S M I L E

Chapter 2: Curiosity will kill the..

A week had passed, more and more of the normality of which Cassio was raised upon had slipped away bit by bit. Her father had started ignoring her more as the days passed, her mother began leaving the home more consistently always returning with more groceries even as the house was stocked perfectly. Even her grandmother had stopped her insults for most of the time.
However this simply put the young girl on edge much more than before, her eyes would never stray far from her family. Asha would stop going outside at times and had begun needing to be coaxed out to avoid accidents as if he were fearful of something, just like his human is. The news anchors would become much more fretful as these days wasted by.
However it seemed to get worse as one morning her parents had left to fetch her grandfather from the airport.
By that night they hadn't returned
Nor the night after
Or after
Her grandmother was next to leave, speaking of needing to find her husband and the parents. Sadly she hadn't returned by that night.
Upon the tv was static alone as Cassio wandered to it curious if she may get answers from the news by chance but she hadn't expected what would be shown. There when she adjusted the channel was chaos and people screaming, death upon every screen, fear painting faces as blood painted the cameras at times.
Her eyes were wide and tear struck as she watched, a noise almost like static came from the tv below the chaos. It was almost words, words she would learn to follow.
'Smile dears, the broadcast awaits'
    Slowly her smile curled at the edges of her mouth fear prominent in her gaze as slowly she looked away, her eyes falling on the shadow in her window as it drifted by. A stutter, almost a quiet gasp of air , left her lips as the potential words died in her throat. Screaming is the sound that followed, a human scream from outdoors followed by many more.
    Chaos rose outside her doors as specks of shadow appeared behind her curtains dark against the light of the afternoon sun. She scrambled to her feet a movement faster than her brain could process as she ran across the worn carpet avoiding falling as it slipped over the creaky wooden boards. There at the backdoor she tripped almost missing the handle as she yanked open the door seeking the dog she had just put outside moments before.
    But he wasn't there, he wasn't in the yard he was over the fence.. He was over the chain link fence laying on his side as his head was curled under his tail.. Her panic arose more as the shadow of something cast upon her, a round floating shadow.
    'Smile'
    It came to her mind again, so she followed the advice of the static and slowly raised her head a smile plastered over her fear even as her lips twitched down at the edges. The balloon, the smile balloon stared down at her for seconds.. The seconds felt like minutes to the girl before slowly it returned to its slow docile float leaving her there stunned by the absolute fear. Her eyes stayed locked upon the balloon for a few seconds after before swiftly she hurried back to her desperate dash to the fence as she reached over it almost tipping over.
    The moment her hands brushed over the grey matted fur of her dog a distinct iron scent arose from the body as her hand recoiled covered in a rust colored wetness....
    "No... nonono NO NONO ASHA PLEASE- PLEASE PUPPY WAKE UP- THIS ISNT FUNNY ASHA," her voice wailed as grief washed across her heart. The body didn't move even with her pleaing cries it simply rolled from her touches as its tail fell from its.. Lack of face.
    There was Asha, his face a mush of gray matter and his two blue eyes strewn in the mix of innards and what appeared to be rubbery bone marrow.. The fur around his face was singed and smelt of rot almost as flies buzzed around the body already seeking to lay their eggs upon the fresh wounds.
    Despite the gorey muddle of puppy she still got over the fence and gathered the mess of matted fur and carcass into her arms before trying to get over the fence with him not a single thought aside from getting him to safety. Only when she felt the cold drip upon her flesh did her nerves acknowledge the dangers.. The cold turned burning slowly as the acid dripped down her shoulder.
    Her eyes darted up landing on the creature floating slowly above her its smile wider than the balloons as its body dribbled down upon her sending pain soaring through her skin. Quickly she forced a smile and ran towards her house her body on fire and her mind racing from the pain it caused. Her mind could barely react as she dodged strange white ropes that sprang from the ground they twisted and flailed before slowly returning to the dirt.
    Once she managed to get her feet below her once again she rushed to the earlier opened door quickly slamming it behind her and shutting the drapes to avoid the smiling things again.
    Finally she slowly looked towards her shoulder, her eyes wide as her muscles pulsed with her blood and the bones below glinted red and slightly yellow as pus dripped from the blisters the acidic heat had caused. Her throat croaked out a scream of agony from the feeling, her hands moving to claw at the skin in a desperate attempt to rid her body of the pain. Though she heard a sound behind her, a male voice as hands grabbed hers. It wasn't a man she knew however..
