“The Mystery of Smokey Terrace”
By: Ron564339
E-mail: [email protected]
Part 23:
“Oh no,” I told myself. “What am I going to do now?”
I felt like crying. In one day, two of my friends and some other young kids that I had met had all disappeared.
It started with Jack…he was dared to go into the really scary mansion that’s known as Smokey Terrace. While me, my friend Max and his three cousins Mitch, Jason, and TJ waited outside, Jack went inside of the creepy place, planning to stay inside for half an hour and then come out with something to prove that he had gone inside.
But…Jack never came out. After half an hour, Jason thought that Jack was playing a joke on us. So, he went inside to go get him out. But, as the four of us waited, Jason never came back out either…
Mitch decided to take action and go find them, but TJ shut the door, and it ended up being stuck shut, so we couldn’t get in. While TJ went to go get the police, Max and Mitch found the caretaker Rufus and got him to let them in the front door of the mansion. But, like Jack and Jason, they never came back out.
Eventually TJ came back, with a police officer behind him. The two of them went in to Smokey Terrace as well, on the mission of finding any of the others. I had been instructed by all of the others to wait outside, with the hopes that somebody would eventually come out.
But, I had been waiting outside ever since Jack went in, and out of all six of them, including the policeman, not a single one had come back out. I honestly felt that when the policeman had shown up with TJ, everything would be all right, but no…I was wrong.
Now that I started to think about it, though, why would a mere policeman be able to help? According to Mitch, Jason, and TJ, Smokey Terrace had a curse on it. The old owner, Mrs. Gremley had lived here, but when her son and grandson died, she became hateful of the whole town. Ever since then anybody who entered the mansion would disappear for weeks, months, or even years…and when they finally did return, not only did they not remember ANYTHING about what had happened, they had these weird side effects…they would do…BABYISH things…like suck their thumbs, or wet themselves…
So, now I was really, really starting to worry about everyone. I was a little scared when I first heard Max’s cousins tell me all of this, but due to Jack’s cockiness and Jason’s insistence that it was all make believe, I didn’t worry about it so much. But after both Jack and Jason didn’t come back out, I really began to worry and wonder what had actually happened to them…there had to be SOME reason why they didn’t return. And now that Max, Mitch, TJ, and even the officer hadn’t returned, my nerves and worries had reached a high.
I was worried about what had happened to my friends, scared that there may really be something seriously wrong with the situation, freaked out by the supposed curse put on this house, and upset that my friends may have been in real trouble. On top of that, I was confused about what I was supposed to do, and on top of all of this, I had had a cold for the past few days, and my nose was stopped up! It’s a wonder that I didn’t just break down and completely lose it.
But now what? What could I do? I had already waited and waited, and now I was at the point where I had lost all hope of them coming back out. Should I go get help? TJ had already tried that, but the police had probably not taken him seriously, since they only sent one officer (and he only thought we were trouble making kids). Besides, he hadn’t helped the situation any. Even if I tried to contact Max’s aunt and uncle (they were still at their jobs), how could I be sure that they could help?
I had gotten to the point that I truly believed that this mansion was cursed. And how could anybody fight against that?
The more and more I thought about it, the more I came to my decision…even though it was possibly the scariest thing I would ever do, I was going to go into the house myself and look for my friends. If they weren’t going to make it out, then I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t do anything about it. And I was so genuinely concerned about them that I had to do everything I could to find out what had happened to them.
With my mind made up, I circled around to the front of the house, staring up at the unlocked door. I very nervously walked up the porch to the door, and with my hand shaking as I reached for the knob. I lightly gripped it and gave it a turn. The door slowly creaked open, and after taking a deep breath, I stepped inside the creepy mansion, my body still shaking from nervousness and fright.
Part 24:
As I stepped out of the warm sunlight and into the cool mansion, I took a look around the room that I had entered. I was in a huge entrance hall, with all kinds of rugs, vases, and art pieces everywhere. There was a huge double staircase leading up to two large double doors. There were also a few other doors on the ground level. The place looked really old though…rotting wood, worn carpets, and dust everywhere.
The place was already spooking me out, but I knew I couldn’t turn back. I walked to the center of the room and took a look around. It looked pretty basic, and I didn’t see much to investigate.
I was just about to walk up the stairs to go through the double doors when I heard a very muffled and soft sound. At first I thought I had just imagined it…I had just barely noticed it. I listened very intently for a few seconds…
And there it was again. It seemed a little louder this time, but I still couldn’t make it out. But it definitely was SOMETHING.
I listened again, and I realized…it was coming from underneath me! I lowered my head to the floor on one of the rugs. I could see all of the dust specks all over the rug.
And again, I heard it. It sounded like…someone yelling! But there was something funny about it…
I pushed my ear all the way to the floor and listened again. And I heard it…it was definitely a yell. But it sounded like…it was Jack!
“Jack?!” I yelled out. But no response.
