The nightmare that won't go away chapter 2 – Starting over
"Aggie?" Norman asked in disbelief. The girl who had been covering her identity by having her head held down low raised her head to make Norman's dream a reality. Standing before was an older Agatha Prenderghast; still wearing the same black puritan dress Norman had seen her in two years ago. By the looks of her now; Norman guessed that from her SLIGHTLY longer hair, bigger size dress, bigger shoes and now being as tall as him, she must've been his age... again.
"H-Hi Norman. How've you been?" She asked. Norman however, didn't answer because before Aggie knew it, he was right next to her and he was stocking her hair. At this, Aggie's eyes went wide in shock and she felt her cheeks go warm but this went away with Norman's next sentence. "You're... You're not a ghost; you're flesh and blood." With Norman's statement, Aggie remembered her good news. "Oh yeah, I've got some great news! Well, great for me; I'm not sure if you'll find it so great." Norman let a small smile overtake his expression. "It's okay Aggie; I won't make fun of you or anything. What's the good news?" Norman then realised Aggie was letting tears loose from her eyes... tears of joy. "I've been given a second chance... at life."
Norman couldn't believe what he had just heard escape his crush's lips. He felt as happy as Neil did when it was pizza day at the school cafeteria; and Neil got VERY happy when that happened. He now didn't have to die alone or get a girlfriend just to HAVE a girlfriend; he could now try and get what he needed to be happy to the fullest. With this new news, Norman was about to say something in response when he noticed that Aggie was now holding a bunch of flowers in her hand. Norman blushed so hard his cheeks were the colour of blood in which Aggie giggled. "Thanks for bringing me flowers every month, Norman." Norman scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "No-No problem, Aggie. Would you like to come back to my house for a bit?" Agatha seemed to debate it in her head for a moment before nodding shyly. And with that, they both began to walk back to Norman's house but not before Aggie whispered to him "And just to let you know, I would've loved it if you decorated."
1 hour later, after Norman and Aggie reached Norman's home...
Norman opened the door for his secret crush to walk in first; she did after she muttered a quick "thank you" which made Norman feel appreciated. With her flowers still in hand, Aggie walked into the living room to see a fat man, a girl with a big butt, a ghost of an elderly women and a middle aged woman; all of which were giving her weird looks. It was at that moment that Norman decided to walk into the room.
"Err, son" his father Perry started. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your... friend?" It was then that Norman realised that none of his family had actually MET Aggie before. "Oh, yeah. Mom, dad, Courtney, grandma, I want you all to meet my friend Aggie." At this, Aggie gave a small wave to the Babcock family who waved deliriously; still shocked by the girl's dress sense. "That's a nice dress that you got there, darling" Norman's mom explained. Aggie blushed a little at the comment. "Thank you" she said. "Err, Aggie, why haven't we met you before and where did you get that dress?" Perry asked. Norman then decided to make the move (not THAT type of move!) "I think I have some explaining to do..."
After Norman explained to his family everything about Agatha (who had been quietly sitting in the corner throughout the whole explanation), her being involved with the witches curse and what he had been doing for the past two years (he didn't mention WHY to save himself the more annoying questions from his family and Aggie the embarrassment), all of Norman's family just stared at him for a minute... then turned to look at Aggie for a minute... and then back to Norman.
"Whoa" was all Perry could say to break the silence. "Well, I must say Agatha; you have a very peculiar storyline" said Sandra; Norman's mother. At this, Aggie seemed to squirm a bit in her spot on the sofa that Perry had 'gladly' given her after being told to 'respect the guest' by his wife. The reason for Aggie's squirm was because when Norman's mother said that she had a 'peculiar storyline', she thought that Sandra was referring to her time as the witch; her thoughts were interrupted by Norman's gasp.
"Hey guys, you know what I just realised?!" All of Norman's family and Aggie stared at him; waiting for him to answer. "Aggie doesn't have a place to stay!" At this statement, Aggie covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. Norman was right, now that she was alive and 'in the flesh' again (as Norman put it), Aggie would need a place to live but who would be nice enough to take in a random stranger? Little did Aggie know that whilst she was indulged in her own thoughts, Norman and his family had left the living room and were now in the kitchen, discussing the very matter.
"Oh, where could that poor girl go?" Sandra asked all of them. "Can't we try find someone who would be nice enough to take her in?" Perry asked. "Hey Norman; didn't your friend Alvin said he wanted a sister or someone like that?" the father of the family asked his son. Norman gasped at the question. Yes, it was true that Alvin and him were now friends but there was NO WAY that Norman was letting Alvin go near 'his' Aggie. "Hey Norman" grandma whispered to him. "I'm pretty sure if you could convince them to then your parents would let that darling girl live here." Norman beamed at the idea.
