Timmy's Toys

The last nail twisted off. The smell of rot weighed in the air as Caitlin opened a crate labeled “Children’s Toys.” The dolls were large, some of them over three feet tall. They stared back with button eyes, faded colors and warped bodies from years of play. “Who would ever want to play with you?” Caitlin whispered. She grabbed the first doll by its head and lifted it out. The bear came out with a smile.

The smiling bear was ugly. Its forced white smile was now yellow and crooked. Its hair clumped and knotted, and where its left eye should be was only a small loose string. There was sadness to the doll, its body was ruined and would never be played with again. The rest of the toys had fared the same. The wooden crate was filled with maimed and grotesque children’s dolls, all smiling.

There was something else at the bottom of the crate. She reached passed the dolls and pulled out a faded photograph.

The photo was of a young child and his mother at a birthday party. The birthday boy was with his toys. They were dolls in the crate. In the photo they looked new and unravaged. The boy's eyes were red from the camera flash. His pale face unmoved and empty.

Caitlin was startled by how similar she looked to the boy’s mother. They had the same long red hair, soft face, and sad eyes. Standing by her silent boy, the mother looked on the verge of tears.

There was a name written on the back of the photograph.

“Timmy.”

All the dolls had been Timmy’s toys.

Caitlin carried the dolls to the vacant booth 304. As she placed the bear onto the shelf, she noticed a cord poking out of its back. She pulled it, and the bear spoke.

“Come play with me.”

Caitlin walked through the quiet rows of Midwest Antiques, locking all the exits. Whenever she passed booth 304, the dolls eyes always seemed to follow her. For a spit second she thought some of their expressions had changed. The locked the last door behind her. Everything would still be there when Caitlin returned tomorrow.

The Owner of Midwest Antiques was out sick the next day, so Caitlin texted freely. The usual customer where wondering through the booths, old couples, red necks, and twenty something’s searching for vinyl records and vintage clothes. She sent a text to her sister as she walked back into the maze of antiques. The booths were filled with grandfather clocks, rusted coke signs, and tube transistor radios. She walked past booth 304. Half of Timmy’s toys were gone.

At Six O’ clock the last of the old folks walked out of Midwest antiques. Caitlin’s co-workers soon followed. With the owner sick she would have to close alone again. She walked past rows and rows of nostalgia. Their charm had worn off.

She took out her phone to send a text to her mother. The phone’s wallpaper was a picture of her family. They were all smiling in the clear waters of Hawaii. The photo had been taken two months before her father’s accident. She sent the text.

“will b home soon.”

There was only one last door to lock. Caitlin headed for the front entrance, passing booth 304.

“Come play with me.”

The smiling bear was staring at her. The ripcord was stuck on the edge of the wooden shelf. Caitlin tugged the cord free from the splinter and walked away.

“Come play with me Timmy!”

“What?” Caitlin said.

The bear’s cord was no longer stuck.

“What the hell?”

“You’re not Timmy!” the bear said.

Caitlin stepped back, “Hey whosever doing this stop it, it’s not funny!”

No one else was there.

“Thomas if this is you I swear to God!”

Caitlin grabbed the bear by its chest and screamed. She felt muscle.

“You’re Timmy’s Mom!” someone said behind her. In the aisle Caitlin had just walked through was a stained rabbit doll. Its black button eyes were staring at her. There was movement in the corner of her eye. All the dolls in booth 304 were facing Caitlin.

 “Give us your son or we’ll give you Polio!”

The bear said it with a smile. Caitlin screamed as her back hit the wall behind her. Other voices called out from under the fabric faces. 

“Where is Timmy?”

“Give us Timmy!”

“He hurt us, he hurt us over and over!”

“You let Timmy ruin us, make us ugly!”

“What the fuck, what the fuck!” Caitlin yelled. The dolls were screaming and hysterical.

“No one stopped him, no one saved us!”

“You locked us in that box, left us in the dark for so long!”

“We waited and waited, but no one ever came, no one ever came!”

 “We hate you, we hate you!”

“Make her pay, make her pay!”

The bear’s smile began to bulge out from its face. Something was pushing against the fabric from inside, until it ripped. Something ugly came out. It was a mouth. 

Caitlin screamed, and mouth opened. The crooked teeth inside were black and rotted. Its flesh was red with exposed muscle.

The other dolls twitched with life.

It no longer mattered if Caitlin believed what she was seeing, her instincts screamed to run. She sprinted, hearing fabric rip behind her.

Caitlin ran the end of the aisle. A stuffed lion was guarding the lane to the front entrance. Human fingers were poking out of its mouth. They bent in grotesque directions as the three-foot tall lion swiped at her. She had no choice but to ran deeper into the mall.

After running past several rows, Caitlin hid in booth 421. She crouched behind an upright piano and dialed 911 on her cellphone.

“Hello?” a voice answered.

“This is Caitlin Rainfield at Midwest Antiques, you need to send police, there’s...people have broke in and they’re trying to hurt me, the address is-”

“Come play with me.”

“...Hello?” Caitlin whispered

 “Come play with me Caitlin, come play, come play!” The bear screamed on the phone.

