Victor F: Reanimator

(A Horrid Fan Fic of a Cherished Feature)

Written by: Janice Ghost Hunter

Chapter One:

After the "Incident"

The couple of days after what everyone in New Holland called "The Incident" weren't especially exciting ones. Victor, a young spindly lad who, preceding the "Incident" had triumphantly resurrected his dog from the dead after a tragic traffic accident spent his days just trying to escape the curious onslaught of endless questions from the children at school. Keeping his eyes focused at the floor most of the time, he tried to escape the ceaseless inquiring of the students who were not immediately involved with what happened.

"Hey, is it true that Mr. Whiskers blew up?" pestered one.

"Was the giant turtle really Gamera?!" shrieked one more.

"Tortoise!" corrected another.

As Victor came upon his seat in his class, he noted that some of the more familiar faces he got to know were still missing. An Asian boy who favored pen protectors by the name of Toshiaki had been kept home for a few days after that dreadful night. The only presumption was that he was still feeling bad about the loss of a certain cold blooded companion taken from him a few days earlier. He had been found silent and still that night coddling the remains of a turtle that was called something that Victor heard escape his pouting lips to the tone of "Sherrey". Another boy, Nassor, who was a large lurching youth with deep set eyes and jet black hair, had the misfortune of being trapped within a prop for the New Holland town fair for an extended period of time. The prop had been giant Matryoshka doll that had been converted into a shelf unit for the fair, but had proven to be a near tomb for the boy. This iron maiden of a doll held Nassor ensnared within it for three days before he was found by those cleaning up after all the excitement. Anyone would guess that he was recovering from the very serious case of dehydration and sensory deprivation he was suffering from. It was also rumored he had been melancholy as Toshiaki was, also mourning the loss of a beloved pet lost in the same frame of time. The last of the absent, a girl who only was known as "Weird Girl", who had an appearance to match her title, was known to have been sent to speak to a guidance counselor. Her pet cat, Mr. Whiskers, was a well known casualty of "The Incident". The poor feline met with a strange and violent end those few nights ago and only was spoken about in hushed tones by those who knew what happened. Either way, those missing where known to have met ill fate and needed to time to recover.

As Victor scanned the room, a couple of faces he did see were comforting, for the most part. A morbidly obese child with rosy cheeks and reddish hair sat happily at his desk nursing a candy bar. This boy was named Bob and though his best friend, Toshiaki, was still absent, he held an oblivious air about him. A girl whom Victor got to know quite well recently beamed at him from her desk. This female, Elsa Van Helsing, a pretty little thing who favored more expressive types of clothing had been the victim of the late Mr. Whiskers, and though she held a few healing scratches from the animal about her face, was in good spirits this morning. The last of the familiar faces Victor was looking for was one he was most upset at. Edgar, who held his seat right next to Victor's, was present but still looking down at his desk in a state of nervous shame. This evasive ritual had been going on for a few days now. Victor had had a very heated exchange of words with this peer that fated night for had it not been for him the whole terrible set of events would never have happened. Edgar, who's grotesquely misshapen body only added to his pathetic stance, kept his eyes down intensely focused on his desk. Only a few occasional darting gazes that met Victor's eyes interrupted this intense focus. Panicked, Edgar tried desperately to avert his eyes somewhere else immediately. Victor made a mental note to speak with Edgar again soon about this to hopefully rectify this behavior. It was making him intensely uncomfortable now where before he had felt triumphant about it.

Finally, after the bothersome hours passed listening to the irritating voice of a gym teacher trying to teach science, school had led out. Victor was quick to pack up and made a mad dash for the door after the deformed shape of Edgar. Edgar was very quick to make an escape, and though his crooked legs looked as though they would of hindrance to their owner, they proved to be quick and nimble. By the time Victor had caught sight of the youngster, there was a great bit of distance between them and a straight away would mean Victor must be far quicker than Edgar to catch him. Victor's legs proved trustworthy and even though Edgar had ducked into an alley way to evade his pursuer, he was caught.

"Edgar, we need to talk." Victor was huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath, amazed at Edgar's quick getaway.

"O… Okay" said Edgar, his voice trembling. His eyes almost instantly welled up in tears. It was obvious he was expecting the worse.

