GH5 6: The Mall.
West Edmonton Mall
(Scandal/Patty Smyth: Only The Young)
My Dad, aunt Candace, our friends, Copper and i all walked through the West Edmonton Mall with the Dales and Seth, site-seeing the area, amazed by everything we were seeing. Connor wore a black short sleeve t-shirt, blue pants and his black and white sneakers with white laces and white trims.
Another night
in any town
You can hear
the thunder of
their cry
We were all now in Sears shop, with Adam, Connor, Isaac Dad, Copper and i watching aunt Candace, Layla, Chelsea and Emma try on several different outfits, long dresses, short dresses, long sleeve dresses, short sleeve dresses, sleeveless dresses, shoulderless dresses, high heel shoes and high heel boots.
Ahead of their
time
They wonder
why
In the shadows
of a golden age
A generation
waits for dawn
Brave carry
on
Bold and they're
strong
Dad, Adam, Conner, Isaac, Seth and i were now trying on several different outfits, sunglasses and shoes as aunt Candace, Layla, Chelsea, Emma and Copper all watched.
Only the
young can say
They're free
to fly away
Sharing the
same desire
Burnin' like
wildfire
Later, elsewhere in the mall, we all entered into Galaxyland and we all began going on all of the rides. Rides like the Mindbender roller-coaster, the Balloon Race, the Drop Fear, the Plane Ride, the Carousel, etc.
They're seein'
through the
promises
And all the lies
they dare to tell
Heaven or HeLL
know very well
We were now all in the Paris, Jewellers store, with Dad, Adam, Connor, Isaac, Copper and i watching aunt Candace, Layla, Chelsea and Emma try on several jewels.
Only the
young can say
They're free
to fly away
Sharing the
same desire
burnin' like
wildfire
We were now in the gym, with me, Isaac, Connor and Seth dressed in workout clothes, working out. Isaac, Seth and i both wore black sleeveless undershirts, black adidas knee-length shorts, white socks pushed down, and white sneakers. Connor wore a gray short sleeve t-shirt, black adidas knee-length shorts, white ankle-length socks, and he wore red sneakers with black laces. I was doing pull-ups on a pull-up machine, Connor was doing push-ups on the floor, Seth was climbing a wall, and Isaac was lifting a big barbell with both hands. Later, at the World Waterpark in the pool, dressed in out swim-clothes, minus Copper, and were playing with each other and swimming.
Only the
young can say
They're free
to fly away
Sharing the
same desire
burnin' like
wildfire
Then later, we were at the Ice Palace, with me, Connor, Isaac, Dad and Adam playing honkey while aunt Candace, holding Copper, Layla, Chelsea and Emma watching us and cheering us on from behind one of the glass windows. I managed to get the puck away from Isaac and hit it into the goal, winning the game, and everybody cheering me on. Isaac and i high-fived each other, congratulating on a well played game.
Only the
young can say
They're free
to fly away
Sharing the
same desire
burnin' like
wildfire
We were now at the Disney store in the mall, checking out it's merchandise.
Only the
young can say
They're free
to fly away
Sharing the
same desire
burnin' like
wildfire
We were now at Professor WEM's Adventure Golf, playing...well, golf, with Copper watching. Well all, minus Connor, hit our balls with our golf-clubs towards their holes, but they all missed.
Only the
young
(Only the young can say)
Only the young
(They're free to fly away)
Only the
young
(Sharing the same desire)
Only the
young
(Burnin' like wildfire)
Only the
young
Connor then hit the ball with his golf-club, it went into the hole ahead of it, and we all cheered and ran up to him, with Chelsea and Adam picking him up and sitting him on their shoulders, followed by cheering him on, with the rest of us doing the same.
...
Later, while Isaac, Emma and the adults were all back in Sears, shopping, Connor, Seth and i were sitting at a round table, with Copper sitting on the floor beside me.
"Hey, please give me back my 'Monster Squad' movie." Connor said to Seth, referring to the 1987 film he let Seth borrow last week.
"Sure. First thing tomorrow when i come over." Seth said.
"Thanks." Connor said.
