Author's note: I want to thank DeadBrownie For writing a very detailed and accurate review about this story. Thank you so much. I don't usually write fanfiction, so this occasion for me to write a fanfic after a very long hiatus is also rare. Thank you very much , again, for noticing this story and my work. I like to think my writing style is very creative as well :) anyone who is currently hooked or reading this, here's the next chapter.
Barrel felt odd, but shrugged the feeling off and went in a deep sleep on his couch.
While he was sleeping, he inherited a dream in which he was in a fully colored forest, and he could hear other people talking in the distance.
He didn't know why he was there, but he recognized his licorice and orange flavored lollipop still in his mouths so he nibbled on it, but soon woke up when the feeling became familiar. He woke up in the same forest , nibbling the same lollipop. His eyes widened. "What the? How did I end up here?" He scratched his head. "I must have sleepwalked-"
In the distance, he could hear the same voices he heard in his dream.
"So where do you think your parents are?" asked a girl.
"Who knows. Probably at some fancy movie theatre again, for like the billionth time in a row." replied a boy. They both laughed.
Barrel peeked to see who it was from behind a tree. One of them was a girl; about 7 years old, dressed up in a purple witch costume. Her hair looked messy. He thought he had seen her before.
The other was a boy, about her age, dressed up in a devil's costume. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company. What was that bag the girl was holding ?
"Hey!" Barrel suddenly came up to them.
He pointed to Shock. "I know you! You're Shock Greene, right?"
At first, Shock's eyes widened. This kid had just randomly came up to her, telling her he knew her. Then again, she thought she knew him.
"Uhm, yeah, I'm Shock." She looked at him with a surprised expression. "And ... I know you! Barrel Squatlett?"
Barrel smiled. "Wow, you do remember me. Remember when I went to your birthday party?"
The common area was not highly populated, so everyone knew everyone and went to get-togethers all at the same time.
"Wait, why did you just come up to me here... In the middle of the night !?"
Barrel scratched his head. "I had the craziest dream! It took place at these same woods and I could hear the same voices that belonged to you guys... I must have sleep-walked."
Shock laughed. "I like this kid. Always gettin sidetracked, aren't ya?"
Barrel laughed back. "Yep." He turned to Lock, who was awkwardly listening to the whole conversation. "Wait, who are you?" Barrel's eyes widened just then.
"You're a rich kid! I'll beat the tar out of you! Have you been messing with her!?"
Shock went in front of Lock.
"Barrel, please don't hurt him! He's a nice rich kid." She said with a smile.
Lock smiled as well and nodded frantically, scared that the tubby boy was actually serious.
"Yeah, I'm... Her friend Lock DeVille...heh."
Barrel narrowed his eyes and turned to Shock.
"Ok, but if he messes with you in any way ," he pounded his fist in his hand, "you know who to call."
"Heehee, ok!" Shock replied, giggling at how serious Barrel attempted to sound. She always knew him as that quiet kid who didn't talk much, so this was a completely different side to him that she never knew of.
She decided that she was having a special connection with these two boys. She could sense that they would possibly make a good team.
"So what are you guys doing here this late at night? On a leisurely stroll?" He pointed to Shock. "Don't tell me you're on a date or something ."
Shock's eyes widened, then she pointed to the inside of her mouth, sticking out her tongue and pretending to gag.
Lock's eyes widened also. "Barrel, we just met! Gross!"
Barrel laughed to himself. "I'm just messing with you guys, haha."
Lock secretly felt sad deep down. If only...
Barrel frowned. "Well, then, what are you doing?"
Shock's expression changed to nervousness.
"We're looking for our parents. We don't know where they are."
Barrel's eyes widened. "Hey, me too! My mom's gone missing!"
Shock cupped her hand on her mouth. This was ironic, weird, and creepy at the same time.
All of their parents were missing, they were all lost, and they all met on the same day, yet depended on each other somehow. It was like they were destined to meet this whole time...
Barrel interrupted her train of thought by saying, "Whoa, is that your trick or treating bag!? How come you got more than me??"
Shock smiled mischievously. "Secret."
Barrel frowned. "Aw, come on, I wanna know!"
From then on, the three children walked in the forest together, trying to find their parents. They kept each other company by having conversations that they didn't know lasted how long. At one point, Barrel said out of the blue, "hey, do you guys know who the boogeyman is?"
Lock and Shock looked at him and said in unison, "huh?"
Every kid in HouseTown knew of the boogeyman. It didn't matter if you were a commoner or a rich person to know the tale.
"Oh yeah, I remember mom telling me as a little kid what it was..." Lock replied.
"My mom said that if I stayed up late past my bedtime, he would come up from under my bed and eat me!" Shock said, her facial expression having uncertainty.
Lock scratched his head.
"Now that you mention it... Those stories were creepy. I remember my mom telling me that he hides in the moon at night, in the shadow of it, waiting for every single kid to go to sleep. If one kid every stays awake past their bedtime, they get killed."
Barrel frowned. "Or eaten." He licked his lollipop as if on cue.
"I never stay up late past my bedtime."
"Yeah, Barrel, what's your bedtime?"
Barrel pondered for a second, then smiled at them and replied,
"9:30."
Lock smiled mischievously.
"Ha! I go to bed at 10:00."
Shock went up in his face. "10:00!? That's nothin'! I get to go to bed at 10:30. I'm better than both of you!"
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Barrel frowned, but Lock just got angry.
"Hey, don't get smart with us. You're a show off! Nobody likes a show off."
"Oh yeah? Well nobody likes a kid who points out everything out all the time like a tattletale!"
"Oh yeah!?"
"yeah!"
Lock suddenly pulled on her hair.
"OUCH!" She responded by jabbing her elbow in his stomach.
"Oof!"
He kicked her leg and from that point it escalated into a full blown fight.
Poor Barrel just stood there with a frown on his face. It was like they all knew each other for a long time, and these fights occurred often.
"Meanie!"
"Double Meanie!"
"Stupid!"
"Runt!"
"Hag!"
Barrel interrupted the fight. "Um, guys?"
Surprisingly they both stopped fighting and turned to face him.
"What time is it now?"
Shock let go of Lock and rubbed her chin in confusion. "Hmm... That's a good question."
Lock looked up casually, as if the fight having just occurred never happened. "Well, the moon's still out, so it isn't daytime."
His eyes widened suddenly.
"Wait, guys.., I tried searching for my parents at like 1:45. So that means.."
They all looked at each other with horror on their faces.
"WE'RE DOOMED! HE'S GONNA EAT US!" Shock yelled.
Barrel's stomach dropped. "I don't wanna be eaten!!!"
Lock put a fist in his other hand. "We need to find a way to stop this from happening!"
Shock frowned at him. "We can't... My mom once told me that the boogeyman never dies. We can't kill him; he's an indestructible monster!"
Lock shrugged. "There has to be a way."
Barrel punched a nearby tree. "There's not! He's too powerful!"
Shock looked ahead of their path to see if they were going anywhere.
Something caught her eye on the distance.
It was visible through the trees.
"Guys, check it out!"
She then ran to the scene, forgetting her bag full of candy. Lock followed, as did Barrel, but he was the one to carry her bag of candy this time.
