[THE FOLLOWING IS ONE OF MY FIRST ATTEMPTS AT WRITING HORROR PLEASE BE CONSTRUCTIVE WITH CRITICISM]

Have you heard of Nightbright?

not lightbright, Nightbright.

If you haven't, it was an old toy made in circa 1997,

only a year before furbies hit the market.

It was a plush wolf with glow in the dark stars on it,

marketed as a bedtime storyteller, with multiple "sold separately"

cassette tapes that could be put inside it's belly to be played.

I had one as a kid.

Used to play with it with an old friend of mine.

We used to always pretend it was possessed and put punk rock cassettes

in it's cassette player instead of the actual story tapes.

One cold night, I decided to dust off the ancient thing from out of my attic.

I'd say that was my first mistake...

I took it out of it's box, and noticed how... destroyed it looked.

half it's shirt was ripped, some of the endoskeleton was exposed,

and it was missing an eye.

I wondered to myself how it could've gotten into such a state, maybe I'd misremembered how much of a reckless

kid I must've been to get it so... broken.

I powered it on,

 only to hear a deafening screech from it's voice box, and I immediately turned it back off.

I set it down on a chair, "at least it's good halloween decor" I said to myself.

I layed back down on my bed for the night, only to realize I had forgotten to turn off the light.

So I went back into the foyer, and...

The doll was nowhere to be seen.

I was certainly unsettled by this, but ultimately brushed it off as me forgetting where

I put it.

So I turned off the light...

and went back to bed.

but I noticed something on my shelf.

something...

Glowing?

even after all these years, the stars on that thing still glowed.

But stranger yet, it's eyes were glowing too.

but not their normal green glow.

they were BLOOD RED.

And I felt my tiredness quickly turn to fear, as it began to speak.

In a cut together, staticy mess, (adjacent to a spirit box) I could make out one word.

"APOLOGIZE."

"a-apologize to who?" I stuttered,

"T0 Y0UR 0LD FR3!ND." it sputtered mechanically,

that thing must be talking about, either itself, or the old friend

I played with it with.

but I haven't seen that old friend since grade school.

I wasn't even sure if she was still alive!

Panicked, I ran out of my bedroom and locked the door.

but it still spoke.

"D0 Y0U TH!NK Y0U C4N G3T 4W4Y TH4T EASILY?"

I could only respond with silence as my mind raced for any

solution... Do I call the police? do I text goodbye to my loved ones?

so many options. But the one I chose was...

Running.

I ran down the hallway to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife

I could find. The thing somehow got the door opened and I could hear the static

of it's voicebox getting louder...

and louder...

eventually I saw it crawling towards me from around the corner...

it came up about 4 feet in front of me.

"DON'T MOVE!" I yelled, threatening the doll with the large knife.

I watched as the thing slowly arose to it's soot-covered plush feet, and opened it's maw,

almost choking on it's own wires saying "D0N-7 A[T L!KE Y0U D0N-7 KN0W WH0 ! 4M"

"I *DON'T* KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" I say exasperatedly, still pointing the knife threateningly towards it.

"!T-5 M3, R4CH4;L."

"n-no..." I spoke softly, lowering my weapon.

"you *can't* be her, that's impossible!"

"0H BUT D0N-7 Y0U R3M3MB3R?? TH3 C4RCR4SH?"

the car crash... how could I forget the car crash?

the one everyone whispered about...

"oh... h-how are you in there?"

"N0T GR347."

"no, how did you get in there?"

"! D0N-7 KN0W."

"BU7 ! H4V3 0N3 QU3ST!0N."

"what is it?"

"WH7 D!D Y0U L34V3 M3 !N TH3R3?"

"I-I didn't know!"

"R34LL7?"

"I mean how was I supposed to know my Nightbright was possessed?"

"B3 C4R3FUL WH4T Y0U J0K3 4B0U7."

it walked towards me in an unnatural, choppy way... Whirring and buzzing with each

step it took. "STAY BACK!" I yelled, the static stopped.

the doll stood still for one perfect second, and said in Rachel's voice...

"i'm sorry."