Mena

Mena was uncovered at the back of an estate sale, seated neatly on a faded chaise with her packages stacked at her side. Her porcelain face was unblemished, her blue silk dress untouched by dust or time—but the parcels looked wrong.

She did not want to be separated from her packages. While the first two looked clean, the third bore a dark, spreading stain. The auctioneer swore it hadn’t been there when the sale began.

The woman who purchased Mena claimed the doll “refused company.” When other dolls were placed near her, their glass eyes cracked or turned clouded overnight. The sound of shifting inside the boxes could be heard in the quiet hours, like something scratching from within. Sometimes the other dolls in Mena's company also started losing things, like their heads, and could not be found or explained.

One neighbor reported the woman became obsessed, speaking to Mena as though she were alive. Days later, she was found sitting in her parlor with the three boxes in her lap brushing Mena's hair. The woman was taken away, leaving Mena and her packages behind.

Since then, Mena has reappeared at sales and auctions across the South, always with her packages intact—always with the third one still faintly stained.