Hey everyone, it's me again.
So overall, things have returned to normal for me...well, I guess the term "more or less" is in order here. Wednesday has randomly pulled a Houdini in the last week. I have no idea where she disappeared to, but according to Ms. Palmer, her family is preparing for a family tradition of tremendous importance. Her parents are apparently having her home schooled during this time, which worked miracles for me as I no longer had to deal with her death stares during class. She could be on the damned moon for all I know though, so it's anybody's guess to be honest.
I myself was quite enjoying quality time with me, my friends, and of course the family. Besides that, I've also been throughly excited for this year's Halloween, which I've been preparing for this whole year. Before I get into details as to what those plans even are, I should mention that although things have been fine for the most part...there has been a couple of..."odd" occurances going on lately.
It only happens whenever I've been boarding alone, either when the sun is going down, or at night. When I'm riding down a street, I sometimes see whom I believe to be Wednesday, staring me down in her usual, terrifying way. This tends to happen most commonly when I'm passing by a street light, or just as I'm about to cross through traffic. I can't explain why this has been happening exactly, but all I can hope for is that it passes by the time Halloween is over. Speaking of which, allow me to get into the details regarding my year's worth of planning for this one day of the year.
Me and my friends have come up with a plan to reach the richest houses before anyone else does. Over this past year, we've intensely researched our neighborhood for secret short-cuts, and memorized every house's location from top to bottom. Eventually, we decided on creating a map to catalogue where everyone and everything was. With all this in mind, the plan boils down to the 5 of us splitting up in separate directions to raid as many houses as possible while riding our boards. Once each of us have completed one specific lane or street, we then regroup back at our original gathering point to start another one. Then afterward, we tally up our collective spoils in one large pile, and divide each individual share equally.
Not to sound immodest, but I was pretty proud of myself for having pitched the idea initially. I'm not what one would call a braniac by any means, but I do have a knack for coming up with plans and minor strategies to get the things I want. It's the primary method I take when faced with trouble over the use of my fists. My friends weren't too thrilled with the idea at first, but it didn't take long for them to come around when I mentioned the amount of candy each of us would be going home with.
Anyway, the blessed day of Halloween was nearly upon us. I squeezed my black marker in my left hand with more force than necessary as I crossed off the days on my calender that were left remaining. It was the 28th of October, just 3 more days to go before a year's worth of planning would come to fruition. To make things even sweeter, Halloween just so happened to be on a Friday, which meant 2 free whole days of doing nothing but the kind of stuff I liked. It's hard to imagine a way to make this scenario anymore perfect than it was, but I can't say I'm complaining about the way things are looking so far.
However...if there was one potential black cloud hanging over this scenario, it would be the fact Paul wanted in on our plans. As you might expect, just like in much every other walk of my life, trick-or-treating with my little brother was a massive pain in the ass. For starters, he enjoys making smart-ass comments on other kids costumes, which in turn brings on a whole mess of trouble for me. He also whines that the houses we go to never have his favorite kind of candy. This in turn led to him throwing a huge tantrum a couple years back, which cost me a large amount of time and even got me banned from a couple of houses. Lastly, he has a tendency to rip his own treat bag from the bottom when he isn't careful, forcing me to give him the bulk of my own spoils so he won't squeal to mom and dad about it.
I couldn't dare say no to him though, as I still owed him for his support with the Addams family. He obviously knew that, and this was simply his way of milking this leverage on me for all it was worth. If all else failed, he'd just tattle on mom and dad that I wasn't coming clean on my debts, and I couldn't risk pissing my parents off so close to Halloween. They were quite pleased with me at the moment with how I handled things with the Addams, and there was no way I intended to ruin that at such a critical moment in time.
That said, I decided not to tell my friends that Paul would be joining us, at least not for the moment. It was important that we all understood the plan and how to optimize our collective efforts in scoring as much candy as possible. If anyone was gonna be walking away with anything, we all needed to work together here. I didn't put together a year long plan just to see it blow up in my face. Failure was NOT an option!
