“But how did the slave... “ Kyra pondered, “He’s still on his side of the border barrier but Eerie here isn’t dead so he carried his relative across on a minor level maybe. I mean the doll itself came across and it was obviously made by slave spirits, so how did we manage that?”

“Our DNA!” Erin patted her own coochie, still pants less. “We brought it over by ours just like Eerie’s blood. His part of this is purged. Ours is still here.” The doll still in Rosalita’s possession dug within the doll further and brought out something else.

“Is that a skeleton key?” Eerie cocked a brow. Rosalita handed the key to Erin who studied it.

“Now what door do you open?” Erin looks to the house. “I guess we go from lock to lock until we see if it opens something. Most of the rooms are open so it might not be for just a door. Book lock maybe?”

“Genevieve’s diary?” Kyra threw out her opinion.

“Could be Anansi Drew.”

“Anansi? That’s an African God ... spider I think.” Eerie tried to recall his great grandfather’s stories. “Funny you should say that Erin.”

“I got it from American Gods. Was Anansi actually real?”

“According to lore yes.” She turned her gaze to see Rosalita’s invisible hands covering the needle with dirt. Buried Eerie felt like a million bucks. How the sigil barrier allowed that remained a mystery. Misery too! Pardon the pun considering he had the spirit of an eight-point buck over his shoulder out in the woods. That part was still to be deciphered. “Thanks Rosalita.” He found it obligation to acknowledge her help. There was no denying he believed in ghosts now. Doll brushed by Rosalita’s hands the mystically bound pubic hair fell off into the soil below. As if a cool breeze had flowed across the ladies’ vaginas, they too felt a great relief.

Standing, Rosalita handed the doll to the homeowner. “Is it safe now?” Erin asked, “Can I burn this thing?” Even she questioned the sigils acceptance of the needle and their hair. Maybe the evil aspect was in the doll by itself. The sigil might have accepted their DNA as good over evil. Who knew?

“May I keep it?” Elijah spoke up. “Our family did make it dad. Mom might like to have it as a keepsake.”

“As much damage as that thing just did?” Eerie hissed then sighed, “I’m going to regret this ... yeah, your momma has a right to hold her heritage. Go put it in the Cherokee.” Erin handed the doll to the boy and he and Scooby Boo took a walk together. To Benjamin Parrish the boy reminded him of his grandsons.

“One matter solved, a dozen more to go. Rosalita’s son and daughter are in the house. Flesh and blood.”

“I know Rico from jail.” Eerie sighed, “He needs to go back to finish up his sentence.”

“That’s going to be difficult Eerie. He’s cuffed to his sister Isabel now and there’s a sigil over both keyholes, and I know for sure Skeleton Bob here won’t fit those.” She posed the key before him. “Besides that, Agnes Bloom over in Melas told me the record would be dismissed.”

“How’s that? Does this Agnes have some connections at the courthouse?”

“Agnes is a witch. I think Genevieve up there is also one, they knew one another, which means Agnes is ... old as... “ She pointed at the dirt hole now fully covered up by Rosalita and Brimley. “How would it look if you took Rico back to jail and couldn’t put Isabel with him. I’m letting them live here with Kyra and I until we can resolve their confinement and get them good jobs to move out on their own. Rico refuses to call his dad in the army so all I can do is honor his request. Unless Rosalita here has any ideas?” A pat on her shoulder to let it go for now was answer enough.

“So, ghosts and witches are real.” Eerie rubbed the back of his neck with worry, “What’s next vampires and werewolves?” Eyes bulging his way he hesitated, “What did I say?” Points of terror behind him he turned to see Scooby Ben up on his hind legs growling then howling. Everyone busted up including Elijah.

“Dad just peed his drawers.”

“Not funny Man! Not funny!” Benjamin found it amusing. They all did. “I better get my boy home. I think he’s had enough. Eli?”

“Yeah, old man?”

“I’m sorry I thought you had imaginary friends earlier. I’ll listen to what you have to say more from here on.”

“You better or I’ll use my cane on your nards again.”

“My belt still comes off Boy.”

“So do your pants.” Kyra slides in closer to hug him, “Walk you to your car?”

“They’re going to swap spit again.” Eli told Erin. “You can kiss dad another day.”

“Smart ass!”

