Frozen fear, p.1
Frozen Fear, page 1
Frozen Fear
M.G. Allen
Published by M.G. Allen, 2024.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
FROZEN FEAR
First edition. October 10, 2024.
Copyright © 2024 M.G. Allen.
ISBN: 979-8227933379
Written by M.G. Allen.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Frozen Fear
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Thank you, Pixie! Thank you, mom!
“Ice cream is a smile on a cone.” −unknown
Chapter One
The crumpled drawing had too much blood on it. A film of pencil shavings stained it ashen gray from the trash can he scooped it up from during homeroom. Luckily, Billy Tolliver wasn’t much of an artist, otherwise, it would have seriously freaked him out.
Josh Taylor went right up to his room after school. He slung his backpack onto the floor, closed the door, and took out the discarded picture from his desk drawer. He had fished it out of a trash can from his homeroom class a week ago. That was right before Billy stopped showing up to school and the rumors started. Gerald Dawson had mentioned Billy Tolliver at the lunch table. He asked Josh if he had talked to Billy recently. Josh responded “No” in fact, he rarely even thought about Billy. School was almost over, and summer was on its way. He remembered the picture he had taken home and the mystery around it. All the kids at school talked about it so much that the teachers threatened to send them to the principal’s office if they even mentioned Billy Tolliver. They said it was “inconsiderate” and “mean”. Josh agreed and felt a little guilty just thinking about it.
Billy had drawn it in black, red, and purple markers. He had gone overboard with the red marker. So much of it. There were indentions where he had penciled in some parts and then erased them from the page. The picture showed some kind of small boxy truck. Billy had tried hard to make it look three-dimensional but mostly failed. The words ‘Mister Yum Yum’ was written above the windshield in bubbly letters.
‘‘Mister Yum Yum”? Like the candy store in the mall?’ It had just opened a few months ago. It was a popular spot.
In the picture, the truck had a long rectangular window on the side, so it seemed to be an ice cream truck. Why an ice cream truck? That was so ordinary. The Mister Yum Yum store mainly sold candy, not ice cream. The store didn’t have any trucks either. At least, not to his knowledge.
A man drawn in the rectangular window was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with his hands outstretched like he wanted to give a big hug. This man had no head, instead, there were red lines, rounded off at the ends, shooting from his neck. Little drips were drawn coming from the collar of his shirt.
This was the blood.
Blood was gushing from his neck.
Most kids at school would answer that Billy Tolliver was just crazy or went crazy. Josh had known Billy since the second grade, and he had been pretty normal. Well, he was a little mean, sometimes. He was always a sore loser in sports. He would pitch a fit if he lost a game and accuse the other kids of cheating. Lots of kids at school didn’t like him, but he was mostly normal. He remembered Billy had gotten into some kind of car accident. Josh, nor any of his friends, knew the specifics of it. It was right before Billy started acting strangely, walking around school all spaced-out, not paying attention in class, and mumbling to himself. In the cafeteria, he told Ms. Nelson he saw spiders everywhere.
The car accident changed Billy. Josh heard an interesting word: “traumatic”. He looked the word up in the dictionary. Yep, it seemed to fit.
‘Whatever’ thought Josh, not giving it any more thought. ‘Billy is in some kind of special hospital now. Hopefully, they can make him better.’
Josh heard loud voices and laughter in the hallway. Feet thudded across the floor and shoulders scraped the wall beyond his room. His older brother, Georgie, was home. He and his obnoxious friends were loading into Georgie’s room. It was Friday so they probably were planning something. Beezy was his least favorite of them. Beezy was the older brother of Josh’s friend, Teddy. He was sixteen, the same age as Georgie, and was into shoplifting. Josh overheard Beezy talking about it to Georgie, bragging about the things he had stolen. He was a “kleptomaniac”. Josh looked this word up as well. He simply enjoyed learning new words. It meant someone who stole all the time. Josh couldn’t leave spare change in his room, knowing Beezy would take it if he happened to see it. Josh watched him whenever he came over. There were so many things he could steal. He had called Josh mean names a few times when Georgie wasn’t around. Mackenzie, who everyone called Mack, and Jack weren’t too awesome either. They were disrespectful towards adults, and they all did drugs and drank. Josh generally avoided the teens.
They were in Georgie’s room. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it was probably stupid. They were likely already getting high. Luckily, Gerald’s family was picking him up, then they were going out for pizza then back to Gerald’s house to stream a movie. Michael was coming too.
Josh started to roll up the picture, then thought for a second. He folded it in two and dropped it into the garbage can by his desk. He took his ferret, Freddy, out of his cage and pet him. Originally, he had named him Freddy Fazbear until Gerald, staring down into the cage, told him that the Freddy Fazbear/Five Nights at Freddy’s thing wasn’t cool anymore. Apparently, Gerald considered himself a trend expert. Josh had gotten Freddy last year. His brother, Georgie, said he stank and complained if Josh went too long without bathing him. Georgie was a meanie these days, anyway. Petting Freddy, letting him squirm in his arms, helped him forget about Billy Tolliver and that dumb picture.
