23:00, 07-15-01, little over a year later since the Happening.

[Following the Happening, the calendars were restarted to start the following new year on New Year’s Day to read as year 01.]

A group of four men sits in a blue pickup truck, two overly buff figures in the front and the younger tattooed members in the back seats. The truck wasn’t in the best of the conditions but not in the worst either. Usually, the men would have driven down the road on their bikes, but their motorcycles would have made too much noise. They choose to advance via a more discreet method via the pickup truck.

They sit in the shadows just a few feet away from a lamp post, that gave a clear view to a neat bookshop with a computer café. The shop's name was written in gold cursive handwriting against the brick front wall of the store, “Monstrum’s Bookstore and Computer cafe.” The bookstore had been built over ten months ago but had only been open for the last seven months.

The bookstore/computer café was one of the most popular places for teenage youths to visit and hang out. As such, the bookstore was an ideal customer base and front location. The local gangs had immediately set out to conquer the bookstore conveniently placed in the middle of the suburbs. But the bookstore held the promise of an even wider array of customers.

The suburban house wives held their social gatherings in the computer café and were provided freshly prepared hot drinks and baked goods. Some of the housewives were even able to bake goods and sell their goodies at the computer cafe provided the owner liked them. It gave the local housewives something to do and more importantly a reason to get out of the house and gain a bit of profit. And it would have worked too if not for the Bookkeeper.

The youngest member of the white tank top wearing member nervously reaches into his pocket for a joint. “So, you think it’s true, what they say about the Bookkeeper? I mean. I ain’t scared of any bitch! But you gotta wonder since no one’s taken the bitch out yet,” the man said, before taking a puff of his joint.

 The man sitting next to him with a crew cut says, “Well, you do hear the stories on the streets. And this here is neutral grounds, even the boss won’t come up in arms up in here.”

“Yeah and that’s why we're doing it. We’re going to get street creed for popping that bitch. And more so over, the boss will be proud,” the driver said and spat a wad of tobacco onto the ground.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The man sitting in the passenger seat that had a mohawk for a haircut reaches under his seat and pulls out a shotgun. “This here baby will blast that bitch off her feet. Permanently,” the man proudly said, while he fondly pats the shotgun in his arms.

 “Shaddup!” The driver roared as the door of the bookstore opens and closes. But the strange thing is that they can’t see a figure walking towards them. Suddenly, they blink and a cute fuzzy brown teddy bear sits innocently in the light of the lamp.

 “Uh, Marv, I think we should go,” whispered sickly, the youngest member of the group.

 “Don’t be such a pussy, Tony. And I say, we stay. It’s just a fucking teddy bear,” growled Marv, the driver of the pickup truck.

 “Yeah, but I saw this movie where a witch does the same thing and gets all of the kids,” Tony stuttered.

 His compatriot, the man with a crew cut, nods and says, “Yeah, Marv. Let’s just go. No one will know we were here, we won’t say a word.”

Marv opens his mouth to tell them to go to hell; when Joey opens the passenger door. “Look, I’ll just shot the bear,” Joey smugly said as he fondly held out his shotgun named Ripper. Joey leaves the door wide open causing Tony to feel a bit squeamish. His neighbor, Dave, says, “I’ll be right back, I gotta pee.”

Tony watches Dave disappear out the door into the darkness and stop in front of some bushes. A soft sound is made by Dave, when suddenly, a loud smashing is heard as something smashes through the window and into Marv. Glass splinters all around them as Marv head flops forward bleeding. A string of curses can be heard outside from Joey.

Tony nervously reaches for the pistol at his waist, when he notices that Marv isn’t moving. “Marv, you okay?” Tony reaches over and suddenly falls back into his seat. The object that had smashed through the window was a pointed piped that was lodged directly into Marv’s chest.

 “Joey, I think Marv’s dead,” Tony nervously called out. “Joey?” Tony said as he glanced out into the street. Tony is flat on his face as a growing pool of blood emerges from underneath him. The teddy bear is gone.

Tony lets out a soft whimper and scrambles out of the truck. Holding his gun out and pointing at every noise, Tony says, “I ain’t afraid of you. I’ll shot, you hear me. I’ll kill you if you get near me!”

Tony softly whispers, “Dave, you there.”

 A cold metal pipe touches the back of his head in response. Tony body shakes causing his bladder to loosen and drain down the front of his pants. “Ah, you mean your friend in the bushes, I’m afraid he’s dead,” a crisp female voice said.

 Tony opens his mouth to scream, but the only sound heard is a piercing gunshot. Tony crumbles forward as a gray-haired female sighed in exasperation and mutters, “They just never seem to learn their lesson.”

Turning around a fuzzy bear emerges from the shadows pulling a red wagon with bleach, black bags, and other cleaning supplies. “It’s going to be a long night,” the gray haired young women grumbled, before getting down on her knees to clean up the blood. And it would be given that the four bodies and truck had to be taken care of. And most especially given that this was a residential street. One couldn’t have blood stains on the sidewalk, that deterred customers.