Chapter 15: End of a Legacy

Present

Tammy, Duckie, Jay, Dino, Paco, Ralph, Officer M, and Officer G were in complete shock. The story had taken quite possibly one of the worst routes it could have possibly taken. Raglan was dead obviously, but the fate of him was so much worse than what was originally imagined. With such a fate revealed, the group had started to question to themselves if the victims of Boozoo, Lorenzo, and Rachel had met a similar fates. The truth was though, they all 3 had their own prefered methods that varied widely.

"When it was all said and done, we put him in the gardening shed until we found a spot to get rid of the body," said Rachel, "The police car Boozoo disposed of thanks to a connection Boozoo had." "What is that supposed to mean?!" asked Officer M. "Some information isn't ment to be made public, so use your imagination to what extent you like," said Lorenzo.

"You know, I should thank you Tammy and Duckie," said Boozoo, looking at them, "None of us would be here today if you and your friends just listened to what I said on that playground 1 year ago." "And this is exactly what I ment when I said you blame everyone but yourself!" said Tammy, "That was a full year ago! You really want to blame that on your problems? You are a sick and twisted old man! We all know what you and the Watermans did for years!"

"And it will all be over if you give us the money and book!" said Boozoo, "The money is one thing we want back yes, but that book holds more power than just a simple story." This telling would be a massive mistake and one Boozoo would wish he didn't tell. With him being so caught up in wanting to get it back, he had no clue as to how quickly he sealed the fate of himself and his best friends.

Holding the fundraiser money was Tammy, who refused to give in. "You're not getting this!" she stated, "Who's to say that what you are even saying is true?" "I don't need to prove that!" said Boozoo, with a tone full of denial, "I'm not lying!" Jay who was holding the book then asked, "You want this?" "Please," said Lorenzo ominously, "Give it to us." "I'm telling the truth!" Boozoo said impatiently.

Deep down, everyone knew Boozoo and the Watermans were lying. It was at this moment Jay got an idea. She thought about the statement that Boozoo had made earlier and wondered if it had a more significant meaning. With this in mind, Jay was about to do something that would save her father, brother, and her friends. She took out her father's lighter that she still had and Officer M noticed this. "Hey, I've been looking for that for a week!" he said, "What are you doing with that?" Jay ignited the lighter and set the photo book on fire before dropping it to the ground.

Boozoo gasped at the sight of this, then started screaming like an absolute madman in complete panic. "No no no no, what have you done?!" Rachel shouted. Lorenzo, in a complete loss of words, yelled in both anger and fear. "What's the matter?!" asked General Gilbert, confused as to why the 3 criminals were panicking. "You don't have a clue what she did!" said Boozoo, "Our pasts are coming back to haunt us!"

Suddenly, the sounds of drums banging sounded. Various victims of Boozoo and the Watermans suddenly faded into the warehouse. All of them were from the photo book and looked in the direction of their targets. General Gilbert and his men were freaked out by this and didn't know what to do. "Shoot them!" Boozoo demanded. "Uhh," General Gilbert hesitated, "Fire!" They shot at the victims, but none of them went down or were effected by the gunshots.

At this point, the general was far too terrified and so were his men. When the gunshots didn't work, he used the switch to open the garage door and screamed as he ran out, and so did his men. "Hey! Where are you going?!" shouted Boozoo. With the door open and the personnel no longer focused on their targets, Tammy, Duckie, and the others slowly backed out of the warehouse, seeing what was unfolding in front of them. None of the victims seemed to have any interest in them anyway, they wanted to take care of unfinished business with their killers.

Boozoo tried to escape using the way he came from, but there were more from that way too, one of which tried to grab him. "AHH!!!" Boozoo shouted, "Don't touch me!" He was then cornered by many of them, getting attacked as he screamed, "MAKE IT STOP!! PLEASE!!" Screams also came from Lorenzo and Rachel as they too were surrounded by many of their victims, getting attacked as well. One of those victims being the blue kid, who turned out to be a blue bear. Boozoo's old crew were missing, but that would be important later.

Tammy, Duckie, Jay, and the others had no words to describe what they were seeing and heard. This was one of the most insane things they had ever witnessed. Even the experienced Officer M was in a loss of words for what was unfolding in front of them.

A giant hole that looked like a fire pit opened up just inches from the garage door. Two dark red arms came out of there, looking like they were ready to take Boozoo and the Watermans. The victims then stopped attacking and set themselves aside as Lorenzo and Rachel layed on the ground, badly injured. Boozoo, who didn't get it nearly as bad as they did, ran for the nearest window and jumped out of it, abandoning his best friends.