Soon, there was a honk of a horn in the driveway, and Josh headed out.
Chapter Two
“Here’s how it is,” Georgie flipped a lock of dyed black hair out of his eyes. “The Bible got everything backward. God wanted humans to be ignorant children playing around in some garden.”
“You mean in Genesis?” asked Jack. “Yeah, but—”
“But nothing, Jack! God wanted to suppress their knowledge of the world. It was Satan who gave knowledge to humanity. He liberated it.”
The others were barely listening. Georgie knew this. They weren’t into the dark arts like he was. ‘Some fancy entourage I have,’ he thought. Jack was a lame-o but at least he knew some stuff and had a good vocabulary. Janey listened to some good bands. She had the face and body and kept their group from becoming a sausage party. He was amazed that she still hung around with them. Mack and Beezy were talking monkeys. He was a little scared of Beezy. Beezy (whose mother named him Barry) moved into their neighborhood just a year or two ago. Beezy and his brother Teddy grew up mainly in a trailer park with their single mom. Beezy brought along attitude, authenticity, and intimidation factor to the group.
Mack just wandered into their loser’s club. They let him tag along because he reliably scored weed and his mom was hot. They would hang out at his house just to get a chance to see her. Even in winter, she was usually braless, walking around in tight shorts in the yard. She spoke Spanish, which gave her an exotic air in this dead-end Podunk town.
He couldn’t pick and choose his friends, anyway. Georgie knew he didn’t exude charisma either. He was used to being a loner and just keeping these four friends was hard-ass work.
He knew they had their doubts about how serious of a practitioner he was. Jack had remarked to him last week that his Satanism was “just an act.” Bullshit! There was more to it than wearing black clothes and dyed black hair. Georgie had studied a lot. Information about Devil worship wasn’t easy to come by. Studying Satanism was a lot of work! Man, those internet sites and forums he plowed through were confusing. They gave him nothing concrete and what they did give him was out of his reach. He didn’t have the money for the fancy candles and oils. He didn’t have the stomach to kill a black cat and scoop out its eyeball. Hair of a virgin? He could use his own hair.
He did have a cool knife. He bought it on Etsy at a decent price: it had a jagged, ten-inch blade and a genuine bone handle. A card came with it, certifying that it had been blessed by unholy priests. That would get their attention. Especially when they realized what it was going to be used for.
Tall, lanky Beezy was stretched out across his bed, propped up against the wall. Big clumps of mud were on the bottom of his shoes, inches from his bed sheet. Beezy started fucking around with the horror movie action figures on h
“Hey, don’t touch those!” he shouted.
Beezy had his favorite one, too: Ash from the movie Evil Dead. He was giggling, moving Ash’s little chainsaw arm back and forth with his dirty little finger.
“Put it back, Beezy! I just cleaned them.”
“Yes, sir!” mocked Beezy. He put the toy back on the shelf. He couldn’t stand it up very well. After a few tries, he let it lay there.
“Stand it up!” demanded Georgie pointing at the space left by the toy, “Right between Chucky and Pinhead.”
Mack picked it up, laughing. His fat greasy fingers were draped over Ash’s iconic blue shirt.
“I’ll swallow your soul!” mimicked Mack, making it talk, jiggling the tiny chainsaw up in the air. Mack was cracking up at is own joke. No one was laughing with him.
“Ash didn’t even say that in the movie, you moron. Give it to me.”
Mack tossed it to him.
“Now I have to disinfect it. Keep your jack-off fingers away from my stuff, Mack.”
“Georgie plays with dolls!” said Jack. “Do you have a Barbie Dream House somewhere around here?”
They all laughed at this. Georgie flipped him off. He saw Beezy on his cellphone and asked him to find some music. Beezy mumbled something back.
“I was going to put you in charge of music tonight. You need to contribute something, Beez.”
“I’ll contribute my dick.”
“I thought we were going to smoke up,” said Janey. “Bet you don’t have weed anyway.”
“Weed is for kiddies,” said Georgie, pausing dramatically. He reached into his bottom dresser drawer. Silence. They all watched in anticipation. “I got acid!”
Mack said, “Sweet!” Jack said, “Yeah!” Beezy said, “Works for me!”
“Okay Georgie,” said Jack. “Finish what you were saying about Satan.”
“I’m not a damn Satan worshiper,” interjected Janey. “That shit’s stupid.”
“I know you aren’t!” said Georgie. “Jack isn’t either. I bet you went to church again this Sunday, didn’t you, Jack?”
“My grandmother buys me stuff and sometimes gives me money if I go to church,” Jack explained. “That’s the only reason I go.”
“That’s because you’re poor,” Georgie joked.
“Fuck you,” Jack retorted.
He liked to pull Jack’s chain. Jack was the only other person, besides himself, who was even interested in his Infernal Majesty the Dark Lord. Jack had potential but needed to be prodded along a little bit.
“I’m sorry, man,” said Georgie. “I know you’re not some Christian wuss. Even though you go to church, you’re still more hardcore that these other wimps.”
