"Halloween 4 ½- Rachel's Treatment"

Chapter One

Haddonfield, Illinois

March 1989

Rachel Carruthers woke up screaming in a cold sweat. Her parents Richard and Darlene came rushing into her room—turning the light on. "Rachel!" Darlene cried as she hugged her daughter. "I had another nightmare of that night last year!" Rachel cried—referring to Halloween 1988 when Michael Myers went after her and her kid sister Jamie. Michael had killed Rachel's ex-boyfriend Brady, the sheriff's daughter Kelly, and Earl and his fellow rednecks in his truck. "Honey we're worried about you. You've been seriously traumatized since Halloween last year. You don't sleep well at night, you're paranoid all the time, and your grades have been slipping as a result. It's time you saw a psychiatrist" Darlene explained.

"Will that stop the nightmares?" Rachel asked. "Your father and I certainly hope so" Darlene replied. "Okay then. I'll go to a psychiatrist" Rachel replied. "Just try to sleep for the rest of the night" Darlene said. "I will Mom" Rachel replied. "Goodnight Rachel" Darlene said. "'Night Mom" Rachel replied. "Goodnight Rach" Richard added. "'Night Dad" Rachel replied. Richard and Darlene left Rachel's room, she lied back down, and tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning at breakfast Rachel was awfully quiet as she ate her cereal. Darlene decided to break the silence. "Good news Rachel. I got you an appointment with a Dr. Jones today after school" she said. "Thanks Mom" Rachel replied. Rachel finished her cereal, then went upstairs to get ready for school.

After school that afternoon Darlene picked Rachel up and gave her a ride to Dr. Jones' psychiatric clinic. Darlene and Rachel waited in the waiting room until Rachel was called back. Rachel entered Dr. Jones' office. He was an elderly man who was bald on top. "Hello Rachel. I'm Dr. Jones. Please, lie down on my couch and we can get started" Dr. Jones said. Rachel lied down on the psychiatrist's couch with her hands folded on her stomach. "Now tell me what's going on" Dr. Jones said.

"Last Halloween me and my sister Jamie were attacked my Michael Myers. He killed my ex-boyfriend and the sheriff's daughter. He was blown up in a mineshaft. Then when me and Jamie were taken home by the police, Jamie attacked my mom with a pair of scissors, and has been at The Haddonfield Children's Clinic since, being treated by Dr. Loomis. I've been having nightmares about it ever since it happened" Rachel explained. "Do you have any idea why your sister attacked your mom?" Dr. Jones asked. "Dr. Loomis believes it was a case of PTSD, which stands for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She's been feeling guilty about it ever since" Rachel replied. "I see. I can tell this has been very hard for you to cope with. Nearly being killed by this town's infamous killer, losing your ex-boyfriend, almost losing your mother, and your sister being hospitalized" Dr. Jones said. "Tell me about it!" Rachel cried.

"I'm going to prescribe you some medications: an antidepressant Wellbutrin—500 mg, and a muscle relaxer Klonopin-2 mg" Dr. Jones said as he wrote Rachel's prescription, and handed it to her. "Thank you Dr. Jones" Rachel replied. "I want you to come back and see me in a month" Dr. Jones replied. "I will" Rachel replied. She got up off the couch, told Dr. Jones bye, and left his office. Back out in the waiting room Darlene was waiting, when Rachel returned. Rachel handed Darlene her prescription, and the two left the waiting room.

After dropping off Rachel prescription at the pharmacy, they went home, where Rachel went upstairs to her room to start her homework. That night before Rachel went to bed she took 2 mg of Klonopin—as prescribed. The Klonopin made her feel calm and relaxed as she got into bed, and went to sleep. During the night she didn't have any nightmares. The next morning at breakfast Darlene asked her if she slept okay last night, in which she replied "Yes"—that the Klonopin relaxed her before she went to sleep. After breakfast Rachel took the Wellbutrin, which would take a couple of weeks before she felt the full effect of it.

She went upstairs to get ready for school. She got on her bus that took her to Haddonfield High School, and her parents got ready for work. At lunch she told Lindsay that she went to see a psychiatrist yesterday, and that he prescribed her some Wellbutrin and Klonopin to help with her trauma and nightmares. Lindsay had been worried about her since Halloween last year, and was happy to hear that she was getting the help that she needed.

A week later Rachel felt truly happy and calm as a cucumber. So much that everyday after school she would walk around her empty house naked, before starting her homework. She had had a growth spurt due to being a late bloomer. She was no longer the quiet shy girl she had been a year ago. She was now more free-spirited and more comfortable in her skin. So much that she had stopped wearing a bra, and somedays she didn't wear panties either. She felt she was truly becoming a woman. Her parents were proud of her happiness and calmness.

When she went to go see Dr. Jones a month later, she told him about her progress. He was proud of it, and kept prescribing her Wellbutrin and Klonopin.

Chapter Two

April 1989

One day in Rachel's third period English class, the teacher introduced a new student by the name of Tina Williams, who was wildly dressed. At lunch Tina sat by herself. Rachel felt sorry for her, and decided to sit with her. "I saw you were sitting alone and decided to join you. Hope you don't mind" Rachel said. "Not at all" Tina replied. "My name's Rachel Carruthers. Welcome to Haddonfield" Rachel said introducing herself to Tina. "Thanks" Tina said with appreciation. "So where are you from?" Rachel asked. "Chicago" Tina replied. What Rachel didn't know was that Tina wasn't whom she seemed, and that Rachel was making a grave mistake befriending her. "If you'd like we could hang out sometime" Rachel kindly offered. "That would be great" Tina replied.