The dark red arms went for Rachel, who was screaming as she got dragged into the fiery pit first, completely going in and disappearing from everyone. The arms then went for Lorenzo and he did everything in his power to not go in. His attempts were unsuccessful, roaring as he got dragged into there. The pit then closed up immediately and as it felt like the ground was shaking, the victims disappeared, slowly fading away as gold sparkles. The warehouse and the abandoned factory as a whole collapsed.

"What...was...that?!" Officer G asked. "Those were the victims," said Officer M, who had recogized some of those faces, "But where did Ebenezer Sr go?" The siren of an ambulance sounded in the distance, meaning aid for Duckie was just around the corner. Police sirens from the opposite direction also sounded. Rescue was on the way and while things were over for the heroes, things weren't over for Boozoo just yet. In the meantime, it started to get cloudy.

Boozoo had continued running through the forest away from the scene. Losing two of his best friends to their victims was the very thing he had least expected. Even if he acted on instinct, it was still plain dirty of him to leave them behind. Little did the old man know, some familiar faces he hadn't seen in over 20 years were about to pay him a visit.

He stopped to catch his breath, but when he did, he noticed a missing picture on a tree. It showed a man with curly red hair and wearing blue flannel. The words said the following.

MISSING: Billy Fenton

Age: 38

Last Seen: March 18th 1958

The picture then transitioned into the very same clown that had been seen in the photo book. This man named Billy was that very clown. Boozoo noticed this and began to breathe heavily again. "I remember that day all too well," said a voice from behind. Boozoo turned around slowly, it was him.

Boozoo was back to his panicked state, "B-Billy?!" "Yes," Billy said, sounding really sad, "It's been a long time since we saw each other face to face. I've come here to show you the past." "The past?" Boozoo asked, "Why do you want to show me the past?" Billy started to cry, "Because you've been a very, VERY bad person. You have stolen, you have lied, and you have killed, all for your own satisfaction." Boozoo did not want to face his past or admit it himself to Billy.

Billy then snapped his finger and a TV appeared. It showed Boozoo's past when he was a kid. "What the hell?!" Boozoo exclaimed. "You had very neglectful parents," explained Billy, "You were bullied as a kid, and you had very little friends." Boozoo was freaked out, since he hadn't told anyone besides Lorenzo and Rachel of his past. "How do you know that?!" he asked. "Perhaps our past can lead to our future actions," said Billy, "I overheard you one day when you were talking to the Watermans."

Billy snapped his finger and the TV continued showing his past. "Eventually, you started to develop demons," Billy continued, "But things looked good for you when you got out of high school and went to the University of Michigan. You met your ex wife there and would get married to her some time later, as well as having your son Ebenezer Jr with her. But when your marriage started to sour and you lost your job, those demons came back. After your son graduated and moved out some time later, your marriage with Christine ended in 1948."

Boozoo started to get angry, "Why does any of this matter now?!" "Because you turned to a life of crime," said Billy, "But you didn't see it as a way of living like me, Jane, and Eddie did, you saw it as a sadistic pleasure. So you went ahead and did a lot of crime work, doing business with various groups, before making your own little group in 1951. But I think it's best to have Jane continue the story."

"We don't need to continue any story!" Boozoo yelled, "Your just a part of my imagination!" "Oh how little you have changed after all these years," said Billy, before transforming into a much more terrifying version of himself, "JANE AND EDDIE HAVE BEEN DYING TO SEE YOU SINCE WE'VE BEEN TRAPPED IN THAT BOOK!! YOU HAVE BEEN RUNNING FROM GUILT FOR YEARS, THE RUNNING STOPS HERE YOU GODDAMN OLD CHEAPSKATE!!" He let out a roar as everything around Boozoo turned red.

Boozoo in a blink of an eye found himself in the same spot, but everything was normal. "HUH?!" he exclaimed, not sure what that was, "That couldn't have been real!" He then started running again through the woods. Even if he knew that his old crew were set free from the book, he didn't want to face the facts.

Boozoo was running across open land when dark storm clouds were slowly becoming present. At the same time, he came across another missing poster. This time, it was the same yellow sheep from the book. The details on the paper went as followed.

