Scrape

August of 1999, hot year even hotter summer with still a bit more to go. The year was slowly edging it's way into the cool down phase of it's seasons. The extra heat must have been from the anxious approach of Y2K on the horizon. Everyone was on edge no matter how much they wanted to deny it. The unknown, the uncertainty splinters fear in everyone.

But that event does not matter too much out in one of the many hill-pimpled forests of central Oklahoma in a small green house with a dark brown roof. The house has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, & a living room kitchen combo to finish it off. Just enough room to fit the small Sager family all cozy-like. The Sager family consists of Jesper (currently 5 years old), his mother Kiersten & father Lance, along with a relatively recent addition to the household his 2 year old little brother Daniel. Jesper was still adjusting to not being the only child anymore.

Lance owned a body shop, so he was typically at work from sun-up to sun-down. Occasionally he was so swamped with work that he'd pulled all nighters in the shop. Before he owned the shop he worked in the coal mines, so he didn't mind the long hours too much. He was a true blood man's man, working his life away to take care of his family. But he didn't completely abandon his other fatherly duties (at least not yet, after Kiersten leaves him later this year, depression will lead him down a path of alcohol, drugs, & the occasional crack-whore, for about the next 15 years before he starts making a true path for himself.)

On slow days at the shop his little family would join him & he'd teach Jesper the ways around a vehicle while Kiersten would feed & rock Daniel to sleep, watch her boys bond with one or the other of her 2 favorite bands (Skid Row & Guns N Roses) cassettes plays on the shops sound system (her heart is warm in these moments). Lance was more of a Black Sabbath man, thus so was Jesper.

With all that his father taught him, Jesper was sure he could easily disassemble & reassemble any car model that was currently out with ease. That is if he was ever given a chance he's a young man after all, but that weight never fell upon him. However he did get to pick out the colors of not 1 but 2 of his father's personal project vehicles & of all things, also got to help paint them as well.

One was a Volkswagen Beetle or as commonly known to Jesper as a Slugbug. Jesper was not sure of the year, all Slugbugs look the same to him. He picked Crimson Red cause it's his favorite color, but also wanted to include his father's favorite color OSU Orange so it came out a very vivid Blood Red-Orange. The second was a 1985 Chevy, this one the young artist declared would be Green(the color of the absolute best of all time Power-Ranger, Jesper always mentions him anytime the color Green is brought up).

Lance taught Jesper the rites of man with any free time he had & at his age the small gremlin was eager to eat up all information he could. More importantly, more sacred to Jesper he wanted to make his dad proud of him (he'll hear it in his toddler-years but no longer truly & wholeheartedly after the age of 6 not until he is a man all his own, these years in between will eat at Jesper little bit by bite.)

Lance was very proud of his son, the little scamp was growing up so much, so full of life & vigor for the world. A world that will show no love or mercy, hard times are hard times you just got to do what it takes to keep moving in the world. He wishes his son would never have to face this world, that things would be better, his body shop becomes world-known. That his art becomes world-known & his children & their children's children will be set up for life but for now live in the moment & live in the moment this family does.

He cherishes every moment spent playing with and teaching his first born (moments that would make events to come so bitter) & couldn't wait for Daniel to be old enough to join them. What a happy & wholesome future this would have been, but never came. What did come was more real, & during the times became a common thing, the age of the broken homes, broken hearts, divorce, & split custody.

The divine moment or maybe better called the dividing moment came on a night of heavy rain as August was simmering down to September. Jesper was tossing and turning. He felt uneasy & something felt wrong, but wrong isn't strong enough of a word, but Jesper can't think of a better one right now. It wasn't the storm bothering him because he's a big boy, no even more he's a little man. Besides he's lived through storms worse than this. Still though something was very wrong, the rain seemed more intense, more invading on the rooftop. Jesper felt the urge to pull back the curtains of the window next to his bed & tell the storm to go away, yell at the storm demand that it leave him & his home alone. In a matter of fact; that's exactly what he's going to do. As he sits up in bed he feels Red.