I kept on listening. And there it was again. It had to be Jack. But he wasn’t yelling out anything in particular…he was just yelling.
I listened one more time, eager to figure out exactly where it was coming from. I heard it again, and funnily enough…it definitely sounded like Jack, but it was kind of…high-pitched.
I once again called out his name, and once again I got no answer.
But then I noticed something…a small lump in the rug I was standing on! I walked over toward it, and I lifted up the rug. The lump was caused by…a handle! Which led to a…yes…a trap door!
Excited and eager to find Jack, I grabbed the handle and tugged with all of my might. The trap door swung open surprisingly easily…so much so that I tumbled back. As the door swung open, it landed with a thud and shot up a cloud of dust in my face.
Brushing aside the dust, I took a peek through the trap door. There was a staircase!
I was definitely apprehensive about walking down the stairs…it looked dark and very spooky. But I didn’t think I had any other choice, and I really wanted to find Jack and the others. I went over and picked up a pretty heavy looking table and slid it over the trap door…I didn’t want it closing on me while I was below. Once I had done this, with my heart beating ferociously, I gathered up my courage and stepped into the trap door.
It definitely was dark, and at first I had trouble making my way down the narrow stairs. But I had the light above me, so I could see well enough. I went down about ten stairs, holding onto a small railing so I didn’t fall. Eventually, I reached a landing, and I felt the floor go flat.
Using the small bit of light that I still had, I tried to see anything in the room. But I couldn’t see anything.
Suddenly, I heard another high-pitched yell. It made me jump, but then I realized it was the same one I had heard earlier, only louder. Definitely…that was Jack. He was in this room.
Instead of trying to navigate through the darkness to find him, instead I waited for my eyes to adjust some more. Looking to the wall, I noticed a light switch there. Eager to get some light, I reached over and flipped it on. The room was suddenly filled with light, and I gasped in deep surprise at what I saw in front of me.
I simply couldn’t believe it…I was in a room that was about 500 square feet, and it looked like some sort of basement. But inside, on both sides of me were six…giant sized baby cribs, three on each side! With bars and everything. But looking inside, I almost passed out…in each one, was one of my friends!
Not believing what I was seeing, I clearly saw where Jack’s voice had been coming from. There he was, lying on his back in the giant crib. But he was wearing…a diaper! A large, white, disposable diaper with baby designs! He didn’t seem to notice me, but I realized that he was still letting out high pitched wails! He was…crying…just like a baby! What was the matter with him!
Frantically, I looked at the crib beside him, and I saw Jason! He was wearing what looked to be a little boy’s sailor suit! He was holding a…baby bottle tightly in his hands, and he was sucking down what looked to be milk from it!
Next to him was Mitch, also in a crib. He was sitting up, looking back and forth inside the crib, like a perplexed child. He was wearing a small baby blue T-shirt with a bunny on it, and like Jack, I could see he was wearing a big, disposable baby diaper. He had a…pacifier in his mouth, and he was tightly clutching a light blue blanket!
On the other side I saw…Max! He was wearing a light blue footed sleeper, and in his arms was a teddy bear. He had a big smile on his face, and he was making babyish gurgles as he crawled back and forth inside his crib.
Next to him was TJ. TJ was wearing a onesie, and he was fast asleep, his thumb stuck in his mouth and wearing a peaceful look of contentment.
And finally, perhaps the most shocking, was…the police officer that had come in with TJ! He was wearing…a pair of overalls and a babyish shirt. Like TJ, he was fast asleep, letting out babyish coos as he dozed.
I almost fainted at the shock of all of this. All six of them were not only in…cribs…but they were dressed as babies! I’m sure they were all wearing diapers, and like I described, other baby clothes. And they were…acting like babies! Drinking from bottles, sucking pacifiers, cuddling teddy bears…what had happened to them! What was going on here?
I walked up to Jack’s crib and tried to get his attention. “Jack!” I said. “Can you hear me? Can you understand me?”
He stopped crying, and looked straight at me. But just like a baby, he soon turned away and began wailing again.
I knew this was hopeless, so I decided to try Max instead. Walking over to his crib, I said, “Hey, Max, can you…”
“GOTCHA!” I heard a deep, growl say from behind me as I felt a pair of huge, burly arms pin my arms to my side as they wrapped around my waist. I almost screamed in shock and fear, but I managed not to.
As I felt myself being lifted off of the ground, I was pulled over to another corner of the room. I was then put back down on my feet, with me still facing the six…babies, I guess.
Feeling an intimidating presence and smelling a foul odor, I heard the voice again in my ear, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
I knew that voice…I could recognize it…it had to be…Rufus!
I turned my head and looked at my capturer, and sure enough, it was him!
“Rufus!” I said nervously. “What are you doing? What’s going on here? What’s wrong with my friends?”
He let out a deep laugh and said, “Ha ha! I know those answers, but I think I won’t tell you. But I know someone who will…”
As he was saying this, I saw a door on the side of the room open up. And right after it did, out walked a figure that was definitely one of the scariest that I had ever seen. It was the same old lady that I had seen in the newspaper that Melissa had showed us. This old woman had to be…Mrs. Rose Gremley.
