The Doll
A sudden breeze blew through the courtyard like a gust of exhaust from a furnace. On one of the apartment balconies, the hot rush of air lifted some loose pages of the fashion section of the Sunday paper from the glass topped table where it rested onto the face of the shapely occupant of the chaise lounge beside. The young woman, blond, well-endowed, tanned, and clad in a yellow two-piece bathing suit, uttered a little shriek of surprise and flailed her arms at the flapping papers for a few seconds before she realized what had roused her from her light doze. She sat up and pushed her sunglasses onto her forehead again. Since she had not finished looking through that section of the paper, she carelessly folded the pages and replaced it on the table.
Megan Ford was twenty-two and a stunning beauty. Her hair was naturally quite blond, her eyes china blue (though somewhat vacant), and her body, though rather petite, was a man’s dream in its curves and mixture of softness and firmness. She had begun her conditioning with cheerleading for a year in high school and the two years she had attended junior college before dropping out. But now that she had taken up modeling, it was a careful regimen at the health club that kept her in top shape.
Megan reached for the big plastic cup of iced tea next to the paper and took a long sip through the straw. According to her wristwatch on the table between the tea and the paper, it was not yet time to apply more blocker but it was a hot day, as only August in Chicago can be, with almost no clouds, so she decided to apply some more anyway. She reached a rosy-pink nailed, perfectly manicured hand for the plastic bottle of sunscreen only to be interrupted by the doorbell. Sliding her feet with their matching pedicured toenails into the thong sandals beside the chaise, she rose, slid open the glass patio door, and stepped into the air-conditioned apartment.
"I’m coming! I’m coming!" she called as the bell rang again.
A look through the peephole revealed her friend Nancy holding a large shopping bag. Megan unlocked and unbolted the door, but before she could say anything Nancy came bustling past her, talking rapidly all the while.
"I’m glad you’re home, Megan, ‘cause I need a really big favor, and I just know that you won’t let me down, will you?"
They had met while studying theater arts at the junior college they had both attended. Though Megan had dropped out after two years of rather vague and unsystematic study and Nancy had changed her emphasis to business administration after a semester, they had remained friends. Privately, Megan thought that Nancy’s decision to concentrate on business was an excellent choice, since Nancy, though quite pretty, did not have the long legs or flawlessly contoured body that Megan knew was a prerequisite to being a leading actress. Still, Megan liked Nancy, and her parents had thought enough of Nancy to get Megan an apartment in the same complex when Megan had moved out of the house seven months ago.
"What is it?" Megan asked cautiously.
"It’s not very much at all, really Megan, not much at all. You see it’s my niece’s birthday today and I’ve just been out buying some presents for her. Only my sister just called and she wants me to baby-sit for an hour or so while she and a couple of other mothers decorate the house for the party. So you see I can’t very well have my niece over with the presents there and unwrapped. Can I leave this bag here for an hour or two while I watch her?"
Megan smiled at Nancy’s run-on sentence style.
"Sure. I’d be glad to."
As Nancy set the bag down on the coffee table, Megan peered over the edge to see what was inside. On top was a box with a cardboard back and sides and a cellophane front. Inside was a doll, the figure of a little boy in a T-shirt and overalls. The figure had unruly red hair and freckles, attributes that might have made many dolls cute, but the peculiar, sneering smile and sideways look of the eyes took away any cuteness. The overall expression appeared to Megan to be leering and sinister.
She frowned and wrinkled up her nose.
"What an ugly doll!" she said to Nancy.
Nancy lifted the box partway out of the bag.
"Isn’t he though?" she said with a laugh. "He’s so ugly that he’s almost cute. He’s one of those ‘Chummy’ dolls. All the kids are crazy for them."
Megan’s expression continued to suggest that she was inhaling in a barnyard.
"I can’t see why."
"Didn’t you see the movie about him?" Nancy asked in astonishment. "You know, the one with the guy who breaks into a woman’s place to rob her, and he ties her up and gags her and tells her that after he robs the place he’s going to come back and… Well, I think you know what he intends to do to her."
