User talk:SherwoodForest16

Craig flung open the school doors of Southington High. "Summer vacation! Woohoo!!" Sliding down the railing, he nearly tripped when his identical twin, Jason, pounced him. "Summer vacation's finally here, bro!", he cheered. Climbing off Craig's back, Jason adjusted his backpack and the boys began their walk home. They always walked home together. They had been doing it since middle school. Craig liked riding the bus while Jason enjoyed taking the long way home. But one day Jason started asking Craig to walk with him from then on. At first Craig told him no and to just join him on the bus. Jason did but was pummeled by the school mafia (as Craig called them). Jason hadn't been much of a fighter back then, so when he tried to put up a fight.....well, let's just say the odds weren't in his favor that day. When Jason asked Craig again to walk home with him and Craig asked him why, Jason admitted that for the past week he had been feeling as if someone was watching him. "Maybe it's just your imagination", Craig had suggested. "That's what I thought too", Jason had whimpered. "But then last Friday, I saw a man standing in the woods". "Well what did he do?" "Nothing! He just stood there and watched me walk down the road. When I got home I looked out the window and I saw him across the street". "What was he doing then?" "He just stood there staring at me! I was so scared!" After much begging and tears Craig finally agreed to walk with Jason. He thought it was just one of Jason's silly pranks. Jason was a big prankster. He knew and did every joke and prank in the book. Craig had given him the nickname Joking Jason. They both agreed that it fit nicely. But it turned out to be not as bad as Craig thought it would be. They were spending quality time with each other, which helped when they had problems that they didn't want to talk about at home. No, home had it's own problems. When they were ten their Dad had just got up and left. They never fully understood why; their father always said he loved him. He had helped them with their school work, took them to the park, and spent time with them. Their mother, on the other hand, was a different story. From the moment they were born she was disgusted with them. "I had wanted girls", she moaned when she saw them. "The ultrasound said I was having girls". "Sometimes that changes, Mrs. Dolcimer", the doctor explained. "There was one case when a family was expecting a girl, only to find out a week before the delivery that they were having a boy. It's not a terrible thing. It can be quite amus-" "It's a mistake!", she gasped. "I was supposed to have daughters! Where are my daughters?!" From that day forward she wouldn't have anything to do with them. Yes, she would make them meals and remind the to bathe, but she never gave them the attention they needed from a mother. She never took them out to get them clothes or take them to McDonald's just for the fun of it or went to any of their school productions unless their dad made her. But to top all of that, never, ever did she say the most important words one can say to their child: I love you, and am so proud of what you do. She made it very clear that they were nothing but a constant disappointment to her. That's why it never made any sense that their dad just left one day. They were left to wonder What did we do wrong? Doesn't Daddy still love us? When they were fourteen they found out through some papers their mom left out that as soon as he left their dad fought for custody for them, but that their mom refused. He had taken it to court and actually won. But why were they still here and not with their dad? Turned out on the way to pick them up a drunkard smashed his car into their dad's, killing them both instantly. Both of the boys had been heartbroken when they found this all out, but what was worse was that he died when they were eleven; five years ago. "What a witch!", Craig had cried, his tears spilling down his face. "How could she do that when she hates us?" "I don't know", Jason had tried to hold back his own tears but they too were cascading down his face. "We....we can only mourn in secret. If Mom were to find out...." "Mom? Ha! That woman is NOT our mother! That hag is nothing but a good for nothing, freak'n piece of-" "Craig! Please.....let's just mourn over Dad's passing. Please". But deep down, neither of the twins knew they could never, ever forgive their mother. And they never did. Jason was better at hiding it than Craig though. It was evident to their mother that Craig had a vengeful hate for her. But she didn't care. What did it matter if her son hated her? She hated him just as much. So yeah, walking home from school was always the best part of the day for them. Even sometimes on the weekends they would walk all over town until dinner. They knew their mom wouldn't care. The pros of that was that they could do whatever they wanted: play hooky, get high, even go to jail (but of course no one wants that). They didn't live too far from the school; about half a mile, maybe more. They had to walk past a few houses, the edge of the local woods, and then some more houses before getting home. As they walked Craig lit a cigarette. Craig liked smoking. He felt calmer whenever he did. "You know that's gonna kill you someday", Jason reminded. Jason didn't like smoking. He'd tried it once before but hated the taste. So did Craig, but he kept at it until he was immune. "Heh, the sooner the better", he replied, puffing a whiff of smoke into the air. "Don't talk like that. We need each other, remember?" "Yeah yeah, I know. But it's good for a pass time" Jason sighed. "You keep making excuses to smoke. Just say you like it. I won't judge". Craig shrugged. "Whatever". Then he chuckled. "Here we go; the woodsy woods coming up on your left". He gave Jason a playful grin. "Let's hope Mr. Slim doesn't start staring us to death". Jason frowned. "Very funny". As they walked Craig kept rambling on about something he'd read on the Internet when Jason finally said, "I wasn't kidding, Craig. I did see something then". "Of course! The Joking Jason isn't up to any of his usual tricks, now is he. Joking Jason, Joking Jason, Joking Jason!" "Cut it out, Craig! I'm only fine with that nickname when it's true". "But it is true that you're the top prankster out of us". Jason sighed. "That may be true, but I swear I saw something back then. And it really did scare me". "Hey", Craig puffed some more smoke into the air "if you saw something back then, you saw something back then. It's not like this stalker would follow you all these years later. What freak does that?" Jason nodded and they continued to walk. They chatted for a bit before Jason stopped walking. "What's wrong?", Craig asked. Jason looked at his brother, his emerald green eyes wide with fright. "He's behind me". "Who? Mr. Slim?" Jason nodded slowly. "Look behind me. Just to be sure". Seeing the fear in his twin's eyes, Craig hesitantly turned his head and gasped. Behind them was indeed a tall man in a suit about ten feet behind them. His long arms rested at his sides. All he did was just stand there staring at the boys. But what was scarier was the face. Where eyes and a nose and a mouth should have been there was nothing. Nothing at all. Craig grabbed Jason's arm. "Run!", he yelled. The boys ran as fast as they could down the road. They couldn't tell if the man was running after him or not but no one bothered to check. They just kept running until they got to the house. They slammed and locked the door and ran to their bedroom, slamming that door shut and collapsed onto their beds. "What.....the heck.....was that?", Craig panted. Jason took in a gulp of air. "Mr. Slim", he answered. "I told you I wasn't joking". For a moment it was just quiet. The boys took deep breaths and tried to calm down their pounding hearts. "Sorry", Craig finally said. "For not believing your story". Jason stared at his brother from his bed. "When have I ever lied to you Craig?"

