Cursed Smile: Laughing Jack x Reader | C O M P L E T E D

Chapter 24

{Narrator's POV}

The men circled around the sandy brunette and subtly reached for their guns, spooked and unnerved as well. The horrific laughter that boomed and echoed through the quiet house had sent all of them into high alert... Except for Gabriel.

Much to the monochrome clown's surprise, the young man remained calm.

"I know who you are!", the brunette standing in the center spoke out confidently, "And I know what you are... My father knew it too", he said. Gabriel turned his head and looked over the men to find the demonic creature standing in the corner.

The men followed his gaze and confusingly stared in the same direction as him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Jack chuckled and slowly stepped out of the shadows, his claw rubbing against the wall and emitting a high-pitched squeal—much to the men's horror.

"Haha... Just like Charlie, always so... Persistent..", Jack muttered under his breath as the light revealed his monstrous form. Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the clown as if he couldn't understand what he was saying. "Why did you..? My father's name was Charles!", he said angrily as he took a step forward.

Jack's grin widened even farther as he gazed at the sandy brunette and pointed out several similarities of him and his father in his head. The psychotic clown took note that Gabriel and Stan shared many of the same qualities... But only one interested him the most... Their share of cowardice.

"Oh little Gabby, I apologize if I offended you! Didn't mean to be rude! It just slipped... Your father was one of my closest 'companions' after all", Jack cooed at the young man as he trembled where he stood. Jack chuckled and looked over the men dressed in black, "We also did enjoy our games of Cat and Mouse. He brought his friends along too actually... Sadly, they were never enough against mine..", Jack trailed off as his dark eyes suddenly turned to the top of the stairs.

Gabriel hesitantly followed his gaze and was stunned to find the scene before him.

The men, fearful and perplexed about their surroundings, decided to once again look in the direction their boss was staring at...and much to Jack amusement, they saw what little the clown permitted them to—a horde of undead children.

Gabriel gawked at the children standing at the top of the stairs and watched in horror as organs spilled from their small mutilated bodies. Blood pooled around them and trickled down the stairs. 

With their fragile bodies cut open and plagued with fresh wounds, the children merely gazed impassively at the men and Gabriel.

Gabriel's eyes scanned over all the children and he recoiled from his staring once he made eye contact with them...

Their eyes.

The poor young man didn't even think those eyes were real. Possibly mere orbs of pitch darkness and sorrow, nothing of innocence or compassion.

"Alright children, let's play a 'fair' game of hide and seek!!", Jack exclaimed as he smirked at the men, "They can hide... And we'll seek!!", he beamed as the men fidgeted in their spots.

Gabriel quickly grasped the intensity of the situation and swiftly pushed past the men. He held a note in the air and stubbornly escaped the protective circle.

"It's for you!", the young man surmised as he gripped the note. Jack rolled his eyes and stretched out his arm to an abnormally long distance, and picked the note out of Gabriel's hand.