“Who’s a wimp?” said Mack.
“You,” said Georgie, “Especially you.”
“So, as you were saying, Satan gave humanity knowledge, right?” said Jack, sitting up in the desk chair like a good little student, as Georgie liked.
“Yes, he did. Isn’t knowledge what humanity should be striving for?”
“Knowledge,” parroted Beezy, snorting in laughter, idly picking at a scab on his arm. “Please tell me more, Professor Dark Lord.”
A snicker. Georgie ignored him.
“Knowledge is power,” he said, staring dramatically at the group. “And we’re gonna get some of that power tonight!”
“Yeah,” snarked Beezy.
“It all sounds so fascinating,” said Janey dryly, playing with a strand of her hair.
“You guys aren’t going to pussy out on me, are you?” said Georgie, staring around at them. “Don’t be a bunch of scared bitches!”
“You’re really going to try to conjure up Satan?” said Janey.
“That’s the plan.”
She started laughing. That bitch laughed at everything.
“You said you were coming, Janey. I need all of you. It’s crucial I have five people there. Don’t you-”
“I’ll be there. Don’t get your scrote in a bunch.”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t chicken out,” said Jack. “And Beezy, too.”
“You do that, Jack,” said Georgie. “We’re gonna get fucked up. I also stole one of my dad’s bottles when I was at his house last week.”
“Really?” said Beezy. “That’s fucking awesome!”
“You rule, Georgie!” added Mack.
They all high-fived. Even Janey deigned to take part. Georgie was happy with this. One way or another, he would motivate them.
His little brother, Josh, left a little earlier, heading over to his friend Gerald’s house for some sort of movie party. He had been talking about it all week, so Georgie knew when to make his next move.
When he saw the Dawson’s car pull up and Josh get in, Georgie got to work. He could hear his mother down in the kitchen talking to her “work friend.” They would usually talk for hours. Georgie suspected her “work friend” was a potential boyfriend; the way she giggled, the way her voice dropped into a softer, more intimate tone, and the plans they whispered about.
He truly hoped she’d get a boyfriend. That would get her out of the house more and out of his business. Georgie needed this time to express himself and having his mom hanging over his back was demeaning and depressing.
She needed friends. His mom could be cool sometimes. Georgie knew she was more interesting than some of his friends’ moms. She didn’t just sit around watching TV, shoveling junk food in her mouth (ahem, Beezy’s trailer trash mom). She kicked ass at crossword puzzles, and Jeopardy, could play the Ukelele, and was even a sick mastermind at cards. She claimed she made twenty thousand dollars playing poker during her college years. She taught him how to play poker. He wanted to play with his friends, but he was afraid he’d lose and look like an idiot.
Georgie skulked slowly out the door, listening to his mom from the kitchen. They would take a mad dash out the side door. His gear was sus as fuck. If she saw him, she would want to know his plans. He had on all his silver skull rings, spiked bracelets, and had polished his Doc Martins. She would know something was going down.
‘Go pick a rom-com and get a room with your new guy, mom.’
He took Josh’s ferret out of the cage and gave him a treat with a bonus in it. Georgie pet him and let him squirm in his hands until the little bastard went limp. He wrapped it up in an old bandana he found.
Georgie had asked his mom for a real pet. He asked for a pit bull, a tarantula, or a boa constrictor. She was horrified by the idea of all of them. He got the boa constrictor okayed by his dad over the phone, but that was immediately vetoed by his mom. “No snakes, no spiders, no bats, no electric eels, nothing that is going to bite my face off, please, Georgie?” she had said.
His dad even agreed to pay for it. His dad thought it would be a good hobby. “I know you will keep it in your room, son,” said his dad in the car one day. “She doesn’t even have to see it. I don’t know why she’s making a big deal of it...”
Georgie thought this was a good example of why his dad divorced her. She was boring, despite having so many obvious talents. Who wanted to be around someone who is such a downer? His dad had a successful career, and maybe he just wanted to be with someone similarly ambitious.
She was making Josh boring and weak too. They wanted a dachshund, one of those wiener dogs! Georgie had to intervene and threaten them by saying, “If you buy a wiener dog, I swear I’m gonna eat it! On a bun!” They took him seriously though.
She got them this little thing instead, this biting stinking little weasel. Well, they got it for Josh, for perfect little Josh. Josh always got the nicer stuff. They never caught him drunk, or high as fuck. He didn’t disappear all night without calling. He didn’t start arguments and yell when confronted with the slightest criticism. Josh was a nice kid and deserved to be rewarded for not being a pain in the ass, but he was also only eleven!
Freddy had to go. The mark was still visible on his hand. By biting him last week, the poor critter volunteered for a higher purpose.
Georgie popped back into his room. Jack, Janey, Beezy, and Mack were watching Hellraiser on DVD. They hadn’t even noticed that he had slipped out. He didn’t want them to know a live animal was going to be involved. He wanted it to be a nice surprise. They scrambled out the side door, his mom still chatting away.
