So I wasn't sure whether or not I should do this episode, because I had no idea how I could add Avery into the episode and i had zero intention of her becoming Fred's victim in this episode. But since it's an iconic episode, I knew it couldn't be ignored so I mainly made it about Avery reacting to the events of the episode. Sorry if it sucks, but this was all I could think of.
Avery coughed as she dusted off one of the shelves in her aunt's bedroom. Despite it being lived in quite frequently, the room was uncharacteristically dusty in some parts of it. Her aunt in the meantime was smoothing out the sheets on her bed.
They had been cleaning up the house all day and for the later parts of the previous evening. The only time her aunt went on a cleaning spree like this was when they were expecting company to come over. It wasn't unheard of, but she had yet to tell Avery who was coming over for a visit.
"Hey Aunt Muriel, is someone coming to visit? We normally go on a cleaning spree like this when someone is coming to visit us," Avery asked simply.
Muriel looked at her and said, "Didn't I tell you?"
Avery shook her head and Muriel said, "My fault I guess. The call came last minute yesterday. Your cousin Fred has a few days free and wanted to come and visit."
Avery gave her aunt a confused look and said, "Fred? Who's Fred?"
Muriel frowned slightly and said, "You don't remember Fred dear? Then again, the last time you two saw each other you were just wee little ones. Back when you liked playing with girl things. You two played with dolls together one time. Don't you remember?"
Avery took a second to look through her memories. It had been years since she recalled having a family member named Fred. But the more she thought about it, the more some memories began to return to her. And soon, something clicked inside her mind. However when it did, it clicked hard.
Avery had just been a little girl of five years then and that year was the year that her parents had been hosting the family reunion at their home in Florida. She had snuck away from the family for a bit so that she could be alone in her room with a couple of dolls that she had had. She was so focused on them that she didn't even notice the tall lanky eight year old boy sneaking up behind her. Shaggy blond hair adorned the top of his head and a wide smile of crooked teeth hung in his mouth. He stood right behind her and tapped on the top of her head.
Avery froze and turned around, only to see her cousin Fred standing right behind her.
"Uh... h-hi Fred," little Avery said, creeped out by her cousin's creepy smile.
Fred continued to smile and in a slightly high pitched voice politely said, "Hi Avery. Your mom said you were in here and I wanted to see your room. That's a nice dolly you have."
Avery clutched the doll closer to her and said, "T-t-thanks. Can you leave me alone please? I just want to be left alone right now."
Fred kept staring at the doll and said, "In a minute. I think she could use a trim. Too much hair is not good for you."
Avery clutched the doll closer and said, "No she doesn't, she's a doll. Please get out!"
"I won't take much off," Fred said and pulled a pair of scissors out from his pocket and snipped them a few times in the air. "I think you and the other dolls might need one too."
With that, he grabbed the arm of the doll and pulled on it. Despite Avery holding the doll tight, Fred was easily able to pull it from her grasp and hold it up above her.
"Don't! Stop!" Avery cried out as Fred brought the scissors closer to the doll's hair as his smile grew even more.
"MOM!" Avery screamed.
Avery stood in front of her aunt with a blank look in her eyes and said, "Yes, now I remember Fred. I also remember my dolls, I miss my dolls."
She had never asked for new dolls, fearing that Fred might return for them and cut their hair as well.
Muriel smiled and said, "Well isn't that lovely then? I can't wait for that wee lad Fred to arrive. You two have a lot of catching up to do."
'I guess someone has to,' Avery thought to herself with more bitter thoughts clouding in her mind.
The bracelet remained stoic as it sensed her anger.
In the meantime, Eustace was out in the hall, installing a lock on the bathroom door. Courage was handing him various tools so that Eustace could work on installing it on the door. He was not looking forward to Fred's visit either. He had met the young man several times before and was NOT looking forward to his visit at all. So much so that he was setting up several precautions for his visit, in case the young man went mad during his visit.
Avery stepped out into the hall as Eustace was doing this and muttering something about not wanting the "freak" to set foot in the house. He even quietly muttered something about a previous incident that he was trying to forget.
She walked up to him and said, "You've seen Fred? Tell me this, is he just as bad as the time he ruined my dolls or is he worse?"
Eustace shook his head and said, "He's worse now. Way worse."
Eustace made a glance at Courage, who was already shivering in fright and decided that now would be a golden opportunity to scare him.
"The freak's a barber, a FREAKY barber with his own freaky barbershop where freaky things happen. Freaky barber things," Eustace said in an eerie manner to the both of them.
Courage began to whimper and shake, even as Avery patted the top of his head in comfort. He could feel her hand beginning to shake as well.
"I think that's enough Uncle Eustace," Avery said with fear creeping into her voice too.
Eustace sensed the fear in her voice and said, "Just thought I should properly warn ya about. Which reminds me, you may want to make sure you keep a hat on your head Avery, even when you sleep. Last thing I need is to see is all of your hair being snipped off by that freak."
Avery nodded, ran a hand through her hair and said, "I think I understand."