"Uh, Connor...when did you and your family move into the old house?" I asked, referring to the Victorian home.
"We moved there in 2020 after my Dad's job got transferred here." Connor answered. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason. Just wanna know." I said. "Have you made any friends here in town? Besides Seth and Harper, i mean."
"Oh, yes. I have two friends named Bryan and Timmy, who i met when we first moved in. I also have six other friends i met in 2021 named Alex, Daryl, Danny, Joey, Jeff and Jimmy. Daryl said i will be just like them. He also added that i won't grow up and that i will stay with them." Connor said.
"Wow. Wow, that's...interesting." I said, slightly confused by Connor's last sentence of not growing up. But then i wrote it off as a game he and his friend were playing.
"You never told me about these friends." Seth said.
"Well, that's because they only talk to me. I don't know why. I tried to get them to meet with you a few times, but they didn't want to." Connor said.
"Strange friends." Seth said.
"That's exactly what i said." Connor added.
"Hey, Connor!" Came a young female voice.
Connor, Seth, Copper and i looked and saw a 9-year old girl running our way, carrying some papers. She had brown hair that went past her shoulders and stopped at her upper-back, and her eyes were brown. She wore a short sleeveless pale pink sundress and pale pink flat shoes. I literally felt my stomach drop like an elevator as soon as i saw her. For this was one of the other kids i had seen in my 4th grade dream while asleep on the RV. This was Harper. I felt like i wanted to throw up at this point. First Connor, then the Bog-Man, then Seth, and now this girl? What was going on? What was the deal? What was going on around here? Either i was going crazy or this entire town was insane.
"Oh, no. She's here too." Seth said.
"She's not that bad." Connor assured.
"What?" Seth said.
The girl known as Harper ran up to us.
"Hey, Harper." Connor greeted.
"Connor, are you okay?" Harper asked.
"Yeah." Connor answered.
"I think the Bog-Man came for you last night." Harper said.
"Harper, you can't just pretend to know something just to be my friend." Connor said.
"I'm not pretending, i have proof." Harper said. "Here." She said. "Read these." She said as she placed the papers she was holding on the table we were sitting at. "I think the Bog-Man was a real person."
Connor, Seth and i looked down at the papers Harper had placed on the table, with Copper jumping in my lap and viewing the papers as well. The papers were old printed out News paper articles. From back in the 80s, no doubt. At the top of the front page of one of the articles were written black words that read MONSTER! R.L. BOGMAN ARRESTED.
"Suspected to be the Bog-Man, as well as suspected in the disappearances of five young boys from 1979 to 1983, R.L. Bogman, was arrested on Halloween night-1983, after one of the missing boys' bikes was found in the basement of his house during an inventory search". Despite the kids' bodies never being recovered, authorities were able to confirm they were dead when the police dogs caught the scent of human remains when they were searching the home. Though the Bog-Man costume was never found either, Bogman was charged and found guilty of the boys murders in 1984 and sentenced to death. However, he served four years in a regular prison."." Connor said, reading one of the articles. He then looked at Harper.
"Read the next one." Harper said.
Connor moved the first paper away, revealing another front page News paper article with an image of a very familiar old house. A Victorian old house. My eyes, Connor's eyes, and Seth's eyes went wide with shock. It was the same house Connor and his family were living in.
"Whoa! Dude, check it out! It's the same house you and your folks are living in." Seth said.
"R.L. Bogman escaped from police custody on October 30th-1988, during his transfer to a death-row prison for execution. He was later tracked down at the property of his Victorian home and fatally shot by a male officer while being pursued through the bayou by police in his Bog-Man costume to be re-captured. Although it was confirmed that Bogman did indeed die from the gunshot wound, police never found out what happened to his body. The bodies of the missing boys have also never been found"." Connor said, reading the other article.
"Eh, eh. Analysis complete. Human crazy." Seth said, imitating a robot.
"Seth, you gotta listen, this is serious." Harper said. "Your house use to belong to the Bog-Man before he died." She said to Connor.
"This, despite the fact that his body was never recovered." I said.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Harper asked.