Over the next few days the twins stayed in the house. They wanted to wait until they were sure their Mr. Slim wasn't outside watching them. Every five minutes they would peak out the window to see if he was there. Sometimes he would be there, either as far as across the street or as close as their own front yard. Their mother, of course, didn't care about this strange behavior. She just did what she usually did: ignore them unless they bothered her. Sleep wasn't all that great either. Neither of the boys could seem to get enough sleep. For Craig it was because of the constant fear in his heart that his twin was being victimized by the Mr. Slim. But Jason had it different. Instead of being kept awake by fear, he was plunged into terrible dreams. Every night was the same: he would be standing in the woods or in a playground or even at home and Mr. Slim would just stand there, staring at him. Then he would hear the sound of a child crying. It would grow until there was a whole chorus of children crying. This would go on for what seemed like forever until he would blink and suddenly Mr. Slim would be right in his face. A shriek would pierce the air and he would wake up. This went on for about a week. That is, until one morning when Craig was brushing his teeth. Jason came into the bathroom, his tired face pale with fright. His jet black shoulder length hair was all tasseled and out of place. "He's coming for me", he quivered. Craig just stared at his twin. "What?" "He's coming for me. He told me last night. He wants me to go into the woods near Panthorn Park tonight when the sun goes down". Jason's vision began to blur from his tears. "I don't want to go with him, Craig! I don't want to go and die!" The boy fell to the floor and sobbed. Craig picked Jason up and shook him. "Don't cry! You're seventeen now; you've got no reason to cry over this". Jason looked at his brother dead in the eye, surprised and angry at those words. "You would too if it was you!", he snapped. "Of course I would! But that's not gonna happen!" Jason rubbed his eyes. "What do you mean?" Craig smiled. "You're not gonna go with him; you're not gonna go anywhere near Panthorn Park. We're gonna stop him once and for all!" "How?" Craig walked into their bedroom. "Remember that trick we played on the teachers awhile back?" Jason raised an eyebrow. "Which time?" "The time you promised Mrs. Bobinski that you would help her with the first grade class and you got sick. You didn't want to let her down. So what did we do?" Jason's eyes got wide. "We.....switched places. But you can't just go and give yourself up for me!" Craig opened one of the drawers to their dresser. "I'm not", he said, reaching inside the drawer. "No one is going to die tonight. I'll go to Panthorn Park as you, pretend I'm giving myself up" he pulled out a pistol "and take him down when he least expects it". Jason stared at the gun, then at Craig. "It's.....it's brilliant! Almost perfect. But what if it doesn't work? What if he overpowers you?" Craig examined the gun, then looked back at his brother. "Well then I won't come back until I've killed him". Jason shook his head. "I don't know Craig; I just don't feel right about this". Craig put the gun down and walked over to his brother. "Hey, I'm not gonna let this monster take the only person I care about from me. You would do the same for me, right bro?" Jason nodded. "I just don't want to loose the only person I care about". Craig studied his twin's face. "You won't. You just have to trust me, okay? It all ends tonight; tonight the joke will be on him". "Okay". "Good. Then let's get ready. For the rest of the day, you'll be Craig Dolcimer and I'll be Jason Dolcimer". If only I still felt right about this, Jason worried to himself.

