Horror Town 2

Mother of all Nightmares

      Charlie led Raven and Jake threw the back door of his house. The three had planned an overnight at Charlie's house and then they would go to the pumpkin patch in Cander with the rest of the gang. Tonight though; Tawny was out of town with her family for dinner, Gwen had cheerleading practice until eight, and Jesse had to help his dad clear out their attic.
       The three boys walked up the stairs, stopping to scare Charlie's sister, Jenna, on the way on the way to his room. The trio sat in Charlie's room; talking and playing Call of Duty while they  waited for dinner to arrive.
"Oh, hey", Jake announced among the blasting of grenades on the television. "I didn't mean to make like I was dismissing the intensity of your guys' nightmares this morning. I wasn't really thinking or considering what you guys went through last year. I'm sorry".
"That's Ok. If we were really bothered by it we wouldn't have asked you over tonight". Raven assured.
"I know. Still, it was stupid and out of line".
"Are you saying you deserve a fierce punishment"? Charlie countered.
        Without warning, Charlie grabbed a pillow from his bed and chucked it at Jake, who laughed at his friend's sudden attack. Soon, the boys broke into a wrestling match, nearly knocking Raven's glasses off the desk. Suddenly, the door burst open with a loud guttural yell. The teens flew apart with a scream and scrambled to opposite ends of the room.
       A figure dressed as Jason Voorhees stood forebodingly in the doorway; mask dirty and broken with their plastic machete held high. The masked person bent over laughing and wheezing after a short time. Charlie's face contorted in annoyance as he pulled them to the floor, cackling madly. He took the mask off revealing Jenna's amused face.
"That's it"! Charlie mock yelled, hitting his sister repeatedly with his pillow. Jenna guarded her face and wrestled the pillow away. She finally managed to catch her breath to speak.
"Mom wanted me to tell you that dinner's here. Let's go", she giggled as she stood up and traveled down the steps. The friends shot up and chased after her. After they ate they tormented Jenna for a short time, played some more games, and sat in Charlie's room exchanging conversations until they rolled over to sleep.

Charlie blinked awake and glanced at the clock.
"Two Thirty"? He groaned. He was about to roll back over when he felt compelled to look over at Jake and Raven. He sprung into a sitting position when he noticed their sleeping bags were empty.
'Maybe their downstairs', he thought to himself. He flung the covers off of him to investigate his theory. Instinctively he looked into his parents' and sister's rooms. To his shock and bewilderment, they were empty.
        The boy stood by the staircase and listened. He couldn't hear anything. No talking, no clattering of cabinets. Nothing. Curious and a little afraid, he paced back to his room to fetch his phone for light. Slowly he began to creep down the steps, which groaned and creaked under his feet. When he reached the landing, his blood ran cold and his old wound ached.
       The front door and the screen door were wide open and the kitchen light was on; slightly illuminating the adjacent rooms. Charlie gulped and inched down the rest of the steps. Hesitantly, he took the immediate right into the kitchen. There was no-one. The teen hastily walked into the room and checked every nook and cranny of the kitchen and back room. He couldn't find a single trace of his family or friends. He went back to the kitchen table, intending to sit and clear his panicked thoughts.
       A tap at the large backroom window stalled his actions and made him freeze again. He turned around and nearly screamed. Asher was standing on the other side of the glass, tapping the glass with the very knife he used on Charlie a year prior. A crimson trail slowly moved down the glass from the blade. Blood trickled down his face and broken glasses that sat crookedly on his nose and his clothes were torn and blood stained.
        Charlie's legs gave out and he crashed to the floor in terror, holding the old scar on his thigh. All he could do was stare and tremble at the ghostly killer just outside his house. Asher's chapped lips open into a wild Cheshire smile, revealing bloodied and broken teeth. His icy blue eyes flared at Charlie as the boy slowly backed away.
       The killer slowly morphed through the wall and stalked a few steps before his figure changed into Chandler. Charlie's eyes widened to the point where they were going to pop out of their sockets.
       Before he could comprehend what was happening in front of him, a chair from the table flew out from its' spot and hit Chandler. He staggered backwards and tripped over the trim that divided the backroom and kitchen. An unseen force dragged Charlie to his feet and led him to the front door.
       He charged out the open doorway and found himself, not in his front lawn, but back in the GE Railcar warehouse once again. Panic filled his brain as the invisible force pulled him to the piles of junk and train parts he had hid in last time. This time around, he managed to find a large slab of metal. An unassembled part of the train.
       The teen squeezed under it and brought his knees up under his nose, making himself as small as possible. Not even bothering to sit in a position where he could peek out. He struggled to even out his breathing as the intensity of the situation squeezed the energy out of him. Two familiar voices snapped him out of his daze.
"Charlie! He's back, Charlie"! He looked up from his lap and saw Allen and Sandy kneeling across from him. Their pale eyes staring at him with worried expressions.
"What's going on? Why is he back? What does he want"?
"You", the twins said in unison. Chills ran amuck on Charlie's body.
"He might not come for you right away", Allen said.
"Now that he has a physical body to control, there's no telling what he might do". Sandy explained.
"Then he'll come for you and the others", they finished.
        The teen gulped. He went to open his mouth when a loud clatter startled him back into silence. He heard the possessed Chandler huffing from fatigue and anger. His voice was a terrifying mix of Chandler's teen drawl and Asher's booming yell.
"Alright, kid! I'm not fucking around this time! Come out, NOW"!
        Charlie shivered. He gathered all the courage he had and looked at the spectral twins.
"If you're here, are the other's back too"?
"We never left. Neither did he. This time of year is the one time when spirits are at their strongest. Asher was able to run into Chandler when he was gaining his strength, so he possessed him", Sandy answered.
"Now that he has him under his control, he'll have even more strength to do his evil deeds", Allen added.
"How do I stop him for good"?
"You'll have to destroy all the secrets he holds in his house. It's the only way to weaken him enough to banish him for good", Allen responded.
"Then all the true horrors in this town will come to a permanent end", Sandy concluded.
"Secrets.... his house? Where even is.....", before he could finish his question, the twins tensed up and faded away. Before Charlie could protest, the sheet of metal covering him was ripped back and it hit the back wall with a thunderous collision.
      The teen flinched violently and looked up at Chandler's icy blue stare. That was what startled Charlie about him earlier. He had the same icy blue eyes as Asher. Charlie's throat went dry as he backed into more debris.
"Gotcha", the possessed boy taunted. He raised his blade high above his head and brought it down on Charlie.

     The boy shot upright and gasped for air, holding his chest.
"Holy shit", he choked. He looked down at the sleeping lumps of Raven and Jake, still trembling. He shakily stood up, rubbing his scar.
      He made his way to the bathroom, peeking into his parents' and Jen's rooms. The high schooler leaned over the bathroom sink and splashed cold water on his face and neck. He struggled to wrap his head around what the twins had told him. He bit his nails and stared at his wide hazel eyes in the mirror. A wave of nausea overtook him and he scooted to the toilet and practically threw up the bundle of nerves that had conglomerated in his guts. He took in a few deep wheezing breaths and flushed his sick away. He cleaned up and flicked the light off. He sighed a final time and trudged back to his room, pausing at the stairs to listen for anything out of place.
      To his relief there was nothing. The boy quietly returned to his bed and took another glance at his snoozing friends. 'I'll tell them all tomorrow', he thought to himself. Charlie pulled the covers up to his chin and tried to ignore the burning sensation in the back of his throat. He stared at the wall until he fell into a uneasy sleep.