Hello, My Name is Tina
The next morning.
She quietly left her parents’ room while everyone else was still asleep. She had forgotten to lock her bedroom door the night before since she hadn’t slept there anyway. She reached for the doorknob and turned it—then gasped.
“AAAHHH! PAPA! MAMA!”
She heard her parents’ bedroom door fly open and immediately ran toward them. She couldn’t get the words out. Instead, she pointed toward her room.
On top of her bed sat the doll. It was staring directly at her.
Terrified, Mia threw herself into her mother’s arms. Her mother immediately wrapped an arm around her and gently rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. Alexa woke up moments later and burst into tears when she saw the doll sitting on her sister’s bed.
Neither of the sisters could bring themselves to go near it, so their father was the one who picked it up. He placed the doll back inside its box, wrapped the whole thing in a black trash bag, and put it in the trunk of their car. They skipped breakfast and left as soon as they could. Their father asked where they were supposed to take the doll, and Mia gave him the address she had found on the forum. By the time they arrived, it was already around noon.
The place was fairly isolated. As they drove farther from the residential neighborhoods, the houses gradually thinned out until trees lined most of the road. After parking the car, the gate was slightly open, so they carefully entered the property.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. The shop itself didn’t look old, but its faded paint made it seem as though it had been forgotten for years. Mia’s gaze drifted to the sign hanging outside.
Cueva Acquisition.
In the yard stood two masked statues. One wore a grin, while the other appeared to be weeping. A single chain stretched between them, each statue holding one end as if they were guarding the place. They stepped over the chain and walked straight to the door. As soon as they opened it, the wind chime above them rang softly.
Their attention was immediately drawn to a man standing behind the counter. Based on the description Mia had read online, this was most likely the owner. She frowned slightly when she noticed that he was wearing sunglasses despite being indoors. In one hand, he held a folded black fan.
The lighting inside was dim. Not dark, but not bright either. A faint hue seemed to linger in the air, though Mia couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Judging by his build and posture, the man appeared to be in his late twenties. Even without seeing his eyes, Mia could tell he was handsome.
But that wasn’t what caught her attention. There was something unusual about him, though she couldn’t explain what it was.
“Do you have business with me?” the man asked.
“Hello, sir. Good afternoon.”
Their father was the one who spoke to the man and placed the doll on the counter, still inside the trash bag. The man stared at the trash bag for a while before he asked.
“Are you selling it?”
“No, we’re not selling it.”
“Oh?”
The owner took the box out of the trash bag and stared at the doll inside.
“We heard that you like collecting unusual items. We wanted to leave this doll here.”
The owner smiled, took the doll out of the box, and placed it on top of the counter in a sitting position. The two sisters couldn’t help but take a step back when they saw it.
“Are you sure you’re not selling it?”
“Yes.”
“But I’d suggest this—if you want to leave that doll here, you should either pay a handling fee or sell it to me.”
“Why would we need to pay?” Mia interrupted.
“Umm... because you’re leaving a high-risk item in my care?”
“But we can leave it here without paying, right? That means it becomes part of your collection for free?”
The owner merely smiled and gave a casual shrug.
“Up to you.”
Hearing that, the family turned to leave.
“Just a moment,” the man called out.
They looked back and saw him holding out a business card.
“Just in case,” he said. “You might need to call me.”
Their father took the card and turned to leave. As soon as the door closed, a child-like voice came from the doll.
“Hello, I’m Tina. How are you? Hello, I’m Tina. How are you?”
Pak!
The collector smacked the doll on the head with the folded fan in his hand before flashing a smile at it.
“Be quiet.”
***
For the first time in days, Mia felt a sense of relief. The doll was finally gone from their house. She looked at the business card her father had handed her and read the name printed on it.
Preston Cueva
Her father told her to keep the business card so it wouldn’t get lost. Mia couldn’t explain why, but she took a picture of the business card and saved his number on her phone. It was only the second day of her break, so she decided to get some proper rest and went to bed early.
Mia stirred awake when she heard a faint rustling sound. She sat up and checked the time. It was midnight. She listened again and followed the direction of the noise. It was coming from her window. Slowly, she got out of bed and pulled the curtain aside.
“AAAHHH!”
Outside the window was a face. It was the face of the doll they had left with the collector earlier that day. Their eyes met and the doll smiled widely.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The doll slammed its head against the thick glass of the window. Mia panicked. She spun around and ran to her bedroom door, but no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t open.
“MA! PA!” she screamed, pounding on the door over and over.
But the only response she received was the doll’s shrill laughter from outside as it continued smashing its head against the glass. Mia glanced back. The doll was still staring at her. Only now, its eyes were glaring. She couldn’t understand why, but only one thought came to mind—call the collector.
Two rings passed before the call connected.
“Hello, sir!” she spoke in a shaking voice.
Mia heard a sigh from the other end of the line.
“Miss, do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Sir, the doll we left with you this morning is outside my window!”
“Oh?”
Mia could no longer hold back her tears and cried. The line fell silent for a moment before the man let out another sigh.
“Didn’t I tell you to either sell me the doll or pay the handling fee?” he said in a lazy tone.
“How much is it?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“Five thousand Veyra,” he replied.
Mia didn’t hesitate. As soon as he gave her the account number, she transferred the money.
Crash!
The bedroom window shattered. Mia collapsed onto the floor. When she looked up, the doll was already drifting toward her, its lips curled into a wide, unsettling smile. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes slowly and saw nothing.
The doll had vanished. The only thing left behind was the shattered glass scattered across the floor.
“Mia!” her father shouted as he threw the door open.
Both of her parents rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug. Mia could no longer hold back her tears. Her mother gently rubbed her back.
“Shhh... It’s okay now, anak. What happened?” her father asked.
Once she had calmed down, Mia slowly told them everything that had happened.
“Don’t worry, nak. Everything’s going to be okay,” her mother said softly. “We’ll have the house blessed.”
Her parents pulled her into another embrace. Gradually, her eyelids grew heavy, and before she knew it, she lost consciousness.
***
Cueva Acquisition
Preston glanced at the payment that had just arrived in his account before turning his attention to the box shaking on top of the counter. A shrill scream rang out from inside the box.
He stood up, grabbed the box, and carried it toward one of the compartments at the back of the shop. After placing it inside, he shut the door. Preston then raised a hand and traced something across the surface of the compartment door. Moments later, a strip of white paper bearing a strange symbol appeared. The screaming gradually weakened until it finally faded away.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The old clock chimed, echoing inside the store. It was one o’clock in the morning.
A few moments later, several compartments throughout the shop began to tremble. Soft thuds and metallic rattles filled the room, as though something inside was trying to break free. The sounds were coming from compartments sealed with the same white papers marked with strange symbols. As the seconds passed, the noises grew louder.
Preston remained where he stood. He remained silent and motionless. Then, he folded his arms and slowly raised a finger to his lips, smiling.
“Shhh…”
Preston’s voice echoed inside the store. After several seconds, the noises gradually weakened. Then, one by one, they disappeared.
[End]
