"Nina! Daddy is on his way to find you!" Roger called out as he entered the woods behind their house.

A girl's giggle echoed from their right in the distance.

"It looks like Nina has discovered a good hiding spot," Alice whispered to Roger with a smile, though her voice quivered with unease rather than warmth.

The couple continued to move in the direction of their daughter's laughter. Alice pushed a baby stroller, and their infant daughter, Sarah, was engrossed in her toys, oblivious to what her parents were doing.

As they drew nearer to the voice, Roger's heart pounded faster. He noticed two rocks overlapped, creating a small crevice large enough for a child to hide in. Standing a few steps away, he gestured for Alice to be quiet and crept slowly toward the rocks. With a sudden jerk, he peered into the opening, attempting to startle Nina. However, disappointment washed over him as he found the tiny cave empty, and all he could find was a single pink shoe.

A chill ran down Roger's spine, an old fear gripping him as he picked up the abandoned shoe. Alice, seeing the shoe in his hand, panicked, released her grip on the stroller, and released an agonizing scream, her despair echoing through the ghastly woods.

"Nina!"

"Nina!"

"Where are you, sweetheart?"

Yet the unnerving giggles continued to emanate from a distance.

Beads of sweat trickled down Roger's forehead as he clutched the shoe and frantically scanned the area for his daughter.

"How could you let this happen?" Alice's voice trembled as she raged at Roger through her tears.

"Don't blame me; we both didn't see this coming."

"She was your responsibility."

"Alice, please, now is not the time", he pleaded, running ahead in search of Nina. As he scoured the ground for clues, he abruptly stopped and yelled, "Wait! Stop, Alice."

"What? What happened?" she called out from behind.

"I think I found some footprints. Maybe I can track her. Just stay put; I don't want us to destroy the tracks."

He ventured deeper into the forest, where the trees formed a thick canopy, casting eerie shadows even though it was midday. The dense branches swayed gently in the breeze, beckoning him further into the darkness.

"There are small footprints everywhere, Alice!" he shouted.

"Are you sure you're looking properly?"

"Of course I am. Just be quiet and follow me," he ordered, and Alice pushed the stroller a few yards behind him, continuing to call out for Nina.

It had been 30 minutes since their search began, and Roger's poor tracking skills had them going in circles, following random footprints.

"All these tracks look the same... Ugh," he grumbled, coming to an abrupt halt. "I think I've found something, Alice." He bent down to pick up two dolls lying hand in hand on the ground.

"Oh!" Alice cried in anguish. "That one was our daughter's doll," she said, pointing to the doll on his right. Alice sat down, covering her face. "She had it with her all week; she didn't let it go for a moment. Oh, lord! Please, make sure nothing happens to my daughter,", she prayed.

"Who gave these creepy dolls to Nina?" Roger wondered, examining the dolls in his hands. The one on his right had an oddly large head atop a small body, wearing a dusty black dress. Its face was covered in unsightly freckles, and its mouth was open to reveal missing teeth. The doll's head was completely bald, with not a single strand of hair.

Roger examined the dolls closely. The one in his left hand didn't look as scary as the right, yet it was still strange. This one wore a pink t-shirt, blue jeans, and a white jacket. The doll's hair looked like it was plucked out cruelly; it had a few blond strands here and there. One of its shoes was missing—just like their daughter's.

Alice approached Roger and recognized the clothes worn by the doll on his left. It was the same outfit their daughter had been wearing. Shock and anger crossed their faces as they struggled to comprehend what had just transpired.

"Roger! Tell me this is a prank. Tell me Nina is hiding here somewhere, laughing at us. Nina, my love!" Alice cried out.

A chilling, grotesque giggle escaped the doll that resembled Nina.

"This can't be" Roger recoiled in fear, dropping both dolls to the ground.

"Roger! Why did you drop those dolls? One of them could be our daughter", Alice ran towards them to pick them back up.

"Do you really think that's our daughter?" he retorted. "Someone is playing a sick, twisted joke on us."

