Author's Note:
I'm back! It's been too long since I posted anything, sorry about that I've just got caught up in some personal stuff that I'm not gonna bore you with. Also just so you know I will be continuing my other stories, but I won't be able to post new stuff as frequently unfortunately. Anyway this story is an anthology with each chapter being a different story. Each story will be an adaptation of some of my favorite stories from movies, tv shows, and comics. Ok so I don't own Regular Show or its characters and all that, now on with the story.
On a late summer night Rigby, Margaret, and Eileen were sitting around the most cliché frame devices known to man… a campfire. The fire emitted a dim orange glow illuminated the area. Rigby grabs a marshmallow and nudges Eileen, "Hey check this out". Rigby then tossed the marshmallow into the fire and gazed at it as it began to expand before shriveling up and turning into black ash. Rigby and Eileen both chuckled at the spectacle.
Shortly after Mordecai walked out of his tent with a guitar, "Alright, who's ready for some campfire songs, Whoooaaa!"
Rigby tilted his head back and moaned in disgust, "Come on man, no one wants to sing any lame songs".
"Oh, come on man" Mordecai said in disappointment, "They're not that bad".
Rigby crossed his arms, "Yeah they are…besides, I have a better idea".
"Ugh, what" Mordecai asked already knowing the answer.
Rigby suddenly flashed both palms in the air, "ghost stories".
Mordecai rubbed the bridge of his beak, "Rigby, if we do that you won't be able to sleep and will keep me up all night".
Margaret reached up and tugged on the sleeve of Mordecai's green jacket, "Oh come on Mordecai, it sounds like fun".
"Yeah" Eileen concurred, "Plus the setting does at a certain ambiance that's fitting".
Mordecai let out a defeated groan, "Fine" he sat down on a log next to Margaret, "I'm assuming you already have a story picked out".
A sinister smirk crept onto Rigby's face, "Sure do".
Rigby Presents
Still Life
Mordecai and Rigby walked into the park house after a long day of chores, Mordecai flopped down on the couch as Rigby ran into the kitchen. He made his way to the fridge and retrieved two cans of soda before running back into the living room, "Alright" he exclaimed as he opened one can, "Now for some bro time". He tossed the other can to Mordecai, but he was staring off into space and it hit him in the shoulder causing him to snap his head towards Rigby. "Sorry man" Rigby apologized as he walked to the couch, "Are you ok man, you've been acting weird all day".
Mordecai took a deep breath and exhaled, "I'm fine, it's just… I don't know" he stood up and walked to the door.
Rigby stood up on the couch and looked at him, "Whoa, here are you going?"
Mordecai opened the door, "I don't know, I just need to clear my head" he answered as he walked out the door closing it behind him. After wondering the park grounds for a while he came to a bench and decided to sit down. For some reason he just had this overwhelming feeling of sadness. Soon Skips came down the path holding a box of tools, he noticed Mordecai and waved at him, "Hey Mordecai". Mordecai just raised his hand up and gave him a quick wave without even lifting his head. Skips could tell something was bothering him and sat beside him on the bench, "What's wrong?"
Mordecai slowly looked over at him, "I don't know, I guess…" he rubbed his eyes, "Lately I've just been thinking, what am I doing with my life you know. I mean I don't want to be working at the park for the rest of my life, I've always dreamed becoming an artist but I dropped out of art school and now…" Mordecai averted his eyes and lowered his head again, "now I think it's too late".
Feeling sympathetic Skips patted him on the shoulder, "Mordecai, if you're feeling this way then you should get back into art. Start painting again in your free time".
Mordecai lifted his head up, "I don't know, maybe it's been too long, maybe I don't have what it takes anymore".
"Nonsense, you painted that portrait of Benson" Skips reassured him, "The fear of failure should never keep you from pursuing your goals. Either you try and have a chance of failing, or you quit and fail for sure".
Mordecai smiled and stood up, "You're right, I need to buckle down and dedicate myself. Thanks Skips".
"Don't mention it"
Later that day in the art supply store Mordecai was staring emphatically at a paint brush. "Hmmm" he hummed as he examined it.
Beside him was Rigby who was growing impatient, "Just pick one already".
Mordecai stared at it for a few second more, "Nope, doesn't feel right".
"Uhg" Rigby groaned, "We've been here for almost an hour and you haven't found a single brush you liked".
"I'm sorry" Mordecai apologized, "But if I'm gonna be serious about this then I need to make sure to get the right brush".