Part 25:
As she hobbled over on her old, gnarled walking stick, I saw that she had a deep, sinister grin on her face, and she was staring at me right in the eyes.
“Ah, there you are, my dear,” I heard her old raspy voice say. “I knew you’d be along soon enough. Do join us, we are about to have a wonderful time.”
“You…you’re…Mrs. Gremley, aren’t you?” I asked, barely able to speak.
“Why, of course I am,” she said to me. “This is my house, after all.”
“But…they said you were dead!” That may have not been the smartest thing to say, but by now I was scared out of my wits, so I don’t blame myself.
“Ah, that’s no surprise to me,” she said to me. “I am sure that’s what everybody in this horrible town wants to think. Not that I haven’t given them all good reason to think such…”
She seemed to trail off with this statement. Suddenly, I just thought of Max and the others in the room.
“My friends!” I yelled. “What have you done to my friends!?”
Mrs. Gremley just looked at me and smiled. “Amazing, isn’t it?” she said. “Most people are so skeptical. They would never dream in a million years that I could do what I can do. I’m sure your little friends did not think so. And that’s probably why they are where they are right now…”
I was sure by now this old woman was crazy. But I was so angry at what she had done to my friends that I was starting to forget my fear.
“What on earth are you talking about?” I asked.
“You best calm down, little boy,” I heard Rufus say from behind me. “You wouldn’t want Mrs. Gremley to turn her power against YOU.”
“Oh, let him speak, Rufus,” said Mrs. Gremley. “After all, the young boy does have the right to understand what has happened to his friends here. Considering what he’s about to give me, I at least owe him that much.
“You see, my dear, your friends have now joined countless others in my experiment. They have helped me oh so much. But now my search is over, and I will finally get what I want…
“But let me start from the beginning. As you may have heard from your filthy little friends, I was once married to my wonderful husband, Edgar. He was a very successful businessman, and he was able to buy this wonderful mansion for the two of us. Then we had our son, Tommy, and our lives became even better.
“But the years passed, and eventually Tommy got to the age where he moved out. Edgar had made enough to retire early, but, by a cruel twist of fate, he was robbed, and then murdered one night, by some evil villain in this town. And…the INCOMPETENT police of this town NEVER caught the murderer!” She yelled this last part out loudly enough that I jumped.
But then Mrs. Gremley calmed herself down. “With Tommy and Edgar both gone, I grew very lonely. Edgar had made plenty of money, so I never had to work…I always had enough. I hired a new caretaker, Rufus here. I also hired a new maid, a young girl about twenty years old, named Rita. In fact…RITA! Come in here!”
Out of the same door Mrs. Gremley had walked through, came a very nervous looking (but very pretty) maid. She was crying, and looked like she could barely contain herself.
Rita looked straight at me and through her tears, choked out, “I’m so sorry about your friends!”
“Quiet!” said Mrs. Gremley sharply. “Go fetch some tea for me and my guest here.” With that, Rita walked up the stairs and through the trapdoor.
“Now, I was lonely, but Rita and Rufus were here to keep me company. I also began to study and read some of the many books that Edgar had bought. There were many…curious…things I learned from these books…Edgar was a mysterious man…”
“Not long after, I found out that Tommy and his wife both had a baby boy. But soon after I got this news, both Tommy and his wife passed away. I was very grieved to hear this…but other than Rufus and Rita, no one in this town offered me any comfort. I didn’t even receive a card or a phone call!
“But that did not matter. Because now…I was given custody of Tommy’s little baby boy. And he was the most precious baby that I had ever seen. I loved him with all of my heart. Even with Edgar and Tommy gone, I found an all new joy. With Edgar’s money, Rufus and Rita to keep me company in this big mansion, and a new baby in my life, I was happy again. Rita helped take care of the baby, and Rufus took very good care of the grounds.
“But then…the unthinkable happened. My grandson…whose name was Kevin…became very ill. Myself and Rita took him to the doctor…but he said nothing was wrong with the baby! He said he only had a baby’s cold! Foolishly, I trusted him…
“Only Kevin only became more and more ill. One night, he got to the point where he could barely breathe. This time we took him to the hospital. But…when we got there…there was such a long line…and Kevin was getting worse and worse. I screamed at the people to let us through…but they wouldn’t! It took two hours for us to be seen! By the time the doctors finally looked at him…it was too late…
“With Kevin gone…STOLEN from me…I was filled with more grief than I ever had in my life. Now I had lost everything. But I was also filled with a new emotion…pure rage. It was…THIS HORRIBLE TOWN’S FAULT!!!” she screamed out.
Once again calming herself, Mrs. Gremley spoke again. “My anger kept me going. Kept me alive. I swore that I’d get my revenge. And I knew how…
“You see, I had been reading Edgar’s books for many years now. And I learned…the intricate art of…witchcraft.
