Daddy's a Serial Killer

Chapter 4 - Issac and the Clown

"Hello!"

A colorful clown stood in front of the little boy, offering a friendly smile. "Hello Issac! I'm your new imaginary friend! Laughing Jack!"

Issac smiled so happily that night. And Laughing Jack loved that little smile of his. An imaginary friend, made from angels, sent down to be his best friend. So Issac would never be alone.

He didn't know when it happened. When he started to feel... iffy. They were connected in a lot of ways. Laughing Jack was connected to his friend. Everything he felt, Jack felt.

"Kill it."

He had been looking down at the neighbor's cat when Issac had said that. He would have felt remorse a couple of years ago.

But as he squeezed it within his hands, he didn't feel much of anything while doing it. Except for a slight hint of joy clawing its way up his back.

He felt icky later. Scrubbed at his hands feverishly to try and get the blood off. He should go back to heaven soon. Killing that cat wasn't okay.

A week later, Issac, his dearest friend, delivered some bad news. "I'm being sent away because of the cat. They think it was me. And I dunna how to tell them it was you. They don't think that you're real. And I can't take your box with me. They said it's been making me act weirder than usual."

"What, no, you can't leave me!" Laughing Jack whined, grasping onto his hands. "We're supposed to play together forever! You and me! I shouldn't have done those games with you, so you could have stayed here!"

"But the games were fun! Did you see the look on the neighbors face when they found their cat?" Issac leaned closer. "I'll come back to grab you in a few weeks. I promise."

So Laughing Jack took one last look at his friend as he started to climb within the box. Issac holding a trustful smile.

"I can't get out without someone to open my box, do you promise you'll come back?" He asked quietly.

Another bright smile. One so cheerful. One Laughing Jack always tried to give him. "Yup!"

And with that, he closed the lid.

The colorful clown sat within his world, looking out at Issac's room as he waited. He'd come back. He promised!

Days turned into a week. Then two. He would arrive any minute now! Laughing Jack played with some dolls in his world, just waiting for the arrival to show up. Any moment. Issac would walk through those doors. And they could play again!

Two weeks turned to three. Okay. Maybe he was just a little bit late.

Four weeks. A month now.

Laughing Jack nervously tapped on the ground. Very late now. But he was sure Issac didn't forget about him. He's just extremely late. That's fine.

Month turned plural. At that point Laughing Jack tried screaming to get the parents attention. Only to realize his voice didn't carry out of the box. So he tried breaking out. Tried to move the box off of the shelf to open.

But the box couldn't be influenced from the inside.

Months turned to a year. Then two. Then three. At that point Laughing Jack was a hysterical mess. Crying and sobbing, begging for anyone to open the box. His nails bled from clawing at the ground.

Wasn't his outfit more colorful last year?