“The Mystery of Smokey Terrace”
By: Ron564339
E-mail: [email protected]
Part 9:
“Oh man, oh man oh man...” muttered my little brother TJ, looking very jittery.
“Man, now Jason’s been gone for about forty five minutes too,” said my cousin Max. He was right…not only had his friend Jack gone into the spooky mansion known as Smokey Terrace and not come out, but my younger brother Jason had gone in after him. But like Jack, he hadn’t come out yet, even though he thought he’d only be in for a few minutes.
“What’ll we do now?” asked Kevin, Max’s friend, nervously.
I couldn’t help but feel that I was responsible for what we were going to do. After all, I was the oldest one of us four. And besides, only TJ and I lived around here, and it was really because of he, Jason and I that we had even come up to this place. But TJ was too young to know what to do…it was up to me to do something.
“Well,” I said with a sigh, as I pulled out and began to light up a cigarette. Smoking always calmed me down in stressful situations. “One of us has got to go find them.” I gulped nervously after I breathed out a puff of smoke, since the last thing I wanted to do was go into the creepy old mansion. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t just let Jack and Jason stay there without offering any help, and I couldn’t ask my Max, Kevin or TJ to go in there…
I took a step over to the door, but as I did so, TJ ran over and stood in the way.
“No!” he said to me, looking really jumpy. “You can’t go in there!”
“TJ, bro, listen,” I said. “I’ve got to do something. We’ve been waiting so long. Obviously something went wrong in there…”
“And that’s why you can’t go!” he said. I was a little surprised…he looked like he was about to cry. “Jason went in to follow Jack, and now he’s lost in there! And it’s all my fault! I egged him on, I told him to go…”
“TJ, look, it’s not your fault…” began Max.
“Well I don’t care!” he responded. “Jack and Jason are both missing, and I can’t have my other brother gone too!”
I was kind of impressed and surprised at TJ. He really did care for Jason, despite him always picking on him. And he was truly worried about protecting me, too! But TJ protecting me is like a mouse protecting a lion, so I didn’t really take him seriously…I knew what I had to do.
“Come on, TJ,” I said, trying to sound nice, taking another puff of my cigarette. “I know you’re worried about me, and that’s nice, but I’m the grown-up here, and I’ve got to…”
“NO!” he said firmly. With that, he turned around to the door and slammed it shut, making me, Max, and Kevin all jump.
“You know, maybe he’s right,” said Kevin. “I mean, Jason went in, and look what good it did. Maybe we shouldn’t…”
“Yeah, but we can’t just sit here and do nothing,” said Max. “We’ve got to help them somehow.”
“Yes, and that’s why I’m going in there right now!” I said, a little irritated that everyone else didn’t seem as motivated as me. The plan was simple…I was going to go in and fix this whole thing. I stepped over toward TJ and said angrily, “Now move out of the way!”
Maybe I scared him a little bit, but he did as I said, looking at me with his scared little eyes as he stepped to the side. I gave the door a tug, but it didn’t move.
Looking puzzled at the door, I gave it a few more yanks. But it was still stuck. “Great!” I said angrily. “Now we’re LOCKED OUT. Great going, TJ!”
“Well…good!” he said. “You don’t need to be going in there!”
“It’s not up to you!” I said, throwing my cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. “I’m your big brother, and I’m in charge here…”
“Hey, calm down there, Mitch,” said Max. “Look, the door’s locked, there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ve got to think about what to do next.”
“Well, it’s simple,” I said. “Find a window, break it, and go inside.”
“Wait,” said Kevin quietly, gazing over towards the little hut on the other side of the land. “Couldn’t we ask the caretaker if he has a key?”
“Great thinking, Kev!” said Max. “Yeah, Rufus is bound to be able to let us in.”
“I don’t know,” said TJ. “You’re probably right, but I don’t think old Rufus is going to be very nice about it…”
“Well, little brother, we have no choice,” I said. “That’s the perfect idea, Kevin. TJ, I know you’re scared to talk with Rufus, so you can stay here, and me, Kevin and Max will go over and convince him to let us…”
“I’M NOT SCARED!” yelled TJ, glaring at me. “I’m going to help, too!”
“Listen, TJ, this isn’t baby stuff!” I said. “This is serious! You’ll only get in our way!”
This really set him off. I could tell he was about to boil over, but thankfully Max interjected.
