Looking out my window at the large stuffed Barney sitting upright on my hammock, I can't help but feel unsettled. I certainly don't remember putting him there, why would I? I can't imagine when I could've, I hadn't drank anything alcoholic to be so out of my mind as to do so. The only thing that I can think of to do is maybe call the police? But if it ends up just being a giant stupid stuffed Barney then I'd have wasted their time, but I certainly don't wanna go out there and look at them myself.
That was when my friend comes up behind me, almost startling me, but I turn and look back at them, their green eyes coming in contact with mine.
"Are you afraid of a purple dinosaur or something?" They asked, mocking my posture and my obvious paranoia.
"No. I'm just confused as to where it came from." I say, rolling my eyes and turning back to the window pane.
"I bet it's just one of those stupid teenagers from a few blocks over trying to give someone the creeps. It can't be that bad." They say.
"If you're so not worried about there being a big pack of God knows what in it, why don't you go ahead and check it out yourself?"
"It's not my yard."
"It's not my Barney either, so it's not my responsibility."
"But it's in your yard, so doesn't that mean that anything that is in your yard should be your issue?" I pause and I scoff, but they soon roll their eyes in copy of my earlier sass. "I'll go check it out for you."
"Thanks." I mutter, and I watch them go through the door to my right and approach the Barney.
Their step slowed as they got closer, and as they did, the more I realized they were of the same size of the Barney. They didn't seem to want to get any closer than fivr feet, but something caught their eye, in which thry picked up. Making their eay back over and inside, I patiently wait for their answer, but as I spot the CD in their hand, I am patient no more.
"That Barney toy reeks of piss." They say, shaking their head and then turning to me. "Wanna watch this probably cursed video?" They say with a smile on their face, light glistening off off the surface.
"Uh, hell no."
"C'mon, it'll be fun. Whatever they left for us probably has something spicy in it."
"I've had enough Mexican food in my life time."
"You either watch it with me right now or I'm gonna drag you out there and force you to drown in the pee sauna that fuckin' thing radiates."
I look out at the Barney and I stare. The soullessness of the husk made my skin crawl just looking at it. Plus, it reeks of piss? What kind of hell has that thing seen and been through??
"...Fine."
Sitting on my couch I watch as they stick the CD into the player and then sit down beside me, getting comfortable. A somewhat quick glance in their direction and back at the screen, I get a mild sense of my own surroundings before it started playing. Of course, as I expected, it was just an episode of a Barney show, yet it was old. The intro plays with the dinosaur and the kids following behind, walking onto the screen coming from the left and above the Barney and Friends label. The music was somewhat nostalgic, but I was still prepared for an out of context jumpscare, just what I'd expect from a prank.
The children's singing comes in as well as barney turning into a full sized bekng rather than a toy, the usual episode plays out. It is about halfway through, fifteen minutes when my friend gets obviously bored, checking the time on their phone.
"You worried so much about what was up with that damn giant piss Barney, it's the dumbest thing ever."
"Shut up." I say defensively, crossing my arms, and they stand up, laughing.
"I'm gonna go use the bathroom real quick, ight? Tell me anything spooky happens."
They pat my head, and I smack their hand away, which only makes them laugh at me as they make their way out of the room. I look at the screen, not even realizing they were walking towards the door rather than the bathroom.
I continue watching Barney sing about the alphabet, and another minute passes before suddenly the episode stops, and it goes to a pure white screen. I sit up, my eyes widening slightly and my body racked with curiosity and a slight sense of fear. I can feel my gut grow heavy.
Then, there's someone sitting in a chair in front of the camera, it's being held. This person is shirtless, nude, and the holder of the camera, has a knife. But that bracelet the cameraman is holding, a makeshift bracelt with little cubes with each letter, F-R-I-E-N-D, I know it..
I glance in the direction my friend went, realizing, they hadn't come back, and I look at the screen.