Megan rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Duh!" she added expressively.
"Well, the police broke in on him before he could do anything and they chased him into a toy factory and shot him down right in front of where ‘Chummy’ was, and his spirit, the robber’s I mean, somehow went into the doll. And for the rest of the movie the evil ‘Chummy’ would come alive and try to kill people around him, especially anyone who didn’t like his looks, and even more especially women."
"Oh, yeah," Megan replied. "I saw some scenes of it in the previews at the theater. It looked like a dumb movie."
Nancy chuckled again.
"Well kids don’t think so. They just love the little sucker, maybe because he terrorized parents in the movie, especially moms."
She held up the box and they both looked at the doll. Megan could not find articulation for her uneasiness about the doll beyond repeating:
"What an ugly doll!"
"Well, he’s also famous," Nancy protested.
"I like things that are good looking," Megan said simply.
Nancy raised an eyebrow at her friend’s remark.
"And speaking of that, how’s that new guy, Dennis? Isn’t that his name?"
"Dennis?" Megan said casually. "Did you really think he was that good looking?"
"I sure did. And he was also nice enough to fix a flat tire for you, get your air-conditioning working in this heat, and took off an afternoon to drive you to an audition. Any guy who’s that nice could be a lot less handsome as far as I’m concerned."
Megan shrugged.
"He was kind of short---"
"He’s at least five foot ten," interpolated Nancy firmly.
"His car wasn’t that nice---"
"A compact instead of a sports car, but it ran."
"And he doesn’t make that much money," finished Megan.
Nancy shook her head.
"He’s just starting out with a new company. Besides, how much have you made these last few months? I’ll bet you haven’t even made a third of what this place costs you."
She seemed about to say more but checked herself. Megan was only half listening, checking her tan and her figure in the long mirror beside the door.
"Look, honey," continued Nancy, "all I’m saying is that good men don’t grow on trees. Waiting for someone who has movie star looks and his own multi-million dollar business might be a bit much to ask of a guy."
Megan turned sideways to check her flat stomach muscles. She slid her hands up under her breasts.
"Any guy who gets me will be doing pretty well," she answered coolly. "I deserve to do pretty well too."
"Besides getting a full length mirror in every room?" Nancy muttered.
Megan had not heard. Nancy calmed herself and showed Megan some of the other presents and party favors she had bought then checked her watch.
"I’ve got to get going," she said, turning for the door. "I’ll be back in about two hours or so."
"See you then," said Megan as she let Nancy out.
As she closed the door behind her friend, Megan looked at herself again in the mirror. She was generally pleased with what she saw: long blond hair, tanned, flawless skin, large but firm breasts, firm abdominal muscles, tiny waist, taut behind, and long shapely legs. It was true, as Nancy had said, that her modeling career was not wildly successful yet. In fact, the rent was due next week and Megan had only about half the amount due in her bank account right now. Recently her parents were becoming a little reluctant to make up her shortages, and her father had even gone so far as to lecture her the last time she had not made the rent. But there was still some time to go. A job might come through at any moment. And then there was that offer that Andrea had made.
They had met doing photo shoot for some fitness drink for men. They were just two of eight beach bunnies in bikinis whose job it was to admire the guy who drank the product and ignore a couple of others who didn’t. Never mind that the guy who supposedly drank the stuff was a former college athlete while the other two looked as though they could barely lift their own thick glasses. During a break she and Andrea had started talking about some of the assignments they had worked around the city. Andrea, who was about five years older than Megan, had done a few jobs for a guy who did videos about girls being tied up. The plotlines, such as they were, tended to be mystery or spy stories in which the main model or models always ended up being captured and bound and gagged by the bad guys.
"Thanks, but I don’t do sex videos," Megan had said.
"Oh, there’s no sex in these videos," Andrea had replied. "In fact, there’s hardly any guys at all, except for the scene where you get captured and tied up. Usually you’re supposed to be rescued at the end, but it’s the same guy off-camera using a different voice. He’s the only guy on the set. His secretary does some of the taping and a lot of the tying. Sometimes the girls get to tie each other, but since we’re not very good at it he cuts away and fixes up the ropes for us."
