Cooper

COOPER

By Patrick face

“He slowly climbed up the stairs of the dark and ominous Carter house. All the lights were out except for one, Johnny’s room. As he got closer to his destination there was a soft scratchy sound coming from Johnny Carter’s room. He ignored the fear that welled in the pit of his stomach and kept putting one foot in front of the other. The scratching ended as soon as he got to the top of the stairs, and that was when Johnny came storming out of the room like some rabid animal holding a knife and attacked...”

“Alright! Thank you for sharing your story with us Tommy” Mrs. Scott interrupted.

Tommy Cooper gave his paper to Mrs. Scott and went to take a seat. The teacher’s voice drove him nuts, but I guess it’s just another day in the miserable life of Mr. Cooper. He grinned. Raising his head to take a look at the clock made him realize that his migraine had worsened since that morning. Who wouldn’t have a migraine? They had to listen to these worthless sheep they call teachers all day. He glanced at the clock that hung above the teacher’s desk and read 2:57pm, just minutes away from glory. He impatiently waited…2:58…2:59…the bell rang. Everybody got up from their seats simultaneously without even looking at Mrs. Scott.

“Ok guys, you’re dismissed. Remember your essay is for Friday” Mrs. Scott announced.

Tommy rushed out of the classroom not with such a thing as a look back. He was really determined to cross that threshold. The hallway was overpopulated with students coming out of their classes making it almost impossible to get out. The jocks were always the first ones to come out because they needed to show off their torturing skills on new victims. Couldn’t be late for today’s bullying session, got to make my father proud. Got to show him how much of a man his son is made of.

Tommy quickly made his way through the hallway trying not to bring any attention towards him. That’s the last thing he needed. While making his way through the crowd he instantly spotted his best friend Johnny exiting the school. He picked up his pace; tripping with almost everyone he passed by. God! Why does everyone have to be on my fucking way? He thought frustrated while rubbing his aching right shoulder which someone just bashed while he desperately tried to catch up with his friend.

When he finally came out of the school, Johnny was nowhere in sight. There was one thing he did notice; the sun. It felt like it was turning his skull into a blazing red piece of coal. That definitely caught his attention. Still, he wasn’t ready to give up so he went and stood on a bench high enough to overlook the crowd. But still, no sign of Johnny. It struck him as odd because Johnny takes every single class with him and he didn’t care to come into any of them. The last thing he knew about him was that he got angry with his parents since they wanted to move. Now he was nowhere to be seen, so Tommy gave up, climbed down and started making his way home.

On his way home, he decided to stop by the Carter house to see if Johnny was there. He just couldn’t wait to tell Johnny about the teacher’s reaction towards the story they both wrote as a practical joke. The house looked abandoned. The grass was high, the paint job was ruined, and the way everything creaked as the wind blew made the house look hunted. He thought twice about going in and knocking on the door but he eventually put one foot in front of the other and started his way towards the house. He had a feeling of uneasiness while he made his way through the front yard to knock on the door. He felt like a giant monster was going to storm out of the house and feed on him. But of course, none of that happened. The door stood right in front of him, no monsters. He lifted his hand and knocked three times. No response. All you could hear was the wind and his awkward raps. He tried looking in by the windows but no one was in sight. It wasn’t at all strange, since lately Johnny was never home. Why be surprised? He fixed his backpack and started home.

Tommy lived in a nice and quiet neighborhood, depending on how you define nice and quiet. There are always flaws when it came to those two words. His house was an orange two story house in which he has lived his whole life.

He felt a wave of relief everytime he saw his house. It was already dusk and the chill of the night had started to set in. It was 6pm when he looked at his watch. Couldn’t wait to get to his room and get to writing new stories. Since he was a boy he always enjoyed writing. It’s the best thing he could do in his miserable life. The thought of him doing whatever he wanted with people in his stories always pleased him. Most of them were of grim nature.

He quickly made his way through the front steps and opened the door.

“Hello? Anyone home?”