The phone’s signal died.

Click clack, something was moving across floor. It sounded only away. In the booth 423, a katana sword sat high among Japanese decor. Caitlin ran to the katana and drew it from its black holster. Click clack, a shadow was coming down the corner. It was large, twisted, and bipedal. A moldy gorilla with long black claws entered the aisle.

 “You can’t run, I’m gonna get you!” its childlike voice said.

Caitlin gripped the katana and held it forward. The gorilla charged down the aisle. One arm stayed on the ground for balance, and the other reached out. The black claws came reaching for her, reaching for her face. Caitlin slashed down with the katana.

 The moldy black arm fell to the ground. cotton and maggots spilled out as it trashed along the floor. The screaming gorilla fell into booth 421 and landed the piano. Dissonant notes rang in the air as Caitlin ran down the aisle.

Caitlin made to the display room in the center of the mall. Crash, the glass display shattered the katana stabbed into it. Past the broken glass was a Colt 45 revolver.

Click clack, one of dolls was outside the display room. Caitlin dropped her katana as she rushed to load four well-worn bullets into the revolver’s chamber.

The circus clown stared at Caitlin from across the room. Real eyes were looking through the slits of its porcelain face.

“Come play with meee.”

“Jesus Christ!” Caitlin screamed. She had been terrified of clown’s ever since she went to that circus as a child.

Click, the revolver didn’t fire.

“Put that down and come play with meee, I just want a hug!” The red and blue clown limped closer. Dirty syringes were sticking out of its fingers, smelling of rot and ammonia.

“Timmy would stick needles in me. Always in my eyes, always in my eyes.” the clown said.

The gun was shaking in Caitlin’s hands. “God dammit work!”

Click, nothing.

The revolver had been deactivated.

“Gonna touch your face, gonna touch your eyes, gonna touch your thighs!” the clown sang.

Yellow liquid was dripping from its rusted hyperbolic needles.

The katana lied in the center of the room. The clown was close enough to drive its needles into her if she went for it. She needed a distraction.

Caitlin held the revolver forward. The clown stopped to laugh.

“Ha-ha, it doesn’t work you dumb fucking bitch!”

Caitlin hurled the revolver into its smiling face.

Crash, the porcelain shattered. Caitlin dived to the floor and grabbed her katana. She propelled it upwards.

The blade whistled in the air before it ripping through the clown’s forearm. It’s screamed as the katana wedged into its boney chest.

“You bitch!”

The clown’s face was gone. All that was left was the eyes pressed deep in the soggy red cotton. The clown reached for Caitlin with its remaining arm.

“Needles in my eyes, always needles in my eyes!” it shrieked.

 The syringes were inches from Caitlin’s face. They snapped violently, trying to dig into her eyes. She gripped the katana with both hands and pushed forward, screaming.

The blade exited through the shoulder. The clown’s upper torso separated from its body.

The heap of fabric, bones, and needles fell next to Caitlin. She scrambled away from it. The clown’s eyes watched from the floor as she ran back to the booths.

Caitlin ran for the storage room, hearing movement all around her.

 The stuffed rabbit crawled into the aisle. Cavity filled baby teeth covered its entire face. It emitted a piercing, high-pitched screech.  

Caitlin stabbed into the abomination. The rabbit was screaming under the teeth as the katana ripped it apart. He had been the willing bait for the trap.

 The lion emerged from booth 502 of women’s clothing. The bear arose from a pile of picture frames in booth 503, growling and foaming at the mouth. Caitlin leapt forward as they lunged for her. The lion and the bear screamed as she escaped.

 The door to the storage room was at the end of the row. She past the last booth. The dismembered gorilla arm reached out from it and grabbed her.

Black claws dug into Caitlin’s skin. An explosion of pain ripped through her nerves as four bloody scars appeared on her leg. She kicked the arm off and slashed it with her katana, severing half its fingers. The lion was running behind her, its heavy paws pounding against the floor.

Caitlin screamed as she forced herself to the door. Every step was met with burning needles. The long fingers from lion’s mouth scratched her back. The door slammed against them.

Click clack, the dolls clawed against the locked door. Caitlin slid to the ground and started to cry. The skin on her leg was jagged, painful, and ugly. Her undershirt was wrapped around it slow the bleeding. She bit her tongue until her mouth tasted metallic.

The clawing stopped. A voice called out from the other side of the door.

“Hey Caitlin, how’s your leg feeling?” the bear said.

The toys were laughing.

The bear’s button eye was looking through the crack in the door.

 “You live at 815 Old Creek road now, right?”

“How do you know that?” Caitlin screamed.

“We found your purse up front. There were all sorts of stuff in it, pictures, licenses, bet you didn’t know we could read?”

 “Why are you doing this? Caitlin cried.

“Your son hurt us, and you let him, you let him!

“Timmy isn’t my son, I’m not his mom!”

“We remember you, we remember everything!”

 “I’m not Timmy’s mom, I just look like her!”

“Liar, you’re hiding him! He hurt us over and over, and now you’re hiding him!”

“All of you were in that box for years. He Left you decades ago!”

“No, it couldn’t have been that long, you look the same!”