“Ok, ok, guys, let’s calm down,” he said. “I think I know what we can do. Mitch, why don’t you and me go talk to Rufus and see what we can do. TJ’s right, though…if Rufus will open the door, you shouldn’t go into this place alone. I’ll go with you…we have a much better chance of finding Jack and Jason if we stick together.”
I could tell TJ was about to object, no doubt to say he should go into Smokey Terrace as well. But Max cut him off.
“TJ, buddy, you know this town way better than me and Kevin do, right?”
“Yeah…” TJ said. I could tell this shifted his attention away from me.
“Well, I think we’re gonna need some more help, too. Since you can run real fast and you know the quickest way back to your house, you can find aunt Pam and uncle Scott, tell them what happened, and then they can help us…”
“Uh, Max,” I said. “That’s no good. They’re both at work, remember?”
“Oh yeah…” he said.
“What about the police?” asked Kevin.
“Great idea, Kev!” Max said. “You know the way to the police station, right TJ?”
“Sure!” said TJ, getting a little excited.
“Well, buddy, we need you to run down there and tell them that our friends our missing in Smokey Terrace, and we need their help. This is really important, TJ, so we’re counting on you!”
“Yeah, sure, all right Max!” TJ said. “I’ll do it, and I’ll do it as fast as I can!”
“All right, good luck!” said Max, as TJ turned around and raced back to the street.
“But what should I do?” asked Kevin.
“We’ll need someone to stay outside just in case Jack, Jason, or both of them come back out,” said Max. “I’m sure that door can be opened from the inside, so they can still get out. You got it?”
“Yeah, ok,” said Kevin.
“All right, Mitch, let’s go!” said Max, motioning me to follow him as he turned to walk towards Rufus’ shack.
As I followed him, I was impressed by Max’s quick thinking and leadership. He seemed to have everything in control.
“Thanks for dealing with TJ back there,” I told him as we walked to Rufus’ little house. “Now he’s out of our way. That was pretty smart.”
Looking a little surprised, Max said to me, “Well, I didn’t do it to get rid of him…it’s true that we need someone to get some help, and it’s also true he can do faster than me or Kevin. I just found something that he could do to help us…and I think he will.”
I was a little shocked to hear him stick up for TJ like that. I thought he would have looked at TJ as nothing more than a kid, like I do.
“Well, he is only 14…” I said.
“Yeah, but honestly, I don’t think you and Jason give him a chance,” Max responded. “I know you guys are just trying to protect him because he’s your little brother, but really, I think you guys are too hard on him sometimes.”
He let out a sigh. I pulled out another cigarette.
“Man, you really do like those things,” Max replied.
“Yeah, I’ve been hooked on ‘em for years,” I said. “It’s kind of funny, though, the reason I smoke…”
“Why, what is it?” he asked with a smile.
“Well, it’s just that, I get comfort from it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well, you see, when I was a kid, I…no, I can’t tell you, it’s too embarrassing.”
He let out a small laugh and said, “No, come on, tell me.”
“No, forget about it,” I said, dumping some of the ash on the ground. “We’re at Rufus’ house, now, anyway.”
Thankfully, Max dropped it. I was glad…it really is embarrassing why I smoke, really.
Anyway, we walked up to Rufus door and I gave it a solid knock.
Part 10:
“You think he’s there?” asked Max.
“I don’t know…” I said.
But just as I did, the door swung open and out stepped Rufus. He really was big now that I saw him up close. He had a stocky, heavy-set body, and he wore a pair of worn, green pants and a leather jacket over a stained shirt. He had a dark expression, with piggy little eyes, a huge mouth, and a round nose. His hair was long and looked like he had never combed it. He really needed to shave and smelled like he needed a shower.
Scowling at us, he said in a harsh voice that kind of sounded like a dog’s growl, “What do you kids want?”
I was a little nervous, but I said, “Oh, uh, hi. Well, you see, my brother and one of our friends, you see, they found an unlocked door into Smokey Terrace, and they went inside.”
“And they’ve been gone for over an hour,” Max added. “And now the door they went in is locked…”
“So we were wondering if maybe you could let us in? We thought you might have a key…”
“Yeah, I got a key!” he barked out. “But what are you and your little no good friends doing messing around Smokey Terrace?”
I began to speak, but Rufus cut me off.
“That house is evil!” he said. “I don’t step foot in it! It has a curse on it, mark my words! And unless they’re very lucky, your friends will be under the curse, too!”
Max and I looked at each other nervously, not knowing what to say.
