Painted Smile: The Return of Jeffery Woods

Twisted brothers...

Becky and Amy answered the door as they heard the doorbell ring. They opened it to see a loving face. Their best friend, Jamila. Both girls squealed but then Amy then told them to be quiet so they didn't wake up Bella. They both welcomed her inside and all three friends sat on the sofa. Becky said with excitement in her voice, "Oh my gosh Jamila! It's been so long! Look at you!" Jamila laughed, "Becky I'm glad to see you too! After me and Amy heard about what happened a long time ago, we thought we'd never see you again. But here you are." Amy added with a smile, "Hey, why don't we talk about old times? When I say that I mean when we were thirteen." Jamila and Becky both agreed and Becky started, "Oh my gosh, Amy do you remember when you had a crush on that guy called Kieran?" Amy blushed and smiled awkwardly. "I do remember. Oh my god as if that was when we were thirteen." Jamila continued, "I can totally remember that. And do you remember that we used to call him KFC for a code name?" Amy, still blushing, nodded her head and laughed. Then she said, "Oh, do you guys remember what we said we were gonna be when we were older? We said that we would be a pop group, we'd call ourselves Dog Paws." Jamila and Becky laughed. "Oh I remember that alright," said Becky. Jamila added, "As if this all happened when we were thirteen. God, where did all that time go? So what have you been up to lately?" Jamila leant closer to Becky. Becky's smile had faded. Jamila added, "Hey, is everything alright?" Becky looked at Amy as if she was asking her to explain what's been happening. Amy then said, "Ok, I'll tell you what's been happening." Amy then began telling Becky's story. Not long after, Jamila stood up and paced forwards and backwards. "That sick bastard! Why would he do such a thing? Raping his own sister and her friend. Now you have a daughter who HE is the father of. What if she's just as crazy?" Becky then stood up. "Bella's not crazy. She's nothing like him, I can tell you that. When you look into her eyes you can see, a kind and warm hearted girl. She couldn't harm anyone. She's nothing like her father." Amy then added as she also stood up, "Yeah, and the worst part is that he's after both of you. You and Bella. She can't even go to sleep because she has nightmares of him every night. We have to do something about this." Becky questioned, "Like what? What could we possibly do about this? I'm not worried for myself, I'm worried for Bella. If he got his hands on her and something bad happened to her, it'd make me want to kill myself." Jamila placed her hand on Becky's shoulder, "That's never going to happen. You're strong, you've had to put up with your brother since we were thirteen, you can't give in now. Bella wouldn't want that. She wouldn't want that to happen." Becky took a deep breath. "So, what are we going to do then?" Both of the other friends stayed silent. Then something came to Amy's head, something she'd like to ask Jamila.

