[Hyde POV]
Four days passed by pretty quickly, mostly since I needed to go to school.
My shops were working automatically without my presence needed there 24/7, so I couldn't convince Red that I should take a day off from school.
The tv show aired its third episode, and I decided to do something special in that episode.
In the last segment, I told people I was building a car for a Wisconsin legend, but I only teased it without telling people who he was.
Ratings have been great for the show. On the third episode, over 100,000 people watched it while it aired. That broke all the records for the WPPV Channel 5 programs.
Of course, tv was still new and they didn't have many programs, but I was their backbone now.
It was now a Saturday. I was hanging out with Eric and Kelso in the basement, watching morning cartoons together.
"I'm boooored!" Eric whined, throwing his head back as he sat on the couch.
"Let's go out to the woods!" Kelso said excitedly. "We can search for bigfoot!"
"Kelso! Did you ever think about what would happen if we found one?" Eric asked him, slightly agitated.
He shrugged, "I don't know. If he's carnivorous, I'll just push you to the ground and run for my life. But I am worried he's still going to get me since you don't have a lot of meat in your bones."
Eric glared at Kelso. I snickered and said, "Bring Fez too."
"Sure. Big Foot never had foreign meat before. Then, I have much more time to escape while they are devouring him." Kelso said seriously.
"Now that we've heard your plans, we'll be sure to push you first and run away when Big Foot is having his way with you." Eric said with a smirk.
Kelso got excited, "Like. Girl Big Foot?"
I grimaced slightly, "You're into that?"
"No! I'm not." He was slightly embarrassed. "But, imagine if that's the only way out of the situation. I mean, I'd rather do it with Big Foot rather than being eaten by them."
Eric laughed and said, "Hyde. What will you pick? Do it with a monster, or get eaten by one?"
"That is an interesting question Forman." I sat slightly straight. "And the answer is… depends on how hot the monster is."
"All monsters are ugly." Kelso said with annoyance.
I smirked and said, "Alright. What do you consider a monster? A non-human, right?"
Both of them nodded.
"But what if it looked humanoid. Like, a wolf girl. But, she didn't have hair or a snout. She has dog ears on top of her head, a long claw, and a tail. Other than that, she looked completely human."
The two of them started imagining it.
I asked, "So, would you?"
They glanced at each other before answering in unison. "No doubt/I would."
The Big Foot hype was alive in the town since a few days ago, when a trucker claimed they found Big Foot in the woods.
"Man, I'd love to meet Big Foot. And take his picture. Maybe he's a misunderstood monster that just wants some friends." Kelso mumbled.
I nodded and said, "Same. I wonder if he has some stash too, or if he wants to experiment."
Eric laughed and said, "You're dealing to a monster now?"
"Hey, it's better to smoke with Big Foot rather than meet Slenderman or the Skinwalker in the woods." I replied.
Both of them were taken aback slightly.
"Skinwalker?" Eric asked.
"Slenderman?" Kelso said, then he looked at Eric. "Like him?"
"No, he's Skinny Man." I teased.
"Shuuuut up." Eric exclaimed annoyedly. "Hyde, what are those creatures?"
"You know what. It's better if you guys didn't know." I said seriously.
Kelso smiled in excitement and leaned in close, "Now you got to tell us."
Eric added, "Yeah Hyde. Tell us."
"Alright. But I did warn you."
Kelso straightened his back and puffed out his chest. "I'm not scared."
"Yeah," Eric added, trying to sound confident. "Bring it on, Hyde.
Both of them were still smiling when I started telling the story.
"Let's see." I thought about the urban legends I read on the internet.
"The Slenderman isn't just a story. He's tall. I mean ridiculously tall. His arms… they're too long, like they stretch past his knees. And he doesn't have a face. Just… nothing. A blank, smooth head. And he wears a suit. Perfect, white-collar."