“But,” Rufus said with a smile. “If you want me to unlock the door and let you in, I will. It’s not my neck. Fine with me if you want to die. Or worse…you might find there are worse things than death. And those things happen in Smokey Terrace.”
Not knowing what to make of what he said, I merely said, “Well…uh…thank you very much for letting us in…”
“Bah, whatever,” he said, turning around and walking back into the shack. A few seconds later he returned, holding a key ring. After using one of the keys to lock his tiny little shack, he asked, “Now which door was it?”
“Oh, the little one near the bottom, over on the side…” said Max.
We followed Rufus as he trudged over to the door we had told him. We didn’t dare say a word.
As we got closer, Kevin showed up in our view, and I could tell he was a little scared of old Rufus. But he said nothing to Kevin as we approached him, and the three of us showed him exactly which door we were talking about.
As we did, he said, “Ah, too bad, that’s no good,” with a growl.
“What? What do you mean it’s no good?” I asked.
“That door ain’t supposed to lock! I ain’t got no key for it!”
“What do you mean it’s not supposed to lock?” asked Max nervously.
“Look, that door leads to a passageway that splits in two directions. At each end is a door that can be locked. But that one…” he said pointing to the closed door, “does not have a lock.”
“So why won’t it open?” I asked indignantly.
“Must be stuck or somethin’,” said Rufus.
“Great. Just great,” I said. “So now what do we do?”
“Well, I suppose I could let you into the front door, if you want,” said Rufus.
Me, Max and Kevin all looked at each other. After a few seconds, Max said, “Well, I guess that’s the only thing we can do, isn’t it?”
I sighed and said, “Oh, all right. We’ll go in the front door. Kevin, why don’t you keep circling the house, watching both doors, just in case Jack or Jason can manage to move this door somehow.”
“Yeah, and when TJ shows up, tell him that we went through the front door,” added Max.
“Ok,” said Kevin calmly. I think he just wanted Rufus to leave.
“Well then, off we go,” said Rufus.
Max and I followed him around the house to the front. I noticed that there was a somewhat large porch on the front, with a few steps leading up to a large door.
We followed Rufus up the steps to the front door. After fumbling with his keys a little, he found the right one and managed to unlock the door, just like he said he should. As Max and I opened it and began to walk through it, Rufus turned around and began to walk away.
“Hey, wait a second,” I said. “Aren’t you going to go in and help us out?”
Rufus looked at me like I was insane. “I told you, boy, I don’t set a single foot in that house. I am quite fond of my life.” He then turned right back around and kept walking.
Max looked at me and shrugged, and we just turned right back around and began to make our way through the door. Maybe it was Rufus’ words, or maybe my mind recounting all the stories I heard about the place, or maybe just the fact that Jack and Jason really were somewhere inside, but I felt a wave of fear go over me as we stepped out of the warm sun and into the cool building. Even though he was four years younger than me, I looked over at Max to give me some courage, since I was glad her was there. I couldn’t tell whether or not I hoped he was as scared as me or not.
Part 11:
As we walked through the huge door, we walked into an equally huge room. Actually, I don’t know if room is a good word to describe it…it was like a huge, entranceway, like you see in the movies. There was a huge, round, stone floor, with tall, decorative walls on three sides. On the opposite side was a rounded double staircase, with a set of stair going up on each side and meeting at another set of huge double doors. There were small tables with plants and vases decorating the place, as well as paintings and even a chandelier. It looked quite impressive and expensive…but everything looked pretty old and in bad shape, too. Everything was dusty, the walls were rotting slightly, and the stone floor was slightly chipped.
Max and I stepped out onto the main floor and had a brief look-around.
“Wow,” he said. “This is pretty amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room this big. This really does look like a mansion!”
“Yeah, but it sure isn’t clean,” I responded. “I bet no one’s been in here for years.”
It was then that I noticed another smaller door near the one that led outside. I looked at it and said, “Hey, look, there’s a door right there.”
“Think we should open it?” asked Max. “You never know what could be there…”
I sighed and said, “Well, I don’t know what good it’ll do, but why not?”
With that, we walked over to the door, and I grabbed the knob and opened it. As soon as I did, a whole group of mops and brooms fell on Max and I. It caught us off guard a little, so we fell back on our butts as the various cleaning tools hit us on the head. A nasty old cleaning rag fell on my face and the end of a mop landed squarely on Max’s.
Feeling a face full of dust, I grabbed the rag and through it to the side, spitting. As I did so, I saw Max annoyingly shove the mop out of his face.