Of course no one was home, he said to himself. His mother was a full time nurse and his father was always getting his ass drunk with his buds after work. He was just being a man according to what his father would say. At least some peace was there when he was all alone. He never liked when his parents were home because they always got into arguments. Their fight would climax into a certain point where he would be involved.

He made his way through the kitchen to get himself a bite to eat. He grabbed an apple that was on the top of a fruit basket and took a look at the calendar which was marked “free day” on October 1st. He couldn’t stand the thought that he had to see his mother’s face the next day when he came from school.

His parents were never very supportive. When he got bullied at school by Bill Harris and tell his father, he would say “well, show him what a real man is made of” or “take it like a man”. When dad took every little bit of anger on his wife she would go into his room and tear it apart. Either she would slap him around a bit or mock him. She was a quarter of what a woman should be.

He suddenly felt a rush of anger go through his body as if some poisonous substance was injected into his veins. He threw the remains of the apple in the trash and turned to make his way upstairs. He got so caught up in his thoughts that he completely lost track of time. It was almost 7pm when he took a look at the clock.

When he got to top of the steps he noticed his room’s door was ajar. He was pretty sure he left it locked this morning. He always does when he leaves. The hairs on the nape of his neck stood up at the sudden realization that something was wrong. He pushed back the fear that was overcoming his ability to move and started walking towards it. The darkness that emerged from the room looked almost supernatural. Now something’s there, he thought recalling how he felt earlier at the Carter house.

He moved silently but swiftly through the hallway trying not to make any sound that he would regret in the future. He could feel beads of cold perspiration slowly sliding down his back as he got closer. Reached out with his right hand and touched the cool surface of the door. Hesitated for a second and finally slowly pushed open the door. The screeching sound its hinges made as it opened gave him up. He quickly reached in for the light switch. Flicked the lights on and found that everything in his room was still in its proper place. He took a deep satisfying breath and grinned. The thought that something would reach out and grab him was fading until he heard something approaching him from behind. He whirled around and pair of hands shoved him into his room hard. He tried to hold on to something but his attempt failed. He fell hard and flat on his back.

“BOO!” Someone shouted amusingly and started laughing madly.
He didn’t recognize the mocking voice but he did recognize the laughter.

“You asshole!” Tommy shouted with a tone of hate and got up without hesitation.

He reached and grabbed Johnny by his shirt with both hands pushing him hard against the wall.

“Wait, don’t. It was just a joke man!” Johnny begged.

Tommy loosened his grip and slowly backed away. Although he almost had a heart attack, he was actually glad to finally see his friend again. They both looked at each other seriously and then burst out laughing.

“Your face was priceless!” Johnny said almost out of breath.

Tommy didn’t laugh much since his sense of humor went out for a coffee break thanks to Johnny’s assault. But he did enjoy seeing him again so he decided to cool off and have a nice chat with him.

Johnny took a seat by the desk where Tommy worked on his writing and he sat on his bed. They were both silent. Tommy turned, facing his friend.

“Where have you been?” Tommy asked immediately. He just couldn’t wait.

“Gone” Johnny replied plainly.

“Gone where?”

“With my parents. Hey, did you hear about Bill Harris?” Johnny asked curiously.

“No. What happened?”

“He went missing yesterday”

Bill Harris had been Tommy’s bully since 5th grade so no one could expect him to be sad about this news. In fact, yesterday was the last day he had seen him, Bill Harris followed him all the way home to beat the crap out of him. Tommy was so winded that he fainted at the front stairs.

“You ok Tom?” Johnny asked worriedly.

“Yeah” He quickly replied as he awoke from his trance.

“Mr. Cooper, you let the damn door open!” Tommy’s mother shouted from the entrance.

“Oh! Time to go” Johnny said amusingly as he got up and made his way towards the window. He opened it and turned to look at Tommy.

“Someday, all of this will end my friend”

“Hope is soon” replied Tommy seriously.

