Forget Me Not Annie

I walked out of the double doors that were the entrance to my art-covered schoolroom. "Annie!" My mom was calling and waving from the other side of the road. I smiled and ran over to meet her, mommy almost never picked me up from school so I knew today was going to be special. I ran over to the cross walk near where she was and quickly looked both ways then started to cross. My tight, blonde braids bounced behind me as I walked.

As I crossed I made sure to only touch the white lines on the cross walk like I always did, I heard my mommy laughing when she saw it. I stopped and looked up at her, beaming. I watched her as she looked down the street then back at me. When she looked at me I saw she was scared, she started to yell at me to come to her, to come to her now, run! A large truck honked loudly, I covered my ears and started to run to the other side of the street. I heard my mommy scream. A powerful rush of air was the last thing I felt before everything turned black.

"Hello Annie," I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark place, everything was black except for a circle of white light on the ground in front of me. I ran to it hoping that it would keep me safe against whatever was out there in the blackness that surrounded me.

"Annie, come to me," I heard a scratchy, yet calming, voice call out to me as the light around me vanished. Another light turned on to my left and I ran to it. There was a large, blue and white, teddy bear with me in the light, he was almost as big as me and every inch of him was covered in the softest looking fur I had ever seen. The bear got up and turned towards me. He had two big round glass eyes and a smile that stretched from ear to ear, his nose was made of black felt and his large ears were turned towards me as he started to speak;

"I'm Howard, you can call me Howie, let's be friends."

"Where are we?"

"We're in your head," I gave him a confused look.

"You're dreaming." A sound like thunder crashed above me. I looked up to see stars and planets of all the colors floating just beyond my reach. I looked back at Howard,

"Will you play with me?" The large bear asked.

"Not right now. I want to wake up, I want to see mommy." After I said that, Howard turned and walked into the black outside of the light.

"No wait, please don't go!" I shouted, not wanting to be alone. There were voices in the sky above me, muffled and low. My legs suddenly got weak and I fell to the ground, curling up into a ball and closed my eyes. When I opened them I was in a white room. The voices I heard were clear and I knew I wasn't sleeping anymore.

"Annie!" Mommy was holding me and crying into my shoulder.

"What's wrong mommy?" Why was she so sad when I was sleeping? "Where are we?"

"We're in the hospital sweetie," she cradled my face like a doll, sweeping strands of my blond hair out of my face. "You got hit by a car, do you remember that?" I thought back, remembering the front of the truck racing towards me. I looked at mommy and nodded. She smiled sadly and bit her bottom lip, trying not to cry.

"You've been asleep a long time honey," she kissed my forehead and stood up then walked to the other side of the room. When she came back to my bedside she was holding something behind her back. "Daddy and I bought you this." She pulled a large teddy bear from behind her back.

"Howie!" I shouted seeing the bear that I made friends with in my dream. "You came back for me!" My mommy gave me a confused look and backed away from me a little bit,

"Annie, what do you mean he came back for you?" She asked, and then a man in white clothing stepped into the room. He had been watching from the doorway since before I woke up. His head was bald and he looked down at a clipboard that he was holding while he spoke.

"If I may Ms. Wilcox," The man in white said to mommy, "it's quite possible that her subconscious took in the bear and she dreamt about it."

"Did you dream about the bear?" My mommy asked, "Is that why you said what you did." I nodded, deciding not to tell her what happened in the dream.

"His name is Howard," I didn't think he would like my mommy calling him Howie for some reason. "I want to go home, can we?" Mommy looked at the man in white and he walked over to the white bed that I was laying in. There was a quiet clunk as he set the clipboard down on the wooden table near my bed.

"I'm sorry Annie," the man in white said. "But you can't go home until we're sure that you're completely better." I frowned,

"I am better, Howie made me better." I objected. I didn't want to stay in this place. There were scary metal objects all over the room and I was afraid that the man would use them to hurt me.

"I'm sorry honey but the doctor's right you can't go home, not just yet; soon though." She tried to reassure me, it didn't help. I nodded to her but inside I still wanted to leave right then.

