Please, Kill Me (Jeff the Killer x Reader)

Chapter 6 ✓

A/N: The artwork of Laughing Jack above is not mine. Credits to Cxndy-Cat on DevianArt.

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"Yes, right kiddo. How about we try this toy?"

I gazed upon the gallows looming in front of me. It felt as though an invisible hand were pressing against my back, pushing me toward the platform.

"Isn't that the toy you've wanted to play with all along?" The raspy voice rang in my ear—a cold, predatory whisper. It was a cruel irony: a clown who didn't want to make me laugh, but instead wanted to laugh at my demise.

"Yes," I breathed. "But I have reasons to stay before.."

"But now, there is nothing. You are alone, aren't you, kiddo? You hurt everyone you loved... and watched your parents. And did you do anything? No. You just watched. Oh and also you even let go your friend.. how sad."

His mocking laughter was torturous, yet oddly satisfying in its bluntness. He was right. I was alone. There was nothing left to hold me back from the rope. I ascended the stairs, the rough, uneven texture of the hemp already grazing my skin. I looked down at the crowd. My family, my friends, my classmates—all of them stood there, silent and expectant.

"I'm sorry," I whispered and cried. "I'm so sorry to all of you."

"Oh, don't be," the clown's voice echoed through the abyss.

My hands trembled as I reached for the loop. Why am I hesitating? This was the finish line I had prayed for. So why I am shaking?

You have to live, Y/N. That's my wish.

I froze. My mother’s voice. I looked back into the crowd and saw her standing beside my father. They weren't glaring; there's no disgust in their eyes. There  is only a quiet, heartbreaking question: Y/N, why did you become like this?

"M-Mom..." I sobbed, dissapointed to myself. Like a lost child, I wanted to run to her, to feel their embrace that would wash the pain away.

"Don't! You don't need to do this, Y/N! You promised that you will reach your dreams to prove everyone wrong about you!" my best friend yelled from the crowd, reminding me of the past.. reminding me how my mind full of dreams.

Then the realization hit me like a physical blow. It wasn't the right time. Not in front of them. Not like this. I slowly let go of the rope and looked back at them. They wanted me to live, but I thought...

"Rest is what you want, not ending your life." I’d heard those words before.

"But... you don't understand! I—"

"Trust us," they whispered in unison. "You still want to live. You are far from the end of your book."

The words struck me, anchoring me back to existence. I didn't step into the noose. But I wondered: How long can I survive on words alone?

"I told you..."

Then suddenly a figure pushed through the crowd, the others vanishing like smoke as he approached. That ghastly, pale skin and the permanent, ear-to-ear grin were burned into my retinas. His lidless eyes stared coldly into mine.

"...to live, and to suffer."

"How could you choose a human as a pet, Jeff?"

"None of your business, clown."

The voices drifted into my consciousness. I felt weightless—My feet wasn't touching the ground. Is he carrying me? And then, the name clicked. Jeff. I’d heard it in the news, read it in the papers. Jeff the Killer. So I was right to call him Jeff in my mind.