Alice Moonflowyr Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 I give you part one of a three part story. Childhood Haunts. [spoiler=Childhood Haunts Part One of Three: Daniel] I first met Daniel when I was young. I was seven years old and on vacation in England with my parents. They were taking a picture in front of the Westminster Abbey when I saw a boy that looked my age hiding off in the shadows. He was very pale with a mop of black hair on his head. He was wearing a white tee shirt and jeans, with wide eyes and a small mouth. He caught my eye and waved. When I waved back, he motioned me over. I looked at my parents, busy fumbling with their new camera. I thought nothing of it and walked over to the boy. "Hello," he said in a small voice that had a subtle rasp to it. As I got closer I realized he was hunched slightly with very odd looking eyes. His head had a small tilt to it as he spoke. I stared with open curiosity as a said hello. I was a very outgoing kid, and I had never met anyone like him before. "I'm Daniel. Who are you?" he said in the same small rasp. He wrung his hands together and was visibly nervous. "My name is Kerry. I'm seven and a half, how old are you?" I said, still staring. He thought a minute before answering. "I'm, ah, eight." We talked small talk for a minute, then my parents called me. As I made to leave, waving goodbye, his hand wrapped around my arm with a grip like steel. "Wait," he rasped, "Won't you come with me? I'm so lonely." His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and had a desperate glint to them. I tugged at my arm, saying I needed to go with my parents. His demeanor then changed in the blink of an eye, and his eyes acquired a menacing look. He hissed at me. "No! You must come with me!" He then grabbed my other arm with his free hand and made to drag me off. I was saved when my father ran over and slammed his full weight into Daniel. He scooped me up in his arms as I sobbed, and backed away, keeping a careful eye on the boy howling on the ground. ... Ten years later and I'm unpacking my bags in my college dorm room. My roomate hadn't arrived yet, and as I was stacking books on a desk I heard a knock at the door. I opened it up and there were two boys standing outside. One was tall and muscular, holding a pizza. The other was hunched with black hair and wide eyes. My heart started racing as I stared. "Complimentary pizza for the new girl! I'm Alex and welcome to the greatest place on earth," the tall one announced, with a swoon-worthy voice. I barely heard him and couldn't stop staring at the hunched boy. He wrung his hands nervously, meeting my eyes. I saw pure terror in them, and he directed his gaze towards his shoes. "Alex, she's staring at me...." he whimpered in a small, scared voice. Alex waved his hand over my eyes. "Hey. That's my little buddy you're gawking at." I started and put on a strained smile. It couldn't be the same boy that terrified me so many years ago, he was too fearful. "Sorry. I'm Kerry." I held my hand out to Alex, who shook with a quick nod. "I, ah, um...I'm...um.." the other boy stammered. "This screwball is Jack. He's never been this close to a hot girl for more than a minute wihout her trying to leave, so you'll have to excuse him." I chuckled a little and accepted the pizza gratefully. Explaining that I needed to unpack, I closed the door and went to set the pizza on the counter. I then sat on the floor and tried to steady my racing heart. It wasn't the same boy. It couldn't be. I ate, then returned the leftovers to the fridge. I finished unpacking, setting up my PC on the desk. Making sure it wasn't going to overheat, I was fiddling under the desk when the door banged open. Startled, I smacked my head on the desk. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" a tall figure said in distress as it rushed to my side. A girl with crimson red hair helped me out from under the desk, smiling apologetically. "Sorry. I guess you're my new roomate. I'm Alice, nice to meet you. And sorry again." "Ow. It's fine. I'm Kerry." I rubbed my head, where a small bump was already forming. "I like your hair!" I said, staring a little. Alice's hair was a deep crimson, and it drifted down to a little ways past her shoulders. Her bangs were a bit all over the place, and she brushed hair out of her face every five seconds. "Thanks. It's dyed though, I wish it was my natural color." "Unless you jumped out of an anime, no one has hair that color occur naturally," I said giggling. After helping my new roomie unpack, I directed her towards the pizza, which she wolfed down with much gusto. "So," she said between mouthfuls, "interesting pair across the hall, eh?" I coughed and nodded, not quite ready to dwell on Jacks' resemblance to my childhood nightmare. Alice noticed, and a devlish smile appeared on her face. "You like Alex, don't you?" Without thinking, I nodded. It was an excuse