Mommy stayed with me until my bedtime, she tucked me in, kissed me good night, but then said that she had to leave. She said that she wasn't allowed to be here during the night and she had to go tell Daddy that I woke up from my long sleep. With a loud click the only light in the room shut off then, with a final goodbye, she left.

I lay in the white bed staring up at the white, spotless ceiling for a long time before my eyes finally drifted shut and I fell asleep.

"You're safe Annie," I opened my eyes to see Howie's big, fuzzy, blue face peering over me. I sat up and looked around to see that I was in the middle of the field next to the playground from my last dream. It was the place where the big kids play ball, the sun was shining down on the white diamond markings in the grassy field. Even though it was sunny it felt cold, I grabbed my arms that were protected by only the thin coverings of the hospital dress I had been wearing in the hospital.

"Annie, I won't let the mean doctors hurt you." He knelt down beside me and I looked at my reflection in his big, black glass eyes. "I'll protect you." His voice made me feel safe and like nothing could ever hurt me.

"Thank you Howie," I hugged him and felt warmth emanating from his fabric body.

"But Annie, I can only protect you if you keep me with you always, otherwise I won't be there to make the bad things go away." I looked up at him and smiled widely,

"I'll always keep you with me Howie, I promise."

"Good, I want us to always be together."

"Me too," I closed my eyes and buried my face deeper into his furry belly.

When I woke up the next day I felt safe, even when the doctors pressed their cold metal tools up to my skin and poked me with their sharp needles. I knew Howie would protect me and so the doctors couldn't hurt me. My Mommy said she was proud of how well I was behaving and gave me treats from the lunchroom downstairs.

I played with Howie every night and never let him go in the day. During the time I was in the hospital I didn't leave the bed very much and Mommy had told me that I had been asleep for two whole weeks! Daddy had visited me lots, but not as much as Mommy because he had to work, he always brought games and books for me but it wasn't nearly as fun as playing with Howie. We played in the park most times but sometimes we went to my house, or to get ice-cream. We always did something fun. It was finally time to go home; I was so excited and had told Howie all about it the night before.

It took a long time to get to the car and we had to talk to lots of different people on the way. When we finally got out to the parking lot I was jumping and dancing with happiness and Mommy just laughed the entire time, she was just as happy as I was.

Mommy opened our front door that was so familiar to me. I walked in to the living room where my Daddy was waiting for me. When he saw me he ran and scooped me up in his arms.

"I'm so happy to have you back, we missed you so much!" Daddy exclaimed happily, he held me tight and scrunched me up to his face.

On the way home from the hospital Mommy had told me that I wouldn't have to go to school for whole week so that I had time to get used to being home again and regain my strength.

The door shut in the other room and Mommy came in holding Howie in her arms. Daddy put me down and I went to take Howie from her. His blue fuzzy face smiled up at me as I held him close to me.

"Do you want to go get ice-cream?" My Mommy asked. I nodded eagerly; I was very hungry and ice-cream was my favorite food. I set Howie down on the couch next to me and grabbed Mommy's hand before heading out to the car.

When we got back it was eight-o-clock, my bedtime. I grabbed Howie from the couch I left him on, and then went to bed. I climbed under the covers and waited for my mommy and daddy to come and tuck me in. After they tucked me in and kissed me goodnight, I fell asleep quickly, as usual.

"Hello again Annie," I recognized Howie's voice immediately and opened my eyes. I was in the park that Howie and I sometimes l play in; it was nighttime but the stars were shining bright enough so that I could see clearly. Howie was on the swing set, sitting still. I walked towards him sitting on the other swing.

"Howie, why do you only play with me when I sleep?" I asked Howie as he got off his swing and stood behind me.

"I don't want your parents to lock me away." Howie stated plainly then started to push me on the swing.

"Why would they do that?" I asked, swinging back and forth and listening to the buzz of the bugs that sang into the night.

