Goodbear

Goodbear

It was raining hard outside the car. Kevin was doing his best to steady his breathing. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.” said Kevin. “Hey, it’s no problem. We go in, we get out with the money. Won’t even need to fire a shot.” Kevin steadied himself after hearing that and put his hand on the car door. They get out of the car and run up to the house, knock on the front door and…Kevin wakes up.

“Dad! Dad! Get up Dad. You promised we could go today!” It was Kevin’s daughter, Lisa, and she was excited about a new mall that had opened up. “Fine Lisa, I’m up.” Lisa leaped off the bed in excitement and ran into the kitchen while Kevin got ready for their trip out. His wife Kris was making breakfast when he got downstairs. Kris started “So you two excited for today.”

“Yeah, Dad and I are going to see everything.”

“Well, you two have fun. I’ll be back later tonight.” After breakfast Kevin kissed Kris goodbye and Both father and daughter left for the mall. They had visited everything except for a toy store that said Curious Toys.

“Want to check out this one Lisa?” “Yes, can I get a toy? Please, pretty please?”

“Just one.” They went in and were greeted by a gentleman with balding gray hair and reader’s glasses. “How may I help you today?”

“I’m looking for a new doll for my daughter. Do you have anything cheap?”

“Cheap? I think I have just the thing for your girl.” The man went behind the counter and pulled out a teddy bear. This bear had white fur with a slight yellow tinge, velvet-red button eyes and peach colored muzzle. It was wearing a velvet-red vest. A simple looking antique and yet it unnerved Kevin for reasons he could not think of. Before Kevin could say anything Lisa spoke up. “It’s Goodbear! Oh, can I have it Dad Please?”

“Goodbear?”

“Ah, it looks like your daughter has heard the tale. This bear is based on a famous children’s story about a magic bear. Popular among children and a worthy addition to your girl’s doll collection.” Kevin was unsure about buying it as it unnerved him greatly. But when he looked at how happy this Goodbear made Lisa he knew he couldn’t refuse her. “We’ll take the doll.” The man smiled before replying “May this toy bring the best for your family.”

As Kevin made his way home his mind never left Goodbear. He felt ridiculous that a normal looking teddy bear could shake him to his core. And yet he felt uneasy as Lisa kept reciting a poem. “Goodbear, Goodbear, do you want to play? Goodbear, Goodbear, here to make your day! Goodbear, Goodbear, ask him to stay? Goodbear, Goodbear, make the bad things go away!” Kris was waiting for them in the driveway when they arrived. “Mom! Mom! Look what Dad got me!” Kris smiled before replying “It’s Goodbear. Where did you find one?” “At this toy store in the mall.”

“I didn’t think they still made these. Come inside and let’s eat.” After Lisa had been put to bed, Kevin decided to ask his wife a question. “What is Goodbear?” Kris regarded him with a look of surprise. “You’ve never heard of Goodbear?”

“No, what is it?”

“Goodbear is a children’s story about a magic bear. If you say the Goodbear poem Goodbear comes and makes the bad things go away.”

“Bad things?”

“Story goes when the child is wronged or endangered by something or someone, Goodbear makes the bad thing go away.”

“Someone? This Goodbear comes after people?”

“Relax Kevin, it’s just a story.”

With the conversation over with they went to bed. As Kevin slept the door to the bedroom opened. A shadow crept through the open door as a small figure made its way to the bed. Clawed hands reached out and hovered over Kevin’s face. Kevin woke up and saw nothing. Tiredly he lifted his head and looked at the open door where he saw Goodbear sitting at the foot of his bed. Kevin wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked again. There was nothing there, but he felt a presence watching him.

Tomorrow afternoon Kevin went to a bar with two of his childhood friends Greg and Trent. They were watching football and the game was wrapping up when Kevin spoke. “Have either of you heard of Goodbear?”

“Goodbear? Yeah it’s about a bear that protects children from monsters right? My wife reads that story to Jeff and Sally.”

