Trick or Treat
A knock can be heard on a door to a very old house.”Trick or Treat!!! ” comes out of the mouth of a young boy wearing a Mariachi outfit and holding a rather full bag of candy. He waits in anticipation for the adult to open the door and hand him some candy. The door finally opens after a few more moments of waiting as we see a familiar man stand in the doorway. The man is smiling as he has a plate filled with candy while staring at the boy in his outfit. ”Well isn’t this a surprise?? A music lover” This causes the boy to smile to widen even further. The man puts some candy in the bag of the child and watches him run off to the next house. He smiles as he remembers how he enjoyed this holiday when he was younger. ”Please come back Vinnie, you know I hate watching Halloween on my own” Says the voice of his then wife Valora. He chuckles as he is about to close the door, but keeps it open by merely a crack. He stares through it, just to make sure that there is no other kid about to knock on his door before closing it. He places the plate on the table next to the door as he walks through the hallway that leads to the living room. There we see his then wife Valora sitting on their rather comfortable sofa as he sits down next to her. He wraps his arms around her and the two of them watch the classic horror movie as Michael Meyers is in pursuit of his younger sister Laurie. ”I know you told me that this was family tradition way back when you were younger, but would it be too much to ask if we watched perhaps Casper the Friendly Ghost? Or perhaps a Scooby Doo movie??” Vinnie chuckles at the request from his wife, shaking his head after a few moments. ”Next you are going to be telling me that I should hand those kids some Scooby Snacks instead of candy?” That causes her to laugh before shaking her head while sighing as she feels him holding her close to him. ”Now you are just being mean, but I just get nightmares from watching too much of these movies.” Vinnie smiles, he knew that she had told him many times that she isn’t a big fan of horror movies and preferred the romantic comedies instead. He had to admit that he loved to watch less violent movies as well, but he always had made a point that Halloween was a night of horror movies and candy. Something that Valora reluctantloy had agreed upon in the end, but it did not stop her from putting up a (mostly) futile attempt of resistance. This was such a moment, he knew that she would never push her luck all the way as she loved him and did not wanted to change his entire life. There had been discussions between them, where she did not felt comfortable with some of his accustomes and he had agreed to change for her, causing her to do the same in trying to accept some stuff that he liked to do. ”We could always watch the movie of your favourite toy??” This causes her to look up at him with a smile upon her face. ”Toy Story??” This causes him to burst out in laughter while shaking his head. ”I was actually thinking about Child’s Play, but Toy Story is a good number two.” She playfully punches him across the shoulder as she scowls at him. ”You meanie.” The two laugh for a moment as they continue to watch the final moments of the movie. He turns off the movie as the end credits roll as Valora yawns and spreads her arms as she tries to stay awake. ”Want to go to sleep??” She asks him as she stares at him with those lovely eyes. He always had problems resisting her gaze as he laughs and nods his head. ”I guess we can do some trick or treating of our own in the bedroom, but only if you are going to put on a very scary costume.”This causes her to laugh out loud before kissing him on the lips. ”I love you Vinnie”
The two are in an tender embrace when a few moments later a knock on the door can be heard as it is followed by the obvious trick or treat chant. ”Damn, I didn’t wanted to share that candy with no children.” Valora says mockingly, causing Vinnie to chuckle as he knew that she didn’t meant it. ”Why don’t you go ahead and dress up for now, I will try to scare off those kids.” The two smile before kissing each other lips for the final time before she goes upstairs to their bedroom. Vinnie gazes at her, admiring her beauty as she walks up the stairs before he hears the knock once again. ”Oh yeah, I forgot.. it’s Halloween.” He walks over towards the door, grabbing the plate of candy before he decides to open the door and expect to see some children dressed up.
