Sinister Cuddles

"You know what's totally weird?" Lila whispered to her best friend, Rachel, as they rummaged through the dusty attic of Rachel's old family home. Rachel was busy examining a box filled with Christmas decorations that hadn't seen the light of day in years. She turned to look at Lila, who held up an antique doll dressed in a faded pink dress. Its glass eyes stared eerily into the darkness.

"What's up?" Rachel asked, setting the box aside and walking over to see what had caught Lila's attention.

Lila held out the doll. "This creeps me out. It's like it's watching us."

Rachel laughed. "It's just a doll. Besides, it's probably worth a fortune."

Ignoring Rachel's attempt to lighten the mood, Lila set the doll down on a nearby trunk. "Let's keep looking," she said, brushing off her hands.

As they sifted through the remaining boxes, Rachel's hand knocked against something large and heavy. Shifting the old boxes of holiday decorations aside, she revealed a large, green, wooden trunk. “Oh wow…” She blew on the top, decades of dust flying off, revealing some lettering stenciled on it. “This…I think this is my great-grandfathers…he was in the army…world war 2.” She jiggled the padlock that was on the footlocker a bit.

“Cool …talk about stuff that’s worth a ton of money!” Lila said, walking over. “Let’s open it up!”

Giving the lock a hard yank, Rachel was surprised to find the old, corroded metal gave away almost immediately. “Weird…” Rooting through the large footlocker, Rachel started pulling out various objects and holding them up for Lila to inspect. “Check it out. I think this was his uniform. Oh, and…wow, is this his rifle?”

Reaching the bottom of the footlocker, she pulled out a small box, maybe 1’ x 1’, wrapped in paper with odd writing on it. “I wonder what this is? There’s a note in…I think its german? “Wer das Siegel bricht, wird ein unsägliches Übel entfesseln…” I wonder what that means?”

“Who cares, Rach, open it up!” Lila said energetically.

Grinning at her friends contagious enthusiasm, Rachel ripped the paper off the box, and pulled the lid off. She reached in and pulled out an old teddy bear. It was much larger than she expected, and the fur was a mottled gray, as if it had been bled of all color. Rachel felt a strange pull towards it, something that was both comforting and eerie

"Look at this," Rachel said, holding up the bear. It had a button eye missing and a stitched smile that was more of a grimace.

Lila leaned in. "It's kind of sad looking."

The bear felt unusually warm to the touch, and Rachel's skin crawled. She tried to ignore the unsettling feeling as they both laughed and made fun of its sad expression.

As the night grew late, Rachel suggested they bring the bear downstairs to the bedroom they were sharing. It was a joke at first, a way to spook each other in the dark. But as they descended the stairs, Rachel felt a sudden heaviness in her chest, like the bear was more than just a toy.

They were met at the bottom of the stairs by Rachels mother, wearing some loose sweats and holding a tray of snacks with a few sodas for the girls. “Did you two find anything interesting up there? I did warn you that it was mostly junk and old decorations.”

“Oh no we found an old world war II trunk and it had a gun and army stuff and even this bear!” Said Lila excitedly, holding up the teddy bear they had found earlier.

“A…gun you say? Ugh, I didn’t realize that was in my grandfathers footlocker. You girls didn’t play with it, did you?”

Rachel blushed. “No mom, of course not.”

“Ok, good. I’ll take care of it in the morning. Until I do, the attic is off limits, understand?” Rachels mom said, frowning.

“Of course mom. We’re smarter than that.”

“Alright. Thank you two for telling me. Have fun and good find on the bear. He’s pretty cute!” She said, turning away and heading back downstairs.

Once in the bedroom, Rachel placed the bear on a chair in the corner. The room was dimly lit by the glow of their cellphones, casting eerie shadows across the floor. After changing into pajamas, a long, loose nightgown for Lila and an oversized comfy onesie for Rachel, the settled down for the night. They talked and giggled for hours about old memories and school gossip until the conversation grew quiet. Rachel glanced at the bear, its one button eye seemingly staring right at her. She shivered and pulled the covers up to her neck.