Anyhow, on a bright and beautiful Tuesday morning, I rocketed my way to school via my board with all the speed and velocity I could muster. I just had to get through a couple more days before I got to enjoy the most satisfying Halloween I'd ever had. The day itself went by normally, if not painfully so. Ms. Palmer briefly mentioned Wednesday's absence once again, as well as the upcoming Halloween dance this Friday. A dance I had positively zero intention of attending as I had far more important plans in scoring the biggest load of candy I'd ever nailed on Halloween before. Not to mention I didn't even have a date to it anyhow (not that I cared in the slightest anyway).
At lunch, me and my buds began to discuss some intimate details regarding our plan once again. I could tell they were all just as excited as I was, perhaps even more so. Jason spoke up first as he was curious about how many streets we could cover before having to return home. Jason was a light-skinned boy with Italian and Irish ancestry. He had short, brown hair. A white, sleeveless, buttoned polo shirt, black sweat pants, small, black leather gloves which covered his palms and thumbs, leaving the rest of his fingers exposed, and black sneakers.
"How many streets can we cover before the rents expect us back? We've been working out this plan all year, and we can't afford to miss any openings on scoring candy."
Tommy piped in shortly after Jason finished making a rather valid point. He was a black kid with an orange sweater, a slightly spiked up afro, light blue jeans, and white sneakers.
"I gotta agree with Jason on this one. Between the dozens of competition we'll be working around, every last house we can reach counts here. We've got 2 key advantages in mobility with our wheels, as well as our team-work, but what if we miss out on our favorite brands of candy at the hands of someone else?"
Bobby to my right stopped shoving food in his gaping gullet long enough to speak his peace on behalf of the plan. We hadn't been getting along the best since the whole "Wednesday" fiasco, and he's been getting worringly obsessive with how the spoils would be shared amongst the 5 of us. Given that blunt description of his eating habits, you may have guessed he's a rather heavy-set kid. He had fair skin, blonde curly hair, a medium sized green jacket, a large white T-shirt, and somewhat tattered black dress slacks.
"Hey yeah, that reminds me! How do we know who gets what when it's all said and done? Eh, Stewart?"
I repressed the urge to drag my knuckles across my forehead as Bobby was already beginning to try my patience. I calmly explained before that whatever candy we can't nab ourselves, we could just as easily share with one another. Bobby of course being what he is, didn't accept that response as he believed I planned on keeping the best candy for myself. I just barely held together my composure as I gave a firm, yet polite response to his unwarranted criticism.
"Look Bobby. No matter what goes down on Halloween, the big take-away here is that everyone will be walking away with something. I can't promise we'll all be able to get exactly what we want, but isn't getting something at least better than nothing?"
He seemed satisifed with that answer...for the moment. The look in his eyes made it all too clear that he wasn't dropping the issue anytime soon though. Marcus, by far the most aloof member of my circle friends, soon perked up as he threw in his own 2 cents on the plan itself. He was the only hispanic kid amongst my little group of friends. He had short black hair with a bowl cut. A long black T-shirt that covered his upper body completely. A pair of long, black, cotton pants. A small bracelet he said his grandmother made for him around his right wrist, and those weird, "light em up", sneakers that kids our age wore from time to time.
"Yeah guys, Stewart's right. Whether or not we can get all our favorite kinds, in the end we're all getting something. Provided we stay mobile, stick to the plan, and carefully memorize every last detail on that map, things should go by smoothly enough."
I gently let out a relieved sigh as at least one of my friends possessed a modicum of faith in me. Having said that, Bobby's skepticism wasn't exactly what I'd call reassuring. I knew there'd inevitably be doubts with the plan, but with Halloween so close by, the very last thing we needed was to be fighting amongst each other. I resolved to handle this at a later date, as I still had to come up with a way to explain to them all that Paul would be accompanying us on Halloween.
After lunch, Ms. Palmer brought attention once more to the upcoming Halloween dance I mentioned before. I tuned her out as I had far more pressing matters to think about in the form of a crap-ton of candy. I know I'm getting a bit old for trick-or-treating and to have this much of a sweet tooth, but that was all the more reason why this Halloween was so special. It was one of the last Halloweens I'd be able to enjoy before I got too old for the yearly tradition. Additionally, with the more candy I managed to score this year, the longer I'd be set for the rest of my youth.