Eric swallowed hard, trying to act casual. "Uh-huh… totally normal…"
I continued. "He stands in the corner of your room sometimes. You think it's a shadow… but then, he moves. Slowly. Gliding, like he's floating."
Both of their faces turned pale.
"And he only comes when no one's looking. He doesn't make a sound. Just watches you. And if you see him, if you really see him… he knows your name. He remembers everything about you. And then… he takes what you love. Piece by piece. Starting with… your pets. Your toys. Your friends."
Kelso shifted uneasily. "He… he takes… pets? And friends?"
I nodded casually. "Yeah. And then, the closer he gets, the harder it is to move. Your legs… frozen. Your arms… stuck to your side. And you can't scream because it steals your voice. By the time he touches you… it's already too late."
Eric panted heavily. "Okay… this is… this is…, man."
"Scary?" I raised an eyebrow.
For my level of modern exposure, it wasn't really that scary.
But for the 70s people, many of which thought The Exorcist was the scariest movie ever, the description of Slenderman made them feel restless.
"No– No. Go– Go on." Eric stammered hard.
I continued, "That's just the beginning. He can stretch his limbs through doors, windows… he doesn't need to be in the same room as you. And if he's outside, watching, you'll never sleep again."
I said spookily, "Every shadow looks like him. Every tree. Every lamppost. And even if you run, he's already behind you. Always behind you. You think you're safe, but you're not."
Kelso's hands went clammy. "Uh… Hyde… this isn't… funny anymore…"
Eric cleared his throat and tried to sound brave. "Yeah, Hyde… That— That's it? That's not scary…Right?"
"You want to hear the other one–"
"NOO!" Both of them exclaimed in unison. "For some reason, I think Skinwalker will be much scarier than Slenderman." Kelso retorted.
"It is scarier." I said casually.
"LALALALA!" Eric covered his ears and stood up abruptly. "I'm not listening to your lies!"
Kelso followed Eric immediately and pointed his index finger at me, "You're dead Hyde!"
I threw my hands in disbelief, wondering why they were blaming me.
I went to the Fotohut afterward to check up on the whole operation, not realizing the bomb I had set off in the town.
…
"So, the lab is fully set up. We can send the film rolls to them. They charge two bucks for black and white and four for color. Much cheaper than sending them to Kenosha, and way faster," I told Linda and Amy.
They nodded and jotted down the instructions.
Leo wasn't around today. He applied for a day off… even though he was the boss. Honestly, he wasn't really needed anyway and it makes things easier too.
I had already sent out flyers all over town, announcing the rebranding for the Fotohut. I even put "Under New Management" on them for effect.
By midday, we were already taking a lot of orders. Forty film rolls had come in just from this hut alone, thanks to the Buy 2 Free 1 promotion.
I collected the rolls and sent them to the dark room lab.
With the modern tools, the negatives developed beautifully, producing sharper, more vibrant prints.
The lab could handle eighteen-twenty rolls per hour, including developing the photos. I had given the four technicians one enlarger each to make things easier.
The head technician supervised the automated development machines I'd provided. It had automatic temperature adjustment and filtration, which made the work effortless.
I also installed a film dryer that cut drying time from an entire afternoon to just thirty minutes. Then, the enlarger transfers the film to the photo stock.
Within an hour, twenty of the reels were already done. I brought them back to the hut and had the workers call the customers.
When the first calls went out, people were shocked and delighted.
Linda explained that it was a special circumstance since they were the first to place orders under the new system, just to avoid building expectations.
Even so, the customers were thrilled at the speed. Most people lost excitement when they had to wait days for their photos.
Receiving them so early brought back all the fun and anticipation of looking back at their memories. They were so happy, in fact, that many left tips. I had anticipated this and placed a tip jar on the counter.
Linda and Amy's hut alone got around 50 bucks, which they split between the two of them.
The lab began sending the films back to the huts hourly. In one day, we developed around 240 photo reels and accepted over 700 orders from all five huts.