Craig drove his mom's car down the road toward Panthorn Park. It was almost 9:00; the sun was almost gone. He had put on Jason's old blue faded sweater that he always wore whenever it wasn't too hot out. Craig had a matching sweater but he put on Jason's just in case. Who knew if Mr. Slim could sense who was who. One couldn't be too sure. Craig's phone started vibrating in his pocket. It was Jason. Sighing, he picked it up. "Talk to me bro". "Are you almost there?" "Yep. Just need to make a few more turns till I get to the park".

"You okay?" Jason swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine". He paused. "Be careful bro. Don't die on me, k?" Jason heard Craig chuckle. "I'll do my best. I'll be back before a chipmunk can say 'Joking Jason'". Now it was Jason's turn to chuckle. "Okay. See ya later bro". "See ya". Popping his phone into his pocket, Jason adjusted himself on his bike and began peddling as fast as he could toward Panthorn Park. "No way you're going through this alone, bro", he muttered to himself.

Craig sat under a tree, sighing. It was 9:20; everything was pitch black. Fortunately for him, he had brought along a flashlight. But even that still felt small in the dark. Craig worried how long he'd have to wait till Mr. Slim decided to show up. It didn't take long. While Craig looked at his surroundings his light fell on the familiar tall faceless figure. He jumped, but then composed himself. "Well, I'm here", he said, standing up and brushing the dirt off his pants. "Before we do.....whatever it is we're going to do, I'd like to just take a smoke". Pulling out his box of cigarettes he took one out of the package. "Want one?"

Jason parked his bike next to the car and took off for the woods. Don't be too late! Don't be too late!

As Craig puffed some smoke into the air he stared at what would be Mr. Slim's eyes. "So, out of all the people in the world, why'd you go and choose me?" Mr. Slim didn't answer. "I mean, I know I'm nothing special. I'm not the cool one at school, I don't have any special powers or abilities. I'm just a plain old human being. So why me?" Again, Mr. Slim didn't answer. Craig gave an aggravated sigh. "Fine, be like that". He nearly choked on the smoke he was sucking in when Mr. Slim took a step towards him. "Okay! Okay! Let me put it out first".

Jason practically stepped on every branch there was on the ground. But he didn't care. This was a bad idea from the beginning! Why did I let him go risk his life for me! I should have just not said anything!

