Memories gone by [Laughing Jack x reader]

Spiral

What does a person do when they're afraid? We try to rationalize through it, provided that an explainable reason exists within the realm of our understanding.  But what if there can be no explanation besides the paranormal?

I found myself confronted with these questions that spun my very reality into a daze of pure confusion. My brother's imaginary friend wasn't so imaginary, he was real. Everything filled me with such an insurmountable sense of dread at discovering the existence of the entity.  All I could think of was Jason, how would I be able to protect him from this thing? After the events at the park, I thought it was in my best interest to feign ignorance. As long as the creature wasn't aware that I knew of his existence just maybe it wouldn't have a reason to cause us any harm. All that considered, I didn't want to rely on a maybe.

My mind looped the terrible discovery, why had it stood behind us at that moment? If the goal was to remain unknown to me, it did a horrible job of achieving it. Then again, what if that's what it wanted? The terrible image flashed in my mind again, true to its portrait, Jack was a hellish figure. He stood over us with an inhuman height, a crafty dreadful smile formed on his face.  It was frightfully obvious he wanted me to know he existed. I remembered his long striped sleeves that nearly touched the ground, along with his jet black hair that covered his gray haunting eyes. It was something straight out of a horror movie.

Jason quickly quieted my racing thoughts, "What's wrong? You haven't said anything in a while" he nudged me with a concerned look in his eyes. "Oh, I'm fine just thinking about what I should make for dinner tonight" I chimed half-heartedly. If I was going to approach this, I had to do it tactfully. As of right now, there was no way of telling my brother that the friend he had made held sinister motives. "Oh okay," he said as he looked at me suspiciously. From what I could tell, he wasn't buying what I was selling, he must've picked up on my nerves. "How about some mac 'n cheese!" He exclaimed, changing his expression at the drop of a hat. "Sure buddy"

It was a relief to see Jason leave the kitchen, I needed time to take in and process what I had learned today. I leaned on the counter with my head in both hands, trying my best to hold it together. This, of course, was cut short when Jason popped his head from the corner of the wall, a huge smile plastered unto his bright face, "Jack says hi"

This sent me into a spiral, there was no use in hiding it, he knew. I gritted my teeth as I attempted to smile, it terrified me. Sensing that it was toying with me, I waved in response to the greeting briefly. I was a sitting duck, as far as I knew I didn't know what this thing was. But there was one thing for certain, it did not mean well. I was thrown into a nightmare.

As we sat on the couch watching cartoons, I took the chance to do some further investigating, "So, why don't you tell me about Jack?" My arm wrapped around his body close to mine, rather protectively. "Like what?" He tilted his head curiously. "Well, does he go to school with you?" I needed to be sure that my brother was safe there, away from the terrible thing. The least it would do is buy me more time to figuring out how to stop it from hurting us. "Nah, I wish, Jack says that if he did he'd wouldn't be able to control his need to make more friends" There was a lump in my throat as I heard this, it was said so innocently and yet it sent shivers down my spine. The thought of this clown creature going around and making friends made me think it had other plans.

"Sounds like a friendly guy" I chuckled fearfully. "Where did he come from?" I pried even further. Without a care in the world, Jason yawned, rubbing his eye tiredly, "from his box" he mumbled. Box? The same one I found on my dresser that night! Mentally slapping myself for being so forgetful, the answer to my problem might've just stared me in the face. "Does he live in that box?"

Dazed, Jason uttered a soft, "yes" before drifting off into sleep. If that creature lived in there, then if I destroyed it... My mind played with the idea if anything this was some sort of leverage. If I could directly talk to him, maybe he'd leave us alone once I raised the stakes. Or it could piss him off enough to actually hurt us, I didn't like my chances here, but this was all I had to go on.

How do you even go about talking to a phantom-like being? The whole situation was too surreal for me.

I looked at Jason as he slept peacefully, unaware of what he had gotten himself into. Softly brushing his hair out of his face, I kissed his forehead. There was no way I was going to give up on him.

Safe to say, I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. My senses were too heightened at the smallest of creaks and other things that go bump in the night. There was no way in hell I was going to let my guard down for even a moment with Jason safely tucked in by my side. How could I? I was terrified. Throughout the night I could have sworn I heard the echoes of manic laughter fill my ears. Every dark corner presented a shadowy stalker lurking around my room as a heavy veil of dread fill my chest. The same kind I felt only nights ago, the sense of someone watching my every move. I held the old box in my arms that whole restless night, unwilling to let go of it for even a second.

As afraid as I was, I had some form of plan burning inside me. It was too soon to tell how things would go down, so I decided that I needed more information. Everything clicked into place, the homicides, the dead children, it was starting to make sense. In order to fully come to that conclusion, I would need to pay a little visit to someone. I quietly prayed that person would give me the answers I so desperately searched for. What more could I do but silently hope?