and I took it. Alice let out something halfway between a chuckle and a guffaw, and slapped my shoulder. "He's a piece alright. You certainly have good taste." I smiled nervously and nodded. After much pizza was consumed, we toured the campus and I got to know Alice. I learned she came from a nice family, with four siblings. She was the oldest of three girls and one boy. Her father was a lawer, and her mother was an engineer. When we returned to our room the sun was hiding below the horizon. We ordered Chinese and played Halo on Alice's X-Box till we both were ready to conk out. As I lied my head down, I couldn't help but think of Jack. And Daniel. And big, funny Alex who seemed pretty protective of Jack. No matter what I told myself, I couldn't shake the feeling that my childhood nightmare was haunting me. Had I known how much shit I was in, I wouod have skipped town right then and there. [/spoiler] Don't think you know where this is going. You don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 "My name is Kerry. I'm seven and a half," ...Ten years later and I'm unpacking my bags in my college dorm room. Just thought I'd point this out. Kerry's 17 and she's already in college. Was she taking AP classes, or is her birthday just very late in the year? If it's just a mishap, then it's not a big deal. So I'm assuming the horror here is just the link between Daniel and Jack, right? Is there something else I'm missing? Cause this didn't seem as creepy as the other two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Moonflowyr Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Just thought I'd point this out. Kerry's 17 and she's already in college. Was she taking AP classes, or is her birthday just very late in the year? If it's just a mishap, then it's not a big deal. So I'm assuming the horror here is just the link between Daniel and Jack, right? Is there something else I'm missing? Cause this didn't seem as creepy as the other two.Late birthday, it was intentional. This part lays down the groundwork. Parts 2 and 3 will be longer and much creepier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Ah, okay. Looking forward to those then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Moonflowyr Posted July 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 And the title of most f*cked up thing I've ever written goes to... [spoiler=Childhood Haunts, Part Two of Three: Mommy] "I don't think so you little brat! Get back here!" a harsh voice yells out. A smashing sound is heard as empty bottles shatter all around the boy cowering in fear. "What the hell is this? Get away from him!" another voice sounds out amidst the wailing and crashing. A hand curls around the arm poised to throw another bottle, and a loud crack is heard as the hand is wrenched away.... .... I woke up in a fairly good mood. Three months into college, and my birthday was coming up! What could get me down now? Me and Alice had become quite close, and she was very protective of me. She had a younger sibling die from a car accident seven years ago, and it made her slightly over protective of her loved ones. Alex was Alex, and we received no less than ten more free pizzas from him. He also invited me to about seven different parties. Two of which I went to. And they both kind of sucked.The First Party Be me, two weeks into college. Get party invite from pizza-gifting neighbor. Obviously I go. Alice stays to study and catch up a bit. She is a self-proclaimed Super Procrastinator and already was losing track of where her English Lit. class was going. I arrive and Alex greets me with Jack trailing behind him. I get shivers staring at him, but I can now hold a small conversation with the poor guy. After a few minutes sitting and chatting with Alex's little circle, I get the urge to try a beer. I've never had alcohol before. As soon as the word came out of my mouth, Jack seemingly became...smaller. If that's even possible. Alex sharply eyed me and said "If you have to. But don't come over here with it." I looked bewildered and shot a confused glance at Jack. In his eyes I saw a swirling inferno of pain and fear, and something else. "Umm....are you alright?" I asked tentatively. Alex stood up and pulled me off to the side. "We don't talk about alcohol around Jack. His mother was an alcoholic, and not the nice kind. He's the way he is because of her." His eyes were dead as a stone, and his voice was just as hard. I gulped and returned to the table, carefully reaching out to touch Jack's shoulder. "Um...sorry. I didn't know...." He jerked at the contact and stared at me. He gave a quick nod and returned to slumping, remembering god knows what kind of awful things. I left not long after, feeling pretty bad. And so ended Party One. ..."Mom, no, please don't do this...." the small boy rasped, his voice choked with sobs of fear. A woman with a large bat in her hand stood in front of him. "Why