The silence grew thick, and Rachel swore she heard a faint whispering. She looked over at Lila, who was already asleep. The whisper grew louder, and Rachel felt it was coming from the bear. She sat up, heart racing.

"What's wrong?" Lila mumbled, stirring in her sleep.

“I don’t know…Its…maybe the bringing that bear down was a bad idea? Its really giving me the creeps….” Rachel trailed off, eyeing the bear warily.

Lila laughed and crawled over to the corner where the bear was, picking it up. “Cmon, Rach, its just a bear.” She walked over to Rachel, holding the bear in front of her, and in a mock voice “Cmon Rach! Give me a kiss. GRAAAA!”

“Cmon Lila, stop! I’m serious, that thing gives me the creeps.” Rachel, said, pushing the bear away.

“Fine, fine. Why don’t you put it in your closet or something, get it out of sight. I’m sure you’ll be able to sleep once its put away. And tomorrow you’ll forget all about it.” She said, holding the bear out for Rachel to take.

Rachel took the bear and went over to her closet. As she opened the closet door, a humanoid shape lunged out of the closet at her. “GAAAH!” She screamed, falling back.

A shoe thrown by Lila sailed over her shoulder and struck the creature firmly in the head.

“OW! What the fuck Rachel.” The thing said, pulling one of my extra sheets off its head, and rubbing its face where the shoe had struck it

“Brian? You fucking pervert! Were you peeping on me and Lila from my fucking closet!?” She punched her asshole younger brother in the shoulder. “MOM! Brian is being a skeevy perv again!”

“Its..its not what it looks like Rachel!” The slightly overweight nerd said, his greasy skin showing signs of nervous sweating.

“Oh, I think it is!” Her mother said, marching angrily through my door, and grabbing him by the ear. “You’ve been warned young man, many times, about respecting women, especially your sister and her friends. You’re losing all your electronics for…well, I don’t know if you’ll ever get them back!” She yelled, dragging him out the door and towards his room.

“OW! Cmon mom! Its not what it looks like…” He said, his voice fading out as mom continued dragging him away.

“Ugh! Your brother is so fucking gross, Rach.” Lila said, pantomiming vomiting.

“Tell me about it!” The other week, Mom caught him going through her underwear drawer! I can’t wait until you and I head to college next year.” Rachel picked the bear, who had been knocked free in the chaos, back up and grimaced slightly. “Ewww…this things fur feels weird now. I hope that perv didn’t get something on it.” she walked back to the open closet and pulled out an old box for a pair of boots she had. She managed to stuff the bear in and closed the lid, putting it on the shelf at the top of the closet. “Ugh, I still can’t believe that pervert was going to watch us sleep!”

“Right?” Said Lila. “That bear saved us! If you hadn’t of wanted to put him in the closet, we’d never have seen Brian. Now I almost feel bad about you shoving him in that box.”

“Lila, c’mon. It’s giving me the creeps, and it’s just an old stuffed bear. It does NOT need our sympathy.”

“I know, I know.”

“Well, lets get some sleep.”

Rachel sat up in bed looking around. She was alone in the room…why was she alone? Then she saw it. On the chair in the corner sat the teddy bear, no longer in the closet. She glanced around, looking for Lila, but didn’t see anyone. She climbed out of bed, and slowly approached the chair, a slight, insistent whisper that grew more insistent as the seconds passed. "Hold me," it said, the voice a sickly sweet croon. Rachel reached out, her hand trembling, and took the bear into her arms. The moment she did, the room grew cold, and the whispers grew into a cackle that seemed to fill the room. Rachel's eyes widened in horror as she realized what she had done. The bear's fur was no longer soft, but coarse and sticky, like it was made of spider webs. The stitched smile grew wider, and Rachel felt a cold, malevolent **** seep into her mind. The single eye glowed red, letting out a malevolent light.