"Are… are you alright?" asked Victor. He was never really any good at starting conversations with this kid, especially now since it was obvious he was causing such distress for the boy before this conversation. Victor did not like the fact he was being malicious and wanted desperately to correct this situation even if it warranted an awkward conversation first.

Nodding, Edgar kept his eyes lowered. His head bobbed in his attempts not to look Victor straight in the face and it appeared that perhaps he was eyeing a way to escape again as well.

"Look… I know we haven't had a good start with this, but maybe we can try again at being friends?" Victor was sincere with this proposition.

Though the statement took Edgar off guard, he finally looked up at Victor. As a single tear escaped the boy's eyelid and as a gentle tremor moved the lad's body, he looked down again; Edgar gave a sniff that he tried to stifle.

"I'd… I'd like that" he whispered.

"Alright, well, let's um…" Victor paused to think for a second, trying to figure a way to make this less awkward.

"Let's… let's go see what's going on over at the baseball field." Victor wasn't exactly sure this is where he meant to go with this exchange, but after a second thought it seemed appropriate.

Victor was smiling now, trying to offset the tense mood that was still lingering between the two. Though he had harbored some deep anger towards Edgar a few days before and in fact still held a little of this fury even earlier this morning, he did somehow enjoy Edgar's company while they tried to test an experiment on a dead fish. The experiment itself was not one Victor could describe with pleasure, but while the two set up for the task at hand they exchanged a few words. Edgar had proven to have a rather enjoyable sense of humor and on several occasions made Victor chuckle at the ridiculous nature of what Edgar was saying. It was something Victor had thought of the night before, but only until this morning seeing Edgar in his depressed state did it really reenter his mind. Hopefully this will be something better than what happened before, Victor optimistically thought.

As they made their way to the baseball field, Edgar found the courage to ask Victor of his dog, Sparky. The dog was at the core of "The Incident", for the dog had been rather miraculously brought back from the depths of the grave by Victor. The problem that came from it was Edgar's making, however. After they successfully experimented on the fish, also bringing it back to life but with a changed physical character and temperament, Edgar revealed the secrets of resurrection that Victor uncovered to the other students in their class, namely to all of those who were still absent plus Bob. All these students, not realizing the nature of their experiments, took them to a much darker place. They too set out to bring the dead who lay silently in the cold clay of the grave or in the stone of their tombs back to life. What came forth were monsters unimaginable save for those featured in the horror flicks of old. The town was nearly devastated from the mutated results of those experiments and though one bright beacon of hope emerged from the travesty, all the others were sent back to their places of rest. Sparky, one of the few pets that was resurrected that maintained his memory of his former self was the only one to survive that hellish night.

"Oh, heh. Sparky is doing fine actually. I think he's still trying to get along with all the attention he's getting." Victor answered.

"Heh… I bet he feels like a real celebrity now doesn't he, Victor?" Edgar gave a more assured smile now.

"Yea, but he's still the same old dog. That's the best part about it." Victor beamed.

As they approached the baseball field, the pair met up with Elsa and had all taken to watching the game that was being practiced. Save for the pitcher and catcher who were still absent, the players were getting along with their game just fine. Had the other two been present though, things would be quite a bit livelier and a little more intense. It was obvious their being missing was making the game much less fun.

As the silent three sat and lolled in the warm afternoon sun, taking in the events happening before them on the field, they seemed content at this new turn of events. Edgar took a quick glance over at Victor. It almost seemed as though he was trying to confirm that he was indeed hanging out with two other kids from his class. Victor met his gaze and gave a smile. Their attention now settled back to the baseball game and time seemed to be gently slowed down to a snail's pace. It was a welcomed change in events that all three accepted greatly.

After the game had concluded and the voices of the other children drifted away in a sort of haunting way, Victor, Elsa, and Edgar made their way to the middle of town. The warmth of the afternoon had ebbed and things were beginning to cool down now. Mirages still played in the street ahead of them making the road ahead an inviting place to be heading. The hues of the world around the trio turned to a deepening shade of orange and the sparse clouds above were beginning to take on a purplish tinge.

Elsa brought the team suddenly to a halt at a street junction a few blocks just before Victor's home.

"I'll let you guys go for now. I've got to pick some things up at my aunt's house to take back home. My folks will be home in a few weeks so hopefully I can get away from my Uncle soon enough." She gave a slight groan when she mentioned "Uncle".

