****
Once in the back seat of the Knox’s family station wagon and back on the road, Kimberly began to taunt her with the story of how their came to be skeletons of human children buried deep beneath the ground of the pumpkin patch.
“Hey you want to hear a scary story Julie,” Kimberly asked.
“Sure all right,” Julie answered.
“Every fourteen years a family of four, father, mother, sister, brother, adorned with hideous Jack O Lanterns for heads; what they do traverse every night about Burveton for seven straight nights, where they abduct as many little boys and girls as possible for nourishment over the next fourteen years of their confinement.”
Julie of course was at the level of maturity where she didn’t believe such utter foolishness. “Now what you just told me is pure BS Kimberly Masters, and you know it,” Julie responded boldly to her best friend.
“Yeah,” Julie retorted in a sassy, sure of herself tone. “But you have to admit I do have one hell of a damn good imagination!”
Kimberly’s vulgar choice of words sat none too well with either of Julie’s parents, but it was her only her father who expressed his displeasure over this.
“Now I really don’t know how things are run in your family Kimberly,” James Knox said, all the while keeping his attention entirely focused on her through the rearview mirror. “But the Knox family does not use such obscene, potty mouthed language.”
Feeling embarrassed over being chastised and put in her place, Kimberly spent the rest of the ride back to Burveton in absolute silence.
****
That night when Julie was sound asleep, she almost immediately began having a nightmare. Not coming as one bit of a surprise she saw herself placed in the pumpkin patch in which she visited only a few short hours ago. Right away Julie became alarmed by the sound of rustling from somewhere in the pumpkin patch. Hearing this Julie suddenly remembered the utterly BS story Kimberly told her; filling her with absolute terror. The next thing Julie knew she was stricken with was a horrendous shearing pain directly invading the center of her brain. All of a sudden, Julie heard the words “who are you, become implanted in her brain.
Never having experienced anything like this before Julie automatically felt an icy cold chill streak through every portion of her body. On top of this she now noticed the rustling within the pumpkin patch had grown a hundred times louder. Utter terror now came to grip her tightly with its grasp as the story Kimberly had taunted her with earlier in the day now made its way back to her.
Tightening up considerably, Julie prepared to come face to face with the absolute worst; but this was not to be. What exactly she saw when the source behind the rustling emerged from the pumpkin patch, was not a freakish family of pumpkin headed people, but rather none other than Kimberly herself. However before Julie had a chance to get to the bottom of just how and why her friend had managed to reside within the confines of her dream-nightmare world-
****
She woke up with a sudden jolt.
Remaining in bed, Julie became increasingly aware as each second elapsed into minutes, she was developing a deep desire to discover the mystery of just how exactly it was Kimberly had managed to invade her dream like she did.
****
By the time Julie reached the Edward A. Freeman elementary school, she was rushing to the pair of lockers they shared, placed side by side next to each other to reach Kimberly and find out why.
“I know what you want to know,” Kimberly said just as soon as she reached her. “Come on let’s go talk in the privacy of a bathroom.”
****
“I suppose you want an explanation as to why I happened to end up in your dream,” Kimberly asked once they entered a bathroom, finding it vacant of life. .
“Yeah it’s pretty much what I want to know,” Julie said.
“Julie to tell you the absolute truth, I can’t really give you an answer to it. All I can say is that the mind works in mysterious ways. “So can you keep this a secret between us?”
“We wouldn’t be best friends if I said no to you and that,” Julie replied.
“Thanks Julie,” Kimberly said.
And she had kept what Kimberly could do an absolute secret.
****
On the day Kimberly vanished, nothing indicated to Julie it was going to happen.
It was while she and her best friend met up for lunch the cafeteria, her best friend informed her she would be a little late in meeting up with them. The reason behind this she had to talk with Coach Janice Thomson about something.
“All right,” she responded to this. “But right after your little meeting with Coach Thomson, get on over to my bed bedroom without delay.”
“Yeah sure I promise,” Kimberly answered.
****
The rest of the day went by, much to Julie’s aggravation quite incredibly slow; and not once did she see Kimberly. But eventually the last bell of the day went off, and Julie departed from Madison Senior High as quickly as possible. Thinking she would see her best friend when she arrived in her bedroom.
And within thirty minutes of arriving in her bedroom, Kimberly did the same.
