His oppression

Chapter One:  UNFORESEEN FORCE   As cruel as my words are, I just didn’t have the time to grieve over my grandmother’s death. It was inevitable, the woman was almost a hundred years old and still going at it. Growing up, my workaholic mother would always drop me off at Grandma’s when she was working overtime. Of course, most grandparents are fonder of their grandchildren rather than their own children in particular and frankly, I find that their presence alone relaxes me. That had always been my case since I was a kid. I couldn’t possibly complain because of how my grandparents filled the hole in my life my parents could not. But right at the moment, I’m going through financial dilemmas and other emotional distress would break me. I was in my mid-twenties going through a crisis and is too prideful to even approach my parents about it. Following the death of my grandmother shortly after my grandfather, I couldn’t afford any vulnerability. Though grandma had left me money in her will, I’m too stubborn to accept it. But after some needed convincing from my parents when we discussed which part of grandma's will we’re going to get with an attorney, I needed to or they’re going to transfer my share to my brother’s account. We do not speak of my little brother anymore. He’s long gone and I don’t want him getting the luxury he doesn’t deserve in the first place. I bet he’s just going to use the money to feed his own ego. But I know, for a fact, deep inside I just feel bad. Feel bad that I haven’t really stayed in contact with my grandparents for so long and yet they were generous enough of their possessions. This is the top reason why I couldn’t just take the money without feeling like I earned it. So, what did I do with the money? Of course, I bought furniture in my apartment. Just inexpensive stuff I got from thrift stores in my area because that’s how practical I am. If I’m able to use things and not break them for a very long time, actually taking care of them, then I have saved a lot of cash in that regard. Afterward, all the other junk that doesn't fit in the apartment anymore but still could be used potentially in the future, are going to be relocated to the storage space I’ve bought for just a couple of bills in the downtown area from where I live. I still couldn’t grasp the fact that I got a whole arse place that was almost bigger than my apartment for just a certain amount of money. It’s like I never spent my grandma’s lifetime earnings. If you’d ask me it was a win-win situation. Today I was going to the said place. The handler said that there were still things at the location and since the property belongs to me now, the stuff left in there is for me to raid. It was up to me what I was going to do with them and I just had a brilliant idea what. Parking my ol’ hunk of a car at the parking area just outside the building itself, I got out, the keys were dangling from my fingers as I walked to the building. Honestly, I was like an excited little kid whose parents were buying toys from a store. Something I know what it feels like but really hadn’t experienced, you know? Just situations I witness because I work in an actual toy store. With that out of the way, I, more or less, ripped my muscles from trying to pull the thing upward. A puff of air was let out of my system when it finally slid up and the dust practically slapped my face the second it opened. Coughing, I took small steps toward the space and instantly hit my foot at a metal corner. Talk about luck today. Turning on the light, finally, I was able to completely see the things abandoned and I smiled to myself. “A lot of things I could sell here…” I whispered to myself, my eyes wandering around to find anything interesting. “I can finally afford a damn pizza. I’ll buy boxes upon boxes of pizza with the money I’ll get. Then I’ll finally be happy.” Well, everything was curious but they were all odds and ends children must have at one point before. Everything was sheer children's toys. It truly felt like I was at work right now. I, now, tried opening a few of the boxes that were on the top of the stacked pile. Dust was everywhere and I was slowly getting triggered from the lack of care anyone put to this. I do not like unclean places. When I do finally get a break from work or the following weekends, I’ll scrub this room clean and spotless even if it’s the last thing I ever do with my life. But for right now, I’m going to find something that would actually let me reach the idea of towers of pizza boxes in my apartment. Something that’s going to be worthwhile. Just as I was thinking of moving the boxes, a brown leather box was spotted in the corner of the room. It was actually fascinating because the packaging looked brand new. Like it never had someone lay a finger on it and boy did it give me the creeps. Goosebumps were all over my body and really, I don’t like that feeling. Anyway, I approached the box after a lot of thinking and pushing my body to move forward. If everything here is just as creepy as the box, then I’m never going to get the place clean. I have to face it because I have no choice. Wiping the top, I swiftly looked at my finger if there was even a single spec of dirt that had transferred but there was none. The leather box was completely clean and I was astounded. It was one of those boxes that was meant for jewelries but it was still strange, this is huge. There’s no possibility that all that there would be in there were just jewelries. I don’t even like jewelries but there was one thought that came to mind. What if they were stolen? Will I be committed of the crime even if I didn’t do it? But there was still a possibility that they were not jewelries and I’m just jumping into conclusions early on. I feel like I’m stalling myself too much. At the end, I crouched down and unzipped the lock then slowly opened the lid. “A doll?” Well that turned to a different route quicker than I could open the box. When I lifted the doll up from what looked like its slumber place, I didn’t expect it to be quite heavy and made of glass. A figurine per se or a similar sort, it just feels really expensive. Appearance wise, the doll was beautiful but it did give off an eerie vibe that can be felt from a mile away, I’m definitely sure. It looked surreal to be human but its features were, of course human-like. Eugh. -- I’m still not precise on why I took the doll home. Maybe because I can fix it a little bit and try to sell it on a website. Maybe a three-digit price would suffice or even more than that, I don’t know. Research needs to be conducted before I can sell this off. The rarity of the item, I have no clue, and maybe I’d be dealing with unfairness on my end of the agreement if that’s even the case. As soon as I got home, I went straight to my phone with the joint doll sitting on my desk. I kept glancing at it the whole time, to say the least; the doll seemed to be staring into my soul… very deep into my soul and I was little by little felt bothered. How they made the eyes was the biggest mystery to me right now. They really looked like…genuine human eyes. I swore I even saw them move or my eyes were just deceiving me. Either how, I’m still creeped out, don’t get me wrong. Who the hell would do this? People like this kind of stuff? I guess I don’t blame them, being attracted to this inanimate object. Because even I find it very, very appealing and would mean that’s what the creators wanted when they were producing these dolls. The internet is good but for the circumstance that I was in right now, it was no use. No matter how many pages I turn, clicking every article or pictures I see that were similar to the doll I had in my possession, nothing comes out. Even the dolls that were close to looking like it, their brand had not come out with what I had right now. But the price did send me to heaven for a bit, it was a three-digit number retail price that I’m really happy with- more than joyous, even. But I can’t just sell it without knowing anything about it. I scanned the doll once more, noticing the few scratches and loss of paint in some areas of the body itself. Noting everything down on the paper to buy things I needed to make it look brand new again- like I didn’t see it in a storage space, and convinced myself to eat dinner. It would be a waste if I didn’t fix it, honestly. The chair I sat on produced a sound that got my hearing hurt for a few moments when I stood up and went to grab something to snack on whilst I thought of what food I was going to have. A few minutes in, I went back to my room to just eat there as I would just scroll through my social media timelines to see what was happening… Only to find the doll not there.