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Terry Jr. hated his stepfather. Not mildly distained. Not barely tolerated. Not even a strong dislike. He hated him. And honestly, who wouldn’t? Ron Stampler was a complete idiot, and he has no idea how his mom likes him. He pretended to be a dog! To make friends! That’s weird and he does not understand why his mom finds it charming.
And now, because of his stepfather, he was kidnapped by some idiots in purple ropes. Not to mention everything that happened in the tower. It was slightly blurry because he had hit his head when he had been teleported into the room, but he had been trying to get back to his dad. His dad, who was stuck in the astral plane thanks to Ron. It had only been a few hours since he had landed.
Nick was worried about him. He was trying to be nonchalant about it, but Terry knew Nick well enough. His casual asking about what happened and his shooing away of the twins when they got too close was the way Nick showed concern. His face had been wet when he first ended up in the room. He couldn’t quite remember why. That’s likely where Nick’s worry had stemmed from. Well, that, and the fact that Terry had been giving him the cold shoulder ever sense he had gotten here.
There was a spot on the wall that he was attempting to concentrate on. The purple robed fucks had taken his book but if he thought about it long enough, he was sure that he could conjure the words into his mind if he could just focus. With the twins around, it was not easy. He glared at them as they ranted about how they were going to best their captors in combat. Nick slinked over.
“Hey Terry, twins and I are coming up with a way to escape, wanna help?”
Terry rolls his eyes in response. Nick’s face falls for a moment before he gives a nod and turns away. A twinge of guilt is sent through him. It’s fine, he would understand. If this was his mom, Nick would understand. He closed his eyes, pushing all thoughts beside the book away. He could see it.
The words tumbled out of his mouth, as quickly as they could. The other boys look at him. In confusion, fear, or curiosity, he couldn’t say. He was going to see his dad. Then he could come back and help the rest of them with his dad. Really this was the best option for all parties involved. He hears shouting and then nothing. The air around him goes from stagnant to pushing and pulling all around him.
He opens his eyes, expecting to see an empty plane and his father. He does not.
Instead, he sees a dark sky. For a moment, he thinks it’s night. Looking closer, however, he finds no stars. No moon. Nothing. Just darkness. He frantically looks around him, trying to get any idea of his surroundings. He’s standing on the grass, and he seems to be in a standard park. Maybe this is the astral plane. Nothing he read said anything about it looking like a park, but the spell had to have worked somehow. With this assurance, he presses on to find anyone out here. Preferably his dad.
Some movement from the playground catches his eye. The figure is a silhouette in the distance, sitting on a swing set. The form became clearer to him as he approached. It was a girl who looked to be a few years older than him. Her hair was black with pink stripes, and he had never seen someone who looked more goth before. She hadn’t seemed to notice him, staring off into the distance with her headphones in. A part of him was nervous to bother her.
But the rest of him was done with this bullshit and tapped the girl on the shoulder. In a huff, she pulled her headphones out.
“Hey, listen where are we?” he asks, trying his best to stand tall against the glare she was giving him.
“What are you lost or something? Did you like run away from home?” she questioned. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he pushed the thought out of his head. He needed to figure out what was happening.
“Yeah sure, can you just tell me where we are?”
“Brickwood Park, but hey, I get it. We’re all stuck in this stupid place with our stupid family and our stupid stepdads and it’s just all bullshit. So, if you’re running away, join the club.”
He looks at her. The name of the park also sounded vaguely familiar. Maybe this was a test of some sort. In order to get to his father, he would have to team up with this girl and get back at both their stepdads. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but nothing did anymore.
“Holy shit, you have a stepdad you hate too?”
“Yeah, he’s the worst. He wants me to like him so badly. He’s such a try hard.”
“So is mine. I hate him. He ruined my life. His name is Ron, and he is just. Ugh.”
Terry plops down on the swings next to the girl, who seems to be reveling in their shared hatred of stepfathers.
“Mine’s name is Terry, which sucks cause that’s also my name, so I changed my name to Scary which is fine cause its cooler anyway,” she explained thoughtlessly. It was kind of ironic that she hated a guy named Terry for sharing her name while all he wants back is the dad he shares his name with.
“My name is Terry too. It’s my dad’s name too.” He tells her. She stares at him for a second before letting out a laugh.
“Wait, so that makes you a Terry Jr?” He isn’t sure what to say so he just nods. Her laughter continues. “My stepdad is also a Terry Jr. Don’t worry though you’re nothing like him. I can already tell you’re super cool and edgy with your cloak and shit. My stepdad is so straightlaced and by the book. Like he just doesn’t get it.”
Terry considers this information. For a second, he wonders if he’s somehow her stepfather except that would make literally no sense. Maybe this is also part of the test. To see how he’d react. He decides to go along with it.
“I get it, my stepdad is just an idiot. He never knows what to say, never knows what to do, doesn’t even know what’s going on half the time. Plus today he,” Terry pauses. Even if this is some sort of test it may not be wise to tell her about what happened today.
“What did he do?”
“Oh, he just said some dumb shit. It’s honestly a really long story.”
Scary opens her mouth to respond when headlights suddenly flood the entire park. Both kids look over towards the car. Scary pales.
“Oh shit.”
“Theresa. Marlowe. Get over here now.” A woman’s voice shouts from the car. She rolls her eyes.
“It’s Scary, mom,” she huffed, starting to walk over to the car. “How did you even find me.”
“Terry told me, now I get that you are having this whole, thing that you are having, but you cannot just leave in the middle of the night without saying anything. We were both worried sick.”
Terry would like to say he was trying not to eavesdrop, but he absolutely was. He was so confused. None of this made sense. He was supposed to be in the astral plane with his father. Instead, he was here. If this was a test, he didn’t even know what the question was. Scary looked back at him before returning her gaze to her mom.
“How did you even know where I was?” she asks, presumably addressing her stepdad in the passenger seat. “Ugh, fine whatever.”
Scary spares Terry one last look before climbing into the backseat of the car, groaning about a stomachache. He watched as the car turned around, the passenger side now facing the park. Despite the darkness, he saw what he assumed was Scary’s stepfather. A man he bore an uncanny resemblance to. He must be dreaming.
He looked at the time, time is always weird in dreams. He could confirm this was a dream and wake up. The clock stared at him reading 10:37. That, however, was not the part that grabbed Terry’s attention. No, what he immediately noticed was the date. April 13th, 2044.
Did he just time travel? What the fuck, he needed to get back. Before he was able to panic, the universe listened to his wish and he blinked to find himself back in the room, the boys still staring at him.
“Are you okay? You just kinda zoinked out for a minute there,” Nick chuckled but his eyes gave away his fear.
“Yeah, yeah, I-I think I had a vision or something,” he explains and the moment the words come out of his mouth the twins hound him. This was going to be a long day.
Approximately 25 years later, Terry sat on his couch reading a book when his wife shot down the stairs.
“I can’t find Terry Jr she’s not in her room, I called her, texted her. I think we’re going to have to call the police,” she rants, pacing around in a failed attempt to try to calm herself down. For a moment, Terry feels that energy as well, something could have happened. Even if she left on her own volition someone would have taken her.
He opens his phone to try to get a hold of someone but notices the date. April 13th, 2044. He sighs.
“I think I know where she is.”