When Laughter Dies( A Laughing Jack FanFic)

Chapter One: A Doll House 

     The children approached a graveyard. A cemetery where horribly outdated decor and porcelain dolls came to rest within fragments and broken remains, laid to death in glass cases or grand wooden hutches with dust ridden windows. It was a pitiful sight to see, a horrifying one as well; a Victorian home dressed in crumbling wooden walls that seemed so fragile it would turn to nothing but ruins at the first storm passing by. Sometime long ago it may have been beautiful, bright yellow and full of life. Though now the walls were pale and worn, similar to the elderly woman whom owned it. Miss Miller was the widowed wife of the children's uncle, and had very recently found herself the legal guardian of the two.. The children were siblings, the youngest being a boy of seven years of age, his name Samuel- or Sam as he preferred. The eldest was a girl named Chloe and she was fifteen, both being orphaned at the cruel hand of fate. Their parents had been murdered only a month prior.. A gruesome pair of deaths that had easily been described as the most sickening scene the entire state had seen in ages, an unsolved case that continued to flourish in newspapers and the local television programs. Both Sam and Chloe had been residing with a family friend for the past few weeks but had soon found they could no longer live under such hospitality and were forced to live with their aunt, a stern woman with absolutely no tolerable traits to be noted. 

     The siblings held onto each other's arms, staring up at the crumbling house they were expected to live in. From the front window, three sets of eyes stared- belonging to their cousins, Miss Miller's own children whom were in the most pleasant way to describe, quite similar in appearance to rats. They had the beady eyes and pinched noses of their mother, yet were round and plump from years of poor diet and lack of physical activity. From birth they had grew to enjoy life by being given everything they wished, their mother bending to their every demand. As Chloe and Sam stood there at the front gate of the cemetery, almost silently begging the house to be stuck by lightening so they could flee- a small woman came bursting out of the front door. She was just as they remembered her, narrow and hunched, and could easily be mistaken as a witch from a fairy tale. She hurried down the porch steps and across the dying brown grass to reach her brother's children, a smile plastering across her peeled lips. She dramatically threw her arms around the two, smelling strongly of flowers and fragrance. Both children laid awkwardly limp in her embrace, scrunching their faces as they waited for freedom. After a handful of minutes that seemed to stretch for hours, Miss Miller pulled away. 

" How I have missed you two! Of course I hate to see you under these circumstances... But we will make the best of this situation! Come now, we best get inside before dark. I've already begun to prepare supper," she croaked, putting her trembling hands on the backs of the two children and beginning to lead them up the stone pavement. 

     It was a period of silence when they entered the home. Neither of the siblings daring to speak, probably due to the fear of upsetting the dolls they soon met. From the second they walked in, they could see nothing but a sea of porcelain ladies.  Each one sat with poise, dressed eloquently in moth bitten dresses and petticoats, hair curled and lips painted in shades of red and pink. The walls were covered in old photographs, many of which were yellowing and curled at the edges. It smelled strongly of decay, as if even the inside of the house was beginning to die, giving in to the hand of the reaper. Chloe stepped carefully down the hall, glass eyes following her and her brother as they made their way to their new rooms. She drew in her breath as she passed each shelf, afraid that the dolls would attempt to steal her life at the chance. It was foolish she knew, though the way they stared so blankly was enough to make anyone uneasy. Her brother walked just as stiffly, staring straight ahead in order to avoid their glossy gazes. 

     They had successfully avoided speaking to their cousins and Miss Miller had left them to attend to dinner, leaving the two siblings blissfully alone. Chloe opened the door to the guest room(where they were now to live), stepping into a small space no larger than the size of a garden shed. Inside was kept a bunk bed and a desk to the corner, the only room that seemed to be free of fraying photographs and mindless ladies. Sam instantly retreated to the bottom bunk, throwing himself down on the mattress which squealed and cried in protest beneath him. He stared straight ahead before turning his head to look at his sister, an expression of hope and determination beginning to make way across his face. 

" We're gonna get out of here, I know it," he declared, nodding his head as to prove to himself it could be true. 

" I think we may just be stuck here, little dude.. We aren't really in the position to be booking five star hotels," Chloe answered quietly, a bit ashamed of herself to damper his excitement.

    She sat down on top of the desk and her younger brother quickly sat up, leaning forward so he could convince her. 

" He'll take us away from here. You'll see.. He promised.. He said you and I were special and he's gonna take us somewhere where there's a bunch of other children! Children like you and I, who don't have parents anymore either," Sam spoke, a smile beginning to form on his lips. 

" Who's he?" she gave in, deciding not to protest any longer. 

" His name is Jack.. He was a great clown once! Though he got left alone and turned grey.. But that's okay because he is still gonna take us to his happy place! You and I can stay there forever, he promised," the boy jabbered, laying back on the bed. 

" Ah.." Chloe murmured, realizing the situation. " Well tell him to hurry!" 

     Sam laughed and nodded his head, content with his sister's answer. Though she had decided her brother spoke nonsense, he had always been one to have many imaginary friends. Jack the clown must have been another. Not that she would tell Sam he was being caught up in another dream, his hope was the only light between the two of them. 

" He's gonna take us away," Sam whispered, his voice sounding almost as dead as the house they sat in.