Megan had been cautious.
"I don’t know about something like that."
"They’re really kind of fun!" Andrea had said with a giggle. "You get to play dress up sometimes, and can camp it up when you play the bad girl. Being tied up and gagged is kind of strange at first, but it gets to be fun too!"
"I don’t know about being gagged," Megan had said. "The thought of something in my mouth like that… I don’t know."
Andrea had giggled again.
"That’s one of the best parts! He’s got these nice comfy balls on a strap that fit pretty well. Then he covers them with tape and you can barely make a sound. For some reason it gets me really hot to be helpless like that!"
Despite her initial misgivings Megan had been intrigued, as much by the flush that came to Andrea’s cheeks and the sound of her voice as she had talked about the work. They had quietly discussed some of the technical details on other breaks, and Andrea had given Megan the man’s card. He paid well and promptly, Andrea assured her. The only drawback was that his models had to be willing to appear topless, and as yet Megan had never bared her breasts for the camera. She wondered what it would be like.
"I suppose I’d look really hot," she thought.
On a lamp table nearby was a white plastic extension cord she used to plug in the heated throw with which she sometimes covered herself while watching TV. She sat in the armchair beside the table, moving it a few inches so as to position it directly across from the mirror by the door. She took the cord, leaned over, and wrapped the cord about her ankles, as though binding them together. Brushing the hair from her forehead, she looked into the mirror at her bikini-clad form. She giggled at the sight of herself with apparently tied ankles, then slipped her hands behind her back and grabbed her left wrist with her right hand. Megan was surprised how alluring she looked, especially when she tried making some distressed or pleading expressions. Something was still missing though.
"I know what’s wrong!" she thought. "I need to try a gag!"
Forgetting about the extension cord about her ankles, she rose to go to the kitchen and immediately fell to her hands and knees. With a little laugh over her hurried excitement, Megan untangled her feet, removing the flip-flops as she did. In the kitchen she hunted through the drawers until she found what her father had called ‘the all-purpose repair kit’: a roll of silver-gray duct tape.
Hurrying back to the living room, Megan sat in the chair again and rewrapped her ankles with the cord. She tore a six-inch piece of the wide tape from the roll and was about to press it over her lips when she remembered her main trepidation about the work. Determined to see how she would look, she reached behind her and unfastened the top of her suit. She slid the bra off her arms, put it on the table beside her and picked up the tape. Using the mirror to be sure that she applied it straight and neatly, Megan pressed the strip across her lips and mouth. When it was done, the girl again placed her hands behind her and gazed at her image in the mirror.
Megan was amazed to see how hard her nipples were almost instantly. Her first response was another nervous giggle at the sight of the lovely bare-breasted woman in the mirror. But giggling did not seem to fit the picture. So using what she remembered of her acting exercises, she tried by turns to conjure up various expressions of distress, alarm, anger, and determination. It was very exciting to see her apparently helpless self become alternately terrified and indignant, pleading then demanding. She had been right: she looked really hot.
After a few minutes, the excitement of the game lessened. Finally, Megan brought her hands from behind her and carefully peeled away the tape. When her mouth was free, she leaned over and unwrapped the cord from her ankles. Finally she slipped the shoulder straps of her suit onto her arms and slid the bra back on. Picking up her flip-flops, the girl headed back for the patio to continue her tanning.
As Megan prepared to lie on the chaise again, she noticed two men working below, replacing some shrubs that lined the walkway that ran past the row of apartments. The man who was currently digging wore khaki pants, a Chicago Cubs T-shirt and baseball cap, and sneakers. He appeared to be in his late twenties. The other man, who was leaning on his shovel and talking emphatically to his partner, was younger, about Megan’s own age. The younger man was bare-chested and evenly tanned, and wore blue jeans and work boots with a red bandana tied around his head. He laughed at something he said to the older man, who merely nodded in reply, and was about to resume digging as well when he looked up and saw Megan.
