Chapter 1 – Silent Night

June 18, 2018 11:00 P.M

"998,000, 999,000, and one million!" I cheered, counting our profit while laying in bed with Marriam. "And just in one day."

"Don't get too happy," Marriam looked at me with a sly look, "I'm gettin' most of that."

"I'll be damned," I replied, crossing my arms.

"We're selling the cookies at MY shop," she pointed to herself, "Fubway is my thing, so I get sixty percent."

"I helped build it up with you," I explained to her, "Let's split it fifty-fifty."

"You didn't even like Fubway when I opened it at first," She raised her voice a bit.

"I didn't like you when I first met you," I said, "Look at us now."

"Yeah," she started rubbing her chin, "That's pretty sweet. But I put a lot more into Fubway than you. I had a whole damn song campaign. You just now came and joined me".

"I still did a lot," I tried to explain, "Hell, I came up with some of the cookie concepts myself."

"The salsa cookies and the trippy cookies?" she asked, "Those are our best selling ones, and guess who came up with them?"

She pointed her thumbs to herself and cheered, "Me!"

"You got me there," I admitted, "But my ideas sold well."

"The drowsy cookies, the lemon cookies, the pepper cookies, and the rehab cookies?" she said, "You could combine all of that, and they still won't sell as much as mine. Take your 400,000 and weep".

"Man, that's a lie," I slammed my hand down on the bed, "I wanna see some numbers."

"I record every dollar on my phone," Marriam said. She pulled up a chart, and sure enough, her cookies outsold mine.

"Got ya!" she flicked her tongue at me.

"Take your tongue somewhere else." I folded my arms.

"Where?" She said.

She licked my neck, making me feel fuzzy.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about," I said, "Come here, baby."

I turned her around and placed my hand on my back. Both of us went in for a long, smooth tongue wrestle.

"I got a surprise for you," I told her, "I'll be right back."

"You better not take too long honey," she said, "Or I'll kill you."

I laughed, then she said, "I'm serious."

I walked out our bedroom down the halls of Marriam's mansion. The old, creaky wooden floor was now obsolete. In its' place laid a reflective black and white marble floor. She recently had the walls redone to be less "creepy." The barren, stained green walls were now gold, lined with brown wooden trim. New glass lights illuminated the hallway, and she had water fountains, and vending machines lined up.

"Man." I looked around and took everything in. "Four undecillion can go a long way."

Then came the stairs. Marriam kept some things intact because she "kinda liked the scary vibe." This was one of them. The elevator was still under repair, with new mirrors and a jacuzzi coming soon. I could risk it and get on, but I decided to be rational. The walls turned back to their original green at this point. I slowly walked down the stairs, trying to tune out any creaks. A construction hat on the ground didn't do me any favors. To my surprise, I made it down safely and landed in our new living room. She had the walls redone to be a velvet red with a yellow border. The four couches, new carpet, and rugs all matched. The broken and stained chandelier from the past was repaired and shone proudly. A wide-screen TV with subwoofers on the side faced it all. Finally, a fish tank punctuated the middle of the room. If anything, our living room looked more like a lobby. The People magazines stacked neatly on the computer desk next to a bowl of jolly ranchers confirmed my claim.

I walked out to our new white porch and took some time to gaze at the dark blue night sky. The stars glistened and sparkled, with a glowing half-moon stealing the show. Looking around, I took note of everything we added; A swing set, a dining table with antique wooden chairs, and an arcade rocket. It had two slots - a 25 cent one, and a 50 cent one.

"Hmmm." I rubbed my chin. "I never tried the 50 cent one".

I reached in my pocket, pulled out 50 cents, and stuck it in the slot. A small burst of fire burst through the fake engine.

"Whoa!". I jumped back. "That kinda scared me."

I walked back into our house and went straight to the kitchen. It was also renovated to be more restaurant-styled, with a buffet in the middle, silver shining stoves, and a black fridge that opened via a touchscreen. The microwave and toaster were stylized in the same manner. The cabinets shined with glossy glass, with the frames and knobs platted with gold.

"She really did this place up," I said.

I touched the "open" option on our fridge and pulled out a bowl of cranberries. Then I walked over to our pantry and grabbed some Colonel Sanders Kool-Aid. Within ten seconds, the bottle was empty.

