Scab
Chapter 1
Awake
Point Place, Wisconsin
April 3, 1976 (Saturday)
12:45 a.m.
It was a mistake sleeping over Forman's house.
Hyde had such a pain in his stomach that he couldn't move from his position in Eric's sleeping bag that was by
his window. It wasn't just his stomach, but for the last three years or so he sometimes would feel this strange
feeling. It was very hard to describe. He clutched at his stomach; he didn't feel the need to vomit or worse. It
was like coming off a very bad acid trip minus the hallucinations. At least his best friend was sleeping soundly.
Hyde turned over on his side and thought the joint they smoked in the basement after dinner before going
upstairs to bed had to be laced with something. But then again wouldn't Forman be in the same condition? And
this was happening since he was 13. But tonight's episode was indeed the worst. His heartbeat was more rapid
than normal and it scared the hell out of him. He almost thought of getting out of this sleeping bag and asking
for Mrs. Forman's help. She was a nurse. But that would mean going to the hospital, getting prodded, and then
that meant a call to Edna would be attempted. Hyde doubted that she would even be home to answer the
phone or if she would have even cared that her only son was in the hospital. His eyes were tearing up which he
found to be an unacceptable state to be in.
He was going to have to tough it out.
Knife
Where did that thought come from? It wasn't the first night; this was just the most vivid vision yet.
He could with open eyes see the silver blade and the serrated edges…the blood
dripping down from its tip like a poster from a horror movie.
Hands like his
Screams
The girl who was tied with thick rope in a chair. The hands like his went around her neck
strangling her….honor student….wanted to work in Child Protective Services.
Where were these thoughts coming from and why was he having them?
He almost wanted to crawl in bed next to his friend, but men don't do that with other
men.
Hyde closed his eyes and prayed for his own death.
Knife off the ground….she saw her mother, the father saw the daughter, now he could kill
the father…..
He instinctively sent two messages in the same manner.
[Stop It]
[Why are you killing them?]
As quickly as the pain started it was over, and Hyde felt that he could breathe again. Was
it possible to be fully awake and still have nightmares?
This was the worst one yet.
When he was 13, Hyde's own basic brand of vandalism was slashing the tires of Coach Ferguson's blue Ford
Maverick or spray-painting graffiti on the gym lockers. But he had visions of windows being broken in a downtown
shopping area like Kristallnacht.
There were other guys, but only one wanted to destroy everything in his path.
It only scared him when he saw the dead bunny that was in a back alley with a switchblade left in him. How
unnecessarily cruel it was. Who would do that? And why could he see it so intensely as if he was the one who did
it?
Yet, nothing was on the news or in the papers, so it just had to be his imagination. Normal guys dream about
the women they want to fuck, the places they'd rather be then this puke hole of a small town, but not about
dead rabbits and now a family of 3 being killed.
Why?
He almost jumped, which was undesirable in its own right, when Forman coughed in his sleep. Hyde couldn't
relax his body, the dramatic sensation was gone, but there were 3 dead people in a house, a house just like
this one. It wouldn't be in tomorrow's paper or on the news. The mother and father were stabbed, the daughter
was strangled, and he fucked her before he killed her.
With hands like his.
His thoughts were interrupted when Forman had to get out of bed to take a piss.
"Well, you don't need to tell me about it, man."
It was slightly amusing to Hyde when Eric bumped into his desk before finding the path to the door.
His stomach pains went away, but he still had a slight headache, when his friend was done peeing he was
going to go in the medicine cabinet and take 2 aspirin. He'd have preferred to go downstairs in the basement
and smoke another joint, but he didn't want to push his luck. Maybe, he was psychic and could see glimpses into
the future. But why just the violent ones?
How about an image of Miss America 1976 in the shower, the answers to a test he wasn't about to study for, or
what the songs would be on the next Led Zeppelin album?
"Took you long enough."
Hyde slowly got up, he felt okay as he bumped into Eric on the way out of this claustrophobic room.
Forman mumbled something as he went back to bed.
The off-white linoleum tile was cold even in his socked feet as Hyde locked the door and turned on the sink. Mrs.
Forman had a little nightlight on the shape of a butterfly that gave the room a peaceful glow. He put his hands
in the water and went to splash his face and for a split second he saw the blood on hands like his. He knew he
wasn't fully crazy, maybe a little bit; you had to be with fuckwads like Edna and Bud Hyde for parents.
But they were REAL people and they were dead.
It was just another burden to carry, another secret that was his alone that he couldn't share with another soul.
He took the white towel off the rack and wiped his face. He looked in the mirror; he almost did a slight double
take, yet no one else was there. Only him. He folded the towel back on the rack instead of throwing it on the
floor, as this wasn't his house. He actually cared about the people who lived in this one. He actually cared about
a lot of people. It was a given with the men, you'd joke around, burn each other, but you were always there for
your friends. You had their back just as they had yours. It was an unspoken code. Unless you were Forman who
always wanted reassurance that he was a special snowflake.
The women on the other hand, well depending on who it was, you were allowed to show your concern. Where
were these feelings coming from? But even Jackie, did not deserve anything bad to happen to her. Hyde had
feelings for Donna, but she was going to wind up dating Forman, because he was the all-around nice guy. He
was full of shit when he denied liking her in that way. The whole school knew it, even the new foreign kid that
they nicknamed Fez because they couldn't pronounce his real name knew it. He opened up the medicine cabinet
and in-between Red's tube of Ben Gay and Kitty's bottle of Geritol was the bottle of aspirin.
They're next
Hyde ignored the feeling and put the sink on again and from the yellow holder that was glued to the wall he
took out a white Dixie Cup and took the aspirin.
It was always good to be medicated.
He threw the cup away in the wastebasket and went back to the bedroom. He wasn't going to sleep tonight,
not after these visions. At least tomorrow was a Saturday and he was certain that Mrs. Forman would let him
and Eric sleep in. You mean that there was a mother who actually made homemade blueberry waffles on the
weekends? Forman was sound asleep. Of course, he wouldn't have any nightmares or visions that scared the
Hell out of him.
This was his burden, not to share with anyone; he just wished that it would stop.
That unknown, but still actual, family was dead and the blood that he could see in all its bluish purple glory was on
hands like his.
Author's Note: I know this concept has been done before, but never by me, and I don't think in our '70s
section. Thanks to nannygirl and Marla's Lost for all of their help.
And if anyone would like to join our '70s fan fiction forum the link will be in the review section. Please read
and review. A writer needs feedback. Thanks to all who have read this far.