“Sorry I’m late,” Kimberly said just as soon as she made her entrance into the bedroom.
“Hey don’t worry about it I’m just glad you showed up at all,” Julie replied.
During the hour the decision for them to go trick or treating one last time was made. And then Julie watched Kimberly exit her bedroom and disappear from her life.
****
It was before nightfall that Burveton Police Chief Michael Clarkson appeared right outside Julie’s front door to ask her about the last time she saw Kimberly that afternoon, that she never made it home; and what emotional condition she was in.
“She seemed perfectly fine,” Julie answered him as she stepped out onto the porch; feeling strong nervousness over her best friend being missing; almost to the point of wanting to cry. “Kimberly and I were just discussing our plans to go trick or treating one last time. Please you have to find her.”
“Mrs. Masters told me the same thing, and you have my guarantee on it,” Police Chief Clarkson replied.
Stepping back into the living room, Julie saws her parents Emily and James standing positioned a few inches away from the front door she just ventured through; utter concern present on their faces.
“Are you going to be all right Julie honey?” Emily asked. “Did Kimberly tell you any problems she might have been going through to make or cause her to disappear?”
“No of course she didn’t,” Julie cried out. “All Kimberly and I were discussing was our plans to go trick or treating one last time. I swear if something horrible has occurred to her, I don’t know how I’m going to survive.”
“Well don’t worry Julie,” her father said. “I’m sure Kimberly will turn up just safe and sound.”
“Yeah I really do hope so Dad,” Julie responded, somewhat unbelievably.
****
When Julie fell asleep that night after spending a long period of time crying her eyes out; she almost immediately began to dream. Only this dream was like none other she had experienced before. In it, Julie saw herself walking down Seventh Ave and Zaine Street in an effort to reach Kimberly’s house. Heading towards in a casual manner, Julie became aware she needed to pass by an old, decrepit field. Damn it! Julie thought in angry as she walked through this dream world. Why the hell did Kimberly and her parents have to reside in such a complete out of the way section of Burveton? But the Masters family did of course, and th
ere pretty much wasn’t anything she could do about it.
Julie was virtually one second away from the pitch black, spooky looking field; seeing it was long abandoned and no longer illuminated by mechanical, man-made lights. Hell even the moon seemed afraid to light up this particular spot. She became instilled with a tremendous amount of unsheathed, trembling fear, bringing her heart to palpitate rapidly; this as a result of the sudden rustling of the presumed brown, aging foliage. But this was only the calm before the storm, as the clouds overhead departed from their blockade of the moon’s bright light; filling her eyes with a most horrifying sight. What exactly this terror entailed was Julie, much to her absolute shock and disbelief, coming to see none other than Kimberly herself being held against her will by an all too apparent entity made up of absolute blackness; this reminding Julie wholeheartedly of the cold, dank, airless darkness of space. However, before she had a chance to react to this abnormal vision of the mind, Julie was awakened from her quite uncomfortable slumber; keeping her head remained on the pillow.
****
As the days grew into weeks and into months; a full-scale search commenced throughout the town as well as its adjacent areas.
Despite the massive manhunt, compiled by both Burveton’s police department and Burveton’s citizens, Julie had contemplated revealing her nightmare. But at the last second, she became plagued with the thought she might be tagged as some sort of demented weirdo.
****
By the time a full year had passed following Kimberly vanishing, all hope was gone she would ever be seen again.
It was during this year long time period, Julie experienced the worst time ever in her life. Constantly feeling depressed and miserable, refusing to try and make new friends, or socialize with peers her age; preferring to spend her afternoons along hiding in her bedroom. Her parents had suggested therapy might help her situation, but she informed them she didn’t want any rumors being spread around she was a whack-job head case.
****
As Julie was walking home from school, the only thing she really did, she decided to go see how her long missing best friend’s parents were doing.
Ever since Kimberly’s unexpected vanishing and her severely depressed state, Julie avoided the Master’s and their out of the way home at all costs.
Making this decision, Julie became aware the sky above her head had started converting into a golden starry blanket of blackness, despite this she continued venturing on to her intended destination. Travelling onward, Julie became aware she was nearing the abandoned field. But with her deciding to meet up with Tim and Joyce for the first time in a year, Julie wasn’t about to allow fear of this place stop her from doing so.
My Life Would Suck Without You Page 37