Avoidable Situations | Art the Clown Short Story |

A V O I D A B L E • S I T U A T I O N S 1

"A young woman like you shouldn't be out and about alone at night!"

Those words rang in her head with each step she took down the dimly lit street. Her mother consistently warned her about the dangers of walking home in the dark. 

It's not like she was thrilled about it though. Her mother always acted like she was a rebellious young lady wanting to be independent. But not really, she'd much rather catch a lift back to her apartment. 

But there was one thing she was lacking; a full wallet. 

Of course, she forgot her purse at home, typical of her. 

Brook rolls her eyes at herself and pulls out a cigarette. With a few bright cracks of the lighter, the cigarette finally catches the flame. She takes a deep inhale before exhaling through her nose. Nasty habit, she knew. She had been hooked since she was eighteen thanks to her dickhead ex-boyfriend pressuring her into it. Bastard. 

After a few tiresome minutes of breathing in and out the heavy grey smoke, she finally flicks the burnt out cancer-stick onto the floor. She quickly crushes it under the heel of her boots. 

Her brows prick up curiously as her pocket vibrates. She plucks out her phone and answers the call. 

"Hellooo?" She greets the other end of the line merrily. 

"Sweetheart, where are you?" Her father's gruff voice asks anxiously. 

She feels her smile twitch, he had said one sentence and she could already hear the extreme exhaustion in his voice. Her joyful expression falters. 

"Don't worry, daddio, I'm on my way home."

"Now? On your own!?"

"It's fine dad, honestly, I'm like ten minutes from my apartment, I swear."

Her father pauses for a moment before sighing. "I can come and pick you up, I really don't mind Brook-"

"No, dad, you just rest. I'll be fine, I'll call you when I get back, okay?"

There's another pause, then a hesitant sigh.

"I'll talk to you soon, sweetheart, love you."

She smiles, "love ya too!"

After hanging up, the feeling of uneasy loneliness started to set in again. She shakes her head and continues her stroll.  What were the chances of anything happening anyway? Sure, this area was a bit sketching with the eerie setting, but nothing major ever really happened. 

Although... There was that one case where-

Her thoughts are interrupted by an abrupt noise nearby. She jumps back in shock, her hands quickly grabbing the neck of her coat fearfully. She stares into the dark void of the alleyway next to her. Her eyes couldn't make out anything. She shivers, waiting for what was next. 

A small cat strolls out.

She can't help but breathe out a small laugh. She almost shit herself over a cat. She grins at the little animal as it purs at her before trotting back into the alley. She gently shakes her head at herself, massaging her eyelids before walking forward again. 

'You gotta stop scaring yourself, Brook.'

A small yelp leaves her lips as she bumps into something. Her green eyes snap back open and she quickly shuffles back. Just based on how that something felt, she knew it was not, in fact, something. It was more so a someone. 

Her eyes slowly travel up, eventually meeting a face. Not a normal one. 

It was a clown. 

Where the hell did he come from!?

He was entirely black and white with a one-piece costume, it had long puffy black sleeves, neck ruffles and black pom poms travelling from the chest down. His face had to be a mask of some sort, it had an extremely defined facial structure with sharp and jutting angles. His pointy hooked nose had a small dot on its tip while his eyes and lips were surrounded by a thick layer of black makeup, the rest of his face was paper white. The look was completed by a tiny top hat on the side of his head. It didn't help that he towered over her. She wasn't really a short woman, but this guy made her feel tiny. 

To say Brook was scared was an understatement. 

Her whole body was frozen in place, her joints refused to move. She really didn't know what to do. She wanted to run, but her paralyzed state wasn't going to allow it. 

He glared down at her. His eyes were pitch black, she felt violated and disturbed under his gaze. There was something so awful about the way he was looking at her. She felt her breathing pick up at a faster rate, along with her heartbeat. 

Suddenly, the once dark expression he wore was lifted. He smiled at her. It wasn't a nice smile though, it felt mocking and mean spirited. She didn't like it one bit. 

His eyes scrunched up as well as he lifted his hand to wave his fingers at her. She definitely didn't miss how filthy they were, covered in weird dark grime. Brook really hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. 

Now she had two options here; tell the guy to fuck off or play along. 
She didn't know his intentions and risking pissing him off definitely didn't seem like a great choice. Maybe trying to come off as friendly would be... safer. 

Brook, as much as hated it, brightened her features and offered her best smile. "Uh... Hello," she stiffly waves back at him. 

He shrugged his shoulders in an excited manner and bounced on his toes. Brook's smile went a bit crooked at this. He stopped and his expression changed again, he looks down at his feet and picks up a garbage bag. God, she didn't even notice that. 

 He starts searching through it. Brook feels an oncoming panic. Her body still felt stuck. He was gonna kill her, he was gonna pull out some crazy shit and fucking kill her!

A million thoughts rush through her mind, but there was one main one she had.

Youfuckingidiotstupidassbitchyoushouldvefuckingranyoucompletedumbassholyshitdumassbit-

He shoves a bunch of flowers in her face. She was stunned.

Here she was expecting a gun blasting her brains out or a knife slitting her throat... But no, it's just flowers. 

She didn't know whether she wanted to kick this mans ass or thank him repeatedly for not killing her. 

She forces another smile and takes his offer. She hoped he didn't notice how violently she was shaking. "Oh... Gee thanks, mister."

He shrugs and tips his hat to her before letting it slap back against his head. He bends down and slings the garbage bag over his shoulder. He moves closer and pets her head, much to Brook's discomfort. It took a lot of willpower to not punch him in the throat.

After his... gesture, he sidesteps and saunters past her. She slowly starts walking away again but keeps her eyes on him just in case.

When he is around the corner and out of sight she finally forces herself to bolt.