shouldn't I, you useless little shit? You're just a waste of space, just like your good-for-nothing father." The woman then took a long drought from a bottle hanging loosely in her other hand. "I'll do something! Anything you want!" the boy wailed, wringing his hands in terror. "Anything....alright then. Do this for me." ... So, party number one was a huge bummer. What could top that, you ask? Why, party number two of course! Be me, two weeks after Party One. Two more invites came my way and I declined because schoolwork, because I was a good little nerd. But I accepted this one. At this point, I could call Jack a friend. When he wasn't a nervous wreck, he was actually kind of adorable. He was funny, enjoyed the same games Alice and I did, and was way better at them. Speaking of the Scarlet Wonder, Alice tagged along for Party Two as my guard. I told her she worried too much, I wasn't going to drink anyway. She knew secondhand about the No Booze Around Jack rule, but she's stubborn if anything. So I had a bodyguard. Party Two started out great. It had a live DJ! But alas, all good things come to an end, and usually in the form of a sob story. Do not worry, dear reader, I was not roofied or anything. In fact, it isn't even my sob story. It's Jacks. He asked me to walk with him halfway through the party. He needed to stretch his legs and was understandably afraid of going alone. I was about to ask where Alex was when I saw a familiar muscled moron slobbing over a girl in the corner. Seriously, the drool in their makeout session was insane. Talk about cleanup on Aisle 3. So I walked. And talked. And cried, although not in front of him. That came later. "Kerry, can I tell you something?" I heard him rasp quietly. I nodded, and he found a bench and sat down. "Do you remember how we met?" I almost fell over. But I kept a straight face and a cool voice when I asked "What do you mean?" He paused. "Ten years ago. I scared you." I wasn't sure how to react. I sat down, shaking. "That was you then?" I whispered. He nodded, a small tear in his eye. "My old name is Daniel. I changed it when I turned 18." It felt like eons before I spoke again. "What the hell do you want from me." "I want to ask you this. Do you want to know what happened that day?" I considered for a minute, then slowly nodded. He took a deep breath and began telling one of the craziest stories I've heard. And one of the saddest... ..."Do this then. If you don't want to end up like him." the woman said as she pointed to a mangled body lying in a pool of blood. The boy waited, terrified. "Go find me a little girl. Your age. Bring her here, and you'll have finally made Mommy happy." the woman said. Then she cackled and smacked the boy with the bat yelling "Go on then! Shoo!" The boy ran, bottling away his tears. He could finally make her happy. And she would love him again. He went from place to place, shadow to shadow. Looking for a little girl. He found one near the Abbey. She came over to him. "I'm Kerry. And I'm seven and a half years old!" she said, smiling. She was perfect. Mommy would love her. But as the boy began to drag her back, her father intervened. Why did this happen? He needed that girl, couldn't they see that? He screamed in rage as the father took his prize away from him. And then the Watchmen. Chasing him. He ran, ran, ran as fast as his legs could carry. I must get home! Mommy will understand, she will save me from the Watchmen! "Mommy! Help!" screeched the boy as he burst through the door. He slipped on his fathers blood and collapsed in a heap onto the corpse, panting. He heard yells. Bottles smashing. Mommy screaming. The Watchmen were taking her. Dragging her off. The boy ran to save her, but when she saw him, she howled. "You! I hate you! You did this to me! It's all your fault!" ..... I felt dead inside. Jack quickly capped his story with a few years of therapy and ten years of foster care, but I was barely listening. I stood up and dragged him up as well. He looked scared. I put my arms around him and held him tight, staying that way for five minutes. "I forgive you." I whispered into his ear, shaking with silent sobs. As Jack cried and hugged Kerry back, something stirred in the back of his mind. Something that had been dead for eight long years.I can still make you proud... I can still be your Daniel... I will make you happy... Mommy. [/spoiler] This story is rated PG-16. Also note, this story has content including alcoholism, severe child abuse, and graphic violence. If you are triggered by or do not enjoy reading these types of scenes, do not read this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted July 20, 2014 Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 The suspense increases, albeit subtle and awkwardly placed. Nonetheless, Jake's mom has me curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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