“I gained powers you simply would not believe or comprehend. I had nothing else to lose, so I was willing to give everything I had. And my anger made me even more powerful.
At this point, Rita returned, holding a tray with some teacups and a teapot on it. She walked over and handed Mrs. Gremley a cup and poured her a cup of tea. Mrs. Gremley sipped it lightly.
“Would you like some tea, my dear?” asked Mrs. Gremley.
“Not until you tell me about my friends!” I yelled.
“Oh, I’m getting there my dear,” she said. “Very well, then. Rita, set the tray down, and you listen to. This concerns you.
“You see, firstly, I wanted to make sure I would never be lonely again. I cast a spell on Rita, Rufus, and this mansion. Those two were never allowed to leave me…I bounded Rita to staying in the mansion, and Rufus was bound to the grounds unless I allowed him to leave…which I did to let him buy food and supplies and such. But until I allowed them to leave, they were bound to me. So, of course, they do whatever I want them to. Because they have no choice…they simply cannot leave, or harm me in any way. It is just part of the spell…it is an impossibility that they can do nothing to change. I cast another spell that kept Rita, Rufus, and myself from aging…I was not going to let death rob me of my vengeance. But I was not going to keep them trapped here forever…I just needed to carry out a few things first.”
Rita was now sitting down and crying on a box on the side of the room, and Rufus was still gripping me tightly. He seemed to be perfectly content.
“In order to carry out my vengeance, I needed to tap into something… DREADFULLY powerful. Some deep…substance creation and brewing…”
“And that is…my greatest creation. And it is all over this mansion.”
Part 26:
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Mrs. Gremley smiled an evil smile and walked over to one of the walls. She ran her finger across it, and showed her finger to me. It had dust on it.
“You see, my boy, this here…looks like ordinary house dust. But it is indeed not…it is a powerful hallucinogenic substance. And it’s all over my mansion. Anyone who walks in only needs one whiff and they begin to see all kinds of images that are not really there.
“So why did this help me? You see, at this point, people were beginning to wonder about Rita and Rufus and I. But I did not want anyone to bother us, or wonder why we were not getting older. People would come by to check on us, or come to offer condolences about my grandson…but I did not want them now. No, it was too late for that. So I had Rita cover my house in this hallucinogenic dust…I made it so it had no effect on me, Rita or Rufus.
“But the best part about the dust is that I can control the images that people see. Well, not the exact images, but the types of images. For example, what I originally chose were people seeing their worst fears. No matter what it was, whoever entered this house saw whatever scared them the most. Though the substance is not so powerful that it would completely distort their reality. They would still seem some things that were there…such as the rooms of the house, or anyone who entered with them, or even myself or Rita if I wanted us to show ourselves. Nonetheless, these fearful hallucinations would leave them fleeing, only will silly ghost stories to tell their friends. And this is how the rumors of this mansion being haunted got started.
“Enough time passed that everyone thought that I had just died. People thought the same about Rita. I instructed Rufus not to tell anyone the truth, so he simply agreed that this was the case. Of course, the police would eventually come to search the house. But I had already created another batch of dust that made them only see an empty mansion, with nobody living here. Rufus would warn me when the police were coming, he would stall them, and Rita would put the dust all over the main door. The police would immediately breathe it in, and since what they saw and what Rufus said were the same, they simply declared that Rita and I had died, and that the house was empty. Legally, the house was sold…though it was sold to someone who I was close with…I had Rufus arrange that…so I still had a large enough share of money for Rufus, Rita and myself to get by.
“I would get extreme joy and pleasure from seeing the looks of terror on the faces of anyone who came to the mansion. I’d often show myself to instill even more fear in them, which eventually lead to rumors that I was still alive. But no one ever believed them, since the police never found anything. Eventually, due to the ghost stories, most people avoided the house. Sometimes some foolish young boys would come here on a bet, but they would be so frightened by their hallucinations that they all left.
“Though vengeance was never my true goal, really. Well, maybe at first. But I soon found out that despite the pleasure I received from seeing the people of this town horrified out of their tiny little minds did not last. It was entertaining, but I was still very sad. I missed Edgar, Tommy, and especially Kevin. But before I carried it out, I tapped into something…even MORE powerful.”
“You see, as much as I wanted revenge, more than anything else, I wanted to have my baby back. So I was extremely excited when I discovered another kind of substance. But this kind…actually made people believe that they were…babies! Yes, they would actually believe that they were tiny, cute little baby boys or girls. For a few seconds they would believe that they were shrinking into little baby bodies, and be perplexed as to what was going on. But soon after, their minds would be reduced to that of a baby’s. And that, my dear, is why your friends are the way they are right now. They have the minds of babies. That is why they must wear diapers, sleep in cribs, why they cry like babies, suck their thumbs, and so on.”
“You…evil woman!” I yelled. “Why?! Why do it?!”
