Alice hunched over her little desk, the voodoo doll laid out before her. She'd not examined it closely before, not really. Her first look had been a little rushed, up in the attic. And since then, she'd been distracted every time she pulled it out. This was the first instance she really had a close look without emotions clouding her mind.

It really was an ugly little thing, with a patch of brown hair, what felt like real human hair, sewn into the top of the head, forming a stiff crest, ...