In the month that she had lived there, Avery hadn't yet gotten her hair trimmed and as a result it was now a little longer than she had normally kept it at. But she didn't mind it and thought that a new look for herself wouldn't hurt. But she had no intention of losing it all if he was still as crazy as he was when they were little kids.
A moment later, the sound of their doorbell rang out. Avery looked towards the stairs and then went to the window that overlooked the front yard of the house. Sure enough as she reached it, she saw a bus driving away at a fast speed like it was trying to get away from something. From what? Well she had a few ideas on what, but none of them good.
Her aunt passed her to go down the stairs and Courage just sat on the steps, shivering and gulping in fear. The doorbell rang again as Muriel approached the door, Courage and Avery keeping their eyes glued on the door as the bell rang a couple more times. And before long, Muriel answered.
Muriel smiled as she opened the door and said, "Ah Fred, my dear nephew. What brings you to our cozy corner of the world?"
Standing at the doorway was the same tall lanky figure from Avery's memory. His hair was no longer shaggy, but still had a crazed look to it and eyes so green that looked like they were peering into her soul. The wide smile was still plastered on his face. It wasn't until he spoke that she saw the familiar crooked teeth adorned his mouth.
"Holiday," Fred answered simply.
Avery looked at Courage and said, "Yeah I think I'm going to go get that hat now."
A little while later, Muriel and Fred were sitting together in the living room just chatting casually as Fred sat on a couch that they had pulled out earlier that day, a leather case sitting on his lap. Avery came down a few minutes later, wearing a baseball cap that was hiding her hair from Fred's field of view.
Muriel saw her and said, "Oh Avery, come see your cousin. It's been so long since the two of you have seen each other."
'Not long enough,' Avery thought as she froze on the spot.
Not wanting to look disrespectful in front of her aunt, Avery walked over to the couch where Fred sat.
"Hey," she said as she sat down next to him.
Fred gave her a side glance and said, "Hello."
Avery couldn't help but shiver at the sound of his voice. Muriel frowned at the sight of Avery wearing the baseball cap, but didn't want to chastise her in front of a guest so decided to leave it be for now. Instead, she turned her head to Courage who was still sitting up on the stairs.
Her smile returned and said, "Courage, come and meet Fred."
From here, Avery looked over to see Courage still sitting there, but also turned her head to see Fred starting to cast a glance at the little dog. She could hear Courage whine from as Fred looked in his direction. Even as he came down the stairs and sat in between them, she could feel his fear and she couldn't blame him. She was just glad that it wasn't another creepy intruder sitting with them. Just a weird family member and every family had at least one of those.
A short time later, Eustace came down the stairs and was walking rather quickly. Not even bothering to look in their direction.
"Going to go to the hardware store and get the you know... to fix the bathroom door," he said as he walked to the door. "Just don't try shutting it, because you won't be able to get it open."
But before he could go out, Muriel called him over.
"Eusatce, our guest is here. Come say hello to Fred," Muriel called as Fred turned his attention towards Eustace.
Eustace stared back and took a moment. He then reluctantly walked back over to them and took a seat in his armchair, quietly calling Fred a freak in the process. Neither Fred nor Muriel noticed his "freak" comment or they had just ignored it. Courage continued to shiver as he sat next to the crazed barber, Avery gently stroking the top of his head the entire time. But out of nowhere, he jumped up and tried waving to Muriel about something. What it was? She couldn't guess.
"You okay boy?" Avery asked.
But Muriel waved Courage down, so he had no choice but to sit back down.
Muriel looked back to Fred and said, "You must be exhausted Fred dear. Would you like to freshen up?"
Fred continued to smile, rubbed his chin and said, "Yes, been quite a trip it has."
Muriel turned to Courage and said, "Show Fred the bathroom please Courage."
But Courage wanted nothing to do with showing Fred the bathroom and shook his head furiously. This resulted in Muriel chastising Courage and him finally agreeing to do it by following Fred up.
After Fred went up the stairs, Eustace stood up from the couch to leave for the hardware store, but was stopped when Muriel asked him to take some towels up to Fred, which he did reluctantly. And so Avery was left alone with her aunt in the living room.
"So why are you wearing the hat?" Muriel asked.
Avery could feel herself freeze, but remained calm and said, "Trying something different?"
Muriel frowned and said, "I wish you wouldn't wear it in the house. Especially since you're uncle wears his in the house all the time."
Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a clatter from upstairs as a door slammed shut and this was followed by the sound of Courage screaming in horror. Both Muriel and Avery went up the stairs at the sound of Courage's screams and found Eustace with his ear pressed to the bathroom door and was laughing and smiling as Courage scratched at the door.
Muriel looked at Eustace and said, "I heard the door slammed."
Eustace pointed at the door and merely said, "The door slammed."
Avery could hear the sound of Courage struggling with the door knob on the other side, desperately trying to pull the door open. Avery tried to open it on her side as well, but couldn't even get the knob to turn. Moreover, the lock that Eustace had installed was jammed shut as well so even if she could turn the knob, it wasn't going to open. The door was not going to open without anyone else's assistance.
Eustace shrugged and said, "Well I better get," as he walked out of the house.
Muriel put her hand against the door and said, "Now don't you boys worry, Eustace will be back soon to get the door open."
