Thailand.
Ayutthaya. Once the heart of a kingdom, now a city of ruins and tourists baking in the heat.
But not every relic is for display.
---
Mallory Crane, a British vlogger and antique collector, had a knack for uncovering things better left buried. Her latest haul? A faded wooden doll from a back-alley market near the Wat Mahathat temple.
Its eyes were painted gold. Its mouth curved in a perpetual smile.
The vendor gave it away for free. Said it was a good luck charm.
"Name her, and she will protect you."
Mallory laughed. Named it 'Mimi.'
---
The strange things started that night. Her hotel key vanished. The light flickered each time she looked away from the doll. And Mimi…
...was never where she left it.
---
The dreams turned violent.
Children screaming.
A fire in an old teakwood house.
A girl, hair singed, eyes full of soot, smiling even as she burned.
Mallory woke up with ash in her mouth.
---
Locals refused to look at the doll. One monk from Wat Phanan Choeng begged her to return it to the river.
"The soul is bound. If she smiles, it is not for you."
Mallory uploaded a video instead.
Got over 500,000 views.
And a nosebleed that lasted an hour.
---
The next morning, she found a comment on her video:
Mimi smiled at me too.
Then another: She's behind you.
And another: Did you name her? You shouldn't have named her.
She disabled the comments.
Her channel crashed.
---
The final video uploaded automatically.
It was 2 minutes and 11 seconds of static. Then Mallory's face, pale and frozen, whispering:
"She made me smile back."
In the background, the doll moved.
Smiled wider.
---
Mallory disappeared. Her hotel room untouched. Passport still in the safe.
The doll was never found.
But a week later, a street vendor in Ayutthaya began offering a wooden doll to tourists.
Its eyes? Gold.
Its smile? Just a little too wide.
__