Painted Smile: The Return of Jeffery Woods

Chaos...

Becky and Amy were on their way back to Becky's house, not knowing about what had happened with Bella. Amy was freaking out about the fact that Kieran was at Jamila's house. "Amy, I saw the way he looked at you. He definitely likes you," Becky told her. Amy sighed, "That's very funny. We both know he doesn't, you're just saying that to make me feel better. But, oh my god! His eyes, they're so nice." Becky giggled. Soon they were outside Becky's house and Becky grabbed her keys from her pocket to unlock the door. But she stopped. "Becky, are you alright? What's wrong?" The girl holding the key stared at the door. She felt that something wasn't right. She felt it as soon as they got to the house. "Something's wrong. I can feel it." She shook off the feeling and unlocked the door. After they both entered, Becky said, "Bella, we're ho..." she stopped. Dead in her tracks. There stood her daughter, blood splatters on her pink nightgown, some even on her face, a knife was held in her right arm, dripping with blood. Her breathing could be heard, shaky and frightened. "M-M-Mommy? I-I couldn't control m-myself," spoke the child. Becky suddenly ran towards her. "Oh my god! Bella?! What happened?! Was he here? Bella, talk to me. What happened?" Becky took the knife from her tiny hand, making sure she didn't cut herself. Bella was trembling all over. She couldn't say anything, except from the words, "H-He made m-me do it." Becky questioned, "What do you mean, he made you do it? Bella, what are you talking about?" Amy shouted Becky from the dining room. She stood up and told Bella to wait there. The daughter didn't say anything, she stood there, in shock. Her eyes followed her mother until she couldn't see her anymore, then she continued to look forward. A tear then fell from her eye as she knew what her mother was about to see. Becky ran to the dining room where Amy shouted her. What she saw, made her fall to her knees with a hand over her mouth, and weep uncontrollably...

In front of Amy, lay a sheepdog who, by the looks of it, had been stabbed multiple times in the stomach. It was Baxter. Amy looked at Becky as she crawled over to her companion's corpse. She gently placed her hands on his soft, furry body, just above where he had been cut. Tears ran down Becky's cheeks. "Becky, I'm so sorry," Amy said. Becky looked at her friend then back at Baxter. That's when she realised something. She looked at Amy then stood up and ran towards Bella, her breathing becoming faster. "Bella, why did you do this? How could you do such a thing?" Bella was on the urge of crying. "Mam please, just listen to me. He made me do it." Becky took a sigh and tried to keep herself calm. "What do you mean, he made you do it?" Bella shouted, "HE MADE ME DO IT! MAM! JUST LISTEN TO ME! I couldn't control myself. I was forced to." Becky was now annoyed. "We both know, that if someone told you to do such a thing, you wouldn't to it. So why would you do this?" Bella again raised her voice, "MAM I COULDN'T CONTROL MYSELF! I WAS FORCED TO! I DIDN'T WANT TO!" Becky responded, "WHO FORCED YOU?!" "THE BOOGEYMAN!" Becky stared at her child. Another tear ran down her cheek. She didn't know what to say except from, "Bella, go to your room." Bella then started crying, "Mam, please. I didn't want to." Again, Becky repeated, "Go to your room." The child didn't want her mother to shout at her, so she followed her command, and went upstairs to her room. Amy ran to Becky. "Becky, there was no need to shout at her like that. Something's going on. She said she couldn't control herself." Her friend sobbed, "I just don't understand how this could happen. She knew what Baxter meant to me. And now he's gone. There's no getting him back now. Now I've lost him forever."

Amy helped her friend stand up. "Becky, we both know Bella wouldn't just do this. Something's wrong. Maybe I could go and talk to her." Becky shrugged her shoulders as she wiped her eyes. "If you want to." Then she walked back into the dining room and sat next to Baxter. Amy made her way to Bella's room. As she entered, she knocked on the door. She saw Bella sat on her bed. Amy was astonished on how big her room was. "Hello Bella. I'm Amy. I was friends with your mother when we were kids. I just came to talk to you." Bella shuffled over as Amy sat down on her bed. "I'm not going to shout at you for anything. I just, want you to tell me exactly what happened. Afterwards if you don't want to, I'll explain it all to your mother." The little girl took a deep breath and began telling what happened. "After I woke up, I saw the note that Mam left. That's when I was feeling, normal. I went downstairs. As soon as I got to the bottom, I didn't feel right. I fell to the side, into the wall. It felt like I was gonna faint. I started to go into the kitchen to make some breakfast, I saw Baxter playing with his squeaky toy. Then I, I felt like, something was controlling me. All I did was just stand there, staring at him. The way he ran into the living room with his toy was like, he was trying to avoid me." Amy started biting her lip. She asked, "What happened after that?" Bella continued, "Again, I watched him enter the living room. I turned my head to the knife holder, then turned back to looking towards the living room. That's when I grabbed it." Amy then interrupted, "Grabbed what?" Bella made eye contact and replied, "The knife." Amy slowly inhaled. "I think I know what happened after that. Don't worry, you don't have to explain." "Amy, please listen to me. I didn't want to do it. It was like, something was controlling me. I kept hearing a voice in my head, talking to me. Telling me to do it. I know I wouldn't do such a thing if I was told to but, it was like it took control. Taking over me. And now, I keep feeling that it's suddenly gonna happen again."

Amy scratched her head, taking in the information Bella told her. "When you said you heard a voice talking to you, did you recognise it? Did it sound like anyone?" The young girl felt like crying when she thought about this, but she fought it and replied, "It sounded like, the boogeyman." The older girl didn't like it when she thought about Jeff being her father. "You mean, your father?" Bella nodded. Then asked, "Why is he my father? Why is the boogeyman my father?" Amy sighed. "I can't really tell you that. I don't think your mother would want me to since you're still young. Maybe when your older she'll explain to you what happened six years ago, before you were born." Bella sighed. Amy lifted up Bella's chin so she was looking at her and spoke, "Hey, keep your chin up. Everything's gonna be alright. Your father is never gonna lay a finger on you. We're not gonna let him get his hands on you. We're going to stop him, make sure this ends once and for all." Bella interrupted, "But I can hear him in my head. He takes control over me and makes me do things." Amy replied causing Bella to pause, "That's not going to last very long. Trust me." Bella took a big sigh and nodded her head with a little smile. It was all she could break out. "I'm gonna go back down and talk to your mother. You come down whenever you want," Amy told her. Bella quickly said before Amy went out, "Amy, does my mam hate me, because of what I did?" Amy turned around in shock. She didn't want Bella to think this. "Bella, your mother loves you more than anything in this world. She could never hate you, no matter who's child you are." This made Bella smile. A smile that Amy was happy to see. Then the woman walked out and back downstairs.

Bella sat on her bed. She was taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Suddenly, she breathed heavier. She was on the edge of crying as she sensed that her father was outside. Slowly, she walked over to her window and scanned her eyes out the window. She made eye contact with the boogeyman. Why can she all of a sudden sense where he is? Very slowly, she started shaking her head whilst crying. "No, no. Please no. Why won't you leave me alone? Why did you make me do it?" The way Jeff stared at his daughter made her shiver. It was like he was staring into her soul. As it was the best thing to do, Bella ran downstairs to tell her mother that the boogeyman was outside.