Of those, 200 were free orders—80 colors and 120 black and white. The cost for the lab to handle those free rolls was 192 dollars, essentially the "loss" for the day.
Paid orders included 370 black and white reels at $7 each and 130 color reels at $10 each. The lab's cost to produce all 500 reels was 452 dollars. Subtracting that from the total revenue, the lab made $1,448 in profit, which went straight to me.
The huts made $2,630 in revenue, but they needed to cover the lab cost of the free rolls, leaving $2,438. After paying labor for the day, which was $372 for ten hut workers and $55.20 for the delivery man, the huts' profit dropped to $2,010.80.
Leo and I split the hut profits evenly, giving him $1,005.40 and leaving me with the same.
Adding that to the lab's profit, my total take from the day came to around $2,453.40.
I didn't take out the money yet since I would tally everything after a month including the rent and the utility bills too. Once I paid the taxes, then I'll give Leo his share of profit.
…
I went to the auto shop after the Fotohut. Today, the visitor would come to check out the car. We would also talk about how he wanted to custom make it.
Bill Walton, the basketball legend was quite mesmerized when he test drove the Chevelle. With the new chassis, suspension and new chair which was made tailored to his height, he felt really comfortable driving the car.
"I can see now why this costs a lot." He said to me, "I thought you were scamming me at first."
I looked at the goliath and said, "That's the new LS engine. There's only one of them in the world. And the chassis was custom made too."
"No– No, I get it." Bill said hurriedly. He already understood it so he felt I didn't need to explain it to him.
"It's not loud, but it's fast. I like it." he said simply.
I smiled at him. "Now, about the paint, I have something like this in mind."
I showed him the design of the custom Chevelle SS.
On the front hood, his basketball jersey number would be there. The interior would be maroon color, and the car would be fully black.
However, Bill didn't really like black color.
"I want it to be green, or yellow." He said.
"I see." I flipped the design I made using the internet and showed him a Chevelle SS with a green color. "There's candy green, military green, metallic, pearl finishes…"
I explained to him one by one and even showed the paint examples. He was really shocked, as even a Ferrari dealer wasn't as detailed as I was right now.
"You're sure we can film this, right?" I asked again, pointing at the camera.
"It's fine." Bill replied easily. "My nephew watched your TV show."
I smiled in satisfaction.
I even took his weight to ensure the foam seat could accommodate him without changing the compression over time.
Bill was honestly quite happy when he drove the car. Since his height was seven feet tall, he couldn't really drive the muscle cars. He had to travel around in vans.
His manager, a 6'2 old man, noticed the 1969 Porsche 911 my worker just took out of the cure room.
I painted the Porsche after fixing it since the paint was quite faded. I bought it for 3 thousand dollars.
After I fixed the issue of it not starting, the value was raised to 9,000 dollars. A full six thousand jump with just fixing a simple wiring issue. It cost me like 40 bucks to fix it.
I painted it back the same green color, since it paired up with the orange interior, but I used basecoat plus clearcoat combo, which made the car seem brand new.
"How much is that?" He asked as he put his cigar in his mouth. Bill snapped at him slightly, "We can't smoke here."
"I know. I'm not lighting it up. Kid, how much is that Porsche?"
"That one? It used to be around 9, but I turbo boosted it, and added a spoiler. New suspension, engine rebuild… its value is around 16 thousand now." I said casually, like I was talking to a friend, not a customer.
The value was determined by the system. So far, people reacted pretty positively when I told them the system value.
The manager bit his cigar slightly and his eyes were glued on the car.
"Just get it. You've been wanting one forever." Bill told him.
The manager smiled wryly and said, "My wife will kill me."
"Take it out for a drive." I said to him, "I won't mind."
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"Sure. Just bring it back in one piece." I teased.
Tyrell gave him the key and he started up the Porsche.
For reference, twenty thousand would get people a brand new Porsche. Sixteen thousand on an 8 years old Porsche was a high price.