“Story goes it comes after bad people too.”

“Oh, it does not.”

“No, I’m serious. Story goes that if you’ve been bad, Goodbear comes for you too.”

“Trent, you are so full of crap. Anyway, why the interest in Goodbear Kevin?” Kevin paused briefly wondering if he should tell them “Yesterday I took Lisa to the mall. I bought her a toy that’s based on Goodbear. The damn thing gives me the creeps.” Greg pipped up “oooh is it scary looking?” Kevin replied “No. It looks like an antique teddy bear but there is something strange about it. Like I can feel a presence coming from it.”

“Presence? Like it’s haunted?”

“No. Like the bear is looking into my soul. Makes me think about…that night.”

“We agreed to never talk about that night, it’s ancient history.”

Kevin stopped and stayed silent for a moment before continuing “If there was a Goodbear do you think it would come for us?”

“I don’t know about Goodbear, but you keep talking about it and we’ll all be in trouble. I’m not going to jail because of you.” Trent finished. “Go home and stop being scared of a stupid doll.”

Kevin finished his drink and went home. He thought about what his two accomplices had told him. In truth, Kevin didn’t know why he started thinking about that night after so many years. He was in the bathroom washing his face when he looked up at the mirror and what he saw turned him white as a ghost. A message scrawled in blood that reads: Do you want to play? Trent did.

Trent had stayed at the bar after Kevin and Greg went home, he was in a bad mood being reminded of that night. They only did what they had to. As he was musing in his thoughts a woman in a velvet-red dress approached Trent. “Mind if I sit here?” Trent looked up in surprise “Not at all.” The two talked for a while as it took his mind off the earlier conversation. Eventually they made it to Trent’s car. “Thanks’ for giving me a ride. I’ve been having a bad night”

“Why?”

“Because I’m sitting next to a murderer.”

Trent paled when he heard that. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You killed someone. Why didn’t you go to the police?”

“I didn’t kill anyone.” The woman smiled “Of course you did. That’s what the four of you did at that house wasn’t it.”

“One of you wanted to go to the police. Why didn’t you go with him?” at hearing this Trent grew enraged and started strangling the woman. The woman died in his hands. Trent realizing what he had done tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t start. Then the woman came alive again only she looked like a human sized doll with clawed hands, zippers for teeth and velvet-red buttons for eyes. When the police found Trent’s body it looked like it had been slashed repeatedly by a knife.

The police stopped by Kevin’s residence to see if he knew anything about the murder. Kevin claimed he didn’t know why someone would kill Trent. With a lack of evidence, it was left at that. Kevin and Greg later met at the bar. Greg spoke up. “Murdered, in his own car. I’d love to get my hands on the person who did it.” Kevin said nothing as they sat in silence before Greg spoke again. “Why are you being so quiet? You haven’t said a word.”

Kevin finally spoke. “Do you regret that night?”

“..What?”

“That night, do you regret it.”

“I thought we agreed to never talk about it.”

“I think that night is related to what happened to Trent, Greg.”

“You mean someone killed Trent to get revenge?”

“…I don’t know Greg. You and I might be next.”

“What makes you think that?” Kevin stayed silent as he reflected on that message in the bathroom, wondering if he should tell Greg his suspicion. Ultimately Kevin decided against telling him about Goodbear on the grounds that it was ridiculous. Instead, he replied “Just a feeling, if you notice anything strange call me.”

Greg decided to go for a drive that night. He didn’t want to go home with Trent’s death on his mind. He was driving at a prodigious speed in the rain when something jumped in front of the car. Greg got out of the car and looked at what he had hit. It was a little girl. Greg was horrified, he got back in his car called the authorities.

Greg went with the police to the police station while the ambulance took away the body. His mind racing as he sat in the back of the police car. Voiceless words entered his mind as he waited. “Do you regret that night?” No, in truth he never thought about that night. What good would thinking about that night do? Right now, he was frightened. What if the cops found out? What if they did a background check and found out his juvenile history. One death was accidental, two was suspicious. He didn’t mean to hit that girl. It wasn’t his fault someone jumped in front of the car.