"They would be jealous of all the fun we have." I nodded, enjoying the breeze in my hair. We played on the playground for a while until a muffled voice pulled me from my dream and back into the real world. I woke up to find my mommy standing over me, smiling gently telling me it was time to wake up.

This continued all week, we would play in the park on the same warm summer night but wouldn't talk much. I had these nice dreams until the first day of school. When I got home I went into my room to get Howie, I had left him on my bed but he was on the floor, looking at the door, at me.

That night it was different; Howie wasn't there, not at first at least. I was in my house, but it wasn't right, all the walls were black, grey, and broken. The flower wall paper in my room was faded and peeling and the air felt dead and dry. There was a thudding noise from the kitchen so I walked out of my room and into the hallway. All the family photos that were hanging up on the wall had deep slicing tears in them. I looked closer at one of the pictures to see that all the faces had been scratched out, except mine.

"Howie!" I shouted, I was scared; it felt like something really bad was going to happen to me. I wanted Howie to protect me. When I got to the kitchen I found Howie sitting on the cold tile floor. I ran to him and held him tightly.

"What's happening?" I whispered, afraid that something would find us if I spoke to loud. "Why is it so dark?"

"Why are you playing with them?" His voice boomed out like a drum. I blinked, stunned and confused.

"Playing with who?" There was a loud booming noise in my ears.

"The children, why would you waste your time with them when you can play with me?" He turned to face me, his usually blue fur turned black, his face glaring at me.

"They're my friends," I whimpered as tears started to sting my eyes and create trails down my face. "I'm sorry."

"You can't play with them anymore," He growled, "They'll take us apart, and then we won't be able to play anymore. You wouldn't want that would you?" I shook my head hard; I didn't want Howie to go away.

"I don't want you to go Howie," I tried to hug him but he just pushed me away, "I love you Howie. But you're scaring me."

"Don't be scared, I can make sure we'll stay together forever Annie." His glare snapped into a smile, "Would you like that?" I nodded. Howie smiled at me and walked towards my parents room,

"Howie," I called out quietly, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make sure we can be together, because we're friends, because you love me. You do love me don't you?" I nodded slowly, Howie laughed, it wasn't a happy laugh; it was a mean laugh. He walked into my parent's room and blaring noises rang out above my head. I woke up and had to cover my ears because the noise was so loud. Blue and red lights flashed outside my window and there was banging on the door and voices yelling outside. I hid under my blankets as I heard the front door being broken open.

Boots pounded through the house, I squealed as my door crashed open and a large man pulled back my covers. I screamed in fear and confusion as he picked me up and carried me outside. I tried to get away from the man but it didn't do anything. I was placed into a black van that was parked on the road outside of our house.

"Where are my Mommy and Daddy?" I scream to anyone who passed by me. Eventually a man in a suit came. I was crying and screaming, the man in the suit sat beside me in the van.

"Annie," The man said, he had a kind voice. I stopped crying and listened to the man. "My name is Mathews, I want to help you."
"Where are Mommy and Daddy, I want to see them!" My voice was scratchy from all of my crying and I could barely see. A sad look flooded into Mathews' face and he sighed.

"Annie, your parents aren't coming back," He put his hand on my shoulder, "someone hurt them Annie, do you know who would hurt them?" I started crying again. Why wouldn't they come back? Where had they gone?

It had been 3 months since my parents had been killed; they had fed me pieces of information slowly. I was able to figure it out before they told me. Nobody knows how they were killed, everyone's very confused. Many men in suits came and asked me questions, questions about Mommy and Daddy, about what they were like, who would hurt them. Now I had to live with Katie, she was supposed to be my new mommy. I don't like it here; it doesn't feel like my home. I had to live with two boys who were supposed to be my new brothers. My new school was strange; I didn't have many friends because they didn't like it when I talked about my Mommy and my Daddy and Howie. They hated it when I talked about Howie, I don't know why.

I walked down the road from the bus stop and reached up to turn the brass door handle. When I opened the door I saw men in suits talking to Katie on the red leather sofa. I didn't like men in suits; they took mommy and daddy from me. Katie smiled at me and called me to her, I walked towards her. My face was free of emotion as I sat next to her and stared into the men's eyes.