"Alright. See you around then, Elsa". Victor gave a tender wave to her.

"Yea, we need to hang out some more. This was a lot of fun!" said Edgar with that weird speech impediment he had that made him sound a bit like an imp.

"For sure! I had a lot of fun today!" Elsa gave a delicate bow and made her way down the block towards her destination.

"Well, where do you live, Edgar?" Victor turned to his companion.

"Oh ah… heh heh… I'd rather go there alone if you don't mind", said Edgar with a sheepish grin.

"Alright, but I can walk you to the street before you house, can't I?" Victor had a slight hint of suspicion at what Edgar had just said, but decided to not push the issue any further.

"Umm… okay." Edgar looked a bit unsure, but proceeded anyways.

As the two walked on and the shadows on the streets became long and the sky became redder, Edgar began to make a strange sort of sound as he walked. It sounded close to a wheeze but could have also been a whimper. Victor changed his pace to a slower mode and looked at his new friend.

"Is everything alright?" Victor's eyes narrowed on Edgar's face, which seemed a bit pale now and beads of clammy sweat clung to his brow.

"It's just something that happens after a long day is all." Edgar's legs seemed to carry a slightly heavier weight now.

"What's that?" Victor said again as he adjusted to match Edgar's speed as he slowed down to talk.

"Well, I've always had some trouble with my heart. I don't really know how to explain it, but it just makes me feel tired." Edgar looked at Victor's face which was growing a little more concerned.

"That doesn't sound good." Victor's eyebrows jutted inward and up. He had never heard of this before. He knew of times where Edgar was absent from class, but up until this point it was just a mystery he never really cared to delve deeper into. 'Was this a more ominous sign of something wrong?' Victor feared.

"It's alright, Victor." Edgar gave a reassuring smile. "I've been feeling a lot better since when all that crazy stuff was happening".

Now that Victor had been thinking of it, Edgar was missing from school for two days after the siege from the resurrected pets. Victor almost instantly felt guilt creep up on him. As they walked on, he looked at the ground.

Just a few blocks away at another intersection, Edgar stopped. As Victor looked around, he realized he wasn't the better side of town anymore. His parents often drove though this area on their way to the local strip mall, but always told him to never to go around there alone. He eyed silver and red graffiti on a dilapidated chain link fence with bits of plastic strung through it to make a cheap partition wall and noted tall weeds and grass poking out from the cement walkways.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to walk you the whole way to your house?" Victor felt a twinge of fear asking this as he was unsure as what to expect if he were to walk Edgar all the way home, but knowing of the condition of his comrade this made him feel the need to risk the cahnce.

"Nah", Edgar threw up his hands dramatically.

"Besides, it's getting late now. You don't want that vampire cat to snatch you up, do you?" Edgar made a creeping motion with his fingers making Victor notice that Edgar in fact had one hand far larger than the other with spidery looking fingers on one, and regular sized ones on the other.

"Heh... true. Well, if you're sure then I'll see you tomorrow. I think Toshiaki, Nassor, and that Weird Girl are coming back, so that's something to look forward to."

"I can't wait to see them! It's going to be so much fun poking fun at them!" Edgar nearly squeaked with glee, nudging Victor with his elbow.

"Let's not do that, Edgar. It's never fun when you get poked at, is it." Victor made a cross look on his face.

"Yea, yea… you're right. Well, I'll see you later".

"Bye." Victor again gave a gentle wave.

As he watched his friend hobbling across the street he felt a little more sympathy for Edgar. It was obvious now that even though he was underplaying his heart trouble earlier, Edgar was moving even slower now than he was when he was walking with Victor.

The now lone child on the edge of the clean side of the street looked around as the hunched figure disappeared into the alleyway of the dark and dirty side of the street. All the homes were poor looking even though he could only make that assumption from the rear of the buildings and from behind a stone fence. Still, the evidence of this poverty was evident. There were layers of advertisements and lost pet flyers littering the surface of a telephone pole across the way and dried up patches of grass that crowned the areas of the sidewalk on the shoddier side of the street. Victor was caught looking between two different worlds that he never thought of before.

As he made his way home, Victor peered over his shoulder one last time to take in the sight of the seedy neighborhood Edgar called home. He was determined in some way to help better his new friend's life in some way, somehow.