Mr. Slim stretched out his long, bony arm toward Craig. Does this guy eat anything? He's like, skinnier than a stray cat. Craig could now see Mr. Slim's long fingers. They were thin but looked sharp, like needles. "Um, okay". Craig slipped one hand into his pocket. "But before we go, I just have one thing to say". He cocked the the gun. "The joke, dear Mr. Slim, was on you!" Whipping out the gun he fired three shots at Mr. Slim. Mr. Slim reeled back, dodging all but one bullet, which grazed the side of his face. Craig fired again, aiming for the chest. She shot him five times then aimed the flash light at Mr. Slim. To his horror, Mr. Slim stood unfazed. "What?! What's it gonna take to kill you!?" Unfortunately, that wasn't the only surprise Mr. Slim had in store. Out of his back came these weird tentacles. They waved around behind him threateningly at Craig. He cocked the gun but was met with a loud piercing screech of some kind. Craig screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his ears. What the heck is he doing to me?! All I feel is pain! No! I have to be strong! Strong for survival! Strong for Jason! Mustering up all the strength he could muster, Craig slowly stood up, picking up the gun. Even though the noise still rang in his ears and in his mind, he fought through it, straightening himself. Aiming the gun at Mr. Slim's face, he took a deep breath and said through bated breath, "See you in hell". The gun went off. The tentacles lunged forward. Jason screamed, "Noooooo!!!!" A sickening noise of flesh breaking filled the air for an instant. Jason looked down at the tentacles that were stabbed into him. Blood poured from his stomach and onto the forest floor. Blood trickled down his neck from Craig's bullet. Looking up to the sky, he whispered, "I'm sorry.......Craig". Then he closed his eyes and sighed his last sigh. Mr. Slim took his tentacles out of the dead boy's stomach and let his lifeless body fall to the ground. Craig just stood there, his heart stopped in mid beat. "No....Jason no!" He fell to his knees and picked up his twin's body. "Don't die on me Jason! Don't die on me bro! You weren't supposed to be here!" Even though he knew there would be no answer, he kept shaking and screaming at the body until he felt as if there was nothing left in him. "You jerk......you were suppose to stay home.....why'd you go and get yourself killed?" Sensing someone standing over him, he looked up to see Mr. Slim staring down at him. This only turned Craig's sadness into a bitter rage. "Get out!", he screamed. "Get away! Leave us!" When he wouldn't go, Craig stood up and stepped over his brother. "Go! Away! You've ruined our lives, and for what, Jason?!" It was never about Jason. A dull, lifeless voice that wasn't Craig's spoke to him from what sounded like his mind. "What are you freak'n talking about?! You've been stalking him since he was-" Craig stopped. "Wait....are you saying....this was about getting me? It was me you wanted?!" There was silence before Craig sobbed, "Why.....why'd you go through all that....to get to me?" At that moment, something changed in Craig. Something snapped. "What kind of a sick twisted creature are you?!" Craig picked up the gun and aimed it right at Mr. Slim's chest. "You want me? Well you're not getting me! You're not winning this! You'll never have me!" Craig was about to pull the trigger when someone yelled, "Freeze!" Craig whipped around only to be greeted by a flash of light. "Put the gun down and put your hands in the air where we can see them!" Craig obeyed but not before glancing behind him to see Mr. Slim. He was gone.

"Okay kid, what's your name?" Craig sat in a chair in front of a desk with a cop questioning him. Craig swallowed before giving the cop an answer. "Craig", he said. "Just Craig". "Okay, Craig. Do you have any family you're staying with?" Craig shook his head. "No. Not anymore". "Okay. Can you tell me why you were out in the woods at night?" Craig just looked up at the cop with a blank stare. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me". The cop crossed his arms and sat back. "Try me". But no matter how hard he pressed Craig wouldn't give in. Sighing, the cop left the room to talk with his associates. When he left Craig could hear the conversation going on outside of the room. "What did he say?" "Nothing much; he answered all of the questions but one; he won't say why he was in the woods". "You think he's linked with the other boy's death?" "Most likely. This was probably his first killing. What do you have from the cop that was on patrol around the area?" "He said he heard three shots before he called us down then several more before we got there. The cop blames himself for not getting there in time". "It's not his fault; he didn't know how many people there was in there". But Craig had stopped listening. They think......I killed Jason? But I didn't.....it was all just an accident! He jumped in the way! It....it wasn't me! It wasn't! An idea slipped into Craig's head. I'm not going to jail for something I didn't do. His words to Jason that morning rang in his head. For the rest of the day you'll be Craig Dolcimer and I'll be Jason Dolcimer. You'll be Craig Dolcimer and I'll be Jason Dolcimer. I'll be Jason Dolcimer. Jason Dolcimer. Craig chuckled to himself. Last I checked, I'm still Jason Dolcimer. And I'll always be Jason Dolcimer until that freak is cold dead. I'll get him back for you, bro. He thought he could just wipe you out of my life, but he was wrong. I'll never let your name be forgotten. I'll let the world know who you were; the greatest prankster this world will ever see. And I know the perfect way to do it. Watching the door, he walked over to the desk and quietly opened the top drawer. As he suspected, there was a gun next to a box of ammunition. Taking it out he loaded up the gun and slipped the rest in his pocket. Going back to his seat he waited for the cop to come back. "Alright Craig", the cop said, coming in. "You're just going to spend a few nights here until we can get you a lawyer and figure out this whole mess". Craig gave an over dramatic sigh. "Oh alright. But I before we go I have a confession to make". The cop watched Craig as he stood up. "Joke's on you, my name isn't Craig". He pulled out the gun and fired one shot. "It's Jason. Joking Jason". He let out a small chuckle as he stepped over the body and walked out of the room.