    There he stood, a bright smiling man with hair the same shade as the balloons. His clothes looked much like a 80's ringleader almost as his gloved hands held tight to hers from behind her.
    "Well hello, seems i was right to drift upon your home my dear child," he spoke with a sound eerily animalistic his words dripping with a honey like poison. "Now.. why don't I take you to clean those wounds my dear brothers left you with?"
    She felt at ease oddly, her mind calming at the words even as her instincts protested. Her head lulled into a slow nod as he led her to the sink placing her dead dog upon the counter where she will be able to tend to him at a later date. The mans hands lifted a washrag wetting it under the faucet before he slowly dapped at her wounds his movements soft and methodical as the pain almost melted away as shock set in her mind leaving her dead silent despite the peculiarity of the situation at hand. The only sound in the room was the soft hum of the man and the faucet as he continued his slow cleaning.
    She could barely feel as his hands touched at the exposed muscle and bone as her mind processed the insanity of which today had brought upon her. Her entire life has been ripped from her grasp as her realization hits, not one of sadness nor anger but of pure happiness a happiness no child should need to wish for.
    "..im free," she murmured, a whisper of breath as relief flooded her senses before the sharp contrast of pain exploded within her again. The man's face twisted to shock for a second as she pulled away from his grasp.
    "Now now my child I am not done cleaning your wounds," He chuckled pulling her back even as her mind registered the open wounds finally. Her body recoiling from the touch of the scratching rag, her eyes wide and blood shot.
    "OW-" she managed to say pushing him away and without a second of thought putting her hand on the open wound before screaming again from the searing pain, her arm spasmed from it as her muscles couldn't decide what best to do to rid of the agony. The dirty wash cloth seemed to do more harm than good as small hairs from the washrag clung to her wounds leaving a sticky residue.
    "My you humans are always so Dramatic, its simply a small wound." he almost seemed to purr as he watched her writhe in pain. But he smiled and took the rag placing it in the sink again as his hands opened the drawers seeking any type of bandaging. "Such frail things, i see why there has been little resistance.."
    Eyes gazed through the kitchen window at them as his words processed in her mind, taking ages almost before her eyes darted to his face.. "What do you mean?.." her voice shook, it was barely over a whisper. A sharp intake of breath leaves her as his smiling face looms over her for seconds before he speaks again.
    "Don't worry your little head over it, now than lets cover that shall we?" a low chuckle left his throat as he grabbed her arm with a grip almost gentle even if its colder than a humans hand. His other hand slowly wrapped the wound covering it with not a care in the world as if it were only a simply paper cut and not a pus filled melted away mess. Involuntary flinches nearly messed the dressing up. His face dared not show any anger.
    Minutes passed before she felt slightly more confident to move, her eyes locking onto the mass of fur and blood on the kitchen counter..
    "Asha..-" She wretches a scream as she runs to his body yanking her hand back from his fur as the gray matter stained her fingers. By accident she had touched at the head of her dead dog and not his fur.
    "Ah yes, that creature. You had been so intent to hold onto that thing that you even risked your body," He purred, his voice a bored lull devoid of care for the animal that she loves so dearly. His eyes watched as the young girl attempted to rip open drawers seeking items unknown to him.
"No- no where is it?" Her voice was a whine as she kept searching before finding what she was seeking, a small sewing kit the size of the man's hand. Her small legs carried her back across the kitchen towards the counter where her beloved pet laid dead.
"Oh? Now what is that my dear?" His smile grew curiously as her hands outstretched to the lump of fur shifting the body of her lifeless mutt around so she could attempt to fix the wounds and acidic streaks of patchy fur.
Minutes passed, an hour even as she worked diligently. Even as her fingers bled and her eyes grew damper, she did not yield in her attempt to make him hold together enough so she may say goodbye peacefully. She hadn't even payed mind the Balloon staring at her from nearby as he grit his teeth bemused by her need to fix him and her blatant ignoring of his earlier question.
She had failed to notice the creature that as well lingered near, a light by the color of red pulsed in almost an angelic way its words muffled as it spoke purely to her, echoing within her very being. Its words met no one but her as her movement shifted much more fluid before she paused as the time hit 3 o'clock.

(Hey everyone! Sorry this took awhile to come out, the chapters probably will take awhile to come out each time due to working on this all in my google docs! If you worry this is taking longer than usual feel free to comment or dm me!
Signed from your ever undying author,
Nex)