Avery put her hand to the door and said, "And please don't hurt each other."
Avery went to the window and looked out to see Eustace driving away rather quickly.
Avery frowned and said quietly to herself, "He's not coming back, is he?"
She could already figure out the answer as she could hear Courage whimper and whine on the other side of the door.
A couple of hours passed and Avery was getting more and more concerned as time went on. Eustace hadn't come back yet and Courage's cries had become full blown screams. Worse yet is that she kept hearing the sound of Fred's electric clipper running and constantly heard Courage's screams accompany them. She wanted nothing more than to break down the door to get in there, but she wasn't strong enough to do that. Moreover, she had tried to get the bracelet to help her, but it wouldn't even stir for her.
She couldn't stand to hear the sound of Courage's cries of fear, but knew that there was nothing that she could do. So she just sat by the door and waited, covering her ears with her hands, thinking that he'll need some comforting when this whole thing was over.
Muriel came upstairs with a plate full of pancakes and knocked at the door.
"Is everything alright in there?" Muriel asked.
Courage let out a scream and began clawing at the floor under the door for salvation. But Muriel merely assumed that he was eager for the pancakes and set the plate on the floor for Courage to grab.
Muriel dusted her hands off and said, "Wonderful. Eustace should be back any minute now."
Avery looked at her aunt and said, "Aunt Muriel, it's been two hours now. I don't think he's coming back any time soon."
Muriel waved her off and said, "Nonsense dear. You know how your uncle is it when it comes to buying tools. They have to be the right one or it's all wrong for him."
"I hope you're right. It sounds like trouble is going on in there," Avery said worriedly as Courage screamed again.
Muriel shook her head and said, "Fred's just giving Courage a little trim, he was due for one anyway. Fred's just trying to be helpful is all and Courage is probably just being fussy."
"For two hours?" Avery asked, almost angrily.
Muriel laughed and said, "He's just enthusiastic about his work. After all if you love your job as much as he does, you're not really working are you?"
Avery couldn't help but frown at her aunt's naive nature.
Later, Muriel had the TV upstairs and was calmly watching it, still being optimistic about Eustace returning soon. But it was clear that she was getting more and more impatient at her husband's tardiness. All the while, Avery was nervously waiting for something, anything to come her way to help her get to Courage.
Her wait however came to end when she heard the sound of police sirens approaching the house. Before long, they pulled up to the house and Avery ran to the window to see. Sure enough, cop cars were surrounding the house and the cops ran out and a moment later, the lights in the house went out as the power was suddenly cut. In through the front door and up the stairs came two burly men in powder blue jumpsuits, carrying an orange tarp between them.
One of them looked at Avery and asked, "Is there a crazy barber in the house ma'am?"
Avery merely pointed at the bathroom door and the two men went over and bashed the door down with little effort. They came out a moment later with Fred wrapped up in the tarp, still smiling with his creepy stare.
Muriel at first was alarmed, but was calmed when Fred said, "It's quite alright Aunt Muriel, these men have just come to take me home. Think of it as an emergency that requires me being where I belong."
"Oh, well I hope everything is okay," Muriel said, slightly alarmed.
Fred continued to smile and said, "Oh I'm sure it will be. Farewell Aunt Muriel."
As he was pulled past Avery, he looked at her and said, "Oh and cousin Avery, it was good to see you again as well. Try not to wait twenty years to see me once more. I'd love to play dolls with you again."
Avery said nothing as he was pulled past her and out the door. She went to the bathroom and was horrified to find Courage sitting on top the toilet, shaved down to his bare skin except for his tail.
"Courage? Are you okay boy?" she asked.
Courage merely laughed his nervous laugh and gave her a thumbs up. He was as fine as one could expect at least.
She sighed in relief and said, "Don't worry boy. It's just hair, it'll grow back."
A minute later, they were back on the front porch to see Fred off as he was being taken away by men and loaded into a padded ambulance. Even though she was sad to see him leave early, Muriel was just glad to have seen him during his brief visit and waved him goodbye. Avery decided to join in, just to keep from being chastised again. She made sure to lightly scratch Courage on top of his head.
As the ambulance drove away, Muriel lowered her arm and said, "What a lovely visit. Too bad Eustace didn't get to say goodbye."
"Yeah, poor Eustace," Avery said sarcastically without Muriel picking up on it.
'I'm gonna strangle him when he gets back,' Avery thought angrily.
As the ambulance drove out of sight, Muriel went back into the house and Courage followed suit. He looked back to Avery to see if she was coming in as well.
She noticed and said, "No, you go ahead boy. I'm going to wait right here for Uncle Eustace. There are some things that I need to discuss with him. Namely about him leaving YOU alone with a relative who has an obsession with shaving hair."
The bracelet began to pulsate as well. Courage merely gulped and went back into the house, leaving her sitting on the porch.
So that's it. Sorry for the abrupt ending, but it's the best I could do with what I had. I promise that the next episode should be better as I think it's another one of season one's scariest episodes. Not just terrifying, but very suspenseful.
See you all in... Night of the Weremole.
Also I might bring Fred back for an original chapter later on. I just really want to bring him back and not leave him as a one off character.