Red in his tiny head... & in his soul? Jesper recently learn about souls in Sunday school, he couldn't really comprehend the concept of it yet. But yes whatever a soul is, Jesper's feels Red. Not crimson red, no this was not his favorite color. It was shaky, pulsing, vividly bright, nearly neon or fluorescent or something even beyond that. It traversed gooseflesh down from his head down to his toes, it felt like every hair on his head was standing solid & straight out. The Red caught him so suddenly, he forgot why he sat up in the first place.

The thunder grumbled as if to mockingly challenge little Jesper. Ahh yes! Jesper must get rid of this storm. As he inches closer to the window he finds it difficult to move, not straining but slowed all the same like moving through water. The Red flares then intensifies the closer he gets to the window. Even though his heart is beating faster with each new wave of Red & in his gut Jesper is scared, he presses forth with gunslinger steel in his mind.

His fingers being centimeters away from the curtain; a cold ethereal chill runs from the tip of his fingers to the core of him, numbing him as it serpentines down. He now knows in every fiber of his being it's not the storm, it's something far worse & it's outside his window. The Red hums ever louder than before as his small hands grasps the curtain. He has a thought to just let go, lay back down & forget this weird business, forget the Red, forget whatever evil is on the other side, after all he's just a kid. What would his father do though? Jesper answers himself with he'd be brave & take on whatever he has to & that's what Jesper settled on.

He brushed back the curtain as fast as he could, like ripping off a band-aid. Oh, God! How Jesper wishes, prays, begs he could take it back. Standing on his bed he is eye-to-eye level with the thing just 2 inches from his window staring in, but it's doing way more than just staring. He can't see it too well or perhaps doesn't want to, he can't look away though. Panic instills him as he realizes he can't move at all no matter how much he wills it. He attempts to scream, screech, whimper or anything. No sound is able to leave him. He is stuck there with his mouth agape.

Lightning strikes & the Red leaves him, replaced by an empty Blue, Jesper thinks it's death. The face of the creature is brought to life, if the thing is of this living world. True animalistic fear bolts through Jesper's, as he fully sees the thing.

This degree of agonizing fear has never be known to mankind before. It's skin is pale white with a blue glowing hue to it, like a "blue" moon. It's head is a soft triangle shape, similar to a guitar pick, with small pressed tight lips at the bottom. 2 slits not too far above the mouth for nostrils the blue moon glow is leaking out of them like a fog machine, & huge horrible dark eyes closer to the top taking up most the head.

Wait! Those aren't eyes, they simple can't be! There's no eyelids or actual eyeballs for that matter just darken to the truest black, skin sunken slightly into the gigantic sockets with hundreds of millions of what seem to be pores coating them. But all the same it still sees him. Jesper knows it sees him, he feels it in the Blue which has been fading to black, the black of the "eyes". Jesper's hands move to the glass he tries with everything to stop them, even tries using his soul, but to no avail. He hands lay flat on the glass, as does the creature's hands, their palms only separated by half inch of glass. If the eyes weren't enough to break any man's mind, the hands would surely finish off the job. Long & slender but still powerful, especially with the nails that protruded from them. The claws were very smooth & form into elongated skinny cones at least 3 inches in length (aside from the index finger on each hand came out a good 2 inches further from the others) with the tips that seemed sharpen to needle points.

The abomination lays it's face to the glass, Jesper does the same with his eyes staring into the abyss this creature would call eyes. Jesper found out the horror he endured thus far was just the tip of the iceberg. The Blue begins darkening faster. In this terrifying ritual they are outside of time. Eons passed within nano-seconds, it tells him all it needs to say without a single word. All the information zipping into his mind, he sees it all, feels it all & it's too much for him to properly process, especially the end. Oh Lord! the END! A fly in an unblinking eye.

Then everything fading to Black, a deep unyielding black, the suffering of all. His young mind & all it's thoughts, all he'd seen, slipping away back to the world. Jesper completely in awe, shaken & battered in fear. The creature mouth begins to move, it's not small at all like Jesper first thought. Yes, when closed it seems to be small but as it opens & it's jaw unhinged in a horrific crackling fashion, he can see a galaxy of teeth. As this happens each little pour in the black sockets begin to light up first with blue then transcends into the purest white, the brightest thing Jesper has even known.