"Oh! I almost forgot to introduce you. Harper, this is my cousin, Keegan Lewis, and his dog, Copper. Keegan, Copper, this is Harper Isabel. One of my class-mates from school." Connor introduced.
"Hi, nice to meet you." I said.
"Hello, Keegan...Copper. It's nice to meet you both as well." Harper said.
"I agree with Keegan about Bog-Man's supposed demise." Seth said. "How were the cops able to confirm his death if they never found his body? Even if he was still alive, why wait until now to return home? According to this research, he was shot on Halloween night-1984. This is 2024. Seems like a long time for someone to wait before returning to their house. It makes no sense. And even if he did return to the house last night-"
"Which he did." Connor interrupted.
"What reason would he have to come back? It's not like he can live in it anymore. Connor and his family are living there now." Seth said.
"Well, that question could have one or two answers." Harper said.
"Which are?" Seth asked.
"Either he came back last night for Connor...or...the other thing." Harper said.
"What other thing?" Connor asked.
"The bodies of the missing boys were never found either. I think that's why he came back last night. To retrieve them." Harper said to Connor.
"You think the bodies are somewhere inside the house?" Connor asked.
"Is there any other explanation that makes sense?" Harper asked.
"So what do you think was in the house with us last night? The Bog-Man in person...or his ghost?" Connor asked.
"It's difficult to say, really. The cops never found his body, so it's very likely that he's still alive. But it's also likely he died on the property and his ghost is living in the house with you and your family." Harper explained.
"So either way, it's not good." I said.
"No. No, it isn't." Harper said.
"Harper!" Came a female voice.
"I gotta go. My Mom's calling." Harper said before getting the papers off the table. "Bye." She said before running over to her Mom, who had brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She and her mother then walked off.
"Man. And i thought you had issues." Seth said to Connor.
"We gotta go check this out when we get back to my place." Connor said.
"I thought he lived in your basement." Seth said.
"Seth, this could be a source." Connor said.
"A source of what?" Seth asked.
"Hey, you guys!" Came the voice of aunt Candace.
Connor, Seth, Copper and i looked and saw aunt Candace, Dad, Adam, Chelsea, Emma, Layla and Isaac run up to them.
"What's up, oh, anti-social ones?" Isaac asked.
"Wow, back so soon?" I asked.
"You'll never guess who we just ran into while in Sears." Aunt Candace said.
"Raven Symone?!" Seth guessed jokingly, pretending to be excitedly.
Dad and the others moved out of the way, revealing 23-year old Adriana Tremaine, with her once brown hair now light brown, and the front of it going past her shoulders and stopping at her upper-back like it was back in June.
"Hi, remember me?" Adriana said.
"Adriana, hi." I greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm good, how are you?" Adriana said.
"Great. Uh...Connor, Seth...this Adriana Tremaine. My former step-sister." I introduced.
"We've met. Adriana's been babysitting me since August 1st. She's even babysat Seth a few times too." Connor said.
"What are you doing here in Edmonton?" I asked Adriana.
"Road trip." Adriana answered.
"Road trip?" I questioned.
"Yes...road trip." Adriana stated.
"Small world. That's what we're doing too." Dad said.
"Wow. How strange how some people think alike." Said Adriana.
"Yeah...strange." Said Dad.
I focused my attention on Adriana. Clearly, she hadn't told the Dales or Seth about her involvement in the 103/104 Dalmatians incident back in June. And that was okay. Everybody didn't have to know her business or mine or my family's. What happened back then was between us, not the world.
"Say," I said, getting up from the table. "anybody wanna go, uh, check out the music store?"
"Yeah, i could use some new CDs for the road." Isaac said. "Hey, Connor, Seth, you guys wanna come?"
"Count me in." Seth said, standing up from the table.
"No, thank you. I think i'll just sit this onw out." Connor said.
"I'll stay with him." Said Adriana before walking up to the table Connor was sitting at and sitting down next to him.
"I wanna see if they got any Selena Gomez." I said as Seth, Isaac, Copper, the others and i walked off, leaving Adriana and Connor behind.
"I'm totally into Jonas Brothers now." Said Isaac.
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