As Tommy was getting up, a sudden wave of dizziness struck him. His sight was getting blurry as if his brain was automatically shutting down. He tried to move but every step was one step closer to unconsciousness. His feet gave up as he tried to walk towards his bed. He quickly held on to the comforter that lay on his bed as he fell to the ground. He stayed there all night, without thought. Just there, unconscious, dead to the world and he stayed like that until the sun rose again.

***

The next morning Tommy woke up with the biggest migraine yet. It’s not the first time this happens. His fallen unconscious many times before, he just didn’t want his parents concern . All he could recall about the past night were just fragments, bits of his memory. He tried to put them back together as best as he could. But still, everything was vague.

Came home, went upstairs. Wait! Johnny went out the window. He quickly got up from his bedroom floor and rapidly made his way to the window. He saw what it looked like a long drop but he was glad that he didn’t see Johnny lying lifeless on his lawn. A morning cool breeze blew into his room as relief kicked in. But, how did Johnny come out the window? A million suggestions popped in his head like “maybe he found a way to climb down”. Climb down? How the hell? He ignored his thoughts and started making his preparations for the day while brainstorming the past night’s occurrences. Showered, dressed and quickly made his way downstairs. As he got to the first floor his mother passed by completely ignoring him. There was no such thing as a “good morning son” or anything like that. No sir, no time for that. She did turn and say:

“Try not to leave the damn door open again Tommy. Next time it would be a black eye for doing that”

He didn’t even turn to look. Tommy slammed the door behind as his mother said her last words. I wish someone would just shut her the hell up, he thought. Today he could care less about the world. The morning sun burned through his eyes causing him to flinch. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and started walking.

“I hope I make it through the day” he whispered.

He got to school just in time for class. The first hours went smooth and light. Johnny missed school again today but that wasn’t going to ruin the day. Maybe Johnny will visit him tonight.

On lunch time Tommy always ate alone. When the cafeteria was full he would just skip lunch, no empty tables, no lunch. Sadly, today was one of those days. So he skipped lunch and waited for the bell to ring, announcing his next class.

As he took his seat in the classroom, he noticed someone sitting on Johnny’s chair. Mary Maxwell was occupying it. What was really strange was the fact that all the seats were taken. A sudden anger got into him. Johnny wasn’t attending class anymore. It was as if his best friend was somehow forgotten. There was no Johnny in class or life anymore. He clenched his fist so hard that he thought he was going to lose circulation on his right hand. What the fuck is wrong with this people? They can’t just forget about him like that. He lifted his fist and slammed it hard against his desk.

“Mr. Cooper? Is everything alright?” asked Mrs. Scott. But she didn’t care. She just wanted to yank on his balls.

“The hell I am!” he replied with defiance.

“Excuse me? Is there anything you would like to discuss here in front of the class today young man?”

“Nothing you give a rat’s ass about”

“You go to the principal’s office immediately young man!” Mrs. Scott yelled.

He rose from his seat and lifted his back pack.

“I don’t give a shit about your class anyway” he said as he walked out of the classroom into the hallway. He wasn’t going to the principal’s office today, no sir he wasn’t.

He stopped by the boy’s restroom to splash his face with cold fresh water. But instead of doing so, he just stood there looking at himself. He looked worn out as if he hasn’t been able to sleep for days. His brown hair, his pale skin, it all looked worn out by time. His lack of rest added five more years to his seventeen. And his eyes; something was wrong with them. He took a step closer and leaned in to have a better look. His left eye had suddenly turned from brown to light blue. He rubbed his eyes as if trying to erase the color but it didn’t work. It was the same. One brown, one blue, there was no change.

“Lalala lalala!” someone sang. Then the most terrifying giggle escaped the singer’s mouth paralyzing Tommy with fear. He quickly looked at the place from where the sound emerged. Tommy didn’t even dare to turn. He was looking through the mirror at one of the stalls; the stall where some stranger’s feet were visible.

“What’s wrong Tommy boy?” the stranger said mockingly accompanied by a burst of maniacal laughter. His high pitch voice made him sound unworldly.