Jesper finally got a scream out & it was loud, the loudest Jesper would ever be in his entire life. He does not quit screaming for the next hour. He doesn't stop sobbing & blabbing until the next three.

Kiersten sat bolt-up-right at the sound of the most bloodcurdling scream she had hear in her life. Daniel, who sleeps in between herself & Lance as to not fall off the bed, was starting to stir. But Lance wasn't there in bed at his usually post. Did he work late tonight? No, she could of swore he was here when she went to sleep. The days seem to blend together sometimes when you're a stay-at-home mother.

Enough thinking for now. She quickly secures Daniel in the bed by making a ring around him with the blankets & pillows on the bed. Sure if he fell off it wouldn't be all that bad since their bed isn't on a frame, just the mattress on the floor. Still can't fight back the motherly instincts. She's off on her feet, dashing to Jesper's room, to the source of the scream that's borderline a screech now. He's never screamed this bad before, must of been a horrible nightmare, or even worse maybe a snake bit him! Or a scorpion stung him!

She feverishly grabs the doorknob to his room. It doesn't budge. That doesn't make any sense cause there's no lock on Jesper's door, they were worried he might lock himself in. Shocked by this, she's stunned for a second. Then her hand is brushed out of the way & the door is opened. The arm that opened the door had a belt tighten around the bicep just above the elbow.

It was Lance, she notes to herself that belt on the arm is very odd & will be sure to ask him about it once they saved their first born. She flipped the light on & their son was standing on his bed staring out the window into the night with the curtain pulled back. Her & Lance both rush to grab him, comfort him, & find out what's wrong. Jesper just continues screaming, he's not hurt so that's a plus, the storm must of scared him.

Once his screams stopped, Jesper just kept muttering "Blue to black" over & over, faster each time he said it until it slurred into one word, "Buutabak". It must have been a truly terrible nightmare, but he's safe now in her arms, in both her & Lance's comfort. The last time they will be there to comfort him at the same time.

Lance realized the belt was still clenched tight on his arm. He unbuckles it & prays she didn't notice. There's no way she possibly could of with the chaos that just unfolded before them. She surely had all her focus on Jesper, and hopefully didn't notice the belt. Better go get rid of the rest of the evidence, the lights are still off in the living room & kitchen. If she would of flipped the lights to the living room on, she would of seen him in the kitchen tightening the belt by pulling it clenched with his mouth & the needle in the other hand.

This was only is second time, he's no pro, not yet. Besides it's just a little harmless boost to keep him relax, keep him sane with work piling up on him. That's it, it's a supplement & he was too embarrassed to do it in front of her because he didn't want her to think him weak & feeble, needing medicine to make him more of a man. Yes, that could work. She's lived a sheltered life from drugs in that small town in Hughes county she grew up in. By what she's told him of her dad she didn't have a truly sheltered life, no definitely not that, but sheltered from hard drugs. So maybe his little white lie may work. Anyways this was going to be the last time, he's not going to get hooked on the stuff. Just using it these 2 times to take the load off his shoulders. Honestly what man wouldn't take a break of the world if given the chance? But he has to get it gone, down the sink. No, better yet flushed down the toilet. Just as soon as Jesper calms down a little more. What in the hell freaked the boy out so bad? Oh well doesn't matter now.

Once Jesper finally stop screaming & babbling, he was at it for an entire hour at least. His voice is rough & tired, now he's just mumbling nonsense. Since he's somewhat calm, now is the perfect time to sneak off. He tells them he's going to check on Daniel. A half-truth because he does just that, but just a quick peek in.

He makes it back to the kitchen, picks up his sinful things. He stands at the toilet debating whether to flush it or hide it. Partly to still take the hit at a later date, mostly cause flushing it would be a waste of money. He flushes it, now to get rid of the needle. He must bury it in the trashcan or throw it out in the woods. As he turns away from the toilet, he meets eyes with her. He was sure she'd stay with Jesper until he'd stop crying, but there she was with Jesper still crying in his room.