“You see, my dear, this allowed me to get back what I lost…what was stolen from me. Now, I had the power to turn people into babies…well, in their minds, at least. They still kept their original bodies, even though in their minds their bodies are those of babies. But now, since I was able to make people think they were babies, I could let THEM be my babies. Though they were never as wonderful as actual babies, for the most part they were. Besides, I could continue to get my revenge…I could trap people in my mansion, make them think they were babies, and I could keep them as long as I wanted. When the police would search for them, once again I would make them think the house was empty.
“Unfortunately, I needed more from this new dust. The original fear-inducing substance required only a whiff, but it’s powers only last for about one hour, which is all I needed for people to be scared enough to leave the mansion. But this new kind could not simply be inhaled. Well, it could, but its powers would only last an hour. But I would need people to think they were babies for much longer periods, and it was too much trouble to constantly force them to inhale dust. Fortunately, I was able to make this new substance into a liquid that could be injected. This new substance would last for days…so I could continually inject it into my trapped victims, and keep them as babies for as long as I wanted. With Rufus’ strength and Rita’s baby-sitting skills, it was easy to take care of them. I would need some large baby clothes and things like that…but Rufus could build cribs and buy disposable adult diapers and other baby supplies, and Rita could sew large baby clothes.
“But I still needed the original hallucinogenic dust to trap my victims…it was much more difficult to grab someone and inject them with this substance, especially since it takes about ten minutes to have an effect. So, I still had the house covered in dust. People would become scared, so it was easy to inject them with the new substance while they were hallucinating.
“I tried this a for the first time, on some teenage boy who broke into my house. It worked perfectly, and now I had a big baby boy that I could take care of. It never was as joyful as Tommy or Kevin, but it did make my life much happier. Even big babies are very cute…
“But I tired of the boy eventually, and I decided to let him go. Besides, I at least had a little heart…I wouldn’t steal children from this town like this town did from me…though I didn’t know why I should care, it was his own fault for disturbing my peaceful life, I never asked him to bother me or break into my house.
“But yes, I did let him go. I had come up with another substance that made him forget everything he had seen…not that he would have remembered anything but his first hallucinations as well as the process of turning into a baby. But I did not want people to get suspicious, so I still wiped his memory.
“As more and more people investigated my house, I did this again and again. Trick someone with fearful hallucinations, make them into babies, take care of them as babies for as long as I wanted, and then wipe their memories and let them go. I had countless baby boys and baby girls, and it allowed me to get by without loathing every day. Rufus eventually told me rumors that they actually ended up still doing babyish things…some after effect of the injected substance, I suppose…I did not anticipate that, but it serves this town right…they’re lucky I let them live…I look at the babyish behavior as a mark of the curse on this house.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. So that explained everything…the rumors, the disappearances, the lack of memory, the babyish activities. Except for…my friends.
“So what about my friends? Were they just another group of your ‘victims’?!”
Mrs. Gremley laughed. “Listen, little boy, I never asked your little friends to bother me. You little creepy children are all the same…why can you not leave me alone? Why do you put your noses where they don’t belong? I taught your friends, and even that bumbling idiot police officer, a lesson today.
“Though, I think I did them each a favor. You see, soon after I figured out I could make people think they were babies, I decided to alter the original fear-inducing hallucinogen. I found out I could also make people believe…BABYISH things were happening. They would see pictures of adults dressed as babies, have visions of themselves being treated as babies, and things similar to that. Of course, a common fear of many people is to be helplessly treated like babies, so it was still the fear hallucinogen.
“And this was very entertaining to me. You see, when people are hallucinating, they yell out what they think is happening to them. And remember, what they actually are seeing interjects into their hallucinations, too. So, as people yell out the babyish things that they think are happening too them, I would play along and have a wonderful time.
“Take your nasty little friends, for instance. The first boy, Jack (I know their names from their screams, too) was screaming about how he had once wet his pants when he was five years old, and how his mother had made him wear a diaper. So I made him think that I was doing the same thing to him.
“The next boy, Jason, is a fussy eater, so I made him think he was being forced to eat his most hated foods, milk and apples.
“The next boy, Mitch, has a problem with keeping something in his mouth. I made him think of a pacifier he had as a child, and he went along very easily.
“The next boy, Max, has a lot of particular trappings, but my chosen one was his weakness for his old teddy bear.
“The last boy, TJ is always being bossed around by his brothers. So I used that against him.
“You see, I know all of these things from what they would yell out as they ran through the rooms of my house, and I guided their minds to see what I wanted them to by talking to them, or having Rita talk to them. Interestingly enough, when two people get hit by the dust at the same time, like Mitch and Max, their hallucinations overlap, and they start seeing things that the other person can see. Funny little side effect. Anyway, after having some fun, I would inject them with the baby substance, which would make them think they were shrinking, and then feel like they were passing out…and from there, they have the minds of babies. I then have Rufus or Rita take them down here, dress them as babies, and put them in their cribs.
