The doll maker

THE DOLL MAKER

VOLUME: 1

“Come in”, hummed detective Seraphina blackthorne. Crime scene photos were spread before her, each more baffling than the last. Four cases in six weeks. No forced entry. No signs of struggle beyond the victims themselves.

Mara green, her junior came in with a loads of files, her bright eyes were passionate to help her senior, she put the files on the table.” here’s what you asked for, all antique files of doll makers and many unsolved cases similar to these.” Mara stated. She sat on the chair next to Seraphina and opened a file, it was dusty and ancient looking, the text was half faded and it named “Finch Alistair”. With a picture in white and black, half bleached, a bald man with a creepy smile unnaturally large, deeply shadowed eyes that seem too prominent for his gaunt face. They possess a hollow, almost predatory intensity, reflecting a profound inner darkness or obsession, and a tattoo on his neck which wasn’t clear. Seraphina stared at it for a moment and back on the victim files, “something’s similar”, she muttered. She put the picture of victims in a row along with his and stared for a while, and said shrilly” their grin! It’s similar to Alistair’s...”

“as if they’re possessed”. Mara completed her unfinished sentence. And grabbed some papers and read out loudly;

“Medical reports noted severe insomnia and paranoia in all victims. This manifested physically as deep, dark circles making their eyes appear sunken and hollowed out. Witnesses described the victims’ eyes in moments of terror as becoming glassy, unfocused, and unnervingly wide”. She continued,

“As paranoia escalated, victims lost normal facial expression. Their faces became rigid masks. Mrs. Gable babbled with a vacant stare. Leo scratched frantically, his face a blank canvas of panic. Sharon attacked with a fixed, maniacal grimace. Their features seemed to lock, jaws clenching or mouths pulling into stiff, unnatural smiles or grimace”.

Seraphina listened to her with her usual stern looking face taking on seriousness, she stood up, her gloved hands on tables,” we will visit each victim’s death place tomorrow and inspect more of it”. Her words steady and calculated, and wore her leather coat, tied her black far-flung hairs into a bun, and closed the files putting them into place, of course Mara helped her do that. “well its off for today, you can go home and rest”. She said to detective green. Mara nodded and took her bag from her locker and vanished in the corridor.

Seraphina stayed for a while, deep in thoughts, glanced at the clock, it was already 10:05PM, and at a picture of two teens smiling, one with a blond ponytail and other with a loose bun and fringed bangs. Of course one was Blackthorne herself and other person was a friend of her. “I’ll need your help” she mumbled to herself and then picked her helmet, locked her office and marched through the corridor, it was already dark, other detectives had already left but as always Mr. Benson’s room was alight, small beams of light seeped from the gap between the door and wall, he was her senior, kind and wise but always logical, she glanced at the door frame and smiled, turned back on her way to the parking and wore her helmet, started her heavy bike, and vanished in the streets of California.

“I can’t believe it’s YOU!”. Amelia wrenly, Seraphina’s teenage bestie who was a journalist now stood in front of her, her face full of surprise and cheerfulness, she was a fashionista, with trendy nail art and hair highlights, long boots and short skirt resembling k-pop, a journalist id card swung over her shirt. Before Seraphina could talk she happily hugged her tightly, and then exclaimed,” I was told, I have a visitor but I didn’t expected you! Sera”. Seraphina steadily smiled and said” I have a business with you, need your help”.

In an instance, they were sitting in a café, Amelia had hot chocolate and Seraphina had coffee. Seraphina put some pictures and a file of Finch Alistair, and a record file of a toy store named “CURIOS & WHIMS”. “My assistant Mara and I went on the houses of victims, they died in a paranormal and mysterious way, and according to me its linked to some similar cases happening in past when a doll maker was banned for claiming that his dolls are parasites for their owners. The police thought he is mentally abnormal so his workshop was sealed and he was imprisoned, but after a few days he did suicide, in a very creepiest way. By stitching his mouth shaping it into a grin. And now the people dying make similar grin. Mr. Benson thinks that they were psychopaths and it’s a coincidence, but it’s not, so I am still searching on it. Victims had a few things in familiar, they had had this ... famous doll, labubu with them and similar facial expressions as finch and this doll. And I think you can help me best, because ...’

“I am more social and can tell you about what people think of it because it’s very famous, right”, Amelia completed her sentence fast and smiled. “it’s interesting then it seems, alright then I will help you, just as you expected”.

“well then I would like you and Mara to work together and find the root of the case, now I’m taking my leave”. Seraphina gave her a card, it had a contact no, an address and a familiar name ‘Detective Seraphina blackthorne’, she winked slyly and stood up and waved at Amelia before leaving the café. Amelia smirked at her friend’s gesture and finished her hot chocolate.