”Hello Vinnie… long time no see.”. This causes Vinnie to stop in his tracks, he sees a blonde woman standing there in front of him wearing a nurses outfit. Vinnie recognizes the woman, he had seen her in his dreams many of times. Dreams that he started to experience after his wife had left. Causing him to realize that he is…”That you are in a dream Vinnie???” She finished the sentence for him as if she could read his mind. She smiles as she holds open her empty bag. ”I hope you have some sweets for me Vinnie”. He has lost his smile, he suddenly realizes that everything around him as changed and no longer he is at his house on Halloween, realizing that Valora is nowhere near him and that the unknown woman is now dressed in her usual black outfit. ”Thanks for ruining a great dream.” He sees rather bitter, instinctively he wants to put the plate with candy down again. Only to realize that this is gone also, causing him to shake his head in anger. ”Why did are you back after such a long time?? And who are you anyways??”. This causes her to smile while shaking her head. ”So many questions, I thought you would be happy after being apart for so long.” This angers Vinnie even more. ”I don’t even know who the hell you are!! Let alone assuming we were ever together to begin with!!!” He feels his heart boiling with anger, really wanting to wake up and end this horrible dream. He quickly closes his eyes, hoping that when he reopens them that everything has gone back to normal. ”I am still here…..” She says with a glee upon her face. Causing him to close his hands to fists, wanting to hit something only to realize that every wall near to him has vanished into nothingness. ”Where am I??” He feels his heart pump in anger, but also in fear. Realizing that he has lost control over his own mind as the woman stares at him smiling. ”I guess I could give you a hint or two.” But this only angers him even more. ”I don’t want hints!!! I want the truth!!!!” But the only thing that happens that everything surrounding him changes even more. Now he is suddenly inside a squared circle, surrounded by a huge cell structure. He doesn’t recognize this memory, yet for some reason it looks familiar. This causes him to get confused as he takes a step backwards. ”Where am I??” He asks her, as this draws a smile upon her face. ”This? This is a memory, but not yours Vinnie. This is the memory of the man that I want to have back in my life… and if that means I have to torture you?? Then I shall.”
Vinnie’s eyes widen, he tries to digest everything that is happening around him. But that final explanation isn’t connecting with him for some reason. It causes his heart to beat faster and doubt to cross his mind, wondering who’s secret this is and if he knew the person of this secret to begin with. ”I… I don’t understand… I…” But she doesn’t answer, she walks up towards him slowly. Placing a finger upon his chest as he walks backwards real slow. He stumbles backwards until he comes in contact with he turnbuckles… he stands there, not taking his eyes off the woman the entire time that they were walking towards the corner of the ring. He feels his heartbeat starting to increase in pace, gasping for oxygen as if it is slowly being sucked away from him. He slowly raises his hands towards his throat, as if some invisible hands are starting to choke him and he attempts to escape from it but fails. The eyes of the woman start to darken, until they have turned in bloodshed red. ”What’s the matter Vinnie?? Are you scared I will try to kill you like Michael Meyers tried with Laurie??” Her smile has returned, a confident yet scary smile. He walks backwards until his back bumps into a wall. The woman is now only inches away from him, leaning closely towards him as she can hear his breathing increasing by the second… she smells him by the neck as if she is trying to figure out whether she knows the scent that he is spreading before smiling. ”You are just perfect Vinnie… the perfect victim for me to get HIM back…” He swallows hard as he closes his eyes for a moment, in anticipation of something bad to happen him… only to reopen them after a few moments had passed and nothing had happened to him. ”What the??” Is his only response when realizing that the woman had vanished and he is in his bed room in Tijuana, Mexico…. ”What just happened to me??”
October 19th 2021,
Tijuana, Mexico
We open the scene in the streets of Tijuana, kids are running around with Luchador masks, holding toy guns in their hands as they are cheering and yelling at each other while shooting the fake guns at each other. ”I just love watching those kids having fun”. We see Vinnie look down on the street from a balcony, leaning over the railing of the balcony. He is wearing a white shirt, beige knee high pants and has sunglasses on top of his head. He has a glass of water in his hand as he slowly takes a sip from it. ”It remembers me of the days that I was young and the days leading up to Halloween has always been my favourite time of the year…. Well besides Christmas of course”. He chuckles as he takes another sip from the glass of water. He looks at some mothers in the corner of the street, sowing outfits for their children. Some of the outfits are obviously the classic ghost outfit, while others want to go as a Mariachi or even a Dracula outfit. ”I always wanted to go as a rock star. I guess I knew from an early age that I wanted to be an entertainer. And boy did I ever entertain the masses”
”I guess that’s what you are planning this coming Climax Control when you face Mac Bane?? Says the voice of Bea Barnhart, who walks up towards him and leans over the balcony just like him and watches the playing kids. ”Although I highly doubt that you will be entertaining anyone in particular.” This causes him to chuckle as he takes another sip from his glass. ”You know what Bea?? I am not that kind of selfish persona that only thinks about himself… That is not the essence of brotherly love. True, I may have been that way for the majority of my career, but after my leg got injured at the hands of Brother David… I realized that I needed to share more…. And that’s exactly what I have got in store for Senor Mac.” This brings a smile upon his face as he looks up at a huge pumpkin next to him, it is completely carved in a scary face with lights burning inside of it. ”You see, Halloween is a night of giving and taking. Y9ou give the children some treats and they will take whatever they can get and fill their stinking bellies with treats that is terribly bad for them. Something that I am intending to pass on to Mac Bane…” Bea looks at him while raising her eyebrow. ”You are intending to feed him candy??” Words that causes Vinnie to shake his head while chuckling, his curly hair is moving with every single movement that he makes in utter amusement. ”Oh no Senora bea, you got it figured all wrong. I just want to prevent Mac from making the same mistake that my inspiration has made when he awoken the anger inside of me. See it as me being the older and wiser brother looking down to the youngest of the group. The one that is most likely destined to fail, the kid that is always picked last in sports or games because nobody likes him…. or simply because he is the weakest and stinks. ” He takes another sip ”Preventing him not to travel the same path as the black sheep in the family had travelled.”