“Unfortunately, sometimes the effect wears off early, and they wake up. But I keep a close eye on them, to make sure they don’t have enough time to do anything…both Max and TJ happened to wake up for a few seconds.”
I looked at Rufus. “You…liar!” I yelled. “You said you would never set a foot in here…but you were helping her!”
He just smiled and said, “Aye, so I lied. So what? And I’ve always helped Mrs. Gremley…not like I have a choice anyway.”
I looked at Mrs. Gremley. “So that’s it?” I asked. “You trap people so you can fulfill your sick desire to baby them? Just because you can’t get over your grandson?!” I know I was being mean, and maybe even stupid, but I was so mad about what she had done that I didn’t care.
Mrs. Gremley frowned for a second, but then she smiled. “No, my sweetie, that is not all. I still was not satisfied with merely treating people like babies. I wanted…another…BABY. But it was too late for me…I was too old. And of course neither myself nor Rita could leave since we were believed to be dead, and of course Rufus could never adopt a child. And even I was not heartless enough to steal another couple’s baby.
“But then…I discovered my last great creation…I created even one more potion that would…turn someone into an ACTUAL BABY. Physically, and mentally. With one whiff of this very powerful hallucination, the person would revert to a complete baby.
“But…I needed the PERFECT subject to choose. A very sweet and caring little boy or girl, preferably a boy. And THAT, my dear…is where YOU come in.”
The fear that had been replaced by anger was now coming back. What was she going to do to me?
“You see,” she said. “I don’t care about your filthy little friends. TJ was the only one who even came close, but his petty jealousy of his brothers makes him not the best choice. But you…my dear…are PERFECT. Sweet, calm, nice, well-mannered, handsome…and your name is even KEVIN. How fitting. So you see, my dear, after I realized from Rufus that you were outside of my house, I trapped the last of your friends in order to get you in here. Now, I have no idea how you managed to get in here and not get caught in the same babyish fearful hallucinations that your friends suffered from…I suppose you were lucky enough to just avoid the dust. But it matters not…because I have you now.”
It was at this point that I realized something…I hadn’t fallen prey to the hallucinations because of…my stopped up nose! I decided it would be best to keep this from Mrs. Gremley. But now what?
“So, my dear, you see…after all of these years, after waiting and waiting and waiting…I have finally got the chance to have…another BABY. And it’s you, my dear.”
“Wait, what? You can’t do that! What will my friends and family think?”
“Oh, don’t worry about your friends…I will let them go after I have you, and they will remember nothing of this day. As for you, they will all only know you as another victim of the curse of Smokey Terrace, and that is all they will ever find out about you. I do feel sorry for your parents, but after all of my pain and suffering, they will merely have to accept your loss. But don’t worry, my dear…you won’t remember any of this either…you’ll get a chance to…start over. And I may just keep you as a baby forever…you never know…”
I really started to panic now. I tried to struggle, but Rufus held me tightly.
I turned my head to try to look at him. “Rufus! Can’t you help me?!”
I heard him let out a deep chuckle. “Look, even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m bound to Mrs. Gremley until she lets me go. But now that she’s found her baby, she will let me go, and lift the curse. Finally, I’ll be able to get out of here!”
I panicked some more. I looked over at Rita, who was still crying furiously as she listened to Mrs. Gremley’s story.
“Rita!” I yelled. “Help me! Please!”
“Rita, you stay right there!” Mrs. Gremley yelled.
“Rita!” I said. “Please! Please!”
“I…” she began. “I…just…can’t! For some reason…I just can’t!”
“Ha ha ha!” said Mrs. Gremley. “It’s the curse, Rita. Don’t worry, Rita, my dear, I will lift it once I have my baby. I will hardly need your services anymore, either…”
Upon hearing this Rita just cried even louder, while Mrs. Gremley just cackled.
“Now,” she said turning to me. “You’re in luck. Firstly, I need to make your mind turn into a baby…I need to see how you act as an actual baby to make sure that you’re going to be the baby boy I always wanted. And, even though usually, I use the injection liquid form, I did make this one batch of baby dust.” As she said she, she pulled out a very tiny bag of dust and put it on her hand.
“So now, my dear, enjoy your last few seconds of your life, you won’t remember anything else after this…”
Part 27:
My mind was racing with thoughts. What could I do? Rufus wasn’t letting me budge one bit. And now I was going to have to breathe in that stuff…
And then it hit me…my nose! It wouldn’t have any effect on me…
Before I could think anything else, Mrs. Gremley said, “Ok, my dear, bye-bye, and welcome, BABY Kevin…”
With that, she smiled, and blew the dust right in my face. As it hit me, like I had anticipated, nothing happened. Mrs. Gremley just stared at me for a few seconds, and then I remembered…SHE DIDN’T KNOW…
Immediately, I let my body relax. I bunched up my face, and I started to let out a whine…
“Let him down, Rufus!” I heard Mrs. Gremley say. He let go of me, and I dropped to my knees.
