Disclaimer: I don't own or am affiliated with any of the characters from Are You Afraid of the Dark? or RENT, in any way, but both are great.
A/N: I thought this'd be fun. Something completely different. The kids from AYAOTD telling a story based on my favourite boys from RENT. It's PG-13 for a little language, but nothing to bad so the kids can read it too. Sorry no slash. I've enjoyed writing this even if it is a little odd. I hope you enjoy reading it. Thank you all for reading/reviewing. Love you all.
"Hey, you're late."
Gary finally arrived at the campfire where the gang known as the Midnight Society always met to tell their stories. David, Betty Ann, Kiki, Frank, Kristen, and Eric were already sitting on the wooden logs waiting for Gary who had a great story to tell them.
"Yeah sorry. My little brother kept bugging me to come again."
"So what's this story you're gonna tell us?" Kiki asked.
"Well, it's something I think you'll all like. It's about this high school student who becomes addicted to this... well let's just get started." Gary stated taking hold of the sack containing the powder he would throw into the fire to add flare to his story.
"Ooh this is gonna be a great story I can tell." Kristen smiled at Gary.
Gary smiled back at her inserting his hand into the bag taking a handful of powder. "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society," Gary glanced at the others for acknowledgement.
The others give a slight nod. Gary continued as he threw the powder into the fire causing sparks. "I call this story, 'The Tale of the Addiction.'"
"Hey you guys." Tucker, Gary's little brother showed up out of the blue.
Gary glimpsed over his shoulder then rolled his eyes. "Tucker, I told you you're not allowed over here. These secret meetings are only for our society. Plus you're not old enough. You have to be at least thirteen and you're only twelve."
"So? I have some great stories to tell. Just 'cause I'm not old enough. That's so stupid." Tucker spoke impishly. He circled round Gary snatching the sack and running off.
Gary jumped up off the log and chased after Tucker. Frank, David, and Eric followed suit. Kiki, Kristen, and Betty Ann blocked off certain areas giving Tucker a smaller vicinity to get away. Frank tackled him to the ground and Gary pounced on him.
"Come on you little weasel, I'm taking you home." Gary picked Tucker up by his ear.
"Oww, let me go you freak. I'm telling mom." Tucker struggled to be released from Gary's grip.
"Go ahead. And I'll tell mom you snuck out of the house after she told you not to." Gary dragged Tucker back to the campfire.
"But I wanna stay." Tucker pleaded.
"No. Not until next year. Now come on." Gary seized Tucker's arm tugging him away from the rest of the group. "Sorry guys, I'll be right back. I have to take care of some business." Gary glared at Tucker.
The others nod in understanding. Gary lead Tucker to their home as quickly as he could.
"Mom," Tucker belted out as soon as they burst through the door.
"No way you're pinning this on me."
"Gary, Tucker, what's going on here? Gary, I thought you were with your friends." The boys mom questioned.
"I was but,"
"Mom, Gary beat me up."
Gary glared sternly at Tucker. "No I didn't. Mom, Tucker,"
"Hold on a minute. Tucker, how could your brother beat you up if you were here and he was with his friends?"
"Uh..."
"Mom, I've got to get back to my friends. Can you please keep Tucker here?"
"Go Gary. I'll handle your little brother." She stared down at Tucker who cowered before her.
Gary ran out of the house and back to meet his friends once again.
"Everything okay?" Kristen asked.
"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. My mom's gonna watch him though so we don't have to worry about it. Okay, so where was I?" Gary went on to tell the story.
A/SN: Okay, this is the thing. This is a story about my boys, however, it's supposed to be a 'teen-horror'/suspense type thing so I'm using the kids from AYAOTD, and yes this part is a little cheesy, but I wanted to give them a sorta storyline too, so it wouldn't be so short. Plus it's sort of a crossover thing. So why not. It's fun. I used to love watching this show so I thought it'd be great. If you don't like it I'm sorry. But I'm trying. Thanks again all of you though for taking the time to read this.
"Hey Rog, whatcha playing?" Mark interrupted Roger while he strummed a few chords on his guitar.
"Not to sure. I think I might have a new song in the works." Roger peeked up from his guitar and flashed a smile at Mark.
"Sweet. How much you got so far?" Mark was sucking on a popsicle which was dripping all over his shirt.
"Not much." Roger noticed and couldn't help but chuckle. "Dude, your shirt's a mess."
Mark glanced down at his now stained shirt. "Oops. I better go clean it up." Mark made his way to the bathroom of Roger's house to clean up.
Roger continued fiddling with his guitar humming a few notes and writing a few words down.
"Hey Rog," Mark exited the bathroom, his t-shirt spotted with water. He didn't do a very good job getting out the stains. "Have you heard of that new video game that just came out. It's supposed to be really cool."
"Which one?" Roger didn't look up, but continued working on his song.
"Which one? Which one? You mean you actually haven't heard? That's a first." Mark plopped on the floor beside Roger excitedly.
"So tell me about this game." Roger laid his guitar to his side giving Mark his undivided attention.
