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Rain pattered on the window panes, droplets splashing into minute orbs that glistened against the smooth glass. The sky above was laced with dark, thick clouds that burst into bright, puffy cotton balls as lightning briefly forked against their stark backdrop. Caroline looked out of the window, her nose pressed against the glass in a piggy fashion. She groaned loudly in complaint, slumping against the wall in boredom.
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Caroline had always despised rain. Her sister had liked it ( before she went away to Yale, Jenny would sit in the porch with a steaming mug of coffee and a plate of chips and enjoy the rain, looking at the plants as everything was bathed afresh. She used to say that thunder thrilled her too ) For Caroline, it simply meant there would be no tag or hide-and-seek or spy-spy today. She loved the outdoors. Despite all her lovely porcelain dolls and teddies, she never much liked it stuck inside the gloomy house.
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It was empty too. The nanny had just drove out on her roaring Harley to the store to fetch a carton of milk and some eggs. Caroline's Mom and Dad worked a lot and were rarely home. Caroline did not mind much, especially as she had become used to it now, but at times it bothered her. The loneliness. While her friends were called away to a warm, fresh lunch, she came to the house to find whatever the daytime nanny had to provide on the weekends. Usually, it was spinach and spaghetti and brown, gooey meatballs. If that was not bad enough - no cheese!
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She wondered whether she should steal outside and play. Her Mom never let her out in the rain, but she and Caroline's father were gone on an important business meeting, possibly not set to return till the night.
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I would get wet anyway, thought Caroline unhappily. She hated getting wet and damp. She wished she would never have to take baths too. Caroline had never seen the point - she would just become dirty again. And she liked being dirty.
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It was almost evening. The entire house was deathly silent. Overhead, the attic creaked and made strange noises. Not that it bothered Caroline. The attic had loose floorboards and several barely-hanging shingles that often moaned and groaned in the wind. Suddenly, as if to add to her depression, the ceiling lights flickered for a second, and then completely went out.
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Oh, great! She had been planning to switch on the computer.
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She went to the immaculately cleaned kitchen, watching her oddly-shaped face in the gleaming counters. They made her otherwise thin, tapering jaw stretch out. Her pigtails flapped around her head, the brown hair matching the hues in her large eyes. She dragged a small coffee table, and upon it, she placed a small carton and upon that, she put a small stool. Gingerly, she clambered on top.
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Opening the topmost cupboard, she retrieved a flower-patterned cookie-jar, opened the lid and ate a few cookies. She liked chocolate chip most. Crunchy and soft.
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Suddenly, someone rapped - very hard. Caroline was so surprised, she almost fell. Steadying herself with one hand on the cupboard door, she peered around.
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She looked into the living room.
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“Hello?” Caroline loudly asked. Maybe someone was at the front door.
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The loud rapping came again. But something told Caroline it was not the front door. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near her. As she looked out the window, Caroline screamed.
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There, pressed against the glass was a gaunt, pale looking woman. She looked at Caroline and rapped on the window again, her knuckles bruising against the glass. Her eyes were a deathly white, the pupils such a light shade of grey it was barely visible. They were sunken, with dark circles underneath. Her lips were white and cracked, like a thin line on her mouth.
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The woman rapped again. Caroline screamed again, feeling her heart hammer inside her chest. She jumped from the stool, kicking them backwards so her assorted support came crashing down to the floor.
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She ducked into the next room and crawled behind the sofa. She could feel herself shaking. Who – or what was that? A woman, sure enough, but why was she here? Caroline whimpered, biting her lips.
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Daringly, she peeked into the kitchen. The window was empty. Rain pattered onto the glass, little droplets racing downwards leaving watery traces. Had she been seeing things? No. She was sure she saw a woman there. Such a terrifying woman. Caroline shuddered as she thought about those silent, soulless eyes.
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She piled her tower again and grabbed some more cookies, before returning to the den, her mind still set on the figure she had seen. She immediately went back to her comfortable sofa seat by the window, munching on cookies to distract herself. As she looked outside, she blanched. On the other end of the street, stood the woman.
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She seemed unperturbed by the wind and rain. Her black hair was knotted and damp, sticking to the sides of her pasty face. Caroline felt the hair on her arms stick up on end. A shiver ran down her spine. It was the way the woman looked at her. So calmly. Her eyes were daunting, even in the distance. 22
Caroline swept the curtains over the window. Her breath came out in sharp gasps. She stood for a moment, unbelieving. Then, she parted the windows and jumped back, opening her mouth in a blood-curling scream.
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The woman stood at the window, face against the glass, peering inside almost in a trance-like state, knuckles raised as she rapped against the glass. Her eyes said nothing, just stared straight at Caroline, almost like a button-eyed rag doll.
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Caroline screamed again, completely out of her wits. Her mind raced. She quickly went to the phone and picked up the receiver, punching in her Mom’s number. The woman stared at her and rapped again. 25
Caroline began to cry. She fumbled with the phone and pressed it to her ears. 26
Dead. The phone was dead. Horrified, Caroline turned on her heels and climbed up the stairs, stuffing her knuckles in her mouth to keep from screaming.
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She darted into her room and locked the door shut. She slumped onto the ground and began to sob, tears streaming. Her whole body racked with terror. Who was this woman? What did she want?
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She waited there, arms curled around her legs, trying to seek comfort from her own body. After what seemed an uncountable time, she slowly turned the knob of her door. It clicked open. Carefully and inch by inch, she opened it further.
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A thin, bony white hand slipped in through the gap and curled around her neck, squeezing hard. Caroline kicked and screamed as the door opened, revealing the woman. She was dripping, sopping wet, her dark clothes dirty and mud-stained. She smelled odd, strangely like something rotten. Her mouth remained expressionless as she choked the little child, eyes betraying not a hint of emotion. 30
Caroline felt herself shudder and gasp for breath, struggling against the iron grip. Her skin turned pink and then red and then a purplish blue. 31
The woman remained passive. Caroline gagged, sputtering and coughing as her lungs burned. She saw the woman grab onto a bony pendant on her neck, squeezing, staring into the depths of Caroline's fearful, petrified eyes. 32
The woman began to chant, her voice harsh and hoarse, like grazing metal that screeched in discomfort.33
Caroline thrashed wildly, her last scream lodged between her teeth as her life ebbed away. 34
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The next morning, headlines blared on every newspaper:37
Satanic Cult Strikes Again: Toll Reaches Six38
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Gold trophy winner
Honorable mention
Adding your comment:
and I highly enjoyed reading this short horror piece 
Oh by the way, the inspiration to this was a ragdoll I saw with button eyes, which seemed to scare the crap out of me!*shudders* I'm afraid of snakes and scorpions ...
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