“It’s for the best. We have to get rid of it.” Sally sat on the couch. Her eyes never left the small doll on the ebony rocking chair.

Benjamin sighed and took a seat next to his wife. “I’m not disagreeing with you, but why don’t we just throw it away?”

Sally didn’t look away from the doll. “It’s him or us. He’s young and will figure it out. I just want all this to stop,” she whispered.

Benjamin shivered. Her monotone voice cut him to his core. He took her hands in his. “But if this thing is half as evil as what you are saying… is it right to pass it off? God wants us to treat others as we would want to be treated. This… this isn’t right?”

Sally yanked her hands away and jumped up from the couch. She paced in front of him and started tugging on her hair. Her beautiful blond hair once shimmered like the sunlight hung limp and dull. Her hands moved through it in a furious and worrying manner. How was he supposed to convince her?

“Love thy neighbor only goes so far! The Church refused to help us. We are on our own!” she yelled.

He stood and gathered her in his arms. Ever since she had bought the old doll, she had started slipping. It was as if she was being torn apart from the inside. He didn’t know what to believe. He loved his wife, but her bright blue eyes now held a craze in them that worried him.

There was a creak behind him. Sally screamed and pushed him away.

“The chair! T-the rocking chair!” she pointed at the chair, backing away from it.

Benjamin looked at the antique rocker and the doll. Sure enough, the chair was creaking as it rocked back and forth. He walked over and placed a hand on the top of the wood. It stopped without any necessary force.

“Sally, it was probably the wind or all the walking you were doing unsettled it,” he said and released it. It didn’t move.

“You never see it! I’m tired of all these things happening around the house. It’s the chair now, but earlier the shelf fell and all the fine china broke.”

“The shelving probably wasn’t installed properly when I put them up. The weight…” he started.

“I just want it gone!” Sally yelled and moved back to the couch. Her eyes welled with tears.

Benjamin sighed and walked around the chair. It didn’t move in the slightest. He looked over the glass eyes and the messed hair. Stomping his feet, he walked around the chair again, watching the doll as he walked. A shiver ran up his spine leaving goosebumps in its wake. It was as if the doll’s eyes followed his every movement.

Sally rubbed her eyes. “Stop trying to justify it. For a religious man, you are an idiot. You know this thing is not of this world. It’s evil!”

Benjamin stood and faced his wife. “If this was an entity not of this world, God would only send it to test us. Just like in the book of Job-”

Sally jumped back to her feet and rushed towards him. “Don’t you give me any more of this religious crap! I am tired of it! It is me or the doll!” Tears streamed down her face as she gripped the front of his shirt.

Benjamin’s gaze softened, and he took her hands into his. “Darling, it will always be you. Please do not let this divide us. If everything you say is true, we can’t just dump it onto someone else.”

“If? You don’t believe me?” she said through clenched teeth.

He held her tighter, and she struggled against him. Why was she acting this way? She had never pushed him away before.

A knock caused them both to jump. Sally let go of Benjamin and opened the door. A young man stood there.

“Hello! Are you Sally? I’m Nate. I’m here for the doll,” he said with a smile.

Sally smiled and wiped away the tears. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m Sally. Please come in,” she said stepping aside. “When I bought the doll online, it said the doll was over fifty years old and came with a rocking chair from the previous owner,” Sally led him towards the doll.

Nate’s face brightened as he saw the doll. It sat quietly in a yellowed baptism dress. The dull glass eyes stared forward. He moved forward toward it, but Benjamin stopped him.

“I need to warn you…” Benjamin began.

Sally hissed under her breath.

“Yes?” the young man asked, glancing between the couple.

“My wife doesn’t want to tell you, but it’s not right to let you go into this blind. She thinks there is a spirit attached to the doll,” Benjamin said. A weight that he hadn’t realized was on his chest lifted.

Sally glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, he would already be playing on the wrong side of the grass. “Ben…” she said, fury laced her voice.

Nate cleared his throat. “Oh, I already know.”

Both Benjamin and Sally stared at him in disbelief.

“You already know?” Sally asked in a near whisper.

The young man smiled and nodded. “Of course, I know. I’ve been on the search for her for a while. I collect haunted items and do investigations on them. They go viral online!”

A creak sounded behind them. Quickly, they all turned. The doll toppled over as the chair rocked. Benjamin and Sally watched, horrified.

The young man shook his head and walked crossed the room. Ignoring the rocking chair, he picked up the doll and turned it over in his hands.

“These spirits or demons that possess items like this have a horrible negative energy. It’s not uncommon for the owners to fight. The spirits like to cause chaos, it feeds off it,” he said, examining the doll.

“It causes us to fight?” Sally asked.

Nate opened his backpack and placed the doll inside. “That’s right. You’ll probably feel so much better once I take this off the property.”

Benjamin placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “You seem well versed in all this.”

The young man nodded and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “Yep. I’ll send you a link to my video investigation. Thank you again. You were definitely right to get rid of it.”

He pulled out his wallet, but Sally shook her head. “Keep the money. Thank you for taking the thing.”

The young man smiled and left without another word.

Benjamin watched his wife take the first deep breath that she had taken in a while. The air felt lighter as the tension in the air seemed to fade. He pulled her in tight.

“I’m sorry, my darling,” he said.

“It’s alright. I’m sorry too,” she held him close.

They embraced each other for a while before deciding to turn in for the night. Sally went in first, and Benjamin smiled. This would be the start of getting back to normal. There was a creak behind him. He whipped around. The chair was rocking.

He could feel the color drain from his face. How was it rocking? There was nothing around it. The windows were shut and Sally had left the room. He heard the shatter of the remaining fine china in the dining room. A deep rumble sounded throughout the house. Benjamin stared at the chair as something formed behind it. A faint shadow grew on the wall.

Real or not, he would not stick around and find out.

Shaking, he grabbed his keys and yelled to his wife. It was time to leave. She came out with questioning, frightened eyes. Benjamin didn’t give her a moment to ask and rushed her out the door. They would contact Nate and see if he wanted the chair too.  

The chair continued to rock as they ran.