"Well it's really cool. It's got these cool graphics, and all this other neat stuff. You've got to try it. It's totally awesome." Mark sprang up off the floor in utter fervor.
"Sounds like fun. Have you played it yet?"
"No, but I can't wait. I saw a commercial for it, and I heard a couple of guys in my history class talking about it. They were saying that this game is better than any ever created." Mark's enthusiasm had grown even more.
"Calm down Marky. It's just a game." Roger stood up chuckling.
"Yeah, but this isn't just some ordinary game. It's supposed to be like, the best thing ever. EVAR! Do you understand this Rog?"
"Mark," Roger took him by the shoulders steadying him, gazing directly into his eyes. "It's just a game."
"Okay, you're right. But we should still check it out." Mark composed himself.
"Hey, let's get something to eat. I'm hungry." Roger made his way into the kitchen. Mark followed.
"What do you wanna eat?" Roger asked opening a few cupboards in search for food.
"How about some soup?" Mark suggested.
"Can't find any. Ooh, how about cereal?"
"Captain Crunch?" Mark's face lit up.
"You know it." Roger handed Mark the box of cereal then retrieved two bowls, two spoons, and the milk from the fridge.
"Mmm, my favourite." Mark grinned from ear to ear as both boys dug into their favourite food.
"Roger honey, I'm home." Roger's mom entered the house carrying a few bags of groceries.
Roger leaped from his seat at the dining table. "Let me get those mom." Roger took the grocery bags from his mom into the kitchen and put them away.
She still had one plastic bag around her wrist. She placed it on the table. "I got you a little present Rog."
"Really? Cool." Roger smiled sitting back down at the table in anticipation. Even Mark was getting excited.
Roger's mom sat down prolonging the inevitable. "Come on mom. What is it?"
"Okay. But close your eyes."
"Mom." Roger folded his arms over his chest pursing his lips and squinting his eyes. His mom shook her head at how silly her son was being. Then they all burst into hysterics.
"Alright, alright, alright. I'll give it to you." She removed from the bag, the one thing Mark had been ranting about not more than an hour ago. Both boys' eyes widened and Mark's jaw dropped.
"Oh my god. Roger, you are so lucky."
"Wow thanks mom. But can we really afford this?"
"Don't worry about it hon. It really didn't cost all that much. Besides, everyone at the store was talking about this game so I figured you'd want one."
"Yeah, Mark was just telling me about this before you got home." Roger held the video game in his hands in awe.
"Let's go play it." Mark swiped the game from Roger's hands and ran passed him up the steps to Roger's room. Roger followed right behind him nabbing the game back from Mark and beating him to the room.
For several hours the boys played the video game ignoring the calls for dinner or anything else. Mark even forgot to call his mom to let her know he was staying at Roger's place.
Roger's mom knocked gently on Roger's opened door attempting to get their attention. "Roger. Roger. Roger!" No answer.
"Mark. Mark. Mark!" Still no answer. Both boys were fixated on the game. Their eyes weren't blinking either. Roger's mom stood in front of the television screen to obtain their attention. "Hello?"
"Mom get out of the way. I've almost got this level beat. Move!" Roger demanded. He jerked back and forth against his mom to see the screen.
She switched off the television set and both boys moaned.
"Mom! Whadja do that for?" Roger whined.
"I have been trying to get your attention for the last hour. Neither of you answered. You've been wrapped up in that damn game. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten it for you."
Roger changed his tone quickly. "I'm sorry mom. I guess I had the t.v. up to loud. It wasn't the game, I just didn't hear you."
She crossed her arms over her chest staring down at Roger. "That's why you demanded me to move 'cause you 'almost beat the level'?"
"Uh, sorry." Roger lowered his head. "I didn't mean to say that. I was just,"
"So engrossed in the game." She glanced over at Mark who also had his head lowered. "Your mom called wanting to talk to you. I told her I'd have you call her back. Then she called again a little later and I tried to get your attention, but I never got an answer. I had to make up an excuse for you."
Mark peeked up at her and spoke softly. "Thank you Mrs. Davis."
"Yes well you're welcome. Now come downstairs and I'll warm up your dinners." They nodded and followed her downstairs. She stopped and turned around midway down the steps. "No more playing that game tonight, alright?"
"Mm hmm." They muttered in unison.
Later that night they headed off to bed doing their best to avert the temptation of the video game which they swore to each other they heard calling their names.
"Do you hear that Marky. It keeps calling me to it."
"All I hear is it calling my name."
"That's so weird. Maybe we're just hearing things. 'Cause how can a video game call out our names?" Roger logically pointed out.
"Yeah you're right. It's just our imaginations." Mark yawned the words a he stretched out. "Well, night Rog."
"Night Mark."
Roger woke up early the next morning, before the sun even arose. He was itching to get back into the game. He quietly tiptoed to the old television set that sat on the floor beside his worn down dresser. Turning the television on keeping the volume to a minimum, he turned on his game system. He began playing from where he had saved it last. Occasionally he'd glimpse over at Mark to see if he was awake yet.
