Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-26506868-20160619185037

The Smile Man By Solot Vi (ThisDarkNight Crew)

I remember it very clearly. It was ages ago when it happened though. It was the last day of 6th Grade and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was bored out of their mind. There was a group of us down at the baseball field playing kickball while the teachers "Watched" us, aka messed around on their phones while we played. It wasn't long until we were 4 or 5 rounds in. Now before I go any further, I gotta explain something. There was this kid, and he was weird. Now I mean he wasn't a cultist or anything, but he was usually quiet, kept to himself a lot, sometimes he'd show up to school with bruises, and we all sort of knew that    his Mom was dishing them out, but he would deny it ever happening when we questioned him about it. He liked books to, always had one on him. Anyways, the kid was standing in the back watching 3rd base with a book in hand, not really paying much attention to the game. Now my friend Amy was standing on 2nd base, eyes trained on 3rd with a look of exhaustion plastered on her face. I was on the pitchers mound, and the kid took one look at Amy and he stepped aside, leaving the base wide open for her, much to the disappointment of his teammates. I winked at him then turned around and rolled the ball straight to the kid on home. What happened next was a mixture of people screaming at Amy to move, and people screaming at me to tag Amy. Amy however, wasn't moving an inch. She was standing there, half way to 3rd base, staring blankly at the ground. It took me a few minutes to realize WHY she was staring though. The kid was missing. His shoes were still siting in the dirt, next to his book, but the kid himself was gone. It was like he had vanished off the face of the earth. It was right around then that everyone else realized why she stopped as well. The teachers rushed over to see what was going on, but none of us were speaking. We were dumb struck. Amy started screaming about "The Smile" over and over, kids backed away from her thinking she had gone mad, and I just stood there on the pitch, confused and scared.

It had been about three weeks after that when Amy showed up at my house. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. I let her in, and she walked straight to my room motioning for me to follow. As I did I began to realize that something about her wasn't right, and it's only now that I know what it was. She was mumbling under her breath the whole time. I walked into my room, shut the door behind me and sat on my bed and stared at her. "We need to find him." Amy said. "How are we supposed to find him? We don't even know where he went, and the search parties looked for two straight weeks with no sign of him." I replied with a twinge of worry in my voice. "I know where he is. He's at Blackdash." Amy said in the same monotone voice she had been using since we started talking. Now allow me to explain what Blackdash is for you. Blackdash was a lumber building  that had been burned down in an arson attack by some extremist tree worshipers who didn't think it through as much as they should have, because the fire had not only burned the lumber place to bits, it took out some trees as well. There was only one casualty in that fire, a man named Jerry Caudle had gotten trapped by a fallen piece of wood. Out of his whole body, the only thing still un-burnt was his teeth, which were only slightly browned. The place is supposed to be off limits, but teens will be teens and we wanted to go check it out to be cool or something. "Blackdash? How do you even know he's there?" I asked. "Because that's where he is." She replied. "OK fine. I'll go on one condition.  You tell me what you saw that day." I whipped back without thinking. It was then that she showed the first sign of emotion she had since getting there... Fear. She put her hands on over here ears and fell to her knees, and started whispering "The smile isn't right. The smile isn't right." Over and over and over. I was starting to hope she didn't say anything about what she say, if this is what it would do to me. "Amy it's OK I don't care anymore let's just g-" She cut me off before I could finish my sentence. "You had turned around to throw the ball, he looked back at me, and right as the ball left your hand, He grinned this wide smile, like there was some kind of joke I wasn't getting. Then he evaporated. In thin air." She finished with a look up at me with tears in her eyes that said she wasn't lieing. It explained at least a little why she was talking about the Smile. "OK. OK, we can go.  Let me get changed, and grab some stuff, and we can go." I replied knowing that if I pushed any further, she might just break.

Half an hour later, and we were on our way to Blackdash, flashlights and compass in hand. It was starting to get darker and darker as we neared Blackdash, and by the time we had made it there, it was well past 11:30 PM. "Amy I swear to god if he isn't here, and I get grounded, you owe me a 2 Liter of Coke." I mumbled under my breath, before taking a sip from my can of Mountain Dew. And then it came into sight. The Dash Company Lumber Building, looking as decrepit as always. I didn't realize she had stopped until I ran straight into her, and dropped my Dew on the ground. "Damn it Amy... A little warning would be ni-" yet again I was cut off, but not by Amy this time. No no, this time I was cut off by a laughter. It sounded distorted, like it was coming from underwater. I'd be lieing if I said my underwear was entirely dry at that moment. I looked over at her and realized that she was just as terrified as I was. "What the fu-" I went to say before being shushed. Amy had recollected herself and started moving forward twords Blackdash. I stared at her back for a few seconds before even making a move. As we got closer and closer, the laugh got louder and louder, until it was almost unbearable. I looked over at Amy, and it was like she was unaware that there was even any laughter at all. But as I turned back to look ahead, I got a glimpse into what can only be described as the face of hell itself. He was there, just like Amy said, but I doubt it was really him. His face... Dear god his face was just... Wrong. A smile had been burned into his cheeks. He had been laughing that distorted laugh the whole time, but as Amy walked into his view it stopped. "Hellllllooooooooo." He said, his voice just as distorted yet sounding like he was on the verge of laughter again. "Awwww, Whats with the long face? Don't you know how to SMILE?" He said as he burst into laughter again. I stared to take a few steps backwards. Clearly something wasn't right here, and I wanted no part in whatever was happening. "Listen buddy, I don't know what's going on but you need help. Come home with us and we'll help you." I said, the fear very clear in my voice. "Oh No No No No No No. I'm feeling fiiiiine.  Trust me." Those last words made it clear that he didn't intend to let us leave so soon. The edge of blood lust in his voice was clear. "Amy. Amy we need to leave now." I said. She didn't move, just kept staring at him. "Amy please. I don't wanna stay here anymore.  We need to go." She stood stiff as a board. "I'm not leaving." She said. "What? Are you kidding me?  You can't stay here with that thing!" I yelled as tears welled up in my eyes. "Ladies Ladies, don't talk like I'm not here. Come on.  Take a seat and relax." He said as he started laughing again. I then began to notice someone else was there with us. Someone was standing behind the kid. I could see anything but their teeth, showing in an almost comical grin. When the kid talked, the teeth moved as well, just repeating "Kill them." Over and Over. The kid took one step twords me, and I bolted not looking back for a second. I didn't stop running till I made it home. His laughter still ringing in my ears. I burst through my front door, only to run straight into a police officer. There were two of them. Talking with my Mom, while my other Mom upstairs standing in the stairwell. I said something along the lines of "Their at Blackdash." Before passing out.

According to what I gathered in the next few weeks, they didn't find the kid or Amy. All they found were Amy's shoes, left sitting there in the ashes. I never went back, and never spoke about the smiles that I saw. No one would have believed me anyways. A lot of people said I was part the whole mystery. It's been ages since then, but lately I've been having these nightmares where all I can hear is this ear splitting laughter. I've decided to go back to Blackdash. Whatever happens there, I know I'll see Amy. I know I'll see the kid. And I know that they'll be smiling just like they were all those years ago. And to whomever finds this note, run from the laughter. It's not from this world. It can't be. 