“What the hell?!” I asked, letting out a sneeze because of all of the dust.
“Well, looks like it was a broom closet,” said Max. “And by the looks of things, none of these have been used in a while.” He ran his fingers up and down one of the broom handles and took a look at the dust on his fingers.
I wiped off my face, which was still covered in dust from the rag, and I said, “Ugh! Why does this place have to be so nasty?!”
Max coughed a little, and then said, “Because it’s old. Here, let’s get this junk back in the closet.”
We stood up and quickly thrust all of the materials back into the closet and shut the door.
“Up the stairs, then?” he asked.
“Might as well try ‘em,” I said.
We began to walk over to the staircase, Max leading the way. But as he walked over, he must have slipped on the rug that was on the ground, because before I knew it he was stumbling over, and I saw him run right smack dab into this little gargoyle statue at the base of the rail.
I was surprised by this, but I quickly ran over to help. But I timed it wrong, and I ended up tripping over Max’s out-stretched leg. As I went flying to the ground, I hit my head on the rug.
At first I thought I had hit it really lightly, so I shrugged off the pain and tried to sit up. But as I did so, I felt disoriented and everything got a little blurry. I fell back down on my back, this time my head landing on Max’s leg.
I waited for everything to come back into focus, and in few seconds it did. Rubbing my head, I sat up, and to my relief, Max was sitting up too.
“Ouch,” I said, getting to my feet. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” he said as he got up. “I don’t know what happened…I tripped, I guess. And then I felt kind of funny…like I was dizzy or something…”
“It looked like you hit your head pretty hard,” I said. “Same thing happened to me. It probably jostled us a bit. But I think we’re ok.”
“Yeah,” he said. “We’ll have to be more careful. But we better hurry. Let’s keep on going.”
The two of us made our way up the stairs and opened the huge set of double doors at the top of the staircase.
As we walked through them, we found ourselves in what was kind of a combination between a study, a small library, and a hallway. There were bookshelves on both sides of the long, narrow room, and a big red rug on the floor, leading up to another door at the end of the hall. There were a few big desks on the right side, and a half-circle concrete slab jutting out from one of the bookshelves on the left.
“Wow,” I said, walking forward to one of the desks and taking a look at the books lined up on the bookshelf.
“Yeah,” said Max, taking a step onto the concrete slab and gazing at the titles of the books on the bookshelf on top of it. “To think that there are still all these books here…I bet they’re worth something.”
I don’t think we meant to stay there for long, and I was getting ready to leave and walk through the door at the end of the room when Max said, “Hey, Mitch! Check it out!”
I turned around and found that Max had taken out one of the books. It was pretty large…it was a square and it was about eighteen inches high.
“Guess who’s name was on the spine?” he asked me. “Mrs. Rose Gremley! That’s why I took it out. But it doesn’t look like a book. It looks like a…”
“Photo album,” I said, finishing his sentence. He nodded as he turned his attention back to the album, flipping it open. “Wow,” I said. “Let’s take a look, maybe we can find out something about her.”
He turned a few of the pages over, with the two of us glancing at the various photos. None of them caught our interest…they were all just a bunch of people in fancy clothes, standing in serious old poses.
We did find a few that looked kind of neat…a couple of Rufus, a few of this jittery looking maid, and even a few of Mrs. Gremley…Mrs. Gremley with her son…Mrs. Gremley looking happy…Mrs. Gremley looking not so happy…
We then got to what must have been the baby section, where all of the baby photos were. There were a bunch of cute little baby boys and girls, all doing whatever it is babies do in photos. As we looked at them, I said, “Aw,” every now and then as we looked at them…they were kinda cute.
Max was flipping at a constant rate, but he stopped on a particular page. He seemed to be looking at one particular baby photo…
“What’s up?” I asked him, looking at the little boy in the picture.
“Uh…oh, nothing,” he said, shaking his head and flipping some more pages. I caught a glance at another one and said, “Wait, let me see that one.”
The picture I was looking at had six babies all sitting together, all boys. “Doesn’t something seem funny about that one?” I asked, giving it another look.
“Yeah…” said Max. “Can’t put my finger on it, though.”
I looked at it again. I noticed that each baby seemed to be doing something different. One of them was looking away from the camera, like he was shy. Another one looked like he was about to wet his diaper. Another one was glaring at two of the others, which seemed funny to me, since babies don’t usually have that look. The two he was looking at were happy…one was sucking a baby bottle and the other a pacifier. And the last boy was happily cuddling a brown teddy bear. Like Max, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something seemed funny about it.