He whispered to himself. "Yes. The game's all mine. I just hope Mark doesn't wake up anytime soon."
Around ten o'clock Mark woke up. He noticed Roger playing the game and rolled his eyes. How could Roger play without him? Mark got up to go to the bathroom, then returned only to roll his eyes once again at Roger.
"Dude, how come you didn't wake me up to play with you?" Mark tapped Roger on the shoulder. Roger didn't move. His eyes didn't blink either. And it almost seemed like he wasn't breathing.
"Roger!" Mark shook him lightly. "Roger, hey." Mark waved his hand in front of Roger's face. Mark stood in front of the television screen as Roger's mom did the night before. "ROGER!"
"What the..." Roger snapped. "What's your problem? Get out of my way."
"Dude, what's my problem? What's yours? I tried to get your attention, but it was like you didn't hear me." Roger continued to ignore him, pushing him out of the way.
Mark snatched the controller from Roger's hands pulling it out of the game consol resulting in the game's termination. "Dude, you have got a problem. I can't believe you pushed me for this stupid game."
"Give that back." Roger shouted. He punched Mark in the arm harshly.
Mark grabbed his arm with his other hand dropping the controller. "What the hell is your problem Roger? That hurt." Mark held back tears which he already felt welling in his eyes.
"Oh man, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I was just so into the game, I wasn't thinking."
"It's okay." Mark wiped away the tears before Roger noticed them. "Is that how we were last night? No wonder your mom got angry."
"Yeah. Well, maybe we shouldn't play it anymore."
"That sounds like a good idea."
The boys agreed to put the game in the top drawer of Roger's dresser and not play it anymore. They then went about the rest of the day as normal.
Things were going great. Mark and Roger seemed to be living as they always had before the game interfered in their lives. But Roger would hear his other classmates talking about the game and how wonderful it was, urging him to want to take it out and play it again.
After school one day Roger decided he wanted to go home alone. Mark didn't really think anything of it and figured Roger just wanted to spend some time with his mom.
This went on for weeks. Roger had begun to miss school. Mark became concerned for his friend. Roger hadn't called him or made contact with him in any way for the last couple weeks.
Mark made his way to Roger's house and found his mom had bruises on her arms. Mark was very surprised. Roger would never do something like this to his mom. Would he?
"Mrs. Davis, what's going on? Where's Roger?"
She had been crying all day. She wiped her tears away, but it was evident from her puffy eyes. "Oh Mark. Uh, I don't know what's going on with him. He's been playing that game non-stop for a while now. He's hasn't eaten, slept, or anything since. Every time I tried to get him off the game, he'd hit me. I was shocked at first, and took the game away from him." She started crying again. "But he came at me with this crazed look in his eyes. I was so afraid I had to give it back to him. Mark something's wrong."
Mark comforted her as best as he could. "I'll talk to him." Mark took a deep breath, exhaling slowly then made his way upstairs to Roger's room.
Mark knocked on his opened door. "Hey Rog?" No answer.
Roger had that same dead look to him. No movement whatsoever.
"Rog?" Mark stepped closer to Roger standing behind him. "Roger? Come on Roger. You've become completely addicted to this game. Remember what you said, 'it's just a game'. So c'mon, get up and come outside with me." Still no answer.
Mark reached to touch Roger's shoulder. Nothing. He moved closer to Roger. He noticed Roger's fingers weren't moving over the controller. He glanced at the game. The game seemed to be still playing. Mark pressed lightly against Roger's arm and his body fell to the floor stiff. Mark leaped back in horror.
"What's going on here?" The blood drained from Mark's face. He shook his head in disbelief. No way could something like this be happening. It was unreal. Truly unbelievable. He had to be sure. Mark leaned over Roger's body touching it again. It was still warm. He still had a pulse. His eyes were open wide. But it was as if he was empty inside.
Mark informed Roger's mom of the unusual situation. She called an ambulance then began to cry. Mark cried too. The paramedics looked him over, but were stumped and confused. They couldn't figure out what was wrong or how to handle the situation. They suggested taking him to the hospital to allow a doctor to check him out. She agreed and rode with them in the ambulance. Mark went with her to help console her.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Roger called out. "Where am I? This place is so... strange. This is to weird. What's going on?" He turned around and noticed Mark, his mom, and a crew of paramedics hovering over what appeared to be his body. "I must be losing it." He watched them cart his body out of his bedroom, his mom and Mark crying. "Hey, I'm right here. Don't cry. Hey! HEY! IN HERE! HEY!!!"
"Whoa, that was a weird story Gary." Kiki stated.
"Yeah it was. But really cool." Kristen added.
"Thanks you guys."
"We should call it a night. It's getting really late." Betty Ann mentioned.
"Great idea. G'night you guys. See you all next week." Gary said.
"Night."
A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this story. I did my best to stay true with my boys. I used the video game as sort of a pre-heroin thing since Roger's got such an addictive personality. Hehe. I'm sorry if it's a little cheesy, but I still had a lot of fun doing this. Thanks all of you again for taking the time to read and review. Love ya all.