With school finally being over for the day, I raced back home on my board in a hurry. Now it was time to go over the details of the plan with my...yeech, dearly "beloved" brother. It's not like he wasn't smart enough to understand what the plan entailed, but his willingness to comply all depended on what I was willing to offer him in return. As you might have seen during the ordeal with the Addams, his few kindnesses toward me never came without some sort of price at the end. No doubt he'd want a sizable portion of my shares of the candy, and ontop of that he may even try to blackmail me into stealing some of my friend's shares as well. This wasn't going to be a pleasant experience for me, but almost nothing could compare to the nerve wracking, mental breakdown I suffered when Wednesday's family decided to visit me that day.
I ran up to the front door as my right hand fumbled with my pocket, eventually pulling out the key. As soon as I walked inside, I noticed my parents were peacefully watching a daytime movie while I was away. I quickly gave them both my usual greetings and small-talk regarding school, and then began to run my way up the stair-case. When I finally reached my room, Paul opened the door to greet my approach directly. He must have overheard my foot-steps as I was making my way up the stairs. Nonetheless, he slapped me five as we both made our way into our shared bedrooms.
Over the course of the next 30 minutes, I miraculously managed to not smash in one of our 2 windows north of our bedroom. Paul was purposely acting clueless and nonsensical just to piss me off, and in all fairness he certainly was bringing his A game in this effort! This forced me to reiterate every last detail of the plan post ad nauseam. I couldn't understand why he didn't save this juvenile, horse-shit for when after Halloween was over. He already annoyed me every other day of the year (holidays AND birthdays included). Why did he have to pick NOW to be a grating, little shit when the biggest Halloween of my life was just around the corner?!?
"Okay Paul...I am going to explain this to you just one more time. We...that is to say; me, my friends...and sadly you, are going to meet up at this spot. Once we've done so, we're going to be hitting up every house that the street we've picked features. Once we've finished with that raid, we head back to the rendevouz point, and begin to work on another street."
I could tell he was listening by the way he nodded his head, but the look on his face made it all too clear he was only taking my words half-serious at best. I facepalmed with more force than I had intended, nearly knocking me off balance and falling butt-first to the floor. I managed to avoid such an embarassing fate as I planted both knees on the floor, now looking my brother in both of his eyes as he sat on the foot of his bed. I did what I had to in order to drill in the severity of him getting lost at some point in the night.
"During this time, you are to stay within my line of sight AT. ALL. TIMES!!! No exceptions. If you happen to get lost during the night, 2 things will happen. Firstly, I'll be spending the rest of that night into the wee hours of the morning looking for you, assuming the shock created by your disappearance doesn't put me into cardiac arrest. Secondly, our parents will tear the neighborhood in half in their efforts to find the both of us. While bearing in mind I'm the older sibling here...care to take a wild guess whom would take the blame for you going missing, or worse yet...something awful happening to you?"
At least on the surface, Paul finally seemed to be taking what I was saying seriously. His formerly cocky grin and flippant disposition began to darken somewhat. He soon began to frown as his eyes lost that devilish spark. Finally, I was starting to get through to him. I would have preferred not to have gone through an agonizing 30 minutes of exposition to do so, but just like I had stated before during the Addams Family's visit: better late than never.
Paul wasn't quite finished with his usual bratty routine however, and quickly regained his composure before granting me a slightly grumpy response.
"Okay Okay, I get the big picture here alright?!? Geez, do you always have to go full-blown "PSA" mode on me just to make a simple point? I promise I won't stray too far from your line of sight when we're out there. You weren't this jumpy back when your sweet, widdle, girlfriend paid us all a visit, along the rest of that mob of misfits she calls her family!"
My face instantly reddened as a mixture of emotions began to pour into me. One of said emotions was anger, and the other was of minor embarassment. I hated being reminded of that name as it brought to mind the visions I've been seeing lately. On the other hand, I felt embarassed as me and Wednesday kept being referenced as a couple despite neither of us even being friends. I wasn't a fan of the idea as the girl still vividly disturbed me alot, and with these weird visions I've been having lately, I couldn't afford to be distracted by these kinds of thoughts any longer.
"For the sake of more important matters, I'm just going to block out what you said. As long as you understand the plan, my work here is officially done."
Paul nodded his head absent-mindedly as he brought out his Game Boy Color out from the top-desk drawer. I was about to turn my back and head down-stairs to watch some TV, when suddenly loud knocking could be heard coming from the other end of the door. Confused and more than a little surprised, we both wondered what our parents could want from either of us at this hour. Seeing as how I was closest to the door, I decided to face whomever was on the other end myself.