The knife trailed down from their eye to their jawline, gliding across the skin but never breaking. The tip of the blade pokes into the fragile cover at their jaw, and twists slightly, light glinting off of the metallic surface and complimenting its cleanliness. The beholder had to savour ever moment of this, take in every detail, devour ever drop of sight their eyes could take in, and that meant inspecting ever pore on this poor being's body. Visually dancing along the line of their sweating brow, glancing over their eyes as they tried to look tough but the way their head tilted at the feel of sharpness made it more than obvious that they were but a sheep. Staring into the light that reflected into their own, and thus after seconds of taking in the moment, the handle twists in their palm and the edge travels down.
The bare torso is but a new adventure, but a very common one for the cutter. The sternum, the ribs, the subtle movement of their breathing both slow and calm and others shaky and fearful. But it was all the same, and all same it was, it had also been very pleasurable. Taking their time to twirl the carver and let it travel every bone in the chest, turning to map out every indent and every bit of anticipation made the climax all the more desirable.
A sudden strike down with the steel down right in between this victim's legs is enough to make them hop, but the rope binding their wrists and ankles does not allow them their freedom. Their breathing grows ever heavier, the urgency to escape this deadly situation sprouts an even bigger forest, but the roots of their garden are stuck within a vase and have no room. They weren't leaving any time soon, neither. Their gardener, wielding the largest of scissors was ready to chop off their blooms, and they could see it in their disgustingly sinister eyes. There were no clouds to rain, and there was not a single sign of escape.
Throat becomes tight, swallowing down the saliva that was growing in their mouth had begun to pool and grow as their tongue shifted about in their mouth. It had been so long since they drank anything, or moved, or eaten. Nothing had touched their lips, except for what had done so before. The kiss of a lover, or the glass of their favorite drink. Their own fingertips wiping away that bit of sauce that just managed to seep, or the forehead of a child that was just inches away from slumber. Whatever had last been honored the touch, it had better be grateful, for they will not touch a single thing ever again.
Closing their eyes tightly, curves growing around their eyes and teeth gritting together, they assumed the worst was yet to come. They had nothing else, there wasn't anything else to expect. It was over, and as much as you may wish it wouldn't be, it was going to be. As it always ends up being.
One day, it will be the last time you run your own fingers across your face. The last time you dig your nails into your skin and rid yourself of that harsh feeling that you couldn't bare holding, itching away a single scratch absentmindedly. The last time your eyes graze over a letter, not realizing the beauty that comes with somehow being able to match all of these meticulous symbols known as letters and numbers and using them to communicate, or learn. The last time you get to smell your favorite scent. The last time you get to talk to your most beloved person. The last time you step a bare foot onto the grass and have ever blade of it crunch beneath your foot. The last time you smile. The last time you feel the touch of someone else. The last time you listen to your favorite song. The last moments of your life you wouldn't realize would be your last. But this person, they know.
The air stiffening around them, as there are no vents to circulate what was around them. The silence growing as they sit there and wait for their final moments to come, tears flooding their tightly closed eyes. Their breathing had come to a halt, and soon their life will.
But right before the knife sinks into their stomach, static cuts in. Then shifts about the screen, unsure of what to play until it remembers. It goes back to Barney, dancing in front of the screen and shifting his hips back and forth as if nothing had happened. Because nothing did.
Nothing to you, anyways.
I stand up, and I walk out out of the living room into the backyard. I don't know what made me what to go to the Barney, but I made my way up to it, and stopped about six feet away. The scent was strong, and my friend hadn't lied, it smells so horrible. But my hands reach forward absentmindedly. I had to do this, even though I didn't know what I was doing in the first place.
Both hands grasp either side of the head and I pull it off, throwing it to the ground, and my breath hitches in my throat.
Those green eyes burn into mine, sunken into their skull and surrounded by maggots. Their skin is sinking through their cheeks and their mouth is wide open. I can hear the wriggling of bjgs all over their body as I watch a few crawl out.
I take a step back, my arms coming up, and I pause, looking at my wrist, and I see my bracelet.
F-R-I-E-N-D