”That is obviously referring to your past??” These words are answered with a sudden look of confusion from Vinnie, causing him to drop the glass all the way down to the ground beneath them. Causing some old geezer to scream something at them in unclear Spanish. ”My dear Bea, have I ever said anything about my past?? Of course I have a troubled past, but that’s not the point for crying out loud!! I am referring to the one that is a thorn in my side!!!”Bea scratches her head for a moment. ”That still doesn’t narrow it down much Vinnie, I….”Vinnie holds his hand towards her and it ultimately causes her to be quiet”First of all I would rather appreciate it if you called me BROTHER Vinnie, secondly… well true, but still I am referring to one man and one man only!!” Bea scratches her head, counting on her fingers the names that Vinnie has faced in the past and angered with his actions or deeds. ”What are you doing??”This causes her to look startled at him. ”Well last week for instance, you angered Fenris after he showed you respect. I…”This causes Vinnie to shake his head and sigh”That was then, this is now. You cannot hold onto past emotions for too long. Look at me, I may have not beaten him and Jack Washington to become number one contender for the world title. But at least I did manage to take out the man who had been the thorn in my left side for many years… at least at one point you need to let go Sister Bea.”
”Sister Bea??” She says with a puzzled look on her face. ”Si sister, I am the all caring, all loving and all understanding Brother Vinnie. To me, everyone is one. Everyone deserves the same treatment and respect and most importantly the same treatment of love. Brotherly love…. And sadly, I have to admit that it did not go as planned when I faced two amigo’s the last time I was in the ring.” He pouts his lips as he thinks back to the Climax Control where Jack Washington took advantage of him taking out Fenris. He punches his right open hand with his left fist while grinding his teeth for a moment of utter discontent… but realizes that Bea is staring at him and turns his frown upside down. ”But enough of them, I do have to tell that I understand where you are coming from. Most of the entire roster does not understand me, does not want to believe me or quite frankly have a too much of an ego of the size of the New Year Blimp to even phantom why I am so caring. No, I was talking about Brother David, the man that injured me… but I have decided to forgive him.” This surprises Bea to a degree ”You have??” This raises an eyebrow with Vinnie. ”Oh no of course not, who do you think I am??” Bea scratches her head ”But you said….” Causing Vinnie to shake his head ”No you must have misunderstood me Sister Bea, I said I have decided to forgive him but only after I have given him the justified punishment in brotherly love.” Bea looks puzzled ”Now I can understand that you want to get even with him for injuring your leg. But….” Vinnie once again waves his hand to interrupt Bea ”You don’t understand one damn bit!!! He taught me the wise lesson of loving though neighbour, something I have forgotten for such a long time… as I took it all for granted Bea… Do you understand that??” Bea wants to say something, but Vinnie continues ”No, of course you don’t. Because it’s something personal, something that we share without even uttering a damn word. I intend to make things so personal that it will make him regret the moment that he showed me how tough his love for me really was.” He sighs, closing his eyes as he puts the glass to his mouth and swallows the remainder in one swift move. Wiping his mouth with he back of his other hand before turning his attention towards Bea with a smile. ”It’s time to show the world the true meaning of Brother Vinnie’s love…. And what better to make an impact against a man that is also a former World Heavyweight champion.”