Everyday after school Tina came over to Rachel's house to work on their homework together. One day when Rachel's parents came home from work, she introduced them to Tina. Right off the bat they disapproved of Tina, and when Tina went home, they told her they didn't approve of Rachel hanging out with a trashy degenerate like Tina. "Aw c'mon guys. She's really sweet" Rachel protested. "She may seem sweet, but your mother and I do not trust her, what with the way she dresses. Can't believe her parents let her wear such indecent clothing" Richard replied. "I have to agree with your father Rachel. She doesn't seem like she's a good influence on you" Darlene said.

As Rachel continued being friends with Tina, Tina became friends with a girl named Samantha Thomas, and her boyfriend Spitz. She also started dating a punk by the name of Mike, who dressed like a greaser. He got Tina hooked on drugs—causing her to act extremely annoying and high all the time. He even gave Sam and Spitz drugs too. The more Rachel hung out with Tina, the more Tina's extreme stupidity rubbed off of Rachel—dumbing her down a bit. The fact that Rachel was happy and carefree from taking 500mg of Wellbutrin was bad enough. But that plus Tina dumbing her down—making her a bit of a blonde bimbo was even worse!

June 1989

It was summertime, which meant school was out. Which also meant that Rachel could go visit Jamie at the children's clinic everyday. One day she brought Tina with her, and introduced her to Jamie. Jamie being the naïve eight year old girl she was didn't see Tina's true colors. During the month Rachel dyed her hair golden blonde, got a perm, wore fancy clothes, and started wearing makeup. She was quite a beauty.

Chapter Three

Rachel spent the entire summer with Tina, Sam, and Spitz. In September it was time to go back to school. Rachel and her parents shopped for school supplies for her. Since Rachel was back in school, she would only be able to visit Jamie on the weekends.

October 29th

At The Carruthers' House Dr. Loomis was in the living room talking to them—telling them that they need to leave Haddonfield until Halloween was over, on account what had happened to Darlene a year ago, when Jamie attacked her. "Loomis are you out of your mind?! I can't believe you expect us to leave town on Halloween of all days, after what happened to Rachel and Jamie last Halloween!" Richard yelled appalled. "She could snap again and attack one of you" Loomis replied. "Then we'll go visit her supervised—with a security guard in her room!" Richard protested.

"Sorry it's too risky. I also suggest that Rachel leaves with you as well. Jamie could also attack her!" Loomis replied. "Rachel was there for Jamie last Halloween, and she'll be there for her this Halloween as well. Halloween is the worst day of the year for Jamie, and we need to be there for her on it!" Richard cried. "I assure you that Jamie will be properly looked after by me and that staff at the clinic" Loomis said, "You can telephone her from your cabin".

"I don't know Loomis. It just doesn't feel right leaving town, with Halloween approaching" Darlene said. "If you're worried about Michael Myers returning, then you have nothing to worry about. He was blown up in that mineshaft a year ago. He's dead" Loomis assured them. Loomis was lying of course. He knew in his heart that Michael was alive, and that he would be returning this Halloween to finish what he started. He wanted The Carruthers to leave town, so that he could have Jamie all to himself, and use her to get to Michael. That was his plan.

"But what about Rachel? What if she doesn't want to leave, and wants to be there for Jamie on Halloween? Me and Richard don't feel right leaving her here alone on Halloween in her condition" said Darlene. "You can have one of your neighbors check on her. She'll be alright" Loomis assured her. "Well…alright. Just as long as she's safe" Darlene replied. After Loomis left Darlene called Rachel to come downstairs. "Honey we're leaving town today, and won't be back until November 2nd. It's Loomis' idea. He wants us to leave so that we'll be out of harm's way" Darlene told her.

"But what about Jamie?" Rachel asked. "Loomis told us that we can telephone her from our cabin—that he, the nurses and doctors at the clinic would properly look after her" Darlene replied. "I don't know guys. I'll have to think about this. Can I at least stay with her Halloween morning, then meet you guys at the cabin?" Rachel asked. "Sure honey. But before we leave we're going to ask our neighbor Russel to come by and check on you to make sure you're okay. You're not safe being here alone on Halloween, after what happened to you last year" Darlene replied. "Okay Mom. Thanks" Rachel said.

Later that day Richard and Darlene packed their bags, and left for their cabin in the woods. As soon as they left their neighbor Russel came by to check on Rachel. That night Jamie had one of her many nightmares, which during the year had caused her to go mute, due to psychological trauma. Since then she had had to communicate using sign language. Nurse Patsy called Rachel at her house (waking her from her sleep), telling her about Jamie's nightmare. Rachel took a taxi cab to the clinic, and spent the night with Jamie.

When she came home from the clinic the following morning, Russel called her to check up on her. She told him she was fine, and that she would be leaving town on Halloween, and wouldn't be back until two days later. That night which was October 30th Rachel was awoken by another phone call from the clinic—informing her that Jamie had yet another nightmare—this time about her attacking Darlene last Halloween. Rachel put on a pink short, a long shirt, and some make up, and called a taxi to take her to the clinic, to spend the night with Jamie. Since it was storming outside she had to take an umbrella with her.

On Halloween morning when Rachel came home from the clinic the phone rang. It was Russell. "Hi Russell. I just got back from the clinic and am about to head upstairs to take a shower, and get ready to go to my parents' cabin, so I'm not gonna be home for the rest of the day. I'll call you as soon as I get ready to leave. Okay, bye" Rachel said and hung up. As she headed upstairs to take a nice, refreshing morning shower, she had no idea that she wouldn't make it to her parents' cabin, for she would die, and stay behind as a ghost to look after Jamie for the rest of the day.

The End