“Mine’s smart, yours is... “ Eerie clamped a hand over his son’s mouth. Eric did mouth the words sexy as hell then drug his boy off by his shirt, lifting him off his feet. “It’s been a pleasure Ms. Parrish.”

“See you again soon Eli.” A wave goodbye Erin turned to Rosalita, hugging her arm. “You going to be okay out here with Brimley and my dad?” A kiss to Erin’s cheek led her to believe she would. “Should I adopt another dog for you to use as a host? Wait! How come that braindead rule doesn’t affect the animals? Lord, sorting all of this out is crazy.”

Rosalita had mixed feelings on being a dog. Perhaps a cute chihuahua? Letting Erin go she moved on up the steps and into her house. She needed to check on her boys and discover what mischief Vienna was in. That girl was going to be trouble.

Out at Eerie’s SUV the off-duty police officer kissed Kyra goodbye, which took five minutes. Elijah in the passenger seat tilted his hat without thought as to why he did it. The tilt was very similar to how the scarecrow had done so in the woods. In Elijah’s hand the doll cringed as if blushing. What was going on?

“I’ll be in touch. We can go on a real date here soon.” Kyra smiled up at him. “Next time though, let’s not be swingers with any ghosts, okay?”

“I want to know what that big buck was all about. I feel dirty but reinvigorated at the same time.”

“I know. My entire body feels free.”

“Thank you, Mister Lincoln.” Eerie chuckled. He kissed her one last time then climbed into his Cherokee and started it up. “I’ll be keeping all this spooky shit to myself. Tell Erin I have her back.” A pat on his door Kyra smiled at his integrity and let them go. She spotted Elijah taking his hat off through the windshield like a gentleman. Waving with his doll hand Kyra got a chill. It was like the doll was saying goodbye more than he was. Hurrying back into the house right past the dogs and Rosalita she had a premonition.

“This can’t be over.”

Erin entered the house and found the TV on, playing cartoons of Scooby Doo again. It was as if the boys were hooked on Hanna-Barbera. Gloves on to recognize who was there, she found Timothy, Newton, Dim, and Hank. “Where is everyone else?” They all pointed up. “Tired of Vienna already?” All of their hands went to invisible erections the boys stroking it then just as fast removing their hands. “Girl crushes? None of you have ever had a girlfriend before so I suppose I can understand the novelty of it. Boys?” She crouched holding the key.

“Two things, until I get to know Vienna better, I want you to refrain from getting too close to her. I understand she’s a cutie pie, but we really don’t know her yet. I worry about Isabel because of Vienna, the two of them being stuck together as one. Can you understand that by interacting with Vienna who might want attention, you might be intruding on what Isabel may want? Respect her please. Rico as well. This is going to be hard on him being stuck with not just his sister who he loves and fiercely protects, but also that he does not approve of Vienna’s holding his sister captive. Try and be friends with Rico, support him as much as possible, okay?” Thumbs up on all four boys. “Thank you. Mistress loves you all.”

Feeling a toe caress her inner thigh she looked at her lap and grinned, “That you Hank?” A single thumb up she shook her head at him. “You can make love to me tonight. Just you, Mistress is tired. Long day battling demons.” Hank in a blur was attacked playfully by the other gloves for his being chosen. It was nice to see them wrestling if not truly able to see them. “Break it up! There’s always tomorrow night for the rest of you lovers. Focus here please.” Key lifted, “Do any of you know what door this key might be for?”

Only Dim gave a thumbs up. Standing he took Erin by her hand and took her upstairs. Walking down the hall they heard the piano burst into an agonizing set of keys. “Does it lock the music room door? Please tell me it seals Genevieve in forever.” Bypassing the door Dim guided Erin to the attic door and put her hand on the knob. “I already have access to the attic. Does it lock it?” She tried the skeleton key in the keyhole, but it didn’t seem to work on the lock. “Is it maybe for something upstairs? You boys are forbidden to go up there by Genevieve, right? Because of Earl!” A wagging index finger as if saying No! No! No!

“So how could you know if it fits something up there? I ... does this key ... unchain Earl?” A 50/50 motion with his glove Dim truly didn’t know, that was his version of maybe. “I’ll have a look around tomorrow when I take some books up there. Do you know how to read Dim?” Thumbs down. “Do any of the boys know how to read? I mean, I’ve seen you guys write on mirrors so you must know some reading and writing.” Using his fingers, he shared a thumb to index with a pinch in between as saying a little.