But he flipped the page again, and saw a picture of Mrs. Gremley holding a little baby…
“Hey Max, see, that’s what we were telling you about! That’s Mrs. Gremley’s grandson! You know, the one who…”
But I stopped in mid-sentence as both Max and I stared at the next picture in the album. I looked at it wide-eyed for a few seconds, and then looked over at Max, whose jaw had dropped.
I was speechless for a few seconds. Because I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
Part 12:
In this picture was none other than Max himself. That was weird enough. But what was even weirder was what he was doing. He was wearing a light blue set of footed pajamas, and he was standing there happily, sucking his right thumb while his left arm clutched a teddy bear up against his body.
It’s funny what goes through your head when you see something like this. Because after the initial shock, my first reaction was laughter…it was so funny to see a teenager, especially my own cousin, do something so babyish. But at the same time I found the picture kind of…cute, for some reason. Even though he was my cousin, Max always did have this boyish cuteness to him (I’m not gay, but I still can recognize when other guys are cute), and seeing him like that was, well…just cute.
So without thinking I just laughed and said, “Aww, Max, that’s so cute! When did you take this?”
But I looked over at Max and realized what I just said was the most idiotic thing in the world. Max looked pretty freaked out about it, and I could tell he was embarrassed too, since he started to turn a little red…
“But…what the hell is this?” he asked. “Mitch, this…this can’t be me! I never took a picture like this! And besides, how in the world did it get in this photo album?!”
I immediately realized how much of an idiot I had been. But the picture DID look like Max, and it was pretty cute, even if it was weird. But now that I thought about it, that was kind of freaky…it couldn’t be him! How would he get dressed in that get-up? And there’s no way it would be in Mrs. Gremley’s album…
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” I said, looking at the picture again. “But man, this kid sure does look like you. But why is he dressed like a baby? And sucking his thumb with a teddy bear?”
“Look, I don’t know,” he said, still looking uncomfortable. “But…”
But now it was my turn to gasp. Because the next picture was…ME. Or a guy who looked exactly like me. He was sitting on the ground, and he was wearing normal street clothes, but he was sucking a pacifier, and holding a light blue blanket in his arms, smiling.
“What the hell?!” asked Max. “This one looks like YOU!”
I was at a loss for words. This one did look like me. But just like the one that looked like Max, it couldn’t be! That didn’t make sense. But I was pretty embarrassed to speak. Not only to see a guy that looked like me acting so infantile, but the fact that he was sucking a pacifier…really bothered me. Why? Well…no, I’d rather not say. It’s not important.
Anyway, this freaked me out enough that I said, “Ok, let’s put this thing up, we’re just scaring ourselves.”
“Yeah…yeah, you’re right,” Max said, and I could tell he was bothered too. He put the album back into its slot in the bookshelf. “This place is creepy enough as it is, especially with Jack and Jason lost…”
“Yeah, we better look for them,” I said. “But wait…let’s take one more look at these books…that was just too weird to ignore…maybe we can find out something about this house, or Mrs. Gremley, or something…”
“Well…all right…I guess so,” said Max. “But we can’t stay too long, we gotta find the others…”
“Right,” I agreed. With that, I went back to the bookshelf next to the desk, investigating the titles along the spines of the books, while Max did the same with the other side.
None caught my interest, and once again I was about to say, “Ok, let’s go,” but then I saw another book that was really interesting. The author was Mrs. Gremley! And then I read the title…it was called, “How They Became My Babies”.
‘What the hell?!’ I thought to myself, reaching out for the book and pulling at it. “Hey, Max, check it…”
But as soon as I gave the book a yank, I found it moved slightly, but was actually attached to the wall! As I did so, I heard Max yell, “Hey what the…!”
I stopped tugging at the book and turned around…but Max was gone! There was the same round concrete slab and bookshelf against the wall. But no Max!
“MAX!!” I yelled frantically. “Max, where are you?!”
I could very faintly here him yell back, “Mitch, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Max! Max!”
“Mitch…” I heard even more faintly.
I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, until I looked at the slab…then I realized…
I ran over to the book that I had pulled, and I tried to move it again. But it wouldn’t budge! It was stuck! I had no idea how I could find Max! Now I was in this creepy old mansion…but I was alone.
