Hello, readers. This won't be a very long story, but still, I hope you like it. Here's chapter one =)

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Chicago

May, 1987

"Thanks, have a great day."

Tatum Deyers forced a polite smile as she took the bag of groceries and went out the door. She made sure to use two hands, since last time she went shopping, her items went flying because she just had to be holding a cigarette in her other hand.

After leaving the store, she made her way down the street as always. The same old people were lurking around. Tatum had pretty much gotten used to it. It was a pretty run-down town, after all.

However, as she continued down the walkway, someone peculiar caught her eye. A man was leaning against a chipped brick wall. He was wearing a three-piece grey suit, and the jacket was slung over his arm. A cigarette dangled from his mouth as he used his free hand to light it. The man was considerably tall with shoulder-length dark hair, appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and was toned in all the right places.

But as they locked eyes for a brief moment, what struck Tatum the most about him were his ice-blue eyes. She'd never seen eyes of that particular color before. To be honest, they scared her greatly. In another world, she might've thought this guy was kind of cute. But something about the way he looked at her with those eyes…

A shiver ran through her spine as she continued walking. Until she reached her house, she could've sworn his gaze was following her the whole time.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Baby, is that you?"

"Yeah. Coming, Mom."

Tatum locked the door to their crumbling trailer before walking over to where her mother was lying in bed. The moment Thelma saw her daughter approaching her, she forced a weak smile, which was returned.

"I got you some soup," Tatum said, unpacking the groceries and placing them on the counter. "Doesn't everyone say it helps?"

"Everyone says a lot of things," the older woman muttered, slowly sitting up. "What's that smell?"

Tatum froze, remembering her mother's strong senses. Seeing right through her, Thelma looked sternly at her daughter.

"You've been smoking again, haven't you?"

"I'm sorry," Tatum said quietly, gradually resuming her unpacking. "I can't help it sometimes. There's not a lot to do around here."

"I know. But can't you find something else to do with your time? Maybe go see your friends?"

At this, Tatum scoffed.

"What friends? They all think I'm worthless for dropping out, so I don't really have any friends to hang out with."

As her daughter put the soup on the stove and turned the knob, Thelma stared at her. She blamed herself for destroying Tatum's future, since the girl felt obligated to take care of her after she got sick. No matter how many times she tried to persuade her to go back to school, she wouldn't hear anything of it. Now, all either of them wanted was for Thelma to get better.

Oh, God, for her sake if nothing else, just cut me a break, huh?

OOOOOOOOOOO

A few days later, Tatum was sitting on a bench next to a few bushes. She took a drag from her cigarette as she watched a few of her old classmates go by. Their not-so-subtle points and whispers didn't affect her too much anymore. After two years, she was used to it.

What's so great about high school anyway?

"You got a light?"

Tatum nearly jumped as she turned. Sitting next to her on the bench was the strange man she'd seen the other day. She hadn't even heard him take a seat.

"Wh-what?"

The man chuckled slightly, twiddling his own unlit smoke between his fingers.

"A light, you got one?"

"Oh, hold on…"

Tatum got her lighter and held it out towards him. However, instead of taking it, he put the cigarette to his lips and leaned forward a bit. After a moment, Tatum relented and clicked the lighter, holding the flame underneath the tip. Once it was releasing smoke, the man leaned back, exhaling a misty cloud.

Slightly rattled, Tatum clutched her handbag and started to get up. However, the man reached out and gently took her hand.

"Whoa, what're you running off for?" The girl hesitantly sat back down, her eyes glued to his. "I don't bite…unless you want me to."

The man released her hand, moving his arm to rest on the bench behind her shoulders. After taking another puff of his cigarette, he turned to look at Tatum.

"So what's your name, sweetheart?"

She glanced at him nervously for a moment before answering.

"T-Tatum."

"Pleased to meet you, Tatum. I'm Charles."

He flashed her a smile, but she couldn't help but be unnerved by it. Still, she made herself smile back slightly. When he scooted a bit closer to her, her heart skipped several beats.

"Hey, why so shy? I just wanna talk."

This was too much. Leaning away from Charles, Tatum prepared to take off.

"Look, I really should get going…"

"To where?" The girl froze. "Not to school, obviously."

She felt angry with this. Nothing would've made her happier than to be at school, but her mom's health didn't permit it. She immediately put out her smoke and went to get up, but Charles had other ideas. His cigarette had just his the ground by the time he had Tatum in his grasp. Using his foot to put it out, he tried to calm the struggling girl.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to piss you off. You just look a bit over the high school age."

Tatum glared at him.

