The Street Rat

You may not know me, but I'm sure you've heard my tale. After this horrific event, my entire life changed for the worse. Back in high school, I had it all. A good family, an amazing girlfriend, popularity, I was like a god. It all came crashing down one night, that horrible night of 89. 

My friends and I went to a closed-down pizzeria, thinking no one would be there. It was Halloween, we just went there for a good spook, not like we would take anything. When we finally got inside, this weird presence felt like it charged at me like a bull. I stumbled backward, instantly regretting my decisions. "Maybe we should head home," I managed to stutter out. It felt as if whatever was taking the breath right out of my lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe by the moment. "No way man! We'll be fine. They don't employ night guards anymore after what happened in 87," my friend responded, clearly not feeling what I had. I nodded, trusting his judgment. If only I could go back and stop myself, I would be completely different. 

All of us started looking around, noticing how quiet it was. "Hey, where's the rabbit?" one of them said. Normally on the stage, there was a rabbit, a chicken, and a brown bear. The rabbit was gone from the stage. A feeling of dread washed over me, I knew something bad would happen. "We should go, I don't have a good feeling about this anymore," I said, trying to get them out of this horrible place. They didn't listen to me. They pushed me aside and started messing around with the animatronics on stage. There was a golden bear in one of the party rooms. "Hey! Come take a picture of this!" Josh yelled, running into the party room with the terrifying bear in it. I stayed back as all of my friends walked in. There weren't many of us, only the four of us were brave enough to come. 

Josh opened the bear's mechanic jaws and stuck his head in. He faked his fear as our friends laughed and took pictures of him. Suddenly, the jaws clamped down on his skull, not enough to break it, but enough to hold him still. "Guys! It's gonna crush my skull!" Josh yelled out. The other two thought he was playing still, shutting the jaws a bit to try and get a reaction. I walked in to see what was happening. Fear washed over me as I saw what was happening. "Help me get him out!" I yelled, rushing to his side to try and pry open the bear's jaws. Many people knew this, the suits were spring-loaded so humans could wear them as well as the robots. What they didn't know is, too much moisture can make the spring locks slam shut. Josh was crying and struggling to get out. The sweat not helping the moisture. The other two just watched, waiting for him to pull his head out. The spring locks snapped shut, crushing his skull and my hands along with it. I screamed out in a mix of pain and fear. Josh was dead. His blood and bits of brains and skull are scattered across the room and on the two other boys. One passed out from the sight, the other screamed and called the police.

I was in such a state of shock that I didn't even feel the pain in my crushed hands. All I thought about was Josh. He was dead. The police arrived as they forced the suit's mouth open. Josh's remains were taken out as the rest of us were escorted to an ambulance outside. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening. The last thing I remember was waking up in a bright hospital room, my hands bandaged and a faint beeping in the background. My hands hurt so much, I wanted the pain to disappear. My parents looked at me, then at my hands. They always wanted me to be a high-paid animator, but now with my hands mangled from the bite, I could hardly do simple tasks. They abandoned me, saying they didn't want a son who didn't know when enough was enough. 

The trauma from Josh and them leaving me sent me spiraling. When I was released, I didn't have anywhere to go. The people who I thought were my friends shunned me after that night, telling me I caused Josh's death. I became what most normal people called a street rat, I knew deep down that I wouldn't be alone if I lived as one. I made an alley in my new home and got addicted to drugs. The craze for them killed me. I now haunt the alleyways around the pizzeria, trying to warn others of the terrible fates Josh and I have suffered.