When he made it to the station, the officer began to ask questions “Was this your first murder?” Greg paused at that “Murder? It was an accident.”

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down.”

“You said I murdered her!”

“No, I asked if this was your first accident. Was it murder?”

“No, I didn’t men to kill her!”

“Kill who? The little girl is fine.” Greg was shocked, the girl was alive. “We are still going to have to charge you with murder.”

“But you said it yourself, the girl is fine.”

“But the girl wasn’t the only life you destroyed was it?”

“I didn’t murder anyone.”

“What about Brian? What happened to him? It was murder right?” Greg was scared for his life. He saw a gun sitting on the desk and he grabbed it. “Brian had it coming and so do you.” Just then he saw the officer’s face and saw it was a teddy bear sitting on the chair waving goodbye to him. Greg was then shot through the stomache. Greg never went to the police station, he was still in the street, he never hit a girl he hit a police car. Then he got out and started rambling about killing and murder. When the police tried to take him to the station he went for their gun and was shot by another officer.

Two were dead, when Kevin found out what happened it confirmed his fear about Goodbear. Kevin knew he was next. The next day Kevin returned to the toy store. He needed answers for what was happening. But the toy store wasn’t there. When he asked the mall cop what had happened to the store the cop replied that there had never been a toy store there. Kevin now had a feeling of dread deep in his stomach. The whole thing had been an hallucination. The toy store wasn’t real, Goodbear wasn’t real. Yet when he got home Lisa was playing with her new doll. Kevin now fully believed the story of Goodbear to be true. Goodbear killed Trent and Greg. Kevin knew he was next. Kevin thought back to that night.

They were teenagers and local delinquents who engaged in petty theft for close to six months. This time Kevin and his three friends Brian, Trent and Greg were going to try breaking and entering. Their target was an old man who had an impressive life savings stored up. They took some handguns and broke into his house. The sight of four armed robbers gave the old man a heart attack and the four of them fled with the money. A week later they found out the old man had died. Brian wanted to go to the police…so Kevin killed him.

He remembered that night vividly enough. Trent and Greg were both scared of going to prison, so they pressured Kevin into shooting him. Their threat was if Kevin didn’t shoot Brian, Greg would and then he’d shoot Kevin. Taking Brian to an alley and forcing him on his knees Kevin shot and killed his best friend when he was fifteen years old. Later in life he married Brian’s sister Kris who never knew about what Kevin had done.

Kevin waited a day for Kris and Lisa to go and visit Kris’ parents. After they left he made his move. He grabbed the Goodbear doll from his daughter’s room and drove out to an underpass. Kevin put Goodbear in an oil drum and lit it on fire. Content that Goodbear had been destroyed he made his way home ignoring the growing voiceless words in his head. “Did you regret it.” Kevin chalked it up to being his paranoia. Goodbear was gone now, he was safe. He was wrong for Goodbear was waiting for him at home perfectly intact.

In frustration he yelled at the stuffed bear. “What do you want me to do?” Voiceless words popped into Kevin’s head. “Do you regret that night? Do you regret killing Brian?”

“..yes I do.”

“Then tell your wife the truth.”

“I can’t.” Goodbear rose to his feet and then spoke in a silent voice “Do you want to see me do a trick?” Goodbear ripped off his own head as yellow ooze and tendrils dripped out of it. The head then morphed into a full-body dolled version of Brian with clawed hands and velvet-red button eyes. Kevin was never heard from again after that day. He became part of the legend of Goodbear. So, remember, whenever you do something bad. Beware the Goodbear for he may come for you next.

Goodbear, Goodbear, Do you want to play? Goodbear, Goodbear, Here to make your day! Goodbear, Goodbear, Ask him to stay? Goodbear, Goodbear, Make the bad things go away.

I’m ready to play, are you?