The impact hurt a little, and I immediately responded by letting out a loud, babyish wail! But I didn’t stop…I kept on going and going, sitting down and causing a ruckus.
I barely saw Mrs. Gremley smile. “There, there, my precious little baby. It’s ok…”
Rufus picked me up and held me in his arms. Mrs. Gremley then leaned in close to my face and began to talk to me like a little baby, obviously trying to get me to stop crying. I didn’t know exactly what to do…would that work with a real baby? I assumed Mrs. Gremley was good with babies, so I decided to slowly calm down, and I started to giggle as Mrs. Gremley began to tickle my chin.
“There, now that’s better,” she said. “Yes, you will be perfect. You are simply an adorable little baby boy. So now, I think it’s time to make it COMPLETE.”
I saw her pull out another small packet of dust, and I realized that this was the real thing. And even though I knew it would have no effect on me, I couldn’t fake this one…
She had the packet in her hand, and she was just about to open it. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was stupidity, maybe it was just instinct…but at that moment, I took my hand and hit the packet as hard as I could.
Obviously, this caught Mrs. Gremley off guard. At that moment, I just lost it, and I yelled, “I hate you, you evil old witch!”
Mrs. Gremley almost fainted (I think Rufus did too, since he dropped me). “You…how…you…devious little scoundrel, you!” she screamed.
As Rufus stood up and grabbed me again, Mrs. Gremley regained her composure. “Well, I don’t know how you managed to fight my dust…” she said. “But it matters not. You WILL not fight the REAL kind.”
Even though I knew that I could, I also knew that it would make Mrs. Gremley REALLY mad, and I knew she’d never let me or my friends go. So what was I gonna do now?
But just as I was thinking this. I looked over to my left. And I saw Rita. She was standing right next to Mrs. Gremley. And in her hand was…the baby dust, which…she must have gotten from the packet.
“Now, it’s your turn!” Rita yelled out with anger.
“Rita!” Mrs. Gremley said. “No, you can’t…!”
“Yes, I can, and I am,” Rita said. “I think it’s time we meet ‘Baby Rosey’.”
With that, she blew the dust straight in Mrs. Gremley’s face, causing Mrs. Gremley to start gasping and choking.
“NOOOOO!” she yelled. “This can’t be happening! NOOOOO….”
But as she was yelling, I saw there, right before my eyes, Mrs. Gremley was…getting younger. And smaller. In a mere matter of seconds, she looked 50 years old…then 40…then 30…then 20…then 10…then 5…then 2…then 1…then…she was…a baby! An actual newborn baby, lying there on top of that ugly old black dress, bawling her head off.
I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. But…it had happened.
Rufus had let go of me, and he raced over to Mrs. Gremley. Just looking at her, he stared at me, and then Rita in disbelief.
‘Uh-oh,’ I thought. ‘What’s Rufus gonna do?’
But then…he just smiled at Rita. “Rita…you did it! YOU DID IT!” He looked like it was his birthday…he was grinning ear to ear.
Rita just let out a nervous smile. “I…I did it,” she said calmly. “I actually resisted Mrs. Gremley!”
“But how?” asked Rufus. “How did you resist her? How did you disobey her?”
“I…I don’t know,” said Rita. “I guess my anger and frustration was so high, and I was so concerned for Kevin here…that I…just did it.”
“Wait,” I said. “Rufus, I thought you were on her side!”
“No, I never was!” said Rufus. “I HATED her. But I had no choice. Neither I nor Rita could break the curse. We were stuck here forever. I had to do what she said…and I only had one way out.”
“But wait,” I said. “I thought Mrs. Gremley was the only one who could lift the curse?”
“Well, almost,” said Rita. “The way she said it, we were trapped until either she lifted it or she was unable to give us orders any more…like, if she just happened to die somehow, or went crazy or something. And now…as a baby…she can’t really give us anymore orders.”
“So…you’re free!” I said excitedly. “You two are free!”
“Free…” Rita said. “Free…finally…free.”
“Yer damn right we are!” yelled Rufus happily. “I can’t believe it! Finally!”
I couldn’t believe it…after all of the emotions I had just been through, everything was going to be ok…
Part 28:
Then, I looked down, and saw the little baby still lying on the dress, and still crying softly.
“But…what are we gonna do with her?” I asked. Even though she was probably the most evil woman I had ever met, now she looked…just…cute. She was just a little baby. She seemed so…helpless, and innocent now…weird, but true.
Apparently Rita was feeling the same thing, because she walked over towards the baby Mrs. Gremley, picked her up, and cradled her in her arms.
“There, there baby Rosey,” Rita said, lightly bouncing her up and down. “It’s ok….don’t cry…”
“You’re…being nice to her…?” I asked.