Tommy felt an urge to run away as fast as he could but his fear wouldn’t let him move a muscle. His feet felt all cramped up and his mouth was as dry as a desert.

“Who are you?” asked Tommy. Those were the only words that he could think of since he could barely think.

“It’s sad that you don’t recognize my voice. We’ve been friends for a long time, and this is how you repay me? Don’t know who I am?”

The stall door slowly opened as if a ghost inhabited it. Silence filled the air. One foot slowly emerged from the stall and then Johnny’s face was in view. He had a big wide grin on his face and his eyes were wide open. He looked as if his mouth was going to rip apart and his eyes were going to pop out.

“Johnny what the hell is wrong with you?” Tommy said with a trace of fear in his voice.

This couldn’t be him. His voice wasn’t right and his face looks like he’s possessed by some maniac.

Johnny took a step closer.

“Stay away or I swear to God I’ll end you”

Tommy’s thoughts bounced all over his head. He felt so desperate to get out of there but he couldn’t move. He stood there frozen while Johnny slowly approached him.

Tommy tried to scream but his throat wouldn’t let him. He then changed his mind, but as the idea to physically confront his best friend came to his head, a sudden shrill filled the air and brought him to his knees. He gave screaming another try but his words seemed to drown in the high pitch sound. Dizziness settled in and now Johnny was standing right in front of him staring down at him with his lunatic smile. His head felt like it was going to blow so he tried covering his ears. He was cornered. Johnny’s face came down closer on him as if he was going to tell him the deep dark secret of how he became mad. That was the last thing he saw as the world went blank. It was as if he was getting pulled into a drowning sea of unconsciousness.

Tommy fainted.

***

Different sounds found their way into his ears. A muffled voice came from his mother’s room.

“Do you like that bitch?” The voice yelled followed by a slapping sound.

Tommy’s mother wept.

“Help! No please, don’t!” His mother begged followed by the loudest scream she could give. Her excruciating pain was reflected in her voice. Something hard struck her, ending her begging with a loud thud.

Tommy panicked as he realized his mother was murdered in the other room. He tried moving but his body wouldn’t respond. He focused on using all his strength to get up but it was useless. As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he found out where he was. The rug on which he was lying on was from his room. What the hell am I doing here?

Knock…knock…knock. Someone was at the door. Go away, he tried screaming but he could barely speak the words. He could barely think. His body was numb and his mind was foggy. He could hear the intruder’s footsteps run past his room and go down the staircase.

Minutes of pure silence passed and Tommy thought the person gave up on the idea of visiting, but it wasn’t that way. The person who was at the door came inside the house.

“Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Cooper?” It was Mrs. Scott’s voice.

He felt his blood slowly seeping through his arms and legs as he slowly recovered from the numbness of his body.

“Yes Mrs. Scott?” Johnny’s horrifying voice asked.

“Where are Mr. and Mrs. Cooper? What is that? Is that blood?”

One final scream escaped Mrs. Scott’s mouth and then the wet sound of fresh blood splattering all over the walls came. He could hear Johnny grunting like a wild animal and stabbing Mrs. Scott. The sound of splashing blood accompanied every stab.

It took Johnny a long time to get his frustration out on Mrs. Scott’s dead body and that bought Tommy enough time to get to his feet. His mind was still fuzzy. His dizziness wouldn’t let him move straight. He stumbled and fell hard on the floor as he tried to walk. He felt something wet and warm on his cheek as he lay on the floor. He reached and grabbed on to his desk to help himself up. When he got to his feet he looked at the place on which he was lying. The wetness he felt came from a pool of blood that was emerging from his closet. Fearful tears escaped his eyes. His fear grew by the second, but his curiosity got the best of him. Step by step, he walked towards his closet. Every step he gave built up the tension in the room. He reached out for the closet door and pulled it open as soon as he made contact with it. Bill Harris’s body fell on his feet with a loud thud. There was blood everywhere. Bill’s face was bashed in. A wave of nausea swept over Tommy as he saw his late nemesis lying on the floor of his room. He almost stumbled again as he walked backwards but he held to his writing desk. What the hell is going on here?

