"What do you mean I have to take it off?" Nadine asked her mother.
"If you're going to live with me and your father, then you have to obey our rules. Now take that filthy wicked thing off right this instance, young lady," Laura ordered.
"No! There's nothing wrong with wearing a spiked collar!" Nadine yelled.
"Now see here ..." her father (Roger) began.
"Just leave me alone! I ... I hate you!" Then Nadine turned around and rushed to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Laura and Roger exchanged bewildered looks. What had gotten into Nadine? Up until now, she was the perfect daughter. Proper, conservative, Godly ... just like them. But now, all of a sudden, she was ... rebelling? Why? And why was she so attached to that evil wicked thing around her neck?
"What's this?" Roger said, picking up a small black bag from the floor. Nadine must have dropped it when she ran to her bedroom. He turned it around and saw the name of the store in white lettering. "The Occult Stop?"
Laura grabbed the bag from her husband. "What was our daughter doing in that filthy place?"
"She was buying something," he answered.
"They must have done something to her. Made her buy something. Haven't I told you? That place is evil. I've made complaints, told the city to shut that place down, but somehow it's still there. They must be using witchcraft or something."
"You don't think you're jumping the gun a bit?"
"They've brainwashed our daughter, Roger! I am definitely not overreacting."
"So what do you want to do? Call the police?"
"No. We can handle this ourselves." She paused. "Get the Bible."
"You mean the one that ..."
"Yes."
Roger nodded, then got the oldest Bible in their house. Being devout Baptists, they had more than one "Good Book", but this was special because it belonged to Laura's great-great grandfather. She cherished it, but only used it in cases where she was going up against great evil. After what that store did to her daughter, it seemed appropriate to use it now.
Her husband handed her the Bible, before both of them headed out the door to their car. Then they headed to that evil wicked store where Nadine bought her first spiked collar.
Nadine punched a pillow. Why did her parents have to be so unfair? They always got along so well with each other. Why couldn't they see that wearing a spiked collar was a good thing? It's like they didn't understand her or something.
She fingered the spikes on her collar, loving the feel of it on her neck. Before she drifted off to sleep, she was thinking about wearing it to school the next day. She was sure that her friends Tina and Paul would be much more understanding than her parents. They may even want to buy ones for themselves. Well, Nadine knew exactly where they could go to buy them.
