Prologue

I couldn't keep my eyes open much longer, they had grown heavy as the pain in my body increased. I stared up at the moon, my eyes growing blurry. I tried my best to stay awake for fear of dying the moment my eyes fell, but I didn't know how much longer I could hold out. I wanted to make my mind wander so that it wouldn't shut down, so I began going over what had happened over the last few months. It had all started in that small shop in Duluth Minnesota…

CHAPTER ONE

Never before had i ever seen a day quite as flawless as that one, the sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Which was quite unusual for the winters in Minnesota, but nobody was complaining. I can still remember the way the sun shone, it was so bright it made me feel warm and safe. I only wanted to get out of that place, all i wanted was to say goodbye to the small city before leaving. But I quickly realized that No one ever leaves.

The bell rang out as I pushed open the door.

“Morning’” rang the familiar voice of the doll maker.

“Good morning!” I greeted the old man with a sad smile.

“What seems to be the matter?” the old man asked, worry staining his usually singsong voice.

“I have come to say goodbye.” I sighed. “I'm moving to Colorado.”

The man's face fell.

 “Oh… well it was bound to happen eventually…” he mumbled something after he said that, but i couldn't hear him. I wish that i had though because it was probably some kind of foreshadowing for the coming events.

He smiled but it wasn't warm and caring like usual, it was cold and sent a shiver down my spine. I felt my smile fall, the old man looked at me curiously.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“Oh! Sorry it's just your smile just now was odd…” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

The old man looked at me like I was crazy. He laughed a little while shaking his head. I laughed as well but to tell you the truth… his laughter had not agreed with my stomach. Because when he laughed it felt as if it had dropped from a thousand miles. The man's laugh wore out after a while, and his wide smile turned into a sad one. He looked at me and smiled.

“How about this, you buy one last doll.” he lifted his finger, and pointed to a shelf behind the counter.

“Why?” I raised my eyebrow in a questioning stare.

“To put it in my replica Duluth.” he pointed to a large model of Duluth. “In fact this doll will be on the house.” He grabbed one and handed it to me.

I looked at him, I didn't take the doll. There was something about it… something I couldn't quite put my finger on. He urged me to grab it by gently moving it closer to me. I hesitated a bit longer then i took the doll. I turned it over in my hands, and looked up at him. He smiled, and walked over to the replication of Duluth covered by a glass dome. He carefully placed his hand on the glass, his smile still plastered on his face.

“Come here.” he turned toward me, his smile sent a shiver down my spine.

He held out his hand, I looked down at the doll. I let out a surprised gasp, there was blood on it. I quickly took it into my hand and looked at my other one. It had pricked my finger and I was bleeding. I handed him the doll and put my finger in my mouth. I looked at him, he was holding the doll with one hand and was opening the dome with the other. 

“I'm sorry, i didn't mean to get blood on it…” I apologized. He smiled at me.

“No problem, no problem at all” he carefully put the doll into the model of the city.

An odd sensation washed over me, it was like everything had stopped. I looked out the window only to be greeted with the sight of… nothing. The window was like a screen, completely black no sign of movement. Suddenly I had a dizzy spell causing me to stumble a little, the dizzy spell stopped and I rubbed my eyes, I put my hands back at my sides. The window was normal again.

“Huh?” I blinked rapidly and stared at the window. ‘Was that my imagination?’ i thought to myself.

“Are you okay?” the old man grabbed my shoulder.

I twitched and spun around, and the old man's eyes met and I immediately noticed something different. His eyes which we're usually a quite lovely blue, we're now a horrible black color. And his smile was no longer gentle as it always had been. It was now hollow and cold. 

It was weird, everything was… the walls, the ceiling, everything.

“What the-?” i began but stopped when i realized that the old man was looking at me like i was crazy.

“Uh…” I stared back at him. “I should get home… bye” i turned and left the shop.

I looked around, something was different… the weather! It was now cold and snowy. I looked around, and was soon faced with the realization that everyone was staring at me. I looked down and only then noticed how odd I must look in shorts and a tang top in this kinda weather. I rubbed the back of my neck, and laughed nervously. They all shook their heads in what seemed to be disappointment, and turned away. I let my hand fall back to my side, and my smile crashed down. I looked around, the sky was grey and the ground was covered in snow. I thought back to how it had been less than six minutes ago, the sun was shining. It had snowed previously in the season but not enough to stick. So you could see the ground clearly, but now I could barely see the sidewalk. A shiver ran through me, I rubbed my arms in an attempt to heat myself up. I ran back to my house, taking a few breaks on my way there. I opened my front door and sighed, I took a step in and shut the door behind me. I put my back against it and slid down to the ground.

“Whats going on…” i covered my face with my hands.

I put my hands on my knees and looked around, all of the things that I had packed into boxes we're now back where they had been. I walked to an object, and picked it up. I lifted it up and down. It was light, like cardboard. I set it back down, and looked around. The paint on the walls wasn't as clean, nor thorough as I remembered it being. I bit the inside of my mouth, trying to keep myself calm. Something was definitely wrong, but why? How? None of it made sense, how did it change, when did it change. While I was at the doll shop? No… it couldn't be, I wasn't gone long enough for someone to be able to do this. I inhaled in hopes to regain the breath that I had lost. I stood up and made my way to the bathroom. I turned my face towards the mirror, and leaned in, so that I could study my features closely. Specifically my eyes seeing as how all the people i had seen had pitch black eyes. My eyes were usually emerald green, but now they have become forest green. The shade was darker, and less visible. As if they were turning black, I slowly pulled away from the mirror. A smile spread across my face.