"I don't think so, Roger," Alice replied, her voice trembling. "Look at this. Doesn't it look like our daughter?", she said, inspecting it. "Except for one thing, both dolls seem to be missing hair, which is..."

"How did you come across this doll?" Roger inquired, pointing at the other doll.

"I didn't," Alice explained. "Nina brought it home last week after playing in the backyard. She said someone gave it to her, but I didn't see anyone passing by our backyard that day. I thought maybe I had missed someone while watching over Sarah."

"Did you ask her who gave it to her?"

"She said it was a woman. She insisted that Nina call her 'Maya'"

"Maya?" Roger was taken aback.

Looking at Roger's expression and noticing the sudden change in his tone, she demanded, "Do you know something I don't?"

"I'm sorry I never told you this before, but... Maya is the name of my late sister," Roger confessed.

"You had a sister?" Alice asked, her curiosity piqued and her disbelief evident.

Roger nodded, a sense of embarrassment in his expression. "I had a younger sister, but she passed away when she was four years old."

"What happened?"

"It was an accident. Before my parents had her, they used to buy me lots of toys. After she was born, she became their priority. One day, we were playing with our toys together, and she accidentally broke my Buzz Lightyear toy. I got angry and I was already jealous of all that attention she was getting, so without a second thought, I took one of her baby dolls and, in a fit of anger, pulled out its hair and threw it out the window."

Tears welled up in Roger's eyes as he recalled the memory of his sister.

"In a frenzy, she started running out of the room and down the stairs, where she tripped and fell."

Tears welled up in Roger's eyes as he recalled the painful memory of his sister's tragic accident. "I was only a child, and I didn't know what I was doing. But that day, if I hadn't gotten angry over her doll, she would still be here, alive."

Alice placed a comforting hand on Roger's shoulder. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Roger. It must have been incredibly difficult."

Roger nodded, wiping away a tear. "It was, and I've carried that guilt with me for years. I never mentioned it to anyone because I blamed myself for what happened."

Alice gave him a reassuring squeeze. "It wasn't your fault, Roger. You were just a child, and accidents can happen. It's tragic, but you can't blame yourself forever."

They both turned their attention back to the eerie dolls on the ground—their resemblance to Nina was hauntingly uncanny.

"So, this 'Maya' is who gave Nina the doll," Roger said, his voice tinged with concern. "Could it be some sort of bizarre coincidence, or is it my sis ...?"

Alice frowned, deep in thought. "It's strange. I don't remember anyone named Maya in our neighborhood. And if this doll is connected to your late sister in some way, it's even more unsettling."

Just then, they heard a faint sound in the distance, like a child's laughter carried on the wind. It sent shivers down their spines.

"Nina!" Alice cried out, her fear intensifying.

Roger stood there in disbelief, staring blankly at a distance and muttered to himself, "Maya? Is this you? If you are listening, I want you to know I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I lied. I can't live with the truth, and I can't let the truth ever come out. Please forgive me.", He kneels down, beginning to cry.

As his sobs echoed through the darkening woods, he suddenly noticed a deafening silence. He turned around in panic, searching for Alice, but she was nowhere to be seen. Fear clutched at his heart as he called out her name, but there was no response.

His heart pounded in his chest as he rushed back to the baby stroller, only to find it empty. Baby Sarah was gone, replaced by a gory and grotesque doll dressed in Sarah's onesie that seemed to mock him with its twisted grin. Panic surged through his veins, and he stumbled backward, crashing into a tree, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrifying sight.

On the ground near his feet, he noticed another doll next to the one that replaced his daughter; it was Alice. It lay there, its glassy eyes staring blankly at him, as if silently beckoning him into the depths of the sinister mystery that had unfolded.

The woods grew darker, the shadows closing in around Roger, and an eerie chill settled in the air. He was now alone, surrounded by the unsettling dolls; his family had vanished without a trace. Dread filled every fiber of his being as he realized that something malevolent lurked in those haunted woods, something far beyond his understanding, as the chilling laughter of the dolls echoed in the abyss.

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I hope you guys find this entertaining. 
Huge shoutout to Olivia_Benedetti for this amazing prompt!