“Look at yourselves, it’s been decades!”

“No! It can’t be that long, it can’t be that long!”

“Its over, Timmy is old or dead by now!”

 “Liar! Timmy’s at your new house isn’t he, isn’t he?”

“I’m not his-!”

“After we’re done with you, we’re gonna go to 815 old creek road. If anyone’s there we’re gonna hurt them, hurt them slowly!”

“Fuck you you hideous monsters!”

Click clack, the clawing resumed. The dolls were desperate to sink their teeth and claws into her. In the far end of the back area was the loading door. A red EXIT sign glowed above it. If Caitlin left, they would follow her, follow her home. She had to make sure they never left Midwest Antiques.

 Caitlin could slash off their limbs, but the dolls would just keep coming. She needed something that could inflict catastrophic damage on them, enough to destroy them for good. She remembered the red and yellow cabinet in the corner of the storage room. A large message was written on it.

“Warning: Flammable liquids.”

Click clack, click clack, Caitlin pulled out the metal container of Linseed oil furniture cleaner from the cabinet.

“DO NOT PLACE NEAR OPEN FLAMES.”

 Blood dripped on the floor as Caitlin carried the container down the tight corridor. The sounds of the dolls reverberated down the hall.

Caitlin emerged several rows away through the second backdoor. A fire extinguisher hung on the wall at the end of the aisle. The booth of old lighters and matches was nearby.

A large crash echoed through Midwest Antiques. The dolls had broken down the door.  She started poring.

The clear liquid oozed onto the floor, Caitlin careful to not get any on her. She heard the dolls running through the storage room. She grabbed the matches from booth 485 and waited. The floor reeked like olive oil.

Bang, the backdoor swung open. Timmy’s toys had found her.

They spilled down the aisle. All the dolls were hideous. Fleshy appendages were growing out of their fabric. They were screaming through their mouths and beaks. The smell of raw flesh, oil, and mildewing cotton mixed together.

“I’m gonna getcha lady, gonna rip your eyes right out!” the one-armed gorilla screamed.

“Please God, light!” Caitlin cried. The ancient matches weren’t lighting. The dolls were dragging their claws, tongues, and tentacles across the floor. Maggots were spilling out of their rips and tears.

 “Hold her down so everyone gets a turn!” the bear screamed. Their hungry mouths were drooling. They could not get any closer.

Caitlin pointed behind the dolls.

“Hey, I see Timmy over there!”

The dolls stopped.

“What, Timmy, Where are you Timmy?”

“Left us in the dark, all alone, alone for so long!”

“We’ve been waiting for you Timmy, now its out turn to play with you!”

“Hey lady, I don’t see Timmy.”

The bear turned back to Caitlin. She held a single burning match in her hand. Her eyes burned with wraith and fury.

“Burn you fucks!”

She tossed the match forward.

A wave of fire swept through the oil soaked floor. The fabric bodies of Timmy’s Toys were engulfed in an instant. Caitlin’s grin disappeared as they started to scream.

“Why did you hurt us?”

“What did we do, what did we do?”

“Why did Timmy hurtahhhhh-!”

Caitlin covered her ears as they shrieked. The dolls sounded like children, screaming in the fire. They trampled over each other as they tried to escape, but it was too late. The hatred left their faces. Now there was only fear, fear and suffering.

The screaming stopped as their charred bodies fell to the floor, dissolving into ash.

 The air was dark and toxic in the aisle. Crack, Caitlin slashed the glass display and freed the extinguisher. Smoke and ash was seeping into her cuts, burning her raw, brittle skin. She showered the flames.

The fire suffocated under the white foam. The flames faded ,and the smoke moved to the ends of the mall. The extinguisher fell to the scorched floor.

The smell of burnt barbecue lingered in the air. Everything was black, burnt, and ruined. All that remained of Timmy’s toys was ash and teeth.

 A trail of blood ran through Midwest antiques as Caitlin marched down the rows, still carrying her katana. Shock was setting in, and her leg was bleeding profusely. Her vision blurred from pain and blood loss. The booths were ending. The front entrance was up ahead. She passed the last aisle and opened the door.

Outside of Midwest Antiques, Caitlin breathed fresh air. The smoke dissipated in the breeze. Trucks whizzed by on the two-lane highway. The sun had just set, and the clouds glowed a deep magenta. Her phone chimed as its signal returned.

Caitlin looked to her side. Blood was dripping on the sidewalk. She walked off the concrete and into the grass. Her legs turned to rubber, and the katana dropped from her hand. Caitlin fell to the ground.

The katana lied next to her in the soft grass. The dew felt nice on Caitlin’s skin. Her phone was vibrating in her pocket. There was a text.

“Okay sweetie, see you soon, love mom.”

 Her hand was trembling as she typed one last reply.

 “I love you.”

The evening breeze ran through Caitlin’s hair. The sky above her was now a dark blue, with hint of violet along the horizon. A firefly hovered above her katana, glowing in the blue sky. She told herself she would sleep for a few minutes, and looked back at the photo of her family.

Her grip softened, and the phone fell from her hand.

“Just a few minutes," she whispered.

Caitlin closed her eyes.