Part 13:
I was filled with anxiety and fear at the thought of this. Immediately, I reached for my pack of cigarettes…I would have been smoking one earlier but so much had happened since me and Max came in this place that I hadn’t thought about it. But now that he was gone, I needed something to calm my nerves and help me keep my composure.
But as I pulled out the pack, I realize it was empty! “Oh, dammit!” I whined. Things were getting worse and worse.
You see, smoking just doesn’t calm me down in the same way it does for most people. To be honest, I don’t think I’m actually that addicted to nicotine. It’s that…well…this is really embarrassing, but I guess it’s important to the story…
You see, when I was a little girl about five years old, I still sucked a pacifier. I had just never given up the habit. It made me happy. And my parents let me do it. But they didn’t let me take it to school. This wasn’t that big of a deal…I just put other things in my mouth, like my thumb, crayons, pencils, toys…whatever. But nothing was as good as my “binky” as I called it. So when I got home I would suck it instead.
Some of the other kids made fun of me when they came over, but they were still my friends, so I didn’t care. Even Jason made fun of me, and he was younger (he had stopped sucking his at like, one and a half)! Finally, when I was about eight, my parents said that I was too old, and they took away my binky and hid it.
Well, eventually I found it, and I started sucking on it in private. But during school I couldn’t, since someone would tell my parents. So I just kept sucking my thumb at school, mainly when the others weren’t looking.
Well, when I got to middle school, it was clear that I couldn’t do it anymore. I even felt myself that I was too big. I even threw away my binky, afraid that my parents or Jason would find out. I knew they’d punish me really badly.
But then I saw some guys smoking one day, and I realized something…I could smoke and have something in my mouth, and it would look cool, not babyish! So I started and realized it was great! I still sucked pens and stuff while in class, but at home and after class I could smoke!
Eventually, like when I was around 16, Jason caught me smoking and told my parents. They weren’t happy, but they let me do it. I didn’t mind…I’d much rather them think I was doing it to be “cool” than because I just wanted to suck on something all day, like a baby. And even though I’ve started smoking more and more, that’s the real reason I do it…I have an oral fixation, and a cigarette is the next best thing to my old pacifier.
But now, with nothing to calm me down, I stood there on edge. Deciding I should get something else on my mind, I decided to look for Max, so I went through the door at the end of the hall.
I came to another hall way with doors on both the right and the left. Not knowing where to start, I just kept calling for Max, Jack and Jason. I got no answers, so I decided to go for one of the doors.
Walking into a new room, I realized it was a bedroom. It had an old wardrobe, a little bedside desk, and a nice, large bed. After taking a glance around I realized no one was in here, and I almost left, but then something caught my eye on the bed. Two things, in fact.
As I walked closer to the bed, I realized that there, lying on the pillow, was…a pacifier! And I couldn’t believe it…it looked just like the one I had had as a little kid! It was my binky!
And then I realized something else. There, on top of the bedspread, was another blanket, a smaller one. It was light blue and fluffy. It was my baby blanket from when I was a little baby! I couldn’t believe it…I must have been imagining things! But no…here they were, two lost childhood memories.
Now, maybe I should have been freaked out, and maybe I should have left right then. But I was extremely on edge still, and I needed something to calm me down so bad…and right in front of me was the best thing, my old pacifier! Before I could resist anymore, I quickly plopped onto the bed, grabbed the pacifier, and shoved the nipple into my mouth.
It was even more amazing than I realized! I was immediately filled with a sense of calmness and happiness…this was way better than a cigarette! I then grabbed the blue…blankie… almost out of instinct. It even further magnified my happiness as I gently rubbed my face up against its soft texture.
I was feeling so relaxed, and the bed felt so soft that I decided to lie down on it. Clutching the baby blanket tightly to me and sucking deeply on the pacifier, I felt my whole body just calm down and relax. Before I knew it, I must have drifted off to sleep…
I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke up, I felt groggy, and slightly cold. I then felt like I couldn’t move my arms or legs right. As I looked around, I remembered where I was, and how I had gotten there. I then realized I was cold because now, to my shock I was only wearing my boxers! And my wrists and ankles were tied to the bed by bits of a sheet! What in the world had happened?!
I realized that the light blue blanket was still in my lap, and the pacifier was now hanging from a ribbon that was now around my neck! And then, I looked up as the door that I had entered swung open, and standing there was…Jason!
“Jason!” I yelled out. “I’m so glad you’re safe! We were so worried! And this house is really scary! Max and I found these weird pictures, and he disappeared, and…and…what’s going on? Why am I tied down, and why am I almost naked? What’s…”
But Jason just smiled deviously and walked closer to me. “Well well well…looks like someone’s awake from his NAP!” He then let out a hearty laugh.
