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“Hannah? The basement is filled with dust. Quit running around like that or else you'll choke.” Lina cautiously trod down the stairs carrying stacks of cartons. She set them down on a creaky table lined with webs and sighed.
“There is so much unpacking left to do.” She looked at Hannah who was wobbling on a creaky floorboard and began to exit the basement
“Mum, this is cool. Wanna try?” Hannah’s pink floral dress complimented her ponytails and round eyes as she swayed. Her eyes fell on something lacy beneath the board.
“Hannah! Stop. Get out of the basement now.” Lina yelled before the door shut behind her.
“I couldn’t have gone through with the divorce without you Mum. Thank you so much for having us. I promise to be out of here as soon as I find a place.” Lina sat across from her mother on the table. She looked at the delicate fine lines that had become more prominent over the years.
Her mother had aged without her noticing. Perhaps if she had been visiting often. The gray strands of her hair had given her an aura of wisdom and respect that Lina admired.
“What do you mean sweetheart? This is your home. You and Hannah will always be welcome here. You can stay for as long as you need.” The faint cracks in Lirosa’s gentle voice came like a serenade that soothed Lina.
Lina got up to hug her mother. “Thank you, mum.”
Lirosa squeezed her daughter's arm gently. “I think Hannah is going to have as much fun as I did growing up here. The old playground and farm....”
“When the wind blows, and the night falls, we’ll leap and let go.”
Lirosa flinched as she heard those lines and she rose to her feet.
“Hannah? Hannah!”Lina raced over to Hannah who had just come out from the basement walking in a stiff and contorted manner.
Her eyes had turned white, her skin pale and she kept chanting a rhyme over and over. In her hand was an old doll with glass eyes wearing an intricate lace dress and an eerie smile.
“Mum! Something is wrong with Hannah.” Lina kept shaking Hannah until she collapsed in her arms. She grabbed the doll from Hannah and threw it across the room.
Lirosa flinched again at the sight of the doll. She clenched her hands to her chest and her jaw dropped.
Later that evening after Hannah had been tucked into bed, Lirosa and Lina sat on the front porch sipping hot coffee.
“She is going to be fine, Lina. Maybe she was just acting out something she saw somewhere.” Lirosa rubbed Lina’s shoulders.
“But that was nothing like Hannah. And that hideous doll. Where did it come from?” Lina quizzed her mother.
Lirosa's shrugged. “Perhaps I will retire to bed now,” she said. She went inside but she didn't go to bed. Lirosa picked up the doll and a flashlight and climbed down to the basement. Just beside the creaky table, she found one floorboard out of place. Inside it was an empty old wooden box. Lirosa put the doll back in place and replaced the floorboard.
“Hannah? Who are you talking to?” Lina walked into the dark room to find Hannah standing in front of an open closet.
“No. Mum would not like us going down there. Let's play dress up here,” Hannah said.
“Hannah. What has gotten into you?” Lina shoved Hannah as she rummaged through the clothes in the closet. “There is no one here,” she yelled.
“It's Lily. She wants us to go play in the well.” Hannah retorted.
Days passed and Hannah kept acting strange. She would always sit in corners talking to herself or singing eerie lullabies at night that no one had taught her. Whenever Lina approached her, she would get aggressive. Lirosa often walked around the house with a certain look in her eyes. It was as though she wanted to help Hannah but she didn't know how and it killed her inside. Lina was starting to get frustrated by Hannah’s behavior. She would wake up at midnight sweating profusely. She kept seeing the hideous doll whenever she closed her eyes.
“I think there is something wrong with this house Mom!” Lina announced one evening looking pale and drained. “And it's got to do with that doll Hannah found.”
Lirosa looked away as her eyes began to dart.
“She keeps talking about a girl named Lily and a well,” Lina added.
“Lily? Has Hannah been going down there?” Lirosa jumped.
“Mom? Are you okay? Wait, we have a well in this house?” Lina was now confused.
Just then, Hannah walked into the living room with a haunting look in her eyes. Her eyes looked blank, distant, and vicious. It was like they weren't her’s anymore. She stopped beside a wall and began banging.
“Hannah stop!” Lina yelled.
Hannah paused and turned her head forcefully. She clenched her jaw and with a sinister look in her eyes, she raced to Lirosa and held her neck. “When the wind blows, and the night falls, we’ll leap and let go.” Hannah whispered in a voice that wasn't hers. “Let's play Lirosa. Your turn.”
“Oh my God Hannah.” Lina, terrified, barely moved as hot tears streamed from her eyes.
“I cannot bear this guilt any longer. I am so sorry Lily. I only wanted the doll for myself that night. I never thought you'd do it. I am sorry Lily, I am sorry.” Lirosa sobbed.
Hannah let go of her neck and collapsed in Lina’s arms.
“I had a sister you never got to meet. It was fifty years ago in this very room when I was only ten and Lily was seven just like Hannah. It was my turn to play with the doll but Lily wouldn't let me. So I made up a song and we went to play at the well. I didn't realize that Lily had climbed the well while singing.” Lirosa wiped her nose. “She leaped and it happened so fast. The well has been closed and barricaded ever since.
“Each passing day meant living with the guilt of Lily’s death and I didn't tell anyone the truth about that day. Lily died but her spirit didn't rest. I kept seeing her in my dreams and whenever I closed my eyes, she would ask for the doll. I had to let the doll go so I hid it in the basement and the nightmares stopped. That day you moved in, Hannah found the doll and Lily’s spirit is back again.”
Hannah had regained consciousness and a long moment of silence ensued.
“I think you need to let her spirit rest. Give her the doll.” Lina broke the silence.
Hannah and Lina waited for Lirosa at the basement door until she emerged with the doll. Together, all three of them went to the well behind the house. Lirosa removed the barricade and opened it. She looked down and paused. Then slowly, she let the doll fall. A deep eerie sigh echoed from the well before it shut violently.
Hannah felt different. Like herself again. She looked at her mother like she had not seen her in a while. All three went back into the house.
“We are going to be okay,” Lina said.
