When Laughter Dies( A Laughing Jack FanFic)

Chapter 3: Candy Man

     Sometimes in that crumbling yellow house, that cemetery of porcelain women, the night would speak... Whispers traveling throughout the dark. These quiet voices only began once the two siblings had arrived, following them with persistent chatter; always standing in the shadows of their room. The light of the day had long since passed and dark hours sat comfortably, the moon shining down on the small town and the people residing there, all of which were fast asleep.. All expect for one. 

    Sam sat perched in his bed, pulling a quilt that smelled strongly of decay all the way up his body so only his eyes were visible over the patterned blanket.  He stared at something that moved in the pitch black of the small closet diagonal from him, his sister fast asleep in the bed just besides his own. The door of said closet was open only to the slightest degree but still, he saw him. A pair of eyes stared back at the boy. 

     Eyes nearly white. 

    Though they reminded the child not of the moon but of something far more grim, like the  color of bones or the paleness in a persons skin when the life inside them has long since left. Sam slowly dropped the blanket from his face and crept forward across the bed, offering a small hand to the man who hid in the shadows. 

"Jack! Are we going to go away now? Like you promised!?" the boy whispered excitedly, keeping his voice hushed in an attempt to not wake his sleeping sibling. 

     That creature in the darkness stared down at the child with a grin, a crooked gesture that displayed a row of pointed teeth. Slowly he stepped out of the closet, the small stream of moonlight escaping into the room through the window and allowing this monster to be seen. He was incredibly tall and had to lower his head in order to pass through the door, wisps of black hair brushing against the top of the wooden frame. He was pale, a complexion similar to that of a corpse and had lips and the area surrounding his eyes painted black.. Making him appear as if he belonged more to the dead than to this world. His nose was nothing but a swirled cone and he was clothed in a faded clown costume, no color to be seen on his apparel. That wicked smile remained to his lips and he ran his pointed fingers across the railing of the sleeping girl's bed, his eyes still intent on the boy in front of him. 

" Jack!" the boy called out once again, trying to get his apparent friend to speak. 

    Though the clown put a finger to his painted lips to silence Sam and offered his hand to the child, his white eyes eerily wide. With excitement Sam took his hand, beginning to carry himself off the bed. His feet hit the cold wooden floor below and the clown began to lead him into the shadows of the small closet, though the child soon halted. The creature turned and stared at the boy, tilting his head without any words. 

 " What about Chloe?" asked the boy, gesturing towards his sister. 

" It isn't time for her..." the creature whispered in return.

    Despite being friends with the clown, his voice still sent shivers up Sam's spine. Despite this, the child did not fear him, he simply feared the other boys.. The ones with rope necklaces that hid in mirrors and followed behind Sam like his own shadow would. Sam hesitated and kept in his place, still hovering between the empty space in his room and the closet door. 

" When will she get to come with us?" he questioned, a sorrow in his words.. He couldn't imagine leaving his sister behind. 

" Soon.. She'll get to play with us real soon," the clown promised, that same smile resettling across his face. 

    Sam gave one last glance towards his sleeping sister and nodded his head slowly, deciding to trust the word of his friend. Tightly he kept hold of the creature's hand and followed him into the shadows, the wooden door shutting behind them. 

    When Chloe awoke that morning, she was surprised to see she was alone in the room.. Her brothers bed left unmade and his blankets tossed onto the floor. As she sat up and glanced about, her eyes rested across a single sweet laying on the railing of her bed, displaying red plastic wrappings and the faintest hint of black paint.