Night had settled in. A pregnant woman laid in bed watching the news as her husband, in the basement, worked on a rocking horse. The news reported that police were able to clear up an image from the latest Riverton Ripper murder. The knife had the word "vengeance" carved into it.

The wife then went into the basement. She told her husband that the rocking horse was good and that Leah would like the dollhouse. She then asked him to come to bed because the news was too scary to watch alone. After she left, the husband cleaned up and left, but he soon tripped and found the Ripper's knife under a bench. Next thing the husband, Abel, knew he was talking to himself and someone warned him not to tell anyone about being the Ripper.

Abel soon wakes and calls his doctor. The doctor tells Abel to have his wife leave with the daughter, but it is too late, the wife is already dead. The police soon arrive and are able to stop the Ripper from killing his daughter, Leah. As he seems to be dying, the Ripper claims that he'll get them all "next time." The Ripper then shoots one officer and kills his doctor. He also tries to kill an EMT but is shot by the officer.

The Ripper is rushed to the hospital via an ambulance. The ambulance never makes it as the Ripper causes the ambulance to rollover. The officer manages to survive and sees that the stretcher carrying the Ripper is empty. Meanwhile, at the hospital seven premature babies are born.

And then there's a commercial break.

I groaned and threw some of my JenniferJonnes brand popcorn at the TV screen.

"Are you tired of your meager life?" said the commercial spokesperson. "Sick of the rat race? Do you want adventure?"

"No," I said and tried to fast forward the DVR recording...but nothing happened.

"Come on down to Mr. Darkk's Fantastical Rides. Here you can live out any scenario you'd like."

"No thanks."

The video then began to glitch. "Too bad, Joe. Because I want you here. You and the other's like you. You, and the others, have a bigger destiny...and I can't allow that. So what better way to get rid of you...then a horror movie. Ah-hahahahaha!!"

The room filled with laughter.

I then gasped. I woke in a room, but not mine. I found that the door didn't open and I had to crawl out the window. As soon as I did, I found myself in the woods by a river. Some guy in a letterman jacket was talking about Ripper Day and how the Ripper would be able to come back for his revenge only on that day. This is when I realized I was in the movie My Soul to Take and I was...

"Bug Hellerman," said the jock as I joined the crowd.

I've been through enough crazy adventures in my life to know that I had to play along with the movie. So when it came time to face the Ripper puppet, I did as Bug did and failed to stop him. This action, seemingly, set the rest of the movie into action.

So, I played along with the story. I did as Bug did. Lucky for me, I've seen the movie multiple times (thanks to the Syfy Channel cutting out the R rated stuff). The real problem began when Bug and Alex gave their condor presentation. Just before I began the speech Bug was suppose to give, I felt some kind of pulse pass through me. I jerked and faintly remembered not being me anymore. In that moment, I'd become Bug as he went weird. Like in the movie, I became sick afterwards and I also headed to the bathroom. And just as in the movie, I saw the vision of Jay underwater, but this felt all to real. It wasn't some special effect for a movie...it was real.

After this event, I let the movie play out again as Alex and I spied on Fang as she held her meeting. While the events played out, I tried to figure out what had just happened. I had become Bug for a moment, and I had seen the vision.

Finally, it came time for the moment where upset over hearing that Brittany did not like him (and Fang saying Alex treated him like a monkey), Bug was supposed to walk away. I did this and Alex, like he's supposed to, stopped me. We argued for a moment before both of us said, "I'm not you," and pointed at each other. In the movie, Bug begins mirroring everything that Alex does. Bug is even able to say what Alex is saying as he says it.

Once again, I felt a strange pulse hit me; I was no longer me...I was Alex, but Bug as Alex. I finally snapped out of it when Alex slapped me.

Now, I was starting to panic. I realized what was happening. The longer I stayed in this movie, the more I became Bug. If I waited out the movie, as tradition dictates in this kind of situation, I would become Bug permanently. I had to end the movie sooner and the only way to do that was by exposing the murderer. Luckily, I knew who it was.

When Alex approached me later, I spilled the beans.

"You're the Ripper," I said.

"What?"

"I know you're the Ripper. You were the one that killed Jay. You plan on killing the rest of us."

"Why would you say that, Bug?"

"Because I'm not Bug. My name is Joe Rover and I got transported into this movie. The only way to escape before I become Bug permanently is to expose the killer and end the movie. You," I pointed, "are the killer."

"Wow..." he said. "You're nightmares are really bad today. Bug, it's just Ripper Day, we're all on edge. I have to go."

In retrospect having the town crazy kid say he knows you're the Ripper because this was all a movie probably wasn't the best idea.

"Pervert," said Brittany walking passed me.

I found myself slipping into Bug's shoes again.

When I woke up, I was at Bug's house staring at his birthday cake. I realized at this point the Ripper had killed three others. Even though it was a movie, I felt some guilt over not being able to save them.

A moment later, Leah/Fang returned with Bug's gift. Even though I already knew what it was, I opened it. It was the rocking horse that Abel made for his unborn child.

"Bug!" shouted Bug's mom upon entering the room. She then told me to go to my room as she talked to Leah.

The next thing I knew, Leah was beating on me and screaming. "I'm tried of your innocence!"

I, slowly drifting back into the mind of Bug, grabbed her leg as she left. "Why am I innocent?"