"Well, that's all the brushes they have so I'm guessing it's not here" Rigby replied.
Mordecai looked at the display of brushes and realized he was right, he did go through all the brushes and couldn't find one he liked. He hung his head in defeat and sighed, "Let's go".
They exited the store and walked down the sidewalk, "Look I'm sorry you didn't find a brush, but you really need to be less picky man" Rigby said breaking the silence, "I mean a brush is a brush it smears paint onto things how hard can it be to find one".
"You're not an artist" Mordecai scoffed, "You wouldn't understand".
Rigby rolled his eyes, "Oh, please don't become one of those guys. I don't think I could…" Rigby lost his train of thought when he noticed something across the street, "Whoa, check that out" he ran across the street, causing an oncoming car to screech to a halt while he blasted his horn. Mordecai followed behind him. They reached a store with strange symbols on the window displaying weird artifacts. Rigby ran inside with Mordecai behind him. Rigby gazed in glee at an assortment of oddities from shrunken heads to preserved animal fetuses in jars.
"Rigby, this place is a joke" Mordecai said angrily, "Let's just go home".
Rigby looked up at him with a smirk, "Oh no, we just spent an hour doing what you wanted, now it's my turn" he then ran to check out more of the stores weird items.
Annoyed Mordecai reluctantly walked around and browsed the stores selection. Then suddenly he noticed something that intrigued him. He approached a glass box that contained a paint brush of all things. The handle appeared to be crafted from some kind of animal bone with a beautiful design carved into it. "Whoa"
"I see you've found something you like" the shop own said suddenly, causing Mordecai to jump in shock, "I didn't mean to startle you".
"It's ok" Mordecai said as he took several deep breathes trying to get his heart rate down, "So what's the deal with this brush?"
"Aw, the brush" The shop keeper said, "This is an interesting piece, its origins are unknown but it has been said that it has been used by many famous artist. They say it breaths life into any painting".
Mordecai turned back and looked at it again, "it's perfect" he looks back at the shop keeper, "I'll take it".
"An excellent choice my friend" the shop keep exclaimed as he removed the brush from the glass display and placed it in a wooden box with a dark finish.
But then a thought came to Mordecai, "Wait… when you say breath life into art, you don't mean my paintings will come to life right? Because I already had to deal with that once so…"
"Oh no" the shop keeper answered as he wave his hand in the air, "Nothing like that".
Later that night Mordecai was finishing up his first painting, a self-portrait of himself and the resemblance was uncanny. Rigby walked into the room while he was adding the finishing touches, "Whoa, dude that's awesome".
"Thanks man" Mordecai said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'm really happy it turned out ok, usually I' not that great at non abstract stuff". Mordecai dipped the brush into some red paint, "Now I just need to add my signature and it's done". He wrote his name at the bottom right of the painting and sighed in relief. He stood back to admire his work until the moment was interrupted by a fly that was buzzing around his face. He swatted at it with his painting hand causing a small drop of red paint to fly off and land on the left cheek of his portrait. "Aw man" he picked up a cloth and wiped away the paint but a thin red line was left behind. Mordecai shook his head in frustration.
"Hey come on man" Rigby said calmly, "it's still pretty bad ass, you should be proud".
Mordecai looked down at him and smiled, "You're right, thanks" he reached for him phone and checked the time, "I'm gonna call Margaret real quick, could you…"
Rigby turned to exit the room, "Yeah yeah I'm gone".
Mordecai call Margaret and talked to her for a good hour about an assortment of topics from movies they've seen to Margaret's classes. But at the end Mordecai brought up what he really wanted to talk about. "So yeah, I've started painting again" he said enthusiastically.
"Really, that's great" Margaret said happily.
"Yeah, I finally feel like I'm on my way to becoming an artist"
"I'm happy for you" Margaret added, "Hey, do you think you could paint one of me?"
"Hmmm, I don't know" Mordecai said playfully, "What's in it for me?"
He could hear Margaret laugh on the other end, "Let's just say I'll 'make it worth your while' when I get back".
"Deal" Mordecai quickly answered before letting out a loud yawn, "Well it's getting late, I should head to bed, talk to you later"
"Talk to you later" Margaret said before making an exaggerated kissing sound over the phone, "Bye".