“What?” I asked, puzzled. “Jason, what’s…”
“So, it looks like my big brother isn’t so big after all! Honestly, bro, I thought you just might have gotten over that pacifier thing. But then you started smoking. And I KNEW why. I just knew it! And this proves it! The baby-waby still needs his binky!” he said in a horrible mock voice. “Wait ‘til I tell mom and dad!” he added with another laugh.
I was embarrassed by the fact that Jason was saying this about me sucking my pacifier, especially because he was right and I was ashamed. But why was he saying this? Why wasn’t he helping me?
“J…Jason…” I began. “Listen, forget that! We need to find the others and get out of here! It isn’t safe, and…why am I almost naked and tied down!”
“Oh, shut up!” Jason responded. “Big Mitch, always has to have it his way. You know, you’ve always been the boss. Always telling TJ and me what to do. But deep inside, you were always just a little baby who needed his pacifier and his blankie! Well, you know, Mrs. Gremley taught me a couple of things, and one was that if you act like a baby, you should be treated like one!”
“Wha…?” I asked, still not believing what was happening. What was Jason saying? Mrs. Gremley…teaching him…
“Jason, what’s the matter with you?” I asked.
“Nothing wrong with me,” he said, opening a drawer on the table next to the bed and pulling out a pair of scissors. “I”M not the BABY! But YOU are. And you know, bro, babies don’t wear big boy clothes. So I took yours away. But babies don’t wear boxers, either…they wear diapers. That’s right…diapers. So I think it’s time that I dress you like a baby, starting by removing your boxers with these scissors and then diapering you. And since spoiled little babies like you like to put up a fight when getting diapered, I took the liberty to tie you down! Now, you stay put while I go get your diaper and baby powder from the wardrobe! Here, this should keep you calm!” Jason laughed once again as he took the pacifier around my neck and shoved it into my mouth.
Part 14:
As he turned around and walked toward the wardrobe, I realized that this couldn’t be Jason…or if it was, he was crazy. I didn’t know what was going on in this crazy house, but there was no way I was going to let my little brother DIAPER me. So I knew I had to free myself from the bed.
Thinking quickly, I spotted the scissors on the table. I couldn’t get them, but I could if my right hand was free. Quickly, while Jason was busy digging around in the wardrobe, I used my teeth to loosen my bond on my right hand. I was lucky he was taking so long. Thankfully, I got my right hand free, grabbed the scissors, and cut my other arm and both legs free.
I quickly got up and grabbed the bigger blanket on the bed. Jason turned right around, holding what looked like a canister of baby powder and a big disposable baby diaper. Yelling, I threw the blanket on him, which surprised him enough that he dropped the baby powder. Thinking fast, I grabbed the canister and squeezed the bottle, shooting the powder all over Jason.
As he screamed in rage, I dropped the canister and bolted for the door, not caring that I was almost naked. I wasn’t thinking straight because I was so freaked out by what was happening, because I probably could have beaten Jason in a fight. But again, I was scared, and besides, I didn’t think that was really Jason…for all I knew it was a ghost.
I really wanted to get out of this place, but I didn’t remember which door I had come in. So I frantically ran down the hall, angrily taking off the stupid pacifier ribbon from around my neck and throwing it, along with the pacifier, to the floor. I then rushed into a new room, and locked the door behind me, hoping it would stop Jason.
The new room I was in was surprisingly empty. No windows, no furniture, and just one door straight in front of me. I ran over to it, still feeling scared and awkward since I was so lightly clothed. I yanked on the doorknob, but unfortunately, it was locked!
I did notice, however, that there was a large keyhole on the door. So not knowing what else to do, I peered through it, and got a pretty clear view of what was on the other side. And I gasped at what I saw.
It was Max. He was standing in the middle of another room. It had to be him. But he was standing there, smiling, with his eyes closed, wearing a set of LIGHT BLUE FOOTED PAJAMAS. He was sucking his thumb and holding a teddy bear in his other arm.
“Oh my God!” I whispered, as I realized he was in the exact same pose that I had seen him in the photo album. This was starting to be too much…I didn’t know what to think.
At least I still felt Max was on my side, so I yelled out, “Max! Max! Please! Help Me!”