He stared at her for a few moments as though hypnotized, then reached said something to his partner. The older man stopped in mid-shovel and looked up, first at the younger man and then in the direction he was gazing. Megan pretended not to notice them, but ran her hands through her hair, then turned a bit sideways to give them a hint of her shapely profile. She turned her back to them. The top of her suit was still unhooked, and she slowly slid the suit down her arms. Since she could not resist giving them a little look over her shoulder, she saw the older man shake his head and resume his digging, as the younger stood transfixed. Keeping her back turned, Megan slowly lowered herself to the chaise, disappearing from their view behind the barrier of towels that she had hung along the iron railing around the little balcony. Though she was out of sight, she could hear clearly the profane exclamation of the younger man.
Megan chuckled to herself as she lay back on the chaise. She enjoyed little shows like the one she had just done. It reassured her to know that she still had the hold of beauty over men. Guys like the ones she had just seen would do about anything to be in the company of looks such as hers. The younger one, anyway. The older one seemed to know that it had been a tease. It was just as well for him, since Megan wasn’t interested in men who dug up shrubs for a living. Men with money and power were the ones she wanted. The others could eat their hearts out.
Rather then hook up her bra again, Megan slid it down to even the tan on her breasts. She was on the top floor of the building so no one could see over the balcony rails. She had hung the towels on the rails with clothespins so she was safe from prying eyes. Besides, it gave her a slightly and deliciously wicked feeling to be topless practically in public.
Megan closed her eyes and relaxed in the hot sun. She thought idly about the idea of modeling for the tie-up video man, about Nancy’s visit, and her story of the movie about the ‘Chummy’ doll. She opened her eyes for a moment and turned her head toward the living room. Through the glass doors she could see Nancy’s shopping bag with the head of the grinning doll in cellophane just visible over the top.
"What an ugly doll," Megan repeated sleepily as the breeze rustled the newspaper pages beside her.
* * * * *
The rustling noise grew louder then turned into a bumping. Megan opened her heavy eyelids to see the bag rocking back and forth, then fall from the low table. She tried to rise and go back inside, but her arms and legs felt as though they were made of lead. The bag was shaking on the floor.
"Did Nancy leave a puppy in there?" wondered Megan.
Unable to stand Megan rolled of the chaise onto the cement patio and crawled on all fours to the glass door. Though it seemed to weigh tons she was able to slide it open and drag herself through into the apartment. The top of her swimsuit had slid down her arms and was dragging on the floor as he pulled herself toward the bag.
Megan was still a few feet away when a cardboard and cellophane box rolled out on the floor. She stopped in amazement. The chummy doll was struggling to get out of his packaging! His head rolled from side to side and his eyes opened and closed as his little plastic hands clawed at the cellophane. In a moment he succeeded. The clear material parted and the little doll stepped awkwardly out.
The doll took a couple of clumsy steps on his short legs then stopped and looked around. His head swung back and forth, the little, almost transparent blue eyes searching without losing their leering quality. The little mouth seemed to smirk even more. He waved a stumpy arm at her and spoke.
"Hiya, Babe! Just you and me now?"
The voice was rather high-pitched, but not in the least childlike. It was somewhat like a bad adult voice job for a young cartoon character. The same smutty quality of the doll’s facial expression was in the voice as well.
Instinctively, Megan reached down with one hand and tried to pull the fallen swimsuit top back up to cover her breasts. But Chummy pointed his right arm at her and she suddenly had no strength in the arm. It fell again, and she had to lean on both hands to support herself.
"Hey! None o’ that now!" the doll scolded her. "I liked bein’ carried up here by your friend, but she didn’t have a rack as good as yours. Lemme enjoy the view for a while!"
Megan tried to rise but couldn’t. She attempted to speak.
"Wha… What… What do you…?"
"Whadda I want?" he finished mockingly.