After hanging up Mordecai went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. After brushing his teeth he filled up a ceramic cup with water to rinse his mouth. While we was gargling the wet cup slipped and fell into the sink. I shattered and a small shard full up and caught Mordecai in the cheek, cutting him. He put his hand over the cut before looking at it in the mirror, "Not that bad I guess" he shrugged it off and went to bed.
A few days later Mordecai was in his room finishing up the painting of Margaret. He wanted it to be perfect so he spend a lot more time on hers than his own. He finally finished and signed it before walking down to the living where Rigby was sitting. Once he entered Rigby turned and looked at him, "Hey bout time you come down" he said jokingly, "You finally finish that painting for your girl?" Mordecai just nodded as he sat down next to him on the couch. "Awesome, perfect timing" Rigby cheered, "The new episode of Carter and Briggs is on at nine and it's like" he checks his phone, "eight fifty or something".
"Yeah, funny how that works" Mordecai chuckled, "I'm so glad I'm done, I mean I love painting but I really needed a break". He laid back on the couch and relaxed, but just when he got comfortable him phone started ringing. He pulled it out and looked at who it was, "Dude it's Margaret, I'll be back in a second" he explained as he got up and walked towards the kitchen.
Rigby stood up and shouted at him, "Make it could, the show's starting soon!"
Once Mordecai knew he had some privacy he answered the phone, "Hey, guess what I finished the…" but before he could finish his sentence he noticed something was off. He could hear Margaret giggling on the other end but it didn't sound like she had the phone close to her. The laughter stopped and was replaced by a sound of heavy breathing and panting, almost like kissing. Suddenly he heard a man's voice, "And you're sure this is cool?"
"It's ok, Mordecai will never know"
After that he decided that he heard enough, he closed his phone and stood dumbfounded as the event fully sank in. He slowly walked into the living room and fell onto the couch.
"Cutting it close man" Rigby complained, "The show could start any minute now". Mordecai didn't answer, he just started forward with a pale look in his face. "Everything ok?"
After a few seconds of silence he finally forced the words out of his mouth, "Margaret's cheating on me"
Rigby dropped the remote and looked over at him, "What? Are you sure?"
Mordecai nodded, "Yeah, she butt dialed me while she was making out with some other guy".
"Whoa, harsh man" Rigby said in a sad tone, "Are you ok?"
Mordecai stood up and made his way to the stairs, "Yeah, I just need to lay down for a bit". He made his way up to his room and flopped down on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling trying to fight back tears, then he glanced over at the portrait of Margaret he so painstakingly painted for her. Enraged he walked over to it. He picked it up and in a fit of rage ripped it in half down the middle then walked back to his bed. He threw himself onto it and looked up at the ceiling again, "bitch".
The next day Mordecai was in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of milk to go with his toast, he had a long day ahead of him. It was going to be excruciating having to do his chores with the events the night before still on his mind. Soon Rigby walked in the kitchen and looked at Mordecai, he noticed that he was a mess and didn't take the time to get ready like you usually does, "He man, you… uh… wanna talk about it?"
"No" Mordecai said as he took a sip from his glass.
"Ok" Rigby said not knowing what else to do, "cool because I'm not really good with these sort of things".
Suddenly the doorbell rang, Mordecai put his glass down and exited the kitchen, "I'll get it". He walked over to the door and opened it revealing Eileen. Her eyes and nose were red and swollen like she was crying, "Eileen? Are you ok what's wrong?"
"Mordecai I have to tell you something" Eileen choked out, "can I come in".
"Yeah of course" Mordecai answered as he led her to the couch, "What's up?"
Eileen looked up at him and started to tear up again, "I don't know how to tell you this but… I just got a call from Margaret's dad, Margaret was in an accident" her lips started to tremble as she forced out the next part, "I'm sorry but she didn't make it". Eileen broke down and started to sob while Mordecai just sat there in shock.
"Wha…what happened" Mordecai managed to say.
Eileen wiped the tears from her eyes, "She was leaving a restaurant and… the large metal sign broke off and landed on her, it…" Eileen erupted into tears again, "it split her head in half".
Mordecai started to feel lightheaded, he leaned forward and took several deep breathes. He got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, he stood up from the couch, "I'm sorry but I… I'm gonna need a bit. Thanks for coming over Eileen I know it wasn't easy". Mordecai walked to the stairs and made his way to his room.
Rigby exited the kitchen in time to see Mordecai walking upstairs, "Hey what's Mordecai…" suddenly Eileen got up from the couch and ran to him. She put her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulders. Rigby stiffened up at first not knowing what to do, but when he realized she was crying he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back.