With that Vinnie walks off as he enters the room, standing still for a moment or two after closing the door behind him and feeling the coolness of the AC blowing into his room. He feels some of the sweat slowly start to evaporate before walking towards an ice bucket with a bottle inside of it. He grabs the bottle and a glass next to the bucket, he quickly pushes the button on top off the bottle and pours the liquid in the glass. He puts the glass to his mouth and takes a few sips before screwing the button back on the bottle and places it back into the ice bucket. ”I cannot remember the last time where I had a positive track record as of late Mac. You don’t mind me calling you that do you?? Because I would hate it if I did something that would cause you to get upset, or even worse turn into a foul waterfall of profanity… it’s quite disturbing and unnecessary to be honest, now I can understand the quick thought of pointing out the language that spat out of my mouth to my Amigo Fenris… but then again, we are so well acquainted to each other that we have nothing to hide, as true friends respect the truth…. Even if they are truly hurtful…. But who has said that the truth should only be fun??” He takes a few moments as he allows the words to sink in before continuing. ”We are clearly at a stage of our careers where it is merely a feeling out process isn’t it Mac?? I would prefer to call you my brother, but first you have to earn my love.” He shakes his head as he feels the wetness of his hair cling to his face. ”And I will have no problems become predictable if your thoughts of the subject will make you respond to me that you do not wish to feel my love in the first place…. And even though I respect people’s opinions, I do not care about the why and how you will resist your internal struggle for my affection.” He takes a few sips of the cold glass of water that appeared to be inside the bottle. ”I have accepted the fact that some people like you are too stubborn to hold onto that what they have grown accustomed to. Whether it is the upbringing or the desire to resist and rebel against all that they have known from their youth…. But in the end it all ends up to the same struggle Mac…. The fact that you do not wish to open your mind to reality that there are those who are different…. Such a shame…. Just like Brother David, who apparently needs to learn from his mistake once again.”
”But I realize that educating the masses with patience and understanding is the way to go Mac, whether you succeed the first time or not… the key to the matter is that you shall not give up or submit defeat. Because let’s face it my amigo in potential…. The key is mind over matter… and my mind exceeds that of you and even that of Brother David….” Vinnie shakes his head in agreement to the words that he just mentioned, as if it was a tale that is true that needs to be told. ”I know that people always seek for explanations of why things happen to them or others the way they do. And to be honest, I was just like that. A mistake that is easily made for people like you, because people like you are too stuck in things that they know that works… But tell me, how often has it worked for you as of late??” He smirks, taking a final sip of the water as he empties the glass in the end. He places the water back next to the ice bucket and turns around. He takes off the shirt and tosses it over a chair before grabbing a towel as he wipes off his face and then grabs a new shirt. He pushes the shirt down his upper body before dropping down on a couch near to him.
”I know that the term people like you is a very sensitive statement to be made, because people seek excuses to point their fingers to others so that they can hide their insecurity and ignorance. Because you are a man that has onloy one point of view, yours…. And I respect that… I applaud you for being one that wishes to stand out between each other person that does what we do…., but sadly that makes you a one dimensional character. And it’s up to me to prove you wrong just like Alex Jones did… twice…” He smiles as he closes his eyes ”I know that you will shake it off, telling me nonsense and you don’t care. But I want you to care, I want you to show the fact that you are a man of feelings and doubt. Because lets face it, everyone loses every now and then…. And winners like you don’t like that do you…. But this time there’s a difference I can tell…” Vinnie pouts his lips for a few moments before showing his bright white teeth ”Because when I beat you, oh yes. It’s not IF amigo in training, it is WHEN… it will make you realize that your way of thinking has been wrong when it comes down to the truth of Brotherly Love…. And that is something that I wish to inflict upon you as it is my destiny to make you see the reality and the light so to speak. It will be my pleasure to change your mind, even if it will take me longer than this special Halloween Occasion. ” He slowly reopens his eyes as he stares into the camera with a serious look ”I know it is a treat for children, I know it is the night where one of the most memorable horror franchises in cinema history. Just imagine the sharp blade of my intensity will make you realize that so far you have done well my amigo in prospect. But in the end, doing well does allow you to win much…. But when you come to my intensity there is more than you have to do than doing well.”
“I intend to cut you down, I intend to have you run around the dark paths of whatever forest or abandoned city of doubt that will haunt you. I have been sitting on the wayside for too long amigo and you will find out why… I have been satisfied with my past achievements, I have been allowing my cockiness to tell me and soothe my ego that my luck will return one day…. And now I realize that I have to fight for every given opportunity…. And once again, the only one that you will have to blame for it all is the man that you responded upon twitter.”
“Tell me Mac, did you felt the need to find compassion with a man that injured me?? Or were you seeking someone that would pat you on the shoulder and tell you that you have done well?? Because that tells me that you aren’t who you proclaim to be. You are blinded by the fact that I had done something wrong?? Oh how simplistic to not understand how true love heals the ones that are troubled Mac… You do not see the fact that it hurt me more than it did him…. Because I did not see him getting assaulted by yours truly, I saw myself getting injured over and over again and not understanding why…. Until I finally figured it out and that made me thankful. But that’s again something you do not understand... Because just like you this week, I want him to open his eyes and make him understand!! That I need to wake him up!! That I need to forgive him the way that only a BROTHER could when he LOVES his other BROTHER!! But I will make you understand, I will give you the opportunity after our match to thank me…. Because if you don’t…. Well, ask David about that…. “
He smiles as the shot slowly fades.