Chummy took a few more steps toward her, continuing to eye her body appreciatively. He bent down and slid the bra of her suit from under her hands. After using both hands to toss it away, he put a hand under his chin and ogled her, the blue irises sweeping from side to side.
"Hot damn! I really hit the jackpot here. I liked your friend a lot, but you’re the best I’ve seen in a long time. And there was a display of Babsie dolls across from me in the store, so I know somebody who’s really stacked when I see her. So I’m gonna take good care o’ you."
He waddled back to the fallen shopping bag and stepped inside, emerging a moment later carrying several rolls of duct tape. Megan tried to speak again, but nothing came out.
"I know, I know," said Chummy. "You wanna know all about it. The truth is, I don’t know much about it myself. One minute those cops are shootin’ at me in the warehouse, and the next minute I’m inside this doll. How? I dunno. And not only that, but I got these powers. I can make things move and I can control people, only up to a point y’ unnerstan’, but I can do it. I got the guy loadin’ dolls t’ take me when he wasn’t gonna, and I got your friend t’ buy me instead of the doll next t’me. All I gotta do is think about it an’ it happens. Neat, huh?"
He pointed his arm at Megan again and she sank to the floor. He took hold her right arm and began to drag it behind her. She whimpered at the touch of his cold rubbery fingers on her skin, but could do nothing to resist. His strength was amazing for his size. He caught the other hand and pressed them together just below the small of her back. There was a tearing sound. Then she felt the sticky tape at her wrists. He was tying her up with the duct tape! When she tried to roll away from him all that happened was that her shoulders shifted a little. She moaned softly.
"The only thing is, I don’t know how long I can keep you quiet with just my mind, so I figger I better tie you up and gag you."
When he finished securing her hands, he walked around in front of her. The smirking face was right in front of hers.
"Besides," he said with a wink, "I kinda like that stuff."
Giving one of her breasts a stroke with his stubby fingers as he passed, the little doll waddled down to he feet, still holding the roll of tape. Megan heard more tape being torn from the roll, then felt her ankles being bound together side-by-side. He passed the tape around them a number of times, then did the same to her legs just above the knees.
"Nice pins, Babe," Chummy said admiringly as he worked. "None o’ the Babsie’s even compare with yours. Like I say, I know a good bod when I see it."
Megan tried to roll away from her tiny tormentor but, now restrained with the tape, her limbs failed to respond to her still fogged brain. She closed her eyes, hoping that the nightmare would dissolve. Somehow she did move. Now she was sitting propped up by the couch. More tape was run about her body trapping her arms against her. She pressed her eyes tightly shut and tried to think things like ‘There’s no place like home’ or other phrases that could break spells. But when she opened her eyes, Chummy was standing in front of her wadding a washcloth into a ball.
"You know what comes next, don’tcha, Blondie?" he smirked. "Be a good girl an’ open real wide."
Megan shook her head and cringed away from the little figure, but he pointed at her again and she slid down to the floor. He put his hand on her chin and easily opened her mouth to stuff the cloth home. Three more strips of tape sealed it inside.
"There!" he said leering at her, his eyes continuing to move back and forth. "Nice an’ cozy. Now don’t go away. I’ll be right back when I’ve taken a good look around."
Chummy waddled away toward the kitchen. As Megan watched him go, she was surprised to feel strength returning to her bound limbs. Apparently the evil power only worked on her when the doll was looking at her. That was a small victory for the terrified girl. But working muscles were useless when helplessly bound with yards of sturdy tape. Trussed as she was, Megan could move very little. How could she get help?
Across the room, Megan saw the telephone. Though the only way she could get to it was by moving like and inchworm, it was worth the effort. Drawing up her legs, the bound girl pushed them against the carpet, propelling herself a few inches. Several efforts like this would get her close to the cord. She would then have to catch the cord with her chin and pull the instrument to the floor. Somehow she would have to dial. There would probably not be enough time to work her hands to it, but perhaps she could use her nose. It had to work. She pulled herself ahead again. Then again.
"Well, well!" came a wicked little voice. "What have we here? Our little model’s trying to pull a fast one, eh?"