In evening, Mara came in the office as usual but this time she looked a bit tired, she sat next to Detective Seraphina and opened a link in her tab, and put it on the desk so that both of them could watch it. Amelia’s contact no was open, she sent a video, and a few reports, Mara opened the video. In the silence of the room a voice echoed, a teenager boy was talking who had a labubu with him, he was saying “Hi guys! I’m Mario, as you know I bought a lots of labubu dolls from china. Because I wanted the most original dolls…but really they are damn expensive, so I got seven labubu dolls, each is different and unique. A few people remarked that labubu are evil, but how can these tiny labubus be demonic? So today I’m going to check it out, I will sleep with all my dolls, camera will be on. And my friend Leo will arrive, he has two labubu dolls, not actually lafufu, because there are a few unique shops selling original ones, so for getting your answers, stay with me till the video ends”.

The boy hid the camera in a vase, put it on his side table, and put all his labubu dolls on his bed in a row, but they were nine, looked like he borrowed two of them from his friend, after a while someone was calling his name in a creepy way, like” MARIOOOOOOO….MA RI OOO…”, and after a while the labubus started moving, not walking or talking, it looked like they are flying, and then they fell on Mario, when he woke up he had blood in his mouth.

But suddenly he woke up and started to walk around his bed like a zombie. And had background voices like” be afraid...”, it looked like a horror film. But suddenly everything went dark, the screen was blank.

As they continued watching, Mara had hugged Seraphina’s arm, her face frightened, while Seraphina just watched calmly, letting Mara hug her arm. The video continued, the screen was back to normal, and Mario sat on a chair, again having his labubu dolls, smiled. And said” welcome back guys! I know you will be sweating after watching my’ labubu good or evil’ video but let me tell you the reality. Labubu dolls are innocent as they look, I know the labubu fandom is shocked to see my video, but in actual it was Leo making those scary and creepy voices, he’s in the back room”. He turned and said,” hey! Leo wave at us so they can see you”. And then from the door of backroom a hand came out and waved slowly, Mario turned back and said,” besides labubus were flying because I had attached a thread with them to make them fly, and all that blood in my mouth and possession was drama, to make you curious, so in actual labubu dolls are not evil, people are faking it for fame. Well then it’s enough for today, we’ll meet in another video, byee!”.

As the video ended, it was silence now, detective Mara sighed in relief, but the tension on her face remained. Seraphina chuckled at Mara’s reaction, and before she could speak the door oscillated wide open, Mara jumped in her chair, her face now sweaty. But as she saw Detective Benson in front of her, she groaned in relief, sitting back on her chair calmly.

“Detective blackthorne, my apology for sudden interruption, but looks like you were in the middle of some intense research, Miss green looks quite dazed, if I ask what case are you solving? hope it’s not about that paranormal gig again”

He sat on the chair in front of them gradually and said in a gentle tone. Detective Benson raised a skeptical eyebrow as he settled into the chair, his gaze shifting from Mara’s startled expression to Seraphina’s unreadable face. “Paranormal gig? You mean those cases with the frozen smiles? I read the reports. Tragic, certainly. But psychosis, hysteria, copycat behavior—explainable phenomena, Seraphina. Not ghosts in dollhouses.”

Seraphina met his gaze calmly, her gloved hands folded on the desk. “With respect, Benson, explainable doesn’t fit. Four victims. No history of mental illness. No shared social circles. No toxins. No trauma beyond what they inflicted on themselves after acquiring those dolls.” She gestured toward the Finch file. “Except for this. Alistair Finch. Doll maker. Declared mentally unstable. Died stitching his own mouth into a grin. Sound familiar?” Benson leaned forward, picking up the faded photograph of Finch. “A tragic case, yes. But decades cold. And this?” He tapped the Labubu image Mara had pulled up. “A mass-produced toy. Popular, harmless. People see patterns where none exist, especially under stress.”

Mara spoke up, her voice slightly shaky,” but what about the medical reports? Detective Benson, the sunken eyes, locked expression, having these physical changes, its familiar to finch’s features, and most victims bought them from” CURIOUS & WHIMS””. Benson said rubbing his temples” coincidence, Mara. Or a clever marketing ploy by the owner to sell ‘haunted’ dolls. People love a thrill. Finch’s story is public record. Easy enough to mimic.” He stood, placing the photo back down. “Look, Seraphina. Pursue the antique shop angle if you must. Check the owner’s records, financials, mental health. But leave the ghost stories to the tabloids. Focus on tangible evidence. That’s what closes cases.” He gave her a pointed look. “Don’t get lost in the shadows.”

He left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

TO BE CONTINUED…