"Annie, honey, these men have some things for you." She said as she put her hand on my shoulder. One of the men reached behind his seat and pulled out a large box.

"What is it?" I asked as I tried to pull off the top of the box having no success. Katie got up from her seat and helped me with the box. When it was open I smiled bigger then I had the entire time I had been with Katie.

"Howie," I took out the familiar bear and hugged it. "I missed you so much!"

That night I was excited to fall asleep and to play with Howie, since I hadn't for so long. I fell asleep quickly, and entered the familiar park looking up to see the sky filled with fiery bright stars and planets that seemed close enough to touch. I felt my heart beat faster at the familiar sights and sounds.

"Annie," Howie walked up to me, "It's been a while, have you played with anyone else?"

"No," I said quietly, "The other kids at school don't like it when I talk about you, why don't they love you Howie?"

"They're jealous of the fun we have, just like your parents were." His scratchy voice cooed out. I stepped back, shocked at the last part.

"What do you mean; Mommy and Daddy didn't even know that we played together." I said

"Yes they did," His voice went lower, and I shook my head.

"I had to take care of them." He hissed, "Do you understand?" I shook my head, how did Howie take care of them? If Howie had been taking care of them they wouldn't have been killed.

"You can't tell anyone that I took care of them though, they would lock me away." He whispered in my ear. I smiled hesitently,

"Don't be silly Howie; teddy bears never get locked away, because teddy bears are never bad." He didn't say anything but he turned his back to me. I noticed that his fur was turning darker and didn't look as soft as it did earlier.

"Follow me." Howie walked towards some bushes. I followed him but stopped when he got onto all of his furry paws and crawled through the bushes, he like a real bear.

"Come on Annie," I heard him call from the other side of the bushes; I couldn't see through the thick green leaves and they seemed to go on forever. I didn't want to go in because I was afraid that I might get lost. But when he called again I put those fears in the back of my mind and got on my hands and knees and started to crawl towards Howie's voice, not wanting to be alone. It felt like hours of following Howie's voice before I finally came into a dark room, I turned around and the bushes I had just come through had turned into a solid wall.

I instantly recognized the pattern of stripes and circles that had been in Mommy and Daddy's room. It looked faded, torn, and dead, like the night my parents had been killed.

"Do you know where we are Annie?" Howie asked. I started getting scared.

"We're in mommy and daddy's room." I said, still facing the wall.

"Turn around Annie." I shook my head, "Turn around now!" Howie's voice was mean sounding, and I turned around. I saw red everywhere, mommy and daddy were lying in bed, they looked scared but they weren't moving. There were teddy bears that looked like Howie everywhere, all of them were looking at Mommy and Daddy in the bed. They were all covered in red and they all had long, sharp, knives. I screamed,
"Howie no!" I felt tears stream down my face, "Howie you took them away, you took them." I whispered.

"Yes Annie, I had to," All of the bloody versions of Howie turned towards me and the clean Howie walked up to me and touched my shoulder. "They would have taken me." I started to scream and I run. I ran to the front door opened it and ran out. I ran out of my house and into the Hospital room I had been sleeping in for two whole weeks. I heard Howie through the still open door that I had just come through, I slammed it shut and ran through the door on the opposite side of the room. The one that goes out to the hallway, when I was out I ran. Kept running until I crashed into a room that looked like mine but it was at the end of the hall, I turned and closed the door. I curled up and buried my face in my hands, this usually woke me up. Instead of waking up though I could only hear a quiet beeping noise. I lifted my head from my hands to see Howards black face right in from of mine.

I screamed as I tried to get away from Howard. His soft blue hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close to his face.

"This body is too small for the two of us Annie," Howards head tilted to one side, "but don't worry, little girls never get locked away, little girls are never bad."


Hey just wanted to put something up since I haven't done so in ages... This is based off the indie horror game "Forget Me Not Annie"