Suddenly, he heard Johnny’s footsteps coming up the staircase.

Tommy tried clearing his head. Think, think, think. He remembered the pocket knife he hid under his pillow. He quickly jumped towards his bed, lifted his pillow and there was no knife lying under. He looked in between the wall and his bed which formed a gap and there it was, on the floor. He reached in between the gap. His arm barely fit, so he pushed it. Warm blood trickled down his arm from a cut that reopened on his arm. The sound of Johnny approaching his room pushed him to the limit. He grabbed the knife but his arm was stuck. He pulled as hard as he could and managed to get it out on time. The door flew open revealing a blood drenched Johnny.

“Stay back!” Tommy said as he opened the pocket knife, pointing it towards Johnny.

“What have you done Johnny?”

“Oh come on! Don’t give me that. You know you wanted this Tom” Johnny said as he cleaned a nine inch kitchen knife which was smeared in blood.

Johnny took a step closer.

“I’m warning you! Stay the fuck back!” Tommy screamed.

“What are you going to do? Kill me? Look at me, I’m already dead” Johnny said as he opened his arms.

That was when Tommy took the advantage of the situation. He rapidly sprinted towards Johnny and tackled him, catching him off guard. They both stumbled to the hallway and crashed against the wall. Paintings broke and fell on the ground. Johnny stabbed him in the arm as he pulled Johnny towards the staircase. They both stumbled towards it and fell down the stairs hitting themselves hard on the head, back and finally landing at the bottom of the stairwell. They both crashed lifeless on the ground.

They didn’t move a muscle for about ten minutes. Just lying there one beside the other. Johnny was the first one to move. His arms tried pushing hard against the ground to help himself up but his broken arm brought great pain. The bone was sticking out of his broken arm. He rolled over towards a table and grabbed on to a chair to support himself as he got up.

A strong smell of gasoline woke Tommy up. He lifted his gaze as he got up and noticed Johnny was struggling to get to his feet. He also noticed both Mrs. Scott’s mangled body in front of him and his father’s slashed body lying at the kitchen. Tommy pushed all his pain away and got to his feet as fast as he could, Once he was up, Tommy quickly grabbed the handle of the knife that was stuck in his arm and slowly pulled. Waves of sharp pain travelled up his arm into his shoulder as he tried to take it out. He gave one last cry as the sharp knife came out of his wounded arm.

“It’s over Tom” Johnny said as he lit a match.

“Why did you do this to me Johnny?” Tommy asked as his eyes welled with tears.

“Why did you?” Johnny said.

“what…”

Johnny faded into thin air as the match that Tommy was holding fell on the ground incinerating the entire house.

***

“On today’s ten o’ clock news! A house was burned down late last night after a seventeen year old named Tommy Cooper murdered his former teacher Mrs. Scott, his alleged bully Bill Harris and his parents George and Sarah Cooper. Cooper is currently being held under custody after blaming the series of murders on his late friend, Johnny Carter who died a year ago in a tragic car accident with his parents. We will keep you posted on more information later on.”


ROYAL OAKS CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL

Alone in the dark,Tommy sat on his bed staring at the wall which became his favorite hobby. He could stare at it all day and night just wondering about Johnny. His hours turned into days, his days into months, and his months into years. He was the famous Tommy Cooper now; the murderer, the maniac, the lunatic. He knew what really happened that day at the house. The doctors diagnosed him with Dissociative Identity Disorder as an explanation for his migraines, black outs, his lonely conversations, and his explosive behaviour, but he knew better. Johnny was really dead, but that doesn’t mean he was gone. He had always been there for him like a guardian angel.

“You ok Tom?”

A voice spoke from the darkness.

Tommy wasn't alone at all. His guardian angel always watched over him.