"Guys, can't she just live here? I mean, she is family." After Norman's comment, Perry and Sandra went to talk on their own for Perry was against the idea of one of Norman's 'friends' staying with them whilst Sandra thought they needed to let Aggie stay for as Norman said, she was part of the Prenderghast bloodline. Whilst they were debating over the situation, Courtney tapped Norman on his shoulder. "Hey Norman, Can I talk to you out in the hall for a second?" After considering it in his head, Norman nodded and he followed his sister into the hall.
"Norman, are you sure it's a good idea asking mum and dad if this girl can stay here? I mean, from what you've told us, you barely know her." Courtney said; going on the knowledge that Norman had said he'd only actually SEEN Aggie twice in his life. "Yes, I'm sure Courtney. Besides, it would be nice to talk to someone who understands me more. I'm not saying you guys don't; it's just that she can see the dead as well so it would be nice to have someone else to talk to the ghosts with, you know?" After his explanation, Norman began to walk back to the kitchen to see if his parents had reached an agreement when Courtney stopped him again.
"Hey Norman" she called. He turned around to see his sister smirking at him. "What's the reason you would take flowers to her grave? You said it doesn't matter but I want to know anyway." Whilst asking this question, Courtney had been walking towards her brother and now had the crimson coloured boy trapped in a corner. After a minute of silence on Norman's part, he sighed. "You promise you won't tell anyone or laugh?" he asked seriously. Courtney then nodded whilst doing the 'cross my heart' hand movement. Norman then reluctantly asked to his sister to come down to his height so he could whisper her the answer. After Norman told her, Courtney sighed and put her hands on her brother's shoulders. "Norman; there's no need to be ashamed by that. If you like her, you like her. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Just remember that as long as YOU and HER are happy, nothing else matters."
After Norman and Courtney had their little talk, they both went back into the living room where both could see Perry frowning, Sandra and Aggie both smiling and to Norman, grandma was smiling also. Suddenly, Aggie shot up and went over to Norman; there were tears evident in her eyes. "Your parents are letting me stay here." That was all Norman needed to hear for both teens to put their arms around each other (this looked a bit disturbing to all but Courtney). When they let go of each other, Norman quickly looked behind him to see his sister smirking at him.
"Shut up, Courtney."
Meanwhile, in Australia...
"Byron White, you may now enter" said the doctor who was poking his head out of the doorway. The rookie mercenary then stood up from his chair in the medical waiting room and stepped past the doctor into the doctor's office. "So, Mr. White, what are you here for?" the doctor asked politely.
"The boss of the company says that it's crucial that I compete my assignment so he doesn't want me falling victim to ANY diseases or viruses out there." From the look of the doctor's face, Byron could guess that the doctor knew where this going. "So to make sure I can't be harmed by any bacteria or viruses while I'm out on this assignment, he wants you to give me the experimental antibiotic you've been working on."
Almost reluctantly, the doctor got up from his seat as his desk (yes, doctors have desks in this story) and walked over to his personal cabinet. He then took a key out from around his neck and unlocked the cabinet. After opening it, the doctor's eyesight and hand drawn to the test tube full of turquoise liquid and its accompanying syringe. The doctor immediately removed the top of from the test tube and sucked a suitable dose of it up into the syringe. The doctor then walked over to Byron White, who was simply waiting by the doctor's desk. Whilst the doctor was giving the mercenary the injection, he asked him...
"So what's your assignment then, rookie? Must be really important if the boss wants me to give you antibiotic X so you won't have to come back." Byron White raised his head to give the doctor a 'why should I tell you?' look. "Well, antibiotic X IS my life's work; I was just wondering how important your assignment is for you to need it." With the antibiotic now Byron's system, the doctor removed the syringe and wrapped the skin puncture with a bandage. "Well, Dr. Crawden" Byron responded, using the doctors name for the first time. "I've been given a mission to capture some boy who lives in Massachusetts; some kid called Norman Babcock."
With that, Byron White left the doctor's office to leave for his mission. Little did he know that in his wake, he had left an extremely angry doctor who by now, was simply putting a handgun into his lab coat pocket whilst he looked at the picture of him and his brother, who was holding a young boy in his arms.
"No Byron, you're not turning my nephew into a lab rat. Not on my watch..."