MISSING: Jane Heath

Age: 40

Last Seen: March 18th 1958

Boozoo put down the paper, only to see Jane right in front of him. She laughed as she looked down on upon her former boss, "It's been a long time Ebenezer. All this trouble you put on yourself was your own downfall." "What do you want?!" asked Boozoo, "I got nothing left Jane!" "Oh old man," Jane said, "You really are no different than them. Me and Eddie might have been bad, but at least our personalities are no where near as ugly as Lorenzo and Rachel's were."

Boozoo wanted to retort back, but decided not to. "Before I continue on with the story, I must say, Billy looked up to you," said Jane, "He saw you like a big brother leading us. It's a shame you made him feel sad when you poisoned the 3 of us." Boozoo got crazy chills when he got reminded of that.

"We were your original crew for a while when you hired us as permanent editions in 1951, that was until you let Lorenzo and Rachel in on this in 1958," Jane said, her smile going away, "You had been friends with them since you met Lorenzo during an event at one of the clubs around town in 1950. You would also become friends with his wife and the 3 of you would click so easily. Once you brought them into our little group in 1958, I could tell it awoken something much more dark and sinister in you."

Suddenly, the sky opened up, and it showed Jane, Billy, and Eddie enjoying some food in their little hideout. They were waiting for Boozoo and the Watermans so they could plan their next big heist. The 3 of them suddenly felt sick and started coughing as they fell to the ground. In came into view a younger looking Boozoo as well as younger versions of Rachel and Lorenzo, before he started wearing a mask everywhere. Boozoo, Lorenzo, and Rachel snickered. Boozoo's old crew could only look up at the 3, as they were far too weak to get up.

"It's fun to see our road blocks struggle," said Rachel, long before she'd be void of any emotion in the present unless during severe circumstances. "Now we can bring pain with no one to worry about snitching on us," giggled Lorenzo. "It's time for you 3 to go to sleep," Boozoo grinned, "A real legacy without those questioning my motives await!"

The sky turned red when that flashback was done. "I had no idea what any of that ment, until I met the few souls that were trapped with us," Jane continued, "Then we met many other souls that came after. That couple documented deaths like they were trophies and I only found out they killed deliberately when we got to talk to the very souls. Since that kid freed all us by burning the book, you and the Watermans will be in for an infinite amount of suffering." "Infinite suffering?!" exclaimed Boozoo loudly.

Jane just laughed in delight, her voice sounding like it were glitching out for a moment, "You see, there's something you must come to terms with. You knowingly did all of these killings, and you knowingly hurt those around you, but refused to get help because you felt pain, so you wanted others to feel the same." Music started playing in the background despite there being no radios around as Jane transformed into a much more terrifying version of herself, much like Billy did. "The Watermans are burning in the deepest pit of hell," she said, "And you're next in line." "WHAT?!" Boozoo shrieked.

Jane let one last glitched out laugh before she disappeared in the blink of an eye and everything was back to normal once again. Boozoo felt tears beginning to form, knowing it was only a matter of time until he had to finally face Eddie. "No...please don't do this to me!" he cried, "No one is more angry at me than Eddie would be!"

The old man then heard sirens in the distance, he knew it was time to run and hide. He ran through the open field until he found what looked to be an abandoned house to go hide in. Boozoo ran to it as the sirens creeped closer. Luckily for him, the door was unlocked, so it was real easy to get in and close the door. "This place is awfully dark," Boozoo said to himself, as he couldn't see a thing around him.

Lights switched on and he was in his toy store. The toys and pictures were all around as if nothing happened. Obviously, Boozoo knew he wasn't in current reality. He saw and approached something on his desk, it was a missing picture showing the white and green rabbit. The details went as followed.

MISSING: Eddie Morton

Age: 41

Last Seen: March 18th 1958

"You have no clue how long I have awaited this day!" said a voice. Boozoo turned around and to no surprise it was the one and only Eddie that he had feared. Out of the 3 former crew members, he was the most dangerous.

"H-Hey Eddie," Boozoo stammered, "So you're f-f-free?" "It sure looks it," Eddie replied, "You created quite a legacy for yourself and Mister and Missus Waterman. It's a shame you decided to ruin it because of your own ignorance." "I did not-" "DON'T EVEN LIE BOOZOO!! You killed me, Jane, and Billy because you knew if we witnessed you murding innocent lives, we'd be enough to turn against you! Much like Lorenzo and Rachel, you could barely contain your thirst for blood! There was a major difference between us and you 3! We did it because it was a way to make a good living, you did it for the sake of enjoying the suffering of others! Let me ask you, have you ever been in the position of needing to comfort anyone, let alone a child, because they didn't know where they were?!"

