NOTE: Night of the Living Dummy and all other Goosebumps properties are copyrighted to R.L. Stine, Scholastic, and Parachute Press. All rights are reserved to the mentioned people/enterprises listed. I am in no way associated with these people/enterprises nor is the following fanfiction being sold for profit/distribution.

"You have to be kidding me!" Peggy balked over the other end of the phone.

I sighed in defeat as I plopped down on my bed, staring out the window, "I wish I was, but the dummy has gone missing & Linda's shop was completely locked up. ...So much for figuring this out with any ease."

There was a brief silence before Peggy spoke again. "This can't... be happening." The way she said those words unsettled me a little. It was as if she was referring to more than the current topic. Also, her voice, suddenly sounded stilted & wooden. I tried to brush it off in my head, not dwell on it.

"We'll get it figured out eventually," I attempted to reassure us both, not really believing in my delivery but wanting to believe those words.

Peggy audibly gulped on the other end of the line. Then her voice came with a little struggle, "I... re-really ho-ope... so..." I began to pick up on how labored her breath sounded. She must have had a death grip on the phone too because I could hear her hand clenching it tighter. Something was extremely wrong.

"Peggy?" I called out to her over the phone, turning away from my window and my eyes locking upon the receiver. "Peggy, what's wrong? What's happening to you?"

All that I could hear was her attempting to form words that were catching in her throat. I jumped a little as I heard the death clench on her phone stop and heard the loud crash it made to the floor. Peggy sounded far away but she was definitely gasping loudly and thrashing in her hospital bed. Then footsteps filled her room, someone calling out that her throat was swelling and she was going into paralysis. I found myself covering my mouth, my eyes getting watery, as I continued to listen in shock. It soon came to an end when someone picked up the phone in her room and hung up. The nightmarish phone call was over.

I slapped my phone back into the receiver, free from the curious fear brought on from the moment, and choked back a cry. Taking a moment to compose myself, I hastily left my room and knocked on my mother's door. She peeked her head out, taking one glance on me, and asked, "Jennifer sweetie, what's going on? You look completely terrified."

"Mom, we have to go back to the hospital and see Peggy!" were the first words that left my mouth. "Something's happening to her! We were talking and suddenly she couldn't talk and dropped the phone, and I heard all these doctors & nurses rushing into her room and they said that she was becoming paralyzed and that her throat was swelli-"

My mother took my by the shoulders as she came out into the hallway, "Oh no...! But Jen, there's no way the hospital isn't going to let us go there right now. It's past visiting hours and the only people they would make some kind of exception for in this case is her parents."

"But we have to do something!" I pleaded with her. "What if she's dying right now? I'm so scared for her."

Leading us both down the stairs, my mother hugged me tight to her side while informing me that she would make a call to the hospital herself and try to find out what was happening. She sat me down at the kitchen table as she dialed the hospital while fetching two mugs for us. Knowing her, she was most likely going to make some hot chocolate under some odd notion it would calm me. Admittedly, it usually helped a little bit.

As my mother poured the milk into the mugs and stuck them in the microwave, she spoke very professionally to the receptionist on the other line. "Yes, my name is Megan Harris. I'm calling to check up on the status of Peggy Foster. She's a good friend of my daughter's and we want to make sure she's doing alright." There was a long pause as my mother stood beside the microwave. Finally the silence was broken as my mother uttered words that made my stomach lurch, "Oh, I see... that's very upsetting to hear. Is sh-" Then another long pause. The microwave beeped and I could see my mother's hands trembling slightly as she pulled the mugs from inside and tore open the packages of hot chocolate mix. I found myself feeling like I was going to end up throwing up that hot chocolate later at this rate. Soon the dreadful conversation my mother was having came to an end with her stating, "Well, thank you for the information. Good night." I could see her stumble forward a little after hanging up, her head hung down. A moment later, she began to stir the hot chocolate mix into the milk and strolled over to the kitchen table, setting a mug down in front of me before she sat down to take a sip. I didn't touch it. I just stared for a long time until my mother put her mug down after drinking half the cup. She cleared her throat and spoke as composed as she could muster, "She's going to be fine... try not to worry about her for now Jennifer."

I continued to just balk at her with my gaze. Eventually I asked defiantly, "That's all?"

My mother shot a look at me and nodded, "Yes, that's all."

"What are you keeping from me?" my voice demanded more than it pleaded as I leaned over the table at her. "I saw your hands were shaking when you were on the phone. If you think keeping me in the dark is better, than you're wrong! It's just going to make me that much more scared."

She picked up her mug again, her eyes turned down towards her drink as she spoke, "Jennifer, I don't think it'll make you feel any better either."

I slammed my hand on the table. "And you letting me use my imagination about what they told you is better?! Letting me possibly get more freaked out is better?!"

My mother wanted to give me the maternal death glare. Her eyes said as much. But she relented with a sigh, setting her mug down, and stared me right in the eyes. "This is what they told me. She's been stabilized and she's not going to die, as far as they can tell. But they said that they have to put her in ICU observation... that her symptoms have taken a turn towards something they've never seen before... They couldn't say much else because they don't fully know what's happening to her."

I had to turn away, putting my focus on my fidgeting hands tracing out the lines in my palms, as I commented, "I'm surprised they told you that much. Seems like a breach of confidentiality in a way."

My mother nodded at this. "I think... I think the nurse on the phone probably saw what was going on and it spooked her a little. She sounded like she was trying to keep her composure."

I gave up at saying anything more at this point. I grabbed the mug of hot chocolate and drank it in silence with my mother. So much for it doing that little bit of good it normally would. I got up after I was finished, muttering, "Thanks for the hot chocolate," marching back up the stairs to my room. My mother had no response. It was quite obvious the situation had wriggled under her skin too.

Plopping back upon my bed, I snuggled up with one of my pillows. I had passed out before I realized I was nodding off. That was amazing for me considering my lights were on. As I slept, I could faintly hear a pleasant little music box tune. It was warm & comforting in its sound. However, there was something strange about all of this. My sleep was dreamless and I know I didn't own any music boxes. Even stranger still was that as I stirred, I could tell the lights were now off in my room and I swear I felt someone hovering over me. Perhaps it was my mother, having come in to check on me and perhaps give me a kiss goodnight. That's when I felt a heavy weight drop down on top of me. It wasn't enough to crush me, but it was definitely noticeable. This was not my mother at all. Opening my eyes, I gasped when I saw the Heather look-a-like dummy sitting on top of me, the music box tune emanating from its chest and its' mouth aimed down at my face as the jaw slowly dropped open...

TO BE CONTINUED...