[ WP ] A haunted doll . It 's not evil . Just bored .

INT. A DARK ATTIC - DAY 
 
 A man in his early forties carries boxes down the stairs. A boy of about 
 ten years is supposed to help, but would rather examine the hidden 
 treasures. 
 
 `` Jake! Stop playing with stuff,'' Henry Wilson said. 
 
 `` Yes, Dad,'' his son said. 
 
 His tone was sad. They wanted to throw away everything Grandpa had treasured. 
 It had taken him a life-time of adventures to gather all these things. Just 
 because he was dead did n't mean they had the right to call it 
 garbage. 
 
 Jake angrily kicked a box with old magazines. Instead of showing a dent, the 
 box slid away before it hit something with a hollow thud. 
 
 The boy pulled the box aside to reveal a wooden chest. What could be inside? 
 If the wood was an indication, the chest held a pirate's treasure. 
 
 `` Give that to your Mom to sift through,'' Henry Wilson said and pointed to the 
 box. 
 
 Jake grumbled something and carried the box downstairs. He made it up the 
 stairs and back to the chest before his father. 
 
 `` Do n't open that, Jake,'' Henry yelled from the stairs. 
 
 `` Why? What's inside?'' 
 
 `` A doll your grandfather brought from Suriname.'' 
 
 Jake stared at his father. He had never seen him like this. Was he afraid? 
 
 With a decisive move, Jack opened the lid. Inside the chest was indeed a doll. 
 With its movable jaw, it looked like a ventriloquist's puppet. 
 
 The doll was about as tall as a toddler. It's face was that of a girl with dark 
 skin and slightly Asian features. The doll was surrounded by the decayed 
 remains of her clothes. Neck and chest were painted as if the doll wore an 
 amulet. 
 
 `` We take it outside and burn it,'' Jake's father said. 
 
 `` Why? Are you afraid of a doll?'' 
 
 `` Me? Afraid? No! Of course not. I just do n't want to have it around.'' 
 
 `` I want to keep it,'' Jake said. He rarely answered back to is parents. He knew 
 he could n't allow the doll to be destroyed. 
 
 Henry looked at his son for a moment, then smiled. `` OK. Keep it. In a week, 
 you'll change your mind. We'll burn it together then.'' 
 
 Jake thought his father mumbled something, and he could have sworn he 
 understood, `` If it works this time.'' 
 
 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 
 
 JAKE sleeps in his bed. From time to time he turns. On a shelf next to the 
 bed, we see the DOLL. 
 
 `` I kill you! ``, Jake heard someone whispering. 
 
 The brown eyes of the doll glowed in the dark. With wobbly steps it approached 
 the bed. She held a knife. Blood dripped from it. Just as the doll leaned 
 over the bed, Jake jerked upright. 
 
 It took the boy a moment to understand that this had been a dream. The doll 
 sat on the shelf, where he had placed her before. With a little bit of 
 hesitation, Jake lay down. After a few seconds, he was asleep again. 
 
 `` You'll die! ``, Jake heard the same voice. 
 This time, it took him longer to wake up. 
 
 The doll just sat there on the shelf. 
 Jake stared at the toy for a few second, then went back to sleep. 
 He could have sworn he had put the doll at the right hand side of the shelf. 
 Now, it sat on the left end; much closer to the bed. 
 
 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 
 
 JAKE sits down on the table next to his MOM. His DAD enters, dressed in the 
 working clothes of a carpenter. 
 
 `` Hey Jake. How was your first night with the horror doll?'' 
 
 `` Do n't know, Dad. I slept,'' Jake lied. 
 This was the second topic on which he avoided telling the truth. 
 The other was Billy Pullman. 
 
 Henry looked sceptical, but said nothing. 
 He kissed his wife, took a sip of coffee, ruffled Jake's hairs, and left for his workshop. 
 
 EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY 
 
 JAKE walks across the grass towards a waiting school bus. A boy of about 
 fifteen years leans on a tree, waiting for him. 
 
 `` Jakey! There you are!'' Billy pushed himself off the tree with his shoulders. 
 
 `` Leave me alone, Billy.'' 
 
 `` That's Mr Pullman for you, Jakey.'' 
 
 `` Sure it is, Billy,'' Jake said. 
 He stepped aside, but continued walking towards the bus. 
 
 `` I ca n't let you pass. Not until you apologized and said my name correctly.'' 
 Billy compensated for Jake's evasive maneuver by taking a single step. 
 
 `` Jake Wilson! Get on the bus,'' the driver yelled across the playground. 
 
 Jake shrugged, walked around Billy, then ran towards the open door of the vehicle. 
 
 INT. BEDROOM - DAY 
 
 JAKE sits behind his desk and does his homework. The DOLL sits on the 
 top-most shelf. The painted amulet on her chest is n't there. 
 
 Jake stared at the math homework without actually seeing the equations. 
 If there only was a way to avoid Billy Pullman. 
 For weeks, he had pestered him. 
 First by calling him *Little Jake*, and now with the demand that Jake called him *Mr Pullman*. 
 If there was something he could do. 
 
 `` Kick him in the nuts. When he doubles over, ram you knee into his chin. As soon as he's on the ground, slice his throat,'' Jake heard from behind and above. `` That's the way Joe used to deal with problems.'' 
 
 Jake shot around. The doll sat on the top shelf and looked at him. 
 
 `` Joe? Grandpa? He sliced someone's throat? Bullshit.'' 
 
 `` No bullshit,'' the doll said. Jake could see her wooden jaw move up and down. `` I've seen him snuff out seventeen men myself.'' 
 