“Well…she’s just a baby now, right?” asked Rita. “I mean, she was a very, very bad woman, but she had been through so much pain, and suffering…what she had done wasn’t right, but…I think I can understand…”
“Well, now what do we do?” asked Rufus. “We don’t have to stay here anymore, and since she has to renew the curse every year, we aren’t required to do what she says when she finally does reach an age when she can boss us around…so we’re still free…”
“You know,” Rita said. “I think…we should…keep her!”
“What?!” Rufus asked.
“You and me,” said Rita. “We should take Rosey here. Just look at her…she’s not a hateful old woman anymore. Just a poor, cute little baby. And I think that’s a good thing. No more pain, no more suffering…she’ll get a chance to start over, and forget all of her pain and loss. And…the two of us…can make sure she gets raised…right.”
Rufus looked puzzled. “You’re…you’re serious.”
“Yeah,” said Rita. “Why not?”
Rufus just looked at Rita, then at me, then at Rita again, then at…uh, Rosey…
“Well,” he said with a smile. “I’ll do it! I mean, she really IS a cute baby…and I’ve already gotten tons of practice changing diapers and burping babies.”
“Me too!” said Rita. “I think it’ll be great fun!”
“Yeah, but where will you guys live?” I asked. “How can you two afford to raise a baby?”
Rufus laughed. “You see, that’s no problem. You remember when Mrs. Gremley said she sold this mansion to a ‘friend’? That friend was me! All of Edgar Gremley’s money and everything…is in my name! I just couldn’t do anything with it before. Why, we’ll have plenty to go anywhere we want, and just work lightly. After all, like Rosey, we’ll start getting older again, too…”
So, it was actually Rufus who had actually bought Smokey Terrace. Who would’ve known?
I then smiled. “You know what this means?” I asked. “You guys will STILL be serving Mrs. Gremley…you know, with changing her diapers and feeding her and everything…”
Rita and Rufus both laughed at this. “Yes…I guess you’re right,” said Rita.
At that moment, we heard a babyish yell from across the room. It was Max! During the whole confrontation, it had seemed that all of the six big babies had been asleep. But now they were up, and Max was having a fit! Even though it was really, really weird, for some reason Max did look really cute, too…
“Hey, so what about my friends?” I asked. “What’ll happen to them?”
“Oh, don’t worry about them,” said Rufus. “Soon, the baby injection will be wearing off. They’ll still remember their original hallucinations, but nothing from when they were babies…I’m sure they’ll have some interesting stories to tell…”
And then, right before our eyes, we saw all six of them…Jack, Jason, Mitch, Max, TJ, and the policeman snap out of it. They were really disoriented, and looked really confused…
“Hey, where are we?” asked Mitch, looking around the room.
“What in the HELL is going on here?” asked the policeman, looking down at his babyish outfit.
“Wha…am I in a CRIB?!” asked Jack.
“Ugh…I HATE milk!” yelled Jason, tossing aside the baby bottle that had been in his mouth. “What the…why are we dressed as babies?”
“What is this thing?” asked TJ, looking at his onesie. “And…am I in a…d…DIAPER?”
Max looked really confused too, but then he looked at the teddy bear he was holding, and looking really embarrassed, he hid it behind his back with a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah,” he said. “Looks like…we’re all dressed like babies…’cept for Kev, that is,” he said, looking at me with a smile.
Suddenly, Max looked really alarmed. “Hey…wait a sec…where’s Mrs. Gremley?”
The name immediately made all six of them shudder.
Rita laughed and said, “Right here, in my arms,” as she nodded towards Rosey.
“Wha…what?” asked Mitch, tossing aside the pacifier that was in his hand. “What are you talking about?”
Rita and Rufus both looked at me. “I think you better explain this one. Don’t worry…we have your friends’ clothes around here somewhere…”
“Well, where do I begin?” I asked myself with a sigh.
“We begin my getting this diaper OFF of me!!” yelled TJ. This caused us all to laugh. I laughed, too…it had been quite a day.
Epilogue:
After that fateful day, the six youngsters, led by Kevin, finally uncovered the mystery of Smokey Terrace. Though it was a tall tale, it fit, so the people of the town believed them.
Max, Kevin and Jack all left, never to return to the town. Eventually, so did TJ, Mitch, and Jason…their parents also left soon after they did.
Rufus and Rita left as well, buying a new house in a place that they did not wish to share. They lived happily with their new baby, Rosey.
Rufus sold Smokey Terrace to the town. After a team of police officers cleaned away all of the magical dust and disposed of it, the mansion was harmless, and so old that no one wanted to buy it for themselves.
Besides, as the years passed, the tales of the curse of Smokey Terrace changed dramatically from the story told by the six teenagers. After enough time, people once again believed it to be haunted, and no one wanted to buy it. It remained as a legendary place, and eventually everyone in the town forgot the true story of the mystery of Smokey Terrace.
As for the six storytellers, they only spoke of their adventures that day among themselves. But the story was so exciting and frightening for them that they felt they had to do it justice and put all six parts of it together. After getting straight all of the details, they finally wrote it down and had a complete version of the mysterious tale. And that…is what you have just finished reading.