"Do you know who Abel Plenkov was?" she asked.

"The Riverton Ripper," Bug said.

"Besides that."

"No," said Bug.

"Take a look in the mirror, Bug."

Time shifted once again. Bug stood in his room and listened to Leah smashing her dollhouse. In some part of Bug's mind, he came to an epiphany. The movie hadn't ended because he'd exposed Alex as the killer because not all the secrets were revealed. There was still one more secret.

Bug went to Leah's room where he proceeded to smash the rocking horse in front of his sister. "We're even," he said and returned to his room.

"Is Leah okay?" asked the mother.

"Leah's fine," said Bug.

"Are you—"

"I know you're not my mother."

May, Bug's mother, gasped a sob.

"You also are my mother. That one you're stuck with. Whether you like it or not."

Fang then told May about Jay, Penelope, Brandon, and Brittany's death. Mom...May said that they should all go to church. "We'll be safe there," she said. Leah agreed to go this last time.

I finally managed to snap out of my Bug-fugue-state and turned just in time to see Alex climbing in through my...Bug's window. My head was starting to hurt as Bug's life became harder to overcome.

I told Alex that I knew Abel was my...Bug's father. He told me he already knew. Everyone knew.

That's right. Everyone but Bug knew. So...how was that a secret to be revealed?

I went on to explain Penelope's letter; I explained how the Ripper could come back in two ways. One, he never died. Two, he did and his soul hitched a ride in one of the Riverton Seven.

I still knew that Alex was the Ripper, but Bug's brain was causing some weird effects. The scene played out similar to the movie with me holding a kitchen knife to Alex and asking him what he'd think if I said I was going to kill him. After Alex admitted to Bug being his friend, I handed the knife to Alex. He then broke down and admitted to killing his stepfather by accident.

Somehow, I then found myself downstairs with a police officer. Bug's mom had been killed. The officer was there to arrest me. But then the lights went out and the Ripper struck. He killed the cop before I could react and then attacked me. The Ripper and I scuffled for a bit before he got away. It then became a scene of me creeping through the dark house looking for the serial killer. At some point, I ran into Leah, who was hiding in the closet. Then in my next moment of "wakefulness," I was battling the Ripper again. A sudden noise upstairs made him run to investigate the interruption.

"Call the police, Leah," I said and then headed upstairs.

Once upstairs, I found Jerome in my closet. He told me how Alex had called him, saying that the three should stay together and watch their backs. "When I came through the window, the Ripper stabbed me," said Jerome.

"You saved my life," I said. "I fought the Ripper; he would have killed me, but you distracted him. You're a hero."

"No. You're a hero. You fought the Ripper."

"I'm no hero. I'm..." It then hit me. The hidden secret was not the killer or that Bug was Abel's son. Everyone knew that. I figured the characters knew it but the audience didn't. The audience needed the revelation. But I was the audience. I knew all along who the killer was and who Bug's father was. But what I didn't know was... "I'm Bug," I whispered.

Bug was blond, like me. He was bullied, like I'd been. The bullies joked about me being slow or different or strange much like they had with Bug. An ancient memory slowly began to surface in my mind. My nickname in school...had been...Bug. I-I hadn't been brought into a movie...I'd been brought into a memory. Once upon a time, somehow, I'd been Bug. Maybe events had been changed for the movie, but it'd happened. A serial killer had attacked people in our town, years ago. But, I had stopped the killer before it'd gotten this far.

Alex crawled through the window. It was time to finish this.

I confronted him with the evidence of his crimes. I told how he'd killed everyone. How he had time to kill Bug's mother and Jerome. Finally, the Ripper showed himself; Alex stopped speaking as himself and started speaking as the Ripper. He tired to make a deal with me. If I kept my mouth shut, we could blame everything on Jerome. We would say that we beat the Ripper.

"We'd be Main Street heroes," said the Ripper.

I, of course, didn't take the deal. "Whoever or whatever you are...get out of Alex."

The Ripper lunged at me. I knew this was the moment the movie ended. I would stab the Ripper. I stood ready for him to smack into me, but it didn't happen. He froze in mid-lunge.

"Congratulations," said a voice. It was the man from the TV commercial. He appeared out of a video distortion. "I had hoped that the Ripper would finish you off before you discovered the truth. I needed to get rid of Shreya_VA Ranger_of_the_North dracollavenore and the others like you before you realized that your stories are not stories, but memories. You were once the characters that you write about." The man, Mr. Darkk, shrugged. "But what should I expect from a low-rate horror killer. So, Joel, I offer you this deal..."

"No," I said. "Here's my deal. Release all the others or I'll find you."

Darkk laughed. He then tipped his hat. "You're welcome to try."

Next thing I knew, I was back at home. I watched as the movie unfroze and Bug stabbed Alex.

"I thought that guy would never leave," said Alex. "Hey...where's the biggest knife in the kitchen?"

"Where's it's supposed to be," Bug answered. He slowly lowered Alex to the ground.

Alex looked up to Bug while breathing in pain. "Thanks Bug. It was great."

Police sirens blared and the movie started to end.

_____
Words: 2219
My entry for the fright "Summer Screen Scream" contest.
Deadline: June 21, 2018
https://my.w.tt/qFY9a3tS4M