Glass

The Return of Mr. Smiley

I'm going for a walk.

Lu is now back in the square room, sleeping. I can't trust him right now, and I know I won't sleep tonight. I quietly shut the door to the square room behind me and start down the hallway. The harsh lights attached to the ceiling blare into my eyes, but at this point, I'm used to it. I blink a few times and continue forwards.

Forest

I stop as I see the scribbled label above one of the doors.

"Where were you?"

"I was in the forest zone. Don't worry, I stayed in sight of the door."

I frown and take a step towards it. I remember that day. I checked in the forest zone, and Lu wasn't there.

So, where did he go?

"I know... I know it's hard. And I know I lied, but..."

I reach up and run my fingers over the scratched words.

"I was thinking... what about the key?"

"What about it?"

"Can we use it to get out of here? To get out of hell?"

"What else did you lie about?" I whisper.

"You need to get to Toby."

I set my hand on the doorknob.

"And listen, there's something else Kanna. Something you need to know about Lu."

I stop. I take my hand away, and turn around, putting the door to my back. I can't talk to Vanessa, even if I could find Toby's body, I can't trust her...

I look back, biting my lip. But I can't trust Lu, either.

So what am I supposed to do?

⧫ ⧫ ⧫

Vanessa rubs her eyes, yawning. She barely notices Matthew coming into the room.

"We're being shut down."

"Hmm?"

"They're telling you to stop."

Vanessa slowly twirls in her chair, a frown spreading across her face. "What do you mean?" She says slowly.

"I mean you have to stop trying. You have to give up on Kanna." Matthew crosses his arms and stares at her apprehensively, his eyes fearful.

Vanessa laughs. "Yeah, right. Like they can tell me what to do."

Shock drops Matthew's jaw to the floor. "They'll make you, you know. They'll force you to stop."

Vanessa squints at him and bites her lip. "Good point." She looks up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

And then a thin smile takes over her face. "I have an idea."

⧫ ⧫ ⧫

I shove open the door, warily looking into the forest zone.

I have no idea how I'm going to do this. The whole thing is filled with vines that want to crush me, and I don't know where Toby was buried. It could take me months just to find him.

I step inside, ignoring the shivers of doubt creeping up my spine.

It doesn't matter how long it takes. In reality, I have all the time in the world.

"Kanna."

I jump as a familiar voice sounds from behind me. I turn around, slowly. I gasp as I see the black skin dripping over me. A cruncher... But it's not normal, it's covered with flaps and jagged edges like it's been ripped open. Black liquid oozes out of each tear in the skin. Its skull looks bashed in so that its head is lopsided. I stare at the crooked smile and my eyes widen. "Mr. Smiley?"

A red light pulses from him with my words. The cruncher gives a slow and uneven nod. "Yes. Follow now." Mr. Smiley starts to move into the forest.

I cautiously follow him, looking apprehensively into the canopy for vines.

"No worry. I protect." 

I move closer to the broken creature, nodding. I stare at the liquid oozing out of him. "What happened to you?"

"Master angry."

I frown at him. "Master? Who is your master?"

"Lu."

I stare at my feet as we move forwards. "Lu did this?" I whisper, my eyes wide. "But... why?"

"Quiet. We being listened to."

I frown, then close my mouth. Who could be listening?

Suddenly, Mr. Smiley stops. I freeze just in time, almost crashing into him. I look around his tall figure to see him pointing towards a spot on the ground where the grass is all dug up.

"Here. Body."

I look at him for a moment, then nod and step forward.

This is it.

Toby is under there.

An image of his mangled body slips into my head, but I push it away and sit on the ground. I don't have a shovel. How did Lu do this? He didn't have one either... I start pushing up dirt with my hands, praying that Toby isn't buried deep.

I feel something wet land in my hair, and I see long black hands reaching over me and digging into the soil. I move out of the way and watch as Mr. Smiley starts clearing dirt, shoveling it through his legs like a dog.

A really tall, fast, scary dog.

If I wasn't thinking about his long fingers scraping against Toby's dead body, I might've even laughed.

Finally, after Mr. Smiley has a dug a few feet underground, I start to see gray, rotted skin appear. A horrid smell instantly fills the air. I bend over and throw up, clutching my nose. I've never smelled anything so terrible before. Mr. Smiley uncovers and entire arm, and then rips the rest of Toby out of the ground. The arm comes off in doing so.

I throw up again as the sound of bones cracking tears through the air.

And then once more as I see Toby's rotted eyes, still staring up at the sky. I quickly stumble forwards, trying to hold in what's left of the contents of my stomach as I put a hand into his pocket. I just have to find a speaker and then get the hell out of here... I rip through his clothes, every so often taking a moment to gag and cough out nothing. My stomach is empty at this point. His flesh feels squishy against my fingertips. I tear his shirt off of his stomach and watch as a small black dot falls out of his sleeve.

"Yes!" I grab it and shove it in my ear, standing up quickly and backing away from Toby. "Hello? Vanessa?" I wait for a moment, still plugging my nose with one hand.

There's no answer.

No... no, please work... "Vanessa?"

"That thing's not gonna do anything for you, you know."

I frown. That voice didn't come from my ear, it came from...

I spin around and my jaw drops as I see who's standing behind me.

"Hello, Kanna. Nice to actually meet you."

Author's Note:

Who is the mysterious person? I'd love to hear your predictions! As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to vote and comment!