Sure enough, my father was on the other end of the door waiting for us. He had an impatient and serious look on his face, as if though he was about to give us both some rather grim news. It took me a moment to realize he was clutching a letter of some kind in his left hand. I scratched my head in wonder as I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything at school to warrant a notice at home. I assumed it must have been a reminder for the upcoming school dance, which put my potential worries at ease for the moment.
"Hello boys, hope I'm not interrupting anything here. This letter just came in the mail. I believe you might want to take a look at this one Stewart."
I sighed in annoyance, I really wasn't in the mood for this kind of shit right now. I politely grabbed the letter from my father's grasp and gently thanked him for bringing this to my attention immediately. As soon as he left, I returned to my position on my bed. I had no idea what to expect given I knew this time for sure I wasn't in trouble, but I tried to convince myself whatever it was, it couldn't have been too serious. I decided to hold it off for tomorrow. I did still have a couple days until Halloween, and I was at least fairly certain the letter wasn't anything of dire importance. What was the harm in putting off reading it until at least tomorrow?
Predictably, Paul took immediate notice of the letter in my hand. He wanted to know exactly whom sent it, and for what purpose. I did my best to hold his obnoxious snooping at bay as he tried to force his way to the letter himself.
"Hey, who's that letter for? Why do you keep getting all the free junk around here?!? Lemme see dammit!"
I pushed him back with my right foot as he fell back to his bed abruptly. I didn't mean to shove him back so hard, but my mind is already stressed out enough as is. I've got the biggest Halloween of my young life in just 3 days. My friends still don't know Paul's coming with us yet. Then there was Paul himself whom never knew when enough was enough, and just when I thought I didn't have enough to contemplate, NOW I received yet another letter from parts unknown as of right now. Could I just have one moment's peace to myself? ONE?!?
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to shove you like that man. I've just got alot on my mind right now, and your inane crap isn't helping matters at all! I'm sure whatever this stupid letter has to tell me can wait until tomorrow. I don't know who it's from or from where it was sent, but what I DO know is we're not going to concern ourselves with it for the moment. We...by which I mean mostly myself, have enough to be concerned with already."
Paul looked back with a slight frown as he finally realised he went too far in pushing me. I couldn't see his eyes begin to tear or mist up though, allowing me to sigh with relief as I had zero patience for one of his crying episodes at the moment. I'm not a perfect sibling by any stretch of the imagination, but I tend not to go out of my way to drive my kid brother to tears either. Though he could be at worst an unbearably obnoxious, condescending, self centered brat of a sibling, he was still my little bro all the same, and I'd be lying if I said I could live with myself if something bad happened to him.
Paul finally pulled himself together as he sat up-right in the center of his bed. He quickly regained his usual confidence as he attempted to dismissively brush off what just happened.
"Yeeesh, touchy touchy! I know we've got Halloween to worry about and all, but is one stupid letter really that nerve wracking for you? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing! Just chill for once in your life Stew, damn!"
I decided to drop the matter right there before it could escalate any further. As much as it made my skin crawl, I had to concede that Paul had a point here. I was betraying my own logic by allowing myself to panic over this letter. I shouldn't have anything to fear or worry about considering I'd been doing a fair job at school. I hadn't gotten into any trouble nor did I have to pay the nurse a visit since I fainted. My friends stopped teasing me over what happened with Wednesday, they were way too excited over our Halloween plans to care anymore. I also upheld my end of the bargain with the Addams Family. This was a time for fun and celebration! Why bother getting so worked up over nothing?
The rest of the day and night went by pretty meticulously. Me and Paul played a couple of games of Mario Kart 64 and Smash Bros. We both took games off each other respectively, and the last games for both titles ended in a draw. Paul liked to accuse me of cheating anytime I dare win the tiebreaker of our little competitions, but thankfully with a draw that was no longer a concern.