 `` Grandpa was a sailor.'' 
 
 `` Sailor? Well, he used to cross bodies of water for business. That's where the similarities between a sailor and your Grandfather's profession end.'' 
 
 `` I wo n't murder Billy,'' Jake said. `` And Grandpa murdered nobody either.'' 
 
'I'll find a way to get rid of Billy,' Jake thought and turned back to his homework. 
 
 `` Dissolving him in nitrous acid or putting a few stone in the body bag did the trick for Joe.'' 
 
 Jake tried to ignore the voice. What could a stupid doll know? 
 
 `` More than you think, Jake. I can help you.'' 
 
 `` You are a piece of wood. How can you help me,'' Jake said. 
 
 It took him a moment to understand what he was doing. He shot around. The doll walked from one end of the shelf to the other, always putting one foot in front of the other as if balancing on a tight rope. 
 
 `` You can speak? You are alive?'' 
 
 `` Yes. And no.'' 
 
 `` What?'' 
 
 `` I can speak, but I'm not alive,'' the doll said. 
 
 `` Are you possessed? Is there a ghost inside of you?'' 
 
 `` Not more than inside of you. At least, I do n't have a spooky skeleton inside my body as you have.'' 
 
 `` I have a skeleton and a ghost inside of me,'' Jake asked. 
 
 A shudder ran through him. After a second, he grinned. That was one of the things Grandpa would say. He liked to mess with people, especially Jake when he was younger. 
 
 `` Ah, you mean my bones. Yes, in that sense, I have a skeleton inside.'' 
 
 The doll looked disappointed. `` You're not scared? Not a bit?'' 
 
 `` Not really.'' 
 
 `` Hmm. Your dad was terrified. That was fun.'' 
 
 `` How come you can talk?'' 
 
 `` Long story.'' 
 
 `` I have time,'' Jake said and crossed his arms. `` Tell me.'' 
 
 `` Do your homework and I'll tell you.'' 
 
 Jake stared at the doll. It stared back. After a few more seconds of staring, he turned and continued with his homework. 
 
 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 
 
 JAKE sits with his MOM. His DAD enters. 
 
 `` Hey Jake. Ready to burn the doll,'' Henry asked. 
 Jake should be thoroughly spooked by now. 
 A week of sleep deprivation at the hands of the doll were enough to drive him over the edge. 
 
 `` Her name is Maartje and I'm not gon na let you burn her.'' 
 
 Henry paled. 
 How could the boy know the name he had heard so often in his dreams? 
 
 `` By the way, Mom. Could you buy Maartje a dress? She likes yellow.'' 
 
 Now it was Kara's term to look surprised. 
 After a second, she understood that the next years would be filled with trips to a psychiatrist. 
 The boy had n't taken the death of his beloved Grandfather well. 
 That she had hated the old fart almost as much as he had hated her would n't help Jake at all. 
 
 EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY 
 
 JAKE walks across the grass towards a waiting school bus. BILLY PULLMAN 
 leans on the tree. 
 
 `` Jakey! I have...'' 
 
 `` Mr Pullman,'' Jake said and changed direction towards Billy. 
 
 `` I told you to call me...'', Billy said. It took him a second to understand what Jake had said. 
 
 `` Is there anything I can do for you, Mr Pullman? Call a teacher, maybe? You look ill.'' 
 
 Billy, robbed of his bullying material, turned red. 
 He tried to push Jake. 
 The boy evaded the attack at the last second. 
 Billy overcompensated for the missing force and tripped. 
 Jake stood next to him and waited. 
 As Billy tried to get up, Jake touched him at the waist with the tip of his shoe. 
 
 `` You know, Mr Pullman, in a position like this, a man is very vulnerable to a sneak attack from a bully. You should really be more careful.'' 
 
 Jake held out his hand to help Billy stand up. 
 As soon as the bully was on his feet, he slapped the hand away. 
 Without a word, he left the playground. 
 
 INT. OFFICE - DAY 
 
 JAKE ( grown-up ) sits in a plastic chair in front of a wooden desk, wearing 
 a suit. The man behind the desk studies a letter. 
 
 `` Mr Wilson.'' 
 
 `` Sir.'' 
 
 `` You managed to get an application into our mail.'' 
 
 `` Yes, Sir.'' 
 
 `` You sent a letter to a non-existing government body, stating that you'd like to work for us, and citing your Grandfather as a reference. Your dead Grandfather.'' 
 
 `` Yes, Sir.'' 
 
 `` Which means, you discovered not only one, but three federal secrets. Each of which is punishable as high treason.'' 
 
 `` Yes, Sir.'' 
 
 `` And you managed to get an appointment into my calendar, enter the building and then my office. Without triggering an alarm.'' 
 
 `` Yes, Sir.'' 
 
 `` Why?'' 
 
 Jake was not surprised that the man did n't ask'How?' Maartje had explained what the agency did. Questioning the methods of their agents was not high on their agenda. 
 
 `` I wanted an adventure. Maartje was bored, too.'' 
 
 The man behind the desk paled. 
 
 `` You know of Maartje? Has she...'' He seemed afraid to complete the sentence. 
 
 Jake loosened his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt. There was a tattoo of a amulet on his chest, complete with golden chains that reached up and around his neck. 
 
 After a few seconds, he closed his shirt and tightened his tie again. 
 
 The man behind the desk stood up. Jake followed. 
 
 `` Welcome on board, Agent 15,'' the man said and held out his hand. `` I can promise you one thing: After we've trained you, your life will never lack adventure.'' 