When Lance didn't immediately return to help with Jesper, she began to worry. They'd left Daniel alone in the bed for little over an hour. This was the longest time Daniel has ever been without supervision. Her concern for her younger child rises enough, that she decides Jesper will be okay alone for just a few seconds. Just for her to make sure everything else is okay. He's only sobbing now, no longer screaming. She kisses him on the forehead & tells him she'll be back with some chocolate milk after checking on Dad & Daniel.

She eases the door to their bedroom open, Daniel still asleep. She doesn't know how he could still sleep with all the noise. Lance isn't here. She hears the toilet flush. Relief washes over her, she heads to the bathroom to discuss Jesper with him & there was something else at the tip of her tongue. She'll hopefully think of it after talking about Jesper. She steps in the bathroom doorway & sees Lance holding a syringe of all things. She's so dumbfounded by it she stands there with a crumpled up look on her face. Now she remembers the belt. She goes to open her mouth. Lance cuts her off with his explanation he cooked up just a few minutes ago.

She buys it for the most part. She still found it to be odd & curious. It picks at her mind for the following day until she breaks & has to ask someone else. Just to clear her mind, for them to tell her it's totally normal & that a lot of people take those supplements these days. She asked her best friend, Sarah; who's a few years older & been out in the real world longer than she has. Sarah's has been to several different states, she's basically seen the entire world compared to Kiersten.

Sarah tells her younger, innocent-minded friend the cold truth. Once Kiersten process the information from Sarah, she knew her & the boys have to leave. She doesn't want to be around that stuff & the boys can not be around that! She can't just run off with nowhere to go either, she has to have an escape plan & land on safe ground for her & her children. Through out the next week she made arrangements with her Aunt for a house that she no longer uses back in her hometown down in Hughes county, while Lance is at work. She'll worry about a job when she gets down there. She shows no signs to Lance of her departure, as far as he knows she bought his lie.

Lance fighting withdraws, shame nagging at him, works as hard as he can to attempt to keep his mind busy. He must work harder for his falter. Jesper seems to have forgot about screaming all that night. Which is good, he shouldn't dwell on whatever freaked him out. He does seem slightly different now. He's quiet, perhaps from sore vocal cords. Lance thinks differently whatever nightmare it was, it really shaken the kid. Kiersten has seem different the past couple days, she doesn't come to the shop other than to drop off his lunch. He's worried she may leave him.

Lance was right to worry. About a week after the event, he came home from work to a soulless house. No wife ready with dinner, no children scampering to greet him at the door. He's never felt so empty. It breaks him, especially to know there's no one to blame but himself. When he finds the note, his mind begins to sink into the depths of regret. After hours of calling in-laws, he finally gets a hold of her. He pleads with her, swears he's clean & will never do it again if she'll bring his family home. She stays firm, what he has done in her mind is unforgivable (she's only 25; she hasn't seen much of how dark the world is). She tells him he should of never brought that stuff anyways near his family especially his kids & she would of never had to take her children away from their home, away from him. He shit in his nest, now he has to roost in it. Later that night Lance takes his first steps into becoming a professional alcoholic.

Jesper couldn't understand why they had to leave dad. Mom said dad was being bad, but when you're bad you either get a spanking or a time-out, sometimes both. Whatever dad did, it must of been REALLY bad. Once mom isn't so mad about it, he'll be sure to ask what it was, for now it's time to adjust to his new home.

This house is bigger than his old one, there's 3 bedrooms & Jesper gets first pick! He let's mom have the biggest, that one has it's own bathroom, how silly a bathroom in a bedroom. He'll just go to the normal bathroom in the hall when nature calls. He picks the second biggest bedroom, it's just right for him, no windows in this one. Even better it's far away from the Buutabak.

That's what he decided to call the thing, Buutabak. Just thinking that name makes him shiver. Jesper tries not to think of the Buutabak at all, but with how haunted the experience made him, his mind wanders over it quite a bit. The eyes show up in his heaviest of nightmare, but with all that's going on with mom & dad, he keeps it to himself.

The living room in their new residence is huge with plenty of room to play & a big tv to match. The Kitchen is a full one & connected to it is a small room that's just for doing laundry. Jesper's thinks he's going to like it here, but he wishes dad could see it with him. But he'll be able to come down once he's stopped being bad & that makes Jesper feel better.