Upstairs Mordecai ran into his room, he sat on the edge of his bed and fought back the urge to vomit. He rubbed his hand on his face and tears fell from his eyes. While he was wiping a tear from his cheek he felt the small cut he got the other day, he looked over at his self-portrait and saw the thin red line on it. It was in the same spot on the painting as the cut on his face, then he remembered what Eileen said happened to Margaret. He got up and picked up the two pieces of the painting of Margaret and put them together, the painting was split down through Margaret's face. The pieces fell to the ground as Mordecai went numb, he staggered back and fell onto the bed, "That guy… he said the brush breaths life into my art" After everything sank in he got up and grabbed the brush and ran downstairs. He made his way outside and didn't stop until he got back to the shop.
He barged in and slammed the brush on the counter, the shop keeper looked up at him, "May I help you".
"Take it back" Mordecai shouted, "I don't want it anymore"
The shop keeper just laughed, "Sorry, no refunds"
Mordecai slammed his fist against the counter, "I don't care about the money just take it back".
"If you just want to get rid of it then why not just throw it away" the shop keeper mocked.
"Because" Mordecai yelled, "how do I know this isn't one of those cursed items that keeps finding its way back to me, I've seen horror movies before".
The shop keeper just smirked at him sinisterly, "Very well then" he picked up the brush and placed it under the counter, "Now it's gone".
"Well ok then…" Mordecai said, he then stood awkwardly for a few seconds, "Bye" he ran out of the store and made his way back to the house.
Back at the house Muscle Man and Fives were in the kitchen with a large pot full of water, Skips walked in and noticed them pour lye into it, "What are you guys doing with that?"
"We're making homemade pretzels bro" Muscle Man answered.
"Ok" Skips said, "but be careful that stuffs dangerous, don't put too much in there".
"Don't worry we got this" Muscle Man reassured, "So what are you doing?"
"I was repainting the garage doors, then I decided to get some lemonade" Skips answered.
Suddenly Mordecai ran in through the front and quickly made his way to the kitchen, "Skips" he said before catching his breath, "What's the safest place you can think of?"
Skips rubbed his chin as he thought of an answer, "Well it's hard to say, why what do you need?"
Without saying a word Mordecai ran to his room and grabbed his portrait the ran downstairs, "I need you to hide this…" he was running so fast he accidently ran into Skips knocking him to the ground. Also a bottle of paint thinner was knocked out of Skips hand and crashed to the floor, splashing its contents all over the ground… including the painting.
"No no no" Mordecai said in horror as he picked up his painting, he wiped of the thinner but the paint was smudged and dripping down the canvas. In a last ditch effort he ran to the kitchen sink so he could run it under water. But Muscle Man was moving the pot to the sink and tripped on one of the chairs, he fell forward and the lye mixture in the pot splashed onto Mordecai's face. Mordecai screamed out in agony as the solution melted away his face. He fell to his knees and grabbed his face, he pulled his hands away with strings of flesh pulling away from his skull. Soon after he collapsed onto the floor.
Muscle Man, Skips, and Fives stared at his body in shock.
"Ok I'll admit, and I don't want to hear 'I told you so'" Muscle Man said, "but I might have added too much"
"The end" Rigby finished.
"Uhg, seriously man" Mordecai complained, "you had to kill me off in such a gross way?"
Rigby crossed his arms, "Well yeah, gore makes the story better"
"Forget the gore" Margaret added, "Why did you make me out to be a slut?"
Rigby let out an annoyed groan, "Come on it's just a story, and I did that because why else would Mordecai destroy the painting?"
"I thought it was pretty good Rigby" Eileen added.
"Thanks" Rigby said gratefully, "at least somebody understands"
"Yeah it had some interesting parts" Eileen added, "but I think I can do better".
"Daddy, can I sleep with you tonight" she said as she crawled into bed with me.
The next morning I awoke in a cold sweat, clutching the dress she was buried in.
Author's Note:Well that's chapter one of the new story, this chapter is based on the Tales from the Crypt story 'Drawn and Quartered' which was also used in the movie Vault of Horror and the Tales from the Cryptkeeper cartoon. As for the footnote I recently came across these two sentence horror stories and thought they'd be cool to include instead of song lyrics. Unfortunately I don't know who originally posted this one to credit them but if you look it up I'm sure you'll find it.