The manager came back after an hour with a conflicted expression.
"So?" Bill asked him.
"It's incredibly good." The manager, Jenkins, said with an amazed look. "The shocks are especially good."
"Well, thanks." I replied easily.
Tyrell rolled a Ferrari into the paint booth.
"Is that also for sale?" Jenkins asked, astonished. "You are really a high class custom huh?"
"We can't claim that ourselves. But our cars are the best." I said with a smirk.
In California, I bought 7 old supercars. They have a lot of those there, just parked away as the dealership gave up on them.
Jaguar E-type. Aston Martin DB6. A Ferrari. Two Porsche 911. Aston Martin V8 Vantage. And a De Tomaso Pantera.
I also bought 12 Corollas. 7 Celicas. 2 Hondas. 7 Chevelle. 4 Mustangs. And many more normal cars to sell at the parking lot sale.
Jenkins smiled and said, "Keep that for me. I'll come back in two days with the check. I just hope my wife will let me."
"Okay. Just call us first for us to set it up for you."
After Bill and Jenkins left, Bruce came with Ross and a few of his friends, also wanting to test out the Chevelle. The seats made them feel small, but the ride mesmerized them.
I couldn't promise them to custom make their cars, since I needed to finish up the car for Bill. But I got a list of people to build custom cars for.
Megan approached me and whispered, "Boss. Have you heard of the Slenderman?"
"What?" I looked at her in confusion. "How did you know about that?"
She gasped, her face turning pale. "You know? So is it real?"
"Huh?"
…
When I came back to the basement at around 9, everyone was there, looking pale and huddled up together. Eric, Donna, Jackie and Fez wore a large blanket together. Fez was covering his entire head with it at the side.
"Um, what's happening?" I asked.
Donna shivered and snapped, "This is all because of your stupid story!"
I threw my hands up in confusion, although I had suspected this after hearing it from Megan, who heard it from her sister Raquel, who heard it from her friends, who heard some guys talking about it at The Hub.
Which was Kelso and Fez.
The entire town was in panic mode that night. The church had to give sermons and convince people there wasn't any 'Slenderman' stalking the kids in the town.
I was quite shocked by it. Even the media covered it the next day. All because of my little attempt to scare my friends.
"I sure hope no one will point fingers at me." I whispered.
Suddenly, Kelso rushed to the basement, dragging Mrs Forman and Pastor Dave with him.
"It's him! He's the one who meets the Slenderman!!" Kelso said accusingly.
"God damn it." I cursed.
Mrs Forman gasped and approached me slowly, "Steven. You told the story about the Slenderman?"
Pastor Dave began chanting and spraying Holy water on me.
"Stop that." I said angrily.
"The demon's weakness is Holy water." Pastor Dave continued sprinkling the water on me. "BEGONE DEMON!"
I stood there with a blank expression, sighing slightly as I let the water fall on me.
"Damn the 70s."
After some explanation and threats, Pastor Dave finally went away. Mrs Forman kept praying for my soul, and both of them decided it would be best to keep this whole thing a secret.
"It's just a story, people. God." I said annoyedly and slapped the back of Kelso's head.
As Eric laughed, I slapped the back of his head too.
"We should talk about something else. I don't think I can fall asleep tonight." Jackie said begrudgingly.
"Want to hear about the Skinwalker?" Kelso asked her teasingly. Jackie hit his arm and pinched him.
"Oww– Jackie! I'M JUST JOKING! DAMN!" Kelso rubbed his sore bicep.
I laughed and said, "Do you want to play a game?"
"As long as it's not a horror game, I'm in." Fez said fearfully.
Donna said, "It's fine as long as we're not still talking about that man in a suit."
"Aww what's the matter Big Red? Too scared? What if a skinny neighbor boy holds you all night long? Will you be able to go to sleep?" I teased.
"Get bent!" Donna began attacking me.
(Read up to chapter 96 on my patreon.
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