Eventually dinner rolled around, and the rents decided to spoil us with 2 pizzas featuring toppings of our choosing. I went pepperoni as per the norm whereas Paul picked mushrooms. He would have picked anchovies if given the chance, but they make him extremely thirsty afterward, and then he ends up hogging all the damned soda which effectively leaves me with none. As promised, I secretely gave him a good portion of my share of the special, Halloween-themed ice cream like we agreed upon, which he proceeded to spoon with the speed of a piranha horde. If ice cream could feel, I'd of said a prayer for it as Paul genuinely enjoyed playing with his food like a cat quartering a mouse. Trust me when I say...it's alot more disturbing than it has any right to be.
Finally, it was bed time. I was comfortably fitted in my PJs and ready to get a long, quiet, refreshing night's sleep. My body was snuggly covered by the 2 large blankets that cocooned me, dulling the nightly chill as the temperature outside dropped to the upper 30s. Unfortunately for me though, Paul had yet to work off the extra sugar he had built up from gorging on both of our shares of the ice-cream. This led to him furiously jumping up and down on his bed like a lunatic, and I wouldn't be surprised in the event he'd wet himself soon. I forced my eyes shut as I turned to my right in a desperate attempt to sleep, but the constant pounding and squeaking of the springs in Paul's mattress made this a meaningless effort. The only thing I could silently hope for is the inevitable taking effect...which is to saaaay.
"H-Hey...why does my crotch feel wet and warm at the same time?"
Aaaaand there it was.
I could hear both my parents coming into check out the noise that had been echoing throughout the house. No doubt they probably expected a late night pillow fight before bed considering what we had for dessert, but luckily I was to my right trying with all my remaining energy to get some sleep. With Paul passing out after finally working out his energy (and emptying the contents of his bladder), they were about to no doubt scoop him up, clean him off, and put him in new PJs. This finally gave me the time I needed to peacefully doze off to dream-land, at long last.
Or...so I thought.
The next thing I knew, I was walking down an exceptionally dark street. I could briefly recognize it as belonging to my neighborhood, but the only light I had to navigate with were the street-lights. They seemed to oddly flicker on and off every few minutes or so, for what reason completely escaped me. I couldn't control my legs and feet either. It was like I was being piloted against my will, trudging along to God knows where with no say in the matter on my behalf.
I could do nothing but continue to walk up the street, passing by several houses I could all distinctly remember visiting once or twice on Halloween night. I began to break out in a damp and humid sweat, and the air around me felt like hardened cement. I could just barely breathe as each step I took felt like walking with a huge boulder or concrete slab tied to my back. What was this? Where was I even walking to, and why was it so muggy and humid outside? Fall was in full effect! It should be at least 37 degrees right now!
I started to panic, albeit wordlessly as when I opened my mouth to yelp, no sound could be heard. It was like I was imprisoned within my own body. From what I could gather given the situation...I had no use of my own body. The air I could just barely use to fill my lungs with was akin to being strangled in a sauna. The street I was walking on was practically pitch-black barring the street-lights, and even they only provided a hint of sight as they would turn off after every 5 minutes or so.
I had no way of logically assessing my situation. The only thing that I knew for sure...was that I wanted this to end! I frantically kicked and screamed with neither sound nor movement to be had or heard. A soundless, motionless, prisoner within my own flesh. My panic began to rise like the coming of a massive tidal wave as my focus shifted toward where I was even walking towards in the first place. I started to realize that the streets I was walking on were no longer familiar to me. I was in a completely different part of town, although the houses of these new, uncharted streets looked normal enough themselves.
After what genuinely felt like an eternity of mindless walking, I came across an old, decrepit, mansion of sorts. My legs stopped their agonizing travels as my head turned to face what looked to be the backyard of this mansion. From within my limited vision, I could make out the eerie glow of Jack'O Laturns placed neatly ontop the center of what seemed to be tombstones. Was I wrong? Was my location in fact an old cemetary? More importantly, just what was all this supposed to mean anyway?!?
As I took in the sight of the tombstones, another figure suddenly jumped into view all at once. Thanks to the illumination given off by the pumpkins, I could start to make out the figure admist the endless blanket of darkness as it danced among the tombstones and orange glow of Jack'O Laturns. It beared noticeably feminine traits such as a pale, slender figure. A long, flowing, black dress that traveled all the way down to it's ankles. It reminded me of a smaller version of the one Morticia wore. Beyond that, I could make out familiar dark hair and braids, and that she (or perhaps it) was barefoot. The mysterious, yet oddly familiar figure had what looked like bright red polish on it's toes with a clear shine to them, as if though they'd been manicured only just recently.