"I'm fifteen, thank you."

"Sorry, my mistake."

"I'm not looking for any apologies, you shouldn't even be talking to me. You look well over the high school age yourself!"

"Thirty-seven in a few months," Charles said, pride in his face.

"Okay, good-bye."

Tatum went to get up again, but the man tightened his grip.

"Come on, beautiful. Age is just a number."

"Please, I seriously have to go now…"

"Do you?" Tatum stared at him as he spoke. "'Cause you were looking awfully relaxed when I found you here. If you were in such a hurry, I don't think you'd be lounging about on a bench."

Embarrassed, Tatum looked down. Charles laughed softly, admiring her flushed cheeks.

"See? You can't lie to Chucky."

"I thought your name was Charles."

"It is, but my friends call me Chucky." As Tatum tried to look away, Chucky caught her chin in his free hand and turned her to face him. "Maybe we could be friends. What d'you say?"

His icy eyes pierced into Tatum's hazel ones, and for some weird reason, she felt that something was wrong with him. He was dangerous. There was something about what was in his eyes…

"I'm not really looking for any new friends."

Suddenly, the look in his eyes became darker. As he gripped her chin and started to lean his face towards hers, Tatum slapped his hand away. She pushed him back with both hands, and once his grip on her loosened, she immediately got up and hurried away from the bench.

"Fuck you, asshole!" she shouted before storming away.

Chucky stared after her, the fury building up inside of him. Nobody had ever rejected him, let alone had the guts to insult him like that. Of course, Tiffany was the only exception, as he and she were virtual copies of each other.

But this girl…who did she think she was, treating him like that when all he wanted to do was talk? That attitude had to be fixed right away, even if it meant…

He shivered with excitement as the thought flashed across his mind.

Oh, Tatum…I'm gonna have some fun with you first…

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Tate, what's wrong?"

Tatum glanced at her mother across the bed as they poked at their dinners.

"Oh, nothing. Some creep was bugging me while I was out today, it's no big deal."

Thelma smiled knowingly. Unfortunately, such occurrences weren't a big surprise where they lived. There were shady people all over the place.

The phone suddenly rang. Thelma put her plate on the counter and walked over to answer it. After a couple minutes, she hung up and walked back towards the bed.

"Who was it?" asked Tatum.

"Oh, it's just Phil. He sounded a bit wasted, but I think he said he was going to come by later to pick up the trash."

"Ah, I see."

Thelma settled back onto the bed and retrieved her plate. At that moment, there was a rapping at their door.

"Oh, Christ," Thelma moaned, getting back up. "Sometimes I just want to throttle him."

Tatum smiled and looked down at her food. She was just happy her mom was able to walk. A few seconds later, she heard Thelma open the door. However, when she heard the door slam shut and her mother's screaming being muffled, she instantly turned. Her heart stopped.

Chucky stood next to the door, holding his hand over Thelma's mouth. His free hand clutched a knife and held it against the woman's throat. Tatum gasped in horror and jumped from the bed, looking for some sort of weapon.

"Try anything and she's dead," Chucky growled, pressing the blade firmly against Thelma's skin.

"Wait! Stop!" Tatum put her hands up, tears of panic filling her eyes. "Please, don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt her, you say? Well, it really hurt me when you ran off on me today. If you'd bothered to stick around and learn something about me, you'd know that I'm not one to tolerate rudeness."

"Well, let her go! She's not part of it!"

"Maybe not," Chucky said, "but if you're not careful, she could become part of it."

"Stop!" Tatum wailed, unable to think clearly. "Please, I'll do anything! Just don't hurt her!"

Chucky stared at her, a grin forming on his face.

"So…you'll come on a little date with me, if I don't hurt her?"

The idea sickened Tatum, but she couldn't stand the horror in Thelma's eyes.

"Just a date?"

"Yep, just a date."

"…Fine."

Carefully moving his hand away from Thelma's mouth, Chucky extended it to Tatum. She reluctantly stepped forward. Then, once she was close enough, Chucky seized her arm and pulled her against him. As quickly as he had done so, he slit open Thelma's throat with one flick of the wrist.

Before Tatum could scream, Chucky's hand was over her mouth. She could only watch helplessly as her mother bled to death on the floor. Her body sagged in her grief, and if it hadn't been for Chucky's grip on her, she would've fallen over. After a few moments, the man carefully removed his hand, moving the bloody knife against the girl's neck.

"You…" she whispered, "you…you promised you wouldn't…"

Replacing his hand over Tatum's mouth, Chucky leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"I lied."

With that, he dragged her out the door.

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Let me know what you think.