But either he ignored me or couldn’t hear me, because he stayed locked in his state of euphoria, thumb still jammed into his mouth. Groaning, I look my eye away from the hole, and knew I had no other option but to go back to the hall and find my way back to the main door, hopefully so I could escape.
As I unlocked the other door, I wished I hadn’t gotten rid of the pacifier…now I REALLY needed something to calm me down. I opened up the doorway and walked into the hall. But as soon as I did, I stopped in my tracks, because right there in front of me was none other than…Mrs. Gremley.
She was standing there, leaning on a walking stick, with a casual but somehow evil smile on her face. And in her right hand, dangling from a ribbon that she was swinging from side to side, was my binky.
“Looking for something, my dear?” Mrs. Gremley asked me, giving a quick glance to the pacifier.
For a few seconds, I was too scared and shocked to move, respond, or do anything else. But at this point I was so distraught, as well as frightened to see this scary old woman, that I started to cry.
“Please, please!” I said. “I just want to leave! I just want to go home!”
“There, there now little boy,” Mrs. Gremley said, still smiling and gently swinging the pacifier. “It’s all right, it’s all right. You don’t have to cry. I know little babies cry, but not when they’re safe and happy!”
“But…but…I’m not a baby!” I yelled. And even though it was kind of stupid, I yelled, “And I’m not safe or happy!”
Mrs. Gremley just smiled wider as she took a few slow steps closer to me. “I’m sorry my dear, but you are indeed a baby. You just don’t see it. But I agree…you do not feel safe, nor do you feel happy. And do you know why?”
“Because…because…I’m…”
“I’ll tell you why, my dear,” she said, still inching closer. “Because you’ve never been happy. The only time you’re at peace is when you have something in your mouth. You truly are a little baby! You need a pacifier or a blanket or some other item to feel secure! And when you don’t have these things, you hide your insecurities by bossing around your friends and family.”
“No…no…that’s not true!” I yelled, still crying.
“My dear, you know it is. And I’ll prove it to you. I will hear and now give you a choice. You can either accept the fact that you’re a little baby, take your pacifier and suck on it happily, forever engulfed in a state of blissful innocence. Or, you can refuse, walk right by me, leave my house, and go back out into the real world. The world where everyone will laugh at you for being what you are. The world where you have to boss others around, choke on cigarettes and die of lung cancer just so you can hide the fact that you are indeed a childish baby boy who only wants his blankie, a pacifier, and a nap. So now, you tell me, what is your choice?”
Why was this evil woman doing this to me? It was like she was reading my mind, or casting a spell on me! As she drew nearer and it nearer, my wonderful, colorful, soft, precious pacifier looked better and better, and no matter how my brain tried to tell me I should go, I was drawn more and more to that special binky of mine…
Tears still rolling down my cheeks, in one quick movement I reached out and grabbed the pacifier, forcefully cramming the nipple into my mouth. As I forcefully sucked on it, I let my body relax and collapse on the floor as I was filled with a sense of calmness and joy, a feeling of letting all of the cares of the world go…
I looked up and saw Mrs. Gremley smiling down at me, and she said, “Now that’s right, my precious, you know what you want…but let us make you even happier.”
As she said this, I noticed that Jason had returned, holding my light blue blankie that I had seen earlier. Jason gave it to me with a smile, and I immediately grabbed it and pressed it tightly up against my body. I was so happy and peaceful that I didn’t notice Jason remove my boxers…
As I gently rocked back and forth, a sweet smell hit my nose. As I saw Jason shake some baby powder onto my genital area, I felt even happier as the sweet fragrance reminded me of a time of no worries, of complete innocence, of being true to myself.
I just giggled happily as I felt a soft, plastic material get wrapped around my waist, and I knew everything was going to be OK, because now I was only about as big as Jason’s shin, and now my blankie was bigger than me. But I was only made happier as I enjoyed the soft fluffiness of my diaper, the warmth I felt of the blanket around my entire body, and magnified enjoyment of a pacifier that now fit perfectly into my baby mouth…
I felt Jason lift me up in his arms, even though at this point I wasn’t as aware of what was going on…I was just happy. I faintly remember Jason rocking me in his arms, gently holding me and saying, “I think it’s my turn to be the big brother.”
Finally, I remember being laid down in a large bed with high bars on the sides and some funny little toys hanging above my head. But I was too concentrated on the wonderful sensation I was getting from the security of the bars, my amusement of the mobile, the warmth of my blanket, and the soothing of my pacifier that I forgot about everything and drifted off to sleep, which is all I can remember from that point on…