Devil's Night: The Hunt for Laughing Jack

II: DANSE MACABRE (Pt. 2)

II: DANSE MACABRE (Pt. 2)
(This chapter is dedicated* to 50ShadesOfFandomzXD for being a fabulous friend!)
<*Dedicated at heart, since it's still not a thing on the app.>

Smiley stopped by a bowled-over chest of drawers, absorbing the train wreck of a room's details with wide eyes. Beds overturned, pale blankets pooling underneath splintered furniture and a fallen door. Twinkling puzzle pieces of broken window casting minute rainbows on the floor. Gorges in the walls, three inches deep.

"You didn't do any of this?"

Stealing a guilt-ridden glance at the dejected door, which Dark Link struggled to drag somewhere it wouldn't be a tripping hazard, Jeff and Smirky adamantly shook their heads.

"Nope. The door was definitely already busted when I got here."

(Smirky elbowed him in the rib) "We didn't touch the door. I swear it to you on my brother's meaningless life."

The not-so-good doctor, hands on hips, cocked an eyebrow. "I am your brother."

"Exactly."

"He's lying!" Jeff quickly exclaimed, "He-"

The crazy killer cried 'ow!', as Smirky jutted out his elbow again, harder. "I withdraw my statement, governor..." he groaned.

Smiley's steely composure melted. "We'll talk about dealing out punishment for the violent destruction of mansion property later. Right now?"

His eyes were drawn upwards to the ceiling, where a drab light fixture swung, torn out of its socket. Their only source of lighting was a poor one; the jack-o-lantern.

"We have to find L.J's box. Spread out and start searching!"

"You think he might be hiding in it?" Dark Link inquired hopefully, stepping away from his handiwork. (Instead of trying to move the heavy object, the shade had pulled it onto its side and stacked it alongside the wall.)

Smiley sounded determined. "Yes. If he got attacked by apparitions, he would've hid in his box. Even if he did fend them off, he might've hidden there in case they came back."

Since the jack-in-a box wasn't in its usual place on L.J's toy shelf (between the straw-stuffed ragdoll and the creepy china dolly which Eyeless Jack swore moved on its own), nor was anything else, for that matter, they split and searched sections of the room.

"What do you think did all this?" Jeff wondered.

"A demon's demons," Dark Link said darkly.

"A rabid fangirl or fanboy," Smirky said causally.

The shade and the nutcase stopped rooting through a pile of shredded curtain ribbons (with sharp teeth marks on the railing) and looked at him oddly.

"What?" the illusionist said, pointy teeth flashing in and out of view, "I was only joking. Don't you understand dry humour?'

"You could've done this," Dark Link stated, kicking the bitten curtain rail over for emphasis, "With those illusions of yours, you could've attacked him like a pack of rabid wolves."

"Ah, I'm flattered. But why would I wait until tonight to do it?"

"Is that a confession?"

"No, it's merely curious speculation. If you were right, and I did do all of..." Smirky gestured around the wrecked room, "this, then why wait until the night before Halloween?"