It was unquestionable by this point. This...person...whomever she was, was indeed female. However, that still didn't explain why I was made to walk here against my will. What was the point of all this?!? Where the hell even WAS I ?!?
As I became lost within my own confusion, the figure's dance looked as if though she was trying to summon something from beyond the grave. I had to admit, in spite of my ever present fear and anxiety, the dance she was performing was oddly..."bewitching" in a sense. That didn't automatically mean I was anymore comfortable than I was before however. The fact that I still had no control over my own body was a cause for great concern to me. Additionally, now there was someone in my line of view that could easily take advantage of the helpless state I was in. This was not a good position for me to be in whatsoever, and to cap it all off there wasn't a damn thing I could do about any of this. The simple truth was no matter what this person, animal, monster, entity, being, or otherwise was, I was completely and utterly at her mercy...assuming she even had any to spare, of course.
I wasn't sure if she could even notice I was watching her or not, but just as soon as she appeared, she quickly vanished beyond the tombstones. My mind had maybe a second to contemplate that she had disappeared from my field of vision. A few minutes went by before I could feel my legs begin to move again. This time however, instead of moving along the streets, I began to move toward the direction of the graveyard itself. As before, I was completely powerless to stop my advance as my feet progressed through the black, rusted gate of the mansion. I was walking toward the spot where the figure was, each step forcing me to re-visit the pain and discomfort of the walk I took to get to this place.
I soon reached the tombstones with the Jack'O Laturns neatly placed at the center of them. This area was completely dark aside from the glow given off from them. The heat...the arid humidity and dampness from before. I could feel it begin to return more fiercely as I walked step by step to what I presumed to be the back of the house. Was there a fire nearby? I genuinely felt as though I was being led straight into an oven, just what was this place?!?
Eventually, I reached the back of the house. There was a small brick wall leading to what looked like a forest beyond it, aside from that there was nothing especially eye-grabbing here, although the moon-light provided a nice luminscent glow. I could faintly start to make out the sounds of whimpering, causing my anxiety to return back all in one setting. I frantically moved my head in every direction it was capable of moving to discern the source of the whimpers. I turned my head around to see someone tied to a stake, their arms and legs tied around it to prevent any sort of struggle to break free. In spite of the darkness having enveloped my senses, it took me less than a minute to realize whom it was.
Paul...
In that instant, the feeling in my body was restored completely. I bolted toward the stake in order to un-tie my little brother from this disturbing position. My shoes damn near left flames on the ground with the speed I charged at Paul with. Like I told you before, he may be a pain, he may make me miserable whether knowingly or not, and at times I do question what it'd be like if I were an only child, but he's still my kid brother. So help me GOD, if anyone even thought of laying a finger on his head, I'd personally tear them apart with my own two hands!
I was far past caring about whatever the hell happened to me. All I could think about was getting Paul off that stake, and to somewhere safe no matter what it took. I ripped and teared at the ropes holding him to the stake with an almost animalistic fury. I managed to pry him loose in a matter of minutes, completely surprised by my own strength as I wasn't exactly what one would call a gym rat. I immediately embraced Paul as I wanted to know why he was here, and whomever it was that did this to him. I tried with all my might, but still I couldn't speak no matter what. Paul had clearly been crying as tear stains were noticeable amongst his cheeks. It broke my heart to see him like this, knowing that some sick creep could do this to an innocent child. Paul began to speak up as his voice was choked and garbled up by his emotions, and his lingering fear at the location we were still at.
"I...I don't know how I got here. I just opened my eyes, and I realized I was tied to this stake. I've been stuck here for about an hour now. I thought someone would never find me. Thanks Stewart!"
My emotions overwhelmed me as tears began to flow through my eyes like a faucet. I tearfully embraced my little brother once again. I was just so glad to know he was unharmed, but I knew so long as we stayed here, we weren't truly safe at all. I lifted Paul off the ground and placed him on my back, and then began to run with all the speed invested in me. Carrying him on my back and running at the same time proved to be a fair challenge, but I had no time to consider that given Paul's safety was my top priority. I made it past the tombstones and managed to reach the gate, before tripping and landing harshly on my left knee. I knew without a shadow of a doubt I wouldn't be able to run and carry Paul on one bad leg, so when he took a look at it to investigate, I gently pushed him away as I gave him one last piece of brotherly advice, having finally gotten my voice back seemingly in the nick of time.