He pulled her by the feet. With a shriek into the gag, Megan was slid back across the floor to her original position. Chummy was sneering at her again, now dragging a long cardboard box behind him.
"Whatsa matter, Blondie? Don’tcha like my company? I think we could get to be real good friends, you an’ me. And believe me I’d really like to."
He padded close and stroked his disgusting fingers over Megan’s breasts.
"What beauties!" he sighed. "And I’ll bet you’ve got more goodies too."
He took a few steps toward her waist and patted the small area covered by the bottom of her swimsuit.
"My only problem is, I haven’t got any equipment," he said sadly, though his expression did not change. "Whadda they say these days? ‘Anatomically correct’? Well I ain’t. Too bad."
He shook his little head. When he looked at her again, his eyes rolled wide open. The sneer seemed to be bigger. He flipped back the top of the box and began to unroll clear plastic wrap from the container.
"I could just leave y’ here like this while I make my getaway, but then how does a doll make a getaway? The best way t’ get outta here is for your friend t’ take me. So I guess I gotta get back in the box an’ wait for her. But what happens when she finds you all tied up? So I gotta do somethin’ about you."
He kept unrolling more wrap.
"I mighta felt bad about it, except I saw what y’ did t’ those guys workin’ out there. You’re a real tease, you are. An’ that nice guy that your friend was talkin’ about. You ‘re givin’ him a hard time too. Some kinda gold diggin’ little princess you are! Just ‘cause y’ gotta good bod doesn’t mean that everybody owes y’ somethin’. So I figger that you’ve earned this. Besides, ya said I was ugly, an’ I hate that."
To Megan’s terror, Chummy took the plastic wrap and began to wind it about her shoulders, then moved it up higher. Once her head was encased she would quickly suffocate! She shook her head wildly and tried to plead with him. He ignored her completely and continued wrapping, making two turns around her lower face just below her nose.
"See ya, Babe!" he cackled. "I’m pretty sure you’ll be goin’ t’ the same place I will eventually."
Megan screamed into the wad of cloth and shook her head uselessly. If only she had the use of her hands! The plastic wrap went over her nose and face. She tried to move her hands to pull it away and was surprised to find that they moved! She tore wildly at the plastic wrap.
* * * * *
With another shriek, Megan Ford windmilled her arms and pulled the covering off her face. She sat up to find herself on the chaise on the patio, again conducting a battle with several pages of the Sunday supplement. She was still screaming, but stopped when she saw what had happened. Trembling, she sat for a moment, then slid the top of her suit back in place and hooked it up. As she ran a hand through her hair and breathed deeply, she was aware of shouting from below. She looked over the balcony.
The two young men working on the shrubs were looking anxiously up at her. The older one called up:
"Are you all right, miss?"
Megan gasped and looked around her. Everything seemed to be in place. It had been a dream. She stood up and waved to the two.
"Yeah, I’m okay! Thanks!"
As she leaned on the rail, Nancy came out from the entryway of the next building hand in hand with her niece. Another woman was coming toward them. Megan watched as Nancy spoke to the woman for a moment. The other woman took the child and they both got into a car in the lot. Nancy waved as they pulled away.
"Hey, Nancy!" called Megan. "Come and get your stuff right away."
"What was all the shouting about?" she called back.
"I’ll tell you later!" Megan replied.
Nancy stopped for a moment to talk to the two men. Whatever she asked them was answered with expressive shrugs and a couple of pointings in Megan’s direction. Megan waved at the two men again.
"Thanks again!" she called.
As she went into her apartment, she noted that the bag was standing on the coffee table as Nancy had left it. Nothing was out of place. She sighed.
"Maybe it was some kind of a lesson," she thought. "And as for working for Andrea’s friend… Well, maybe. But not until I get this doll out of the house."
Megan lifted Chummy’s box out of the bag for a quick look. He did not seem as evil looking as before, though she still thought him unpleasant.
"What an ugly---"
She checked herself. She wouldn’t say it until he was long gone.
THE END