Dearest Cassandra, We miss you more than you know and send you our well wishes. Congratulations on your sixth hatching day! We hope you succeed in all of your challenges and hope you overcome all obstacles that come in your way. In this package, you will receive something that we hope shall remind you of your mother. With much love, your grandmother. I smiled as I read it, hearing my grandmother's voice in my head digging farther into the box looking for my gift. I pulled out the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
This doll had porcelain skin, white as paper. Her hair was long and sleek, the color of milk chocolate, while her eyes were a striking ocean blue. She was clothed in lace and dark velvet with a peacoat and small soft stockings. Her hands were delicate and her nails were painted flawlessly with a warm pink. Her smile seemed to beckon me and I loved her instantly. It was a scavenger doll. Years passed and I was always accompanied by the doll. I used to play with her every day, but I had soon gone off to help Queen Glory and had too much work to play with dolls. I would hide her under a bed of leaves, in fear that my roommates would find her and tease me
. One night, I was lying in bed, reading The Glass Castle under the light of the moon. It was getting quite late and all my friends had retired to bed. It was that night that I heard an unusually familiar sound. I didn’t know where that familiarity came from and I didn’t want to find out. I tried to ignore, but it only grew louder. It seemed to be footsteps
. “Rose,” I whispered towards the hut, where my roommate was. There was no response. “Rose?” I tried again louder. Then I heard a blood-curdling scream. My heart jumped into my throat choking me. I felt vomit rise up in my mouth. My mouth quivered and my mind didn’t know what to do. Unconsciously, I ran towards the hut to see what happened. I feared the worst as I approached the leaf-covered door. “Rose!!!” I screamed in a high pitched voice. My stomach turned to ice water as my future seeing kicked in and I dared not open the door of the bathroom. Trying to ignore the crunch of the plants behind me, I whirled to see a shadow running into the room I was in. A smile glimmered in the dark. It was coming. She was coming.