The bear's grip on Rachel's mind grew stronger, feeding off her fear. It whispered dark thoughts into her ear, urging her to do things she never would have considered before. Rachel tried to resist, but the power was too great. She watched in horror as her hand moved on its own, reaching for the button on her nightshirt.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Lila's voice pierced the darkness, jolting Rachel back to reality. She realized she had been dreaming, and she was now standing in front of the mirror, the bear's grinning face staring back at her, the single eye black and impassive. Rachel's hand hovered over her chest, trembling.

"I…I don’t know," Rachel managed to croak out. "I…I think I was dreaming? The bear…it was talking to me, making me do things."

“It was just a nightmare Rach.” Lila said, plucking the bear from my arms and putting him back in the chair. “c’mon, lay down and relax. Mr. Hugglesworth is just a stuffed bear, he can’t hurt you, or talk, or make you do things.” She reassured me.

“Mr…hugglesworth?” I asked

“Oh yea…it came to me in a dream. He told me that was his name.” She said, shrugging.

“Wait, you’re telling me you also had a dream about the bear?”

“Yea, why?”

“And you don’t see anything odd about both of us having weird dreams about the same creepy stuffed bear talking to us.” I asked skeptically.

“No, because mine wasn’t a nightmare, and he didn’t tell me to do anything. Listen, its just both of us being stressed about your pervy brother and you being worked up about the bear. Besides, I don’t even think he’s creepy. I think he’s cute.” She said, laughing playfully, as she sat me down on my bed.

“Girls! Breakfast!” Rachel’s mother called upstairs.

“Cmon Rach, you’ll feel better once you get some food.”

They descended the stairs, the scent of pancakes and syrup filling the house. Rachel's mom, Marge, was at the stove, flipping a perfect golden pancake. She turned to them with a smile, but her eyes had a distant, almost glazed look. "Good morning, Rachel. And Lila, how was your sleep? No Mr. Hugglesworth this morning?" Rachel felt the knot tighten.

“Mom? How did you know…” Rachel started to ask.

"It was fine, Mrs. Thomas," Lila cut in, her voice a little too bright. Rachel searched her friend's eyes for any sign of the terror she'd felt in the night, but Lila only met her gaze with a serene smile. "Your mom's cooking smells amazing!" Rachel **** a smile in return but couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that something was very wrong. The girls sat at the table and Rachel’s mom brought over two plates, humming as she did so.

Rachel’s mom picked up the third plate, her movements eerily graceful. "And here's one for your brother, Timmy. He's feeling a bit peckish after his long night of... studying," she said, her voice laced with an unusual affectionate tone. Rachel gasped as she watched her mother carry the plate out to the living room, where her brother was openly watching what appeared to be softcore porn on the television. She watched as her mother gave him an affectionate hug, and was surprised, as she had never seen her mother look at him with such adoration before, at least not since he’d become such a pervert.

As her mother walked back into the kitchen, Rachel confronted her. “Mom! Why are you letting Brian watch that? And isn’t he supposed to be grounded for peeping on me and Lila!?”

Her mother sighed. “Rachel, its just a TV show. Everyone here is adult enough to see some skin in a movie. And as far as last night, well, I talked to him a bit more this morning and we decided that boys will be boys. Nothing came of it, and he’s promised he’s learned his lesson, so there’s no reason to punish him further.”

“But…mom…he was hiding in my closet to watch Lila and I sleep!” Rachel protested.

“Oh c’mon Rach, its not THAT serious.” Lila said through a mouthful of pancake. “Its almost a little flattering.”

“UGH! Whats gotten into everyone today?!” Rachel groaned in frustration.

“Hey, its no big deal. Why don’t we go shopping today, take your mind off things.” Lila said, putting a hand on Rachel’s shoulder reassuringly.

“I…I guess….” Rachel reluctantly agreed.

The girls finished breakfast and headed upstairs to change. Rachel couldn't get the idea that the bear was staring at her as she got dressed, and was relieved once she finally left the house with Lila.