"Who knew KFC could actually make good kool-aid?". I placed the bottle in Marriam's secret bottle collection.

Before I sleep and after I wake up, I always drink Colonel Sanders Kool-Aid. When I drank it, I was a little more focused, ready, and down for whatever. A day without it was like Martin without Gina. Plus, it kinda tastes like chicken.

Once I walked out of the kitchen, I took a huge gulp, knowing I would have to brave those stairs again.

"Think happy thoughts." I tilted my head back and chanted, "Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!"

I made it up to the first step, then the second, and before I knew it, I was on the second floor.

I said to myself, "That wasn't so bad, you little scaredy-cat."

"Joshie, where the hell are you?" Marriam called off from the room. Of course, I walked even faster to get to her. She stood at the door, rubbing her hands across a knife.

"You're back! I just was about to do it". She placed it down on the dresser.

"Yeah, right," I scoffed. "Anyways, I got you something this afternoon."

She looked at the cranberries, and they sent her into a frenzy. She frantically jumped up and down.

"Oh my God, those are my favorite." She looked up and smiled at me. "Thanks, Joshie. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mary,"

I went in for a gentle hug and slowly wrapped my arms around her. If we could, we would stay like this forever.

Outside of our place, the town of Cookie Ranch filled to the brim with excitement. People were in the streets and on the sidewalk, just talking freely and eagerly. A car could barely pass by. The reason? A new horror-comedy movie, entitled "Closed" was finally out. It centered around three pre-teens discovering a "hidden" amusement park that only they know about. They keep it secret and take full advantage, and of it, until they find out, they're not alone. For the past month or so, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing an ad for this movie. The local Wal-Mart rebranded all their products to include the characters. The Chinga Tu Madre mall has an amusement park built behind it that looks exactly like the one in the film. And across town, people who resembled the main villain, Jennywise, knocked around on everyone's door. One of them came to our house last week.

June 12, 2018, 2:00 A.M

Marriam and I were in the living room, playing a little game of Monopoly, but with a twist. Every time you went to jail or landed on someone's property, you had to wear a clown mask and do a silly chicken dance. Marriam didn't have to get up once, while I was all worn out. Furious, I shook the dice hard and slammed it down.

"Ten." I moved my piece about six spaces forward. Then, I realized I was only four blocks away from jail.

"Go ahead, Joshie," she teased me.

"I'mma get you next time," I snapped back. I slowly moved my piece while preparing for the inevitable. Then we heard a knock on the door.

"This better not be those Young Thief dudes," she growled, grabbing her shotgun. She cocked it and opened the door. I looked to see who it was, only to hear a loud thud. Then I ran up to the door and looked on the ground.

"You knocked out Jennywise!" I shouted. She was dead on the floor with her trademark rainbow knife.

"I don't give a damn," she folded her arms, "She shouldn't have came here with a knife."

Bell and Marina were one of the few jam-packed in that hot line. Marina was a bit impatient, but Bell did a little wiggle dance.

"I can't wait! I can't wait!"

"It's not gonna be long, baby," Marina reassured him. But she knew better. Turning to the side, she covered her face. She grabbed some aluminum foil out of her purse, kneeled, and laid it on the ground.

"It's gonna be a long night," she said to herself. Sighing, she pulled out a bag of skittles and looked at them.

"Here we go," she poured all of them out on the foil.

"Bell, you want some?"

He jumped up and screamed, "Yeah!", and knocked down the guy in front of him. He kneeled besides Marina.

"Get your straw ready, baby," she told him while pulling out a credit card.

"Got it!" he pulled it from behind his ear.

Marina chopped the skittles up with her credit card. The whole time, Bell cheered, "Chop it up! Chop it up! Wooooo!"

"Ah, that's why I love you, honey," she looked at him with a glow in her eye.

"I love you too, Mare Bear."

They gave each other a tight hug, and together, they snorted up all the skittle powder. The people in line around them had no idea what the hell they were doing - well, except one little girl.

"I wanna join!"

Her mother wiped away a tear and said, "I wanna join too honey," sniff sniff, "I wanna join."