"Look Paul...I can't get up right now. I think I blew out my left knee cap with that fall. You've gotta get as far away from here as you're able to. I saw someone around here earlier, and who knows if there's more. Just run as fast as you can, and whatever you do...don't look back."
Paul started to tear up once again as he tried in vain to lift me off the ground. My left knee was in so much pain I could feel it vibrating throughout the rest of my body. It was a generous effort on his part, but there was no way in HELL he could have forced me off the ground if I couldn't even. Suddenly, Paul's expression changed to one of complete fear. His eyes grew as wide as saucers at whatever it was he was looking at. I begged him with all the strength I had left in me to run, which after some more sobbing he finally did so. I was glad that at least he would be getting out of this alive, but sadly for me...it didn't look as though my luck would be as kind. I could only pray that whatever it was that scared Paul off would be merciful enough to give me a quick death.
I turned my head around to face this new danger. It was the figure I'd seen dancing among the tombstones! Even more frightening however, was the fact that NOW I could clearly make out whom she was...
"W-...W-Wednesday?"
My fear returned a thousand fold as I crawled on the ground with all my might, trying to distance myself from her as much as possible. Her expression was what I was accustomed to by this point. That intense, cold, unfeeling gaze was directly upon me, causing me to scatter on the ground like a cock-roach. I knew there was nothing I could do by this point. I had just lost the use of one of my legs, and I wouldn't dare dream of fighting a girl anyway, even if it cost me my life in the process. I just stopped struggling after a while and closed my eyes, silently praying she would just finish me off and be done with it. My head had it's back turned as I could hear her foot-steps approaching ever closer. With no other options left remaining, I quietly said my final good-byes to my friends and family. Maybe one day I'd see them again...or maybe not. Who was to know?
I could feel my right ankle being gripped as my body dragged along the cold, hard ground. The pain in my left knee resurfaced as it bumped against various objects scattered across the ground I was dragged along. I let out yelps of pain and displeasure as I was being rag-dolled to wherever Wednesday saw fit. I started to cry once more as the pain in my left knee wouldn't stop throbbing, and I began to wonder if I'd ever see the end of this torment anytime soon.
Eventually, the pulling stopped as I could recognize the brick wall I was placed in front of. It was the same one I saw when I reached the backyard of the mansion. Wednesday or whomever stopped dragging me in order to retreive something from God knows where. My senses were blurring as the pain in my left knee was beginning to make me feel woozy. I could still faintly hear something large and heavy being pulled as it's size caused a screeching noise upon the ground it was moved upon.
Once it stopped, I could hear the person dragging it walking their way over to my position. Terrified, dirty, and in great suffering due to my knee, I whimpered pathetically as I felt my body being hoisted off the ground, and placed on what felt like a large, wooden board of sorts. My limbs were being strapped in place in a manner that reminded me of a torture rack. My heart nearly stopped beating as the realization of what I was strapped to had started to sink in. This was a torture rack! But...why? What the hell have I done to these people to deserve this kind of treatment?!? Was this Wednesday's way of telling me my story wasn't scary enough? Did she simply get off on the suffering of others? An endless surge of questions flowed through my brain all at once, but not a single one would be answered at the rate things were going.
My tormenter looked me dead straight in the eyes as her expression remained the same. I just laid there on my back completely helpless to her whims. Her terrifying gaze showed no emotion, making what she was feeling totally unreadable. She didn't seem to hold compassion for my predicament, nor was it clear she was delighting in the suffering she caused me. I began to bawl and frantically shake my head back and forth in a last ditch effort to win some mercy from her. She said nothing as per usual, but she slowly made her way over to my right ear. I closed my eyes as I reasoned not seeing what she planned on doing next might ease the pain at least mildly.
Then...for the first time since I've known her, she spoke into my right ear. Her voice was just slightly above a whisper, and it's tone was dull and lifeless, as if though all the emotion in the world had up and vanished from existence.
"...Are you scared?"
The last thing I remember hearing was a crane of some kind being turned, before an ungodly pain traveled through my body in a matter of seconds, finally causing me to fade into unconscious-ness as the world around me simply ceased to be.