Boozoo was shaking in fear, "N-No. I h-h-haven't." "Well we had to be in that position!" Eddie yelled, "While you went to disguise yourself as an innocent old man with a toy store, we had to comfort souls who were confused and very upset! Almost a quarter of those victims were children! CHILDREN YOU SICK AND TWISTED PARASITE!!! NOT EVEN I WOULD DO SOMETHING SO DESPICABLE!!!"

Boozoo stayed completely quiet, still as a statue. Eddie went over to the walls of the toy store observing the pictures. "So many pictures of yourself," he said, "As if you thought you ruled this place with an iron fist. These talented artists could have been making something so much better, instead of a sadistic old man who wanted to unleash pain onto others because he liked it. Oh, and what do we have over here?" There was a picture of the Waterman household right next to a big picture of Boozoo. "If only the public noticed this photo you had," said Eddie, "You would have been thrown away A LOT sooner!"

"I'M SORRY!! OKAY?!" Boozoo shouted, "I made a mistake! I admit what I have done to those around me! I should have been a better father to my son! I shouldn't have hurt my employees! I shouldn't have caused all this! It was ALL a mistake!" "You made a choice," Eddie remarked, "A mistake is when you make the wrong move in a game of chess. A choice is when you have the option to do something. YOU made the choice to befriend a sadistic couple, in which you murdered while also taking cash with you as half of the prize. The other half was taking a picture of it and keeping it in a book, and that's what the Watermans did."

"Eddie PLEASE!" Boozoo begged. "I've seen and heard enough," Eddie coldly said, "I witnessed all of it, even in death. It's time we get to the finale!" Much like Billy and Jane before him, he turned into a much more scary version of himself. He then faded away as music started playing, despite there being no radio.

Music continued playing as the ceiling, then the walls started to trickle down blackness as if it were paint. Boozoo hid in a corner of the toy store, seeing many of his walls turn into almost complete darkness. The music then started to glitch out as the only thing that was left was a window with Eddie looking through. Boozoo closed his eyes, absolutely petrified as he let out screams and whines, not sure what next to expect. The music then stopped before Eddie came through the window as he fastly approached Boozoo, looking like he was going to attack. A glitched laugh from him was present as everything around Boozoo turned to black.

Boozoo opened his eyes, realizing he was in whatever this void was. He started to cry, "Oh no, where am I?" Eddie appeared next to him. "Somewhere away from your reality," he said, "It doesn't matter how much you apologize now, you should have thought about your actions well in advance before your killings. You hurt us for MANY years, now it's time we hurt you." "I didn't want this!" Boozoo pleaded. "It doesn't matter," Eddie remarked, "If you really didn't want this, you should have never done it."

Boozoo then heard music yet again coming from his left. He saw both Jane and Billy fade in, not far from where he and Eddie were. "What's going on?!" Boozoo cried, "Why are they here now?!" "EVERYONE IS HERE TO SEE YOUR DEMISE!!" shouted Eddie. Boozoo sobbed as tears fell down his face, "What are you going to do to me?!"

No reply was given, except for a present. Boozoo wiped his tears away as he stopped sobbing. No surprise that Boozoo was confused by this. It didn't seem like a scary end or fate at all. He opened the present, only to see a ticking clock. Boozoo was really worried what this ment as he went from confused, to worryingly confused.

"We all knew this time would come," said Billy, "After all of what we did for you, you betrayed us for your sick desires." "We were stuck in what felt like hell for over 20 years," said Jane, "If it weren't for those kids, we would have never gotten out." "This is where your story ends Ebenezer," Eddie said ominously, "The darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the devil waiting..."

Right after Eddie said that, the clock's alarm bells sounded. Boozoo dropped his present, feeling like something was wrong. Indeed, there was. Started with a yelp, then a yell, and finally a glitched out scream as the old man started to melt in a horrifyingly way. Blood became present as it covered a majority of his face and some of his suit. Eventually, his whole body began melting away as everything turned red around him. Boozoo, Eddie, Jane, and Billy turned black as they all began to fade into whatever lifes they went into next.

Eddie, Jane, and Billy's afterlifes were not entirely known or certain due to their criminal pasts, but it was safe to assume that Boozoo was going to burn in the lake of fire with Lorenzo and Rachel Waterman. It was truly the end of a long and disgusting legacy.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 15 published 3/18/25)