"Hey Jamila, how come you never came out of your house? You don't even let people in, why is that?" A smile then appeared on Jamila's face. "Well I guess I should tell you both. Do you remember that guy named Taylor?" Amy and Becky looked at each other, then Becky exclaimed, "Oh, was he one of KFC's friends?" Amy laughed. "You're still calling him KFC. Hahaha! I love it!" Becky giggled, "I've gotten used to calling him that already." Jamila also giggled then added, "Yeah, he was one of KFC's friends." Amy then added, "Oh, he was the one you had a crush on!" Becky then laughed and Jamila replied, "Yes him. Well, I saw him a few weeks ago. Then both of us... we...". Becky gasped, "Wait, are you and him, a thing now?" Jamila gave a cheeky grin. Both girls then jumped up and down. "Ohhh, I can't believe it!" Amy exclaimed as she had a huge smile on her face. Then Becky asked her, "Amy, if you saw KFC now, would you have a crush on him again?" The girl took a minute to think. "I'd say, it depends on what he looks like now." Jamila laughed, "I know you will. I've seen him." Becky and Amy gasped. "What do you mean, you've seen him?" Jamila then explained, "That's a funny story because, we thought that him and KFC were just best friends. When actually, they're related. Brothers. They call themselves, 'The Twisted Brothers'." Becky and Amy's faces were stuck in the shape of an O. "So he showed me to KFC when we went to visit him, and I think you'll have a bigger crush on him when you see him. His eyes are so nice. A nice blue colour." Amy was picturing what he could look like. Jamila added, "To be honest, he still kinda has the young face. What I mean is that, his face still kinda looks the same from when he was thirteen. Only a bit. So he's recognisable." Amy bit her lip. Becky then said, "Oh I just realised it's getting late. Jamila you can stay here. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Both of you can have the sofas and some blankets, it's really all I can offer at the minute." Amy and Jamila said that it was alright so Becky went to get the blankets. Jamila said to Amy, "Maybe tomorrow I could show you both what Taylor looks like now." Amy smiled and agreed to the idea. Not long after, Becky came back with some blankets. Then she said, "I guess I'll see you guys in the morning. Goodnight." Amy and Jamila replied with a goodnight and tucked themselves in the blankets, all cosy and and tired. Becky went to her room and got changed into her monkey pyjamas, hoping not to wake Bella and Baxter up, and tucked herself into bed. Soon after, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Becky and Baxter both woke up before Bella. Once Becky sat up, Baxter walked towards her and licked her face, making her smile. She had a beautiful sleep. She didn't have a nightmare or a dream of her sibling. Baxter jumped off the bed and waited patiently at the plain, white door for Becky to open it. The girl took a look at Bella to see if she was still asleep before she took a big stretch and finally stood up off the bed. She opened the door, and Baxter trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen to get his food, followed by Becky who was making some cereal. It was her favourite since she was a child, Krave. After she put the milk back in the fridge and grabbed a spoon, she went into the living room, where Amy and Jamila were just waking up. "Good morning you two," Becky said quietly. Both of them replied sleepily, "Good morning." Jamila asked, "What time is it?" Becky replied after swallowing, "Ten o'clock." Amy took a big stretch and yawned, "I don't think I've ever woken up this early." Jamila then sat up. "Wait, what day is it again?" Becky replied after swallowing another spoon of Krave, "It's Saturday. Why?" The girl sighed, "I guess I lost track of the days." She rubbed her eyes and took a big stretch. Then Amy pointed out, "Hey, it's quite early. Jamila, maybe you could take us to your house so we can see Taylor." Becky added, "That's right, on weekends Bella doesn't get up 'til like, sometime after eleven. As long as it's not too far I guess we could go now. I could leave a note on the tele so Bella knows where I am. Anyways, she's got Baxter. What harm could come to her with a protective dog like him?" Jamila then raised her eyebrows. "Wait, did you just say Baxter? As in Baxter from when we were thirteen?" Becky and Amy nodded. At that moment, Baxter trotted in and sat on the sofa Jamila was on. "Oh my god! It is him! Look at him, he doesn't look like he's aged a bit! How's that possible?" Becky shrugged, "I have no idea. It's what I've been wondering since I got him back. But I don't want to talk about the story on how I got him back so, how about I go and get dressed?" Amy and Jamila agreed and Becky went into her room to get dressed, hoping not to wake Bella. Jamila and Amy were both smothering Baxter with hugs. "I can't actually believe that Baxter is here," exclaimed Jamila. Amy replied, "I know right. I can't believe it either." The sheepdog then went to a corner of the room where his squeaky toys were kept, then had fun chewing them. After fifteen minutes, Becky returned back downstairs wearing a red top with blue, skinny jeans. She strolled over to the shoe rack to put on her cream coloured boots and the three of them set off. Becky decided to leave the note on her bed so Bella would see it as soon as she woke up. "Don't worry about Bella, mine and Taylor's house is about a ten minute walk from here. If you go in a car you'd get there in, probably less than a minute," Jamila told Becky. Becky then started gossiping about what Amy would do if Kieran was there, since he was Taylor's brother.

Bella woke up from probably the sweetest dream she had ever had in a while. She saw a white piece of paper, which looked like had her mother's writing on it. It read 'Bella, I have went with two of my friends to go and see one of their houses. I promise I won't be long, I was told it's not far from here and it's close enough for you to be left on your own. I have left Baxter so you at least have someone protecting you if something bad happened. I won't be spending long at the house. Love you lots, Mam xxx'. Once the girl had read the note, she stood up off the bed and headed downstairs. When she got to the bottom, she started feeling weird. She felt like she was going to faint and ended up falling to the side, into the wall. She heard a voice talking to her in her head, telling her to do bad things. She made her way into the kitchen to make some cereal, but she didn't take a bowl out of the wooden cupboard, or grab a cereal box. She just stood there. Staring at Baxter as he was in the kitchen playing with his squeaky toy. He sensed that Bella was behind him, but he didn't run towards her. Instead, he stood up and took his toy back into the living room, almost making it look like he was trying to avoid her. Bella watched as he did so. She wasn't feeling normal. She turned her head to the left, looking next to the sink, at the knife holder. Then looked in the direction Baxter ran in. Slowly, she stepped towards the knife holder and took the biggest kitchen knife that was there. The one that her mother told her never to touch incase she cut herself. After she had a tight grip on it, she made her way into the living room...