Smiley Jack

My name is Max and I'm 17 years old. I live in a small town in Nebraska with my family. My father Justin, my mother Julie, and my little brother Reece. Our house is in a very nice neighborhood along with a very nice shopping center, but we don't go there often do to us not having much money. My father works at a train station and my mother just stays home all day cleaning, and watching my brother. It's early in the morning and my school is starting in an hour. I go to BASIS, a charder school. It's like a normal school except the work is three grades above the grade we are in. For example seventh graders do tenth grade work, ect.

At my school I have a lot of friends, but no one will compare with my best friend Zach and my girlfriend Grace. She is nice, pretty, and fun to be around. My friend Zach has been my friend since the fifth grade and were really close. I'm always stressed out from all the work I have to do both in school, and out of school. One more thing about me and my friend that we don't agree on is religion. I am an Atheist meaning I do not believe in a god, this is the same with my girlfriend. My friend Zach is Christian and we argue about this topic a lot. But for most of the time I try to respect him.

"Max, get ready for school!" shouted my father.

"Okay, Dad." I replied.

I then got ready, ate breakfast and everything you usually do in the morning. I asked him when we would leave since I got ready quicker than usually. He asked:

"Do you wanna go early?" He asked.

"Sure, but I might be one of the first people at my school". I said.

He said he really doesn't care about that and we went in the car. It ways silent the whole way there, no one said a word. We arrived he said:

"Goodbye! Love you!". I replied back:

"You too".

I entered my school and no one was here except some bullies and a couple people that I don't even know. Ten minutes had passed and I saw my girlfriend walking through the door. She was carrying a acoustic guitar and said:

"Hey, do you wanna play?" she asked.

"Sure, I guess" I replied.

I grabbed it and played a few songs. My girlfriend knew I could play because last year we had a school talent show, and use your best guess, I played the guitar. She thought I was really good and she likes it when I play for her. One of the bullies walked up to me and said:

"Hey, quite playing! We're trying to work!" one of them said.

"No, I can do what I want here. If it is bothering you move somewhere else" I replied.

"Fine, if you think you so good, let's see if your better than" he said.

My girlfriend then pushed into the conversation and said:

"Of course he will, he will do it for the Halloween party with Saturday" she said.

I said to her "why did you say that?" and the bullies smiled and walked away. She told me I would be better than him and she believes in me. After that we went to our first class. After a long day of school I went home. On the way home in the car I asked my father:

"What should I be for the Halloween party at my school? I want to be something scary, so don't say something stupid" we both laughed.

"Well, how about Smiley Jack?" he replied.

"Smiley Jack?" I asked.

"You don't know who he is? Well some people who are against the atheist religion, say that when you die, if your atheist, your in a horrible after life, not like hell, but where everything is in ruins and Smiley  Jack is there to follow you, torture you, and he has been the main topic of a lot of conversations on Halloween. I think It would be ironic considering your Atheist too!" He said.

"I said sure, but what does he look like?" I asked.

"Well, he has nothing but a pale face and a large smile covering half of his face. The smile is usually a very dark blue. His eyes are hollow. Just sitting there staring at you. He has no hair as well. He can sometimes disguise as normal people so in that after life, there is no one to trust. This origin story comes from a small barn home 17 miles west" he said.

" Wow..I guess I'll dress as him to scare people" I replied.

We then arrived home. We didn't do much and I don't why, but I keep seeing images of Smiley Jack in my head and he appears in my dreams. I don't know what this could mean.

The next day I arrived at school and this girl named Sophia ran at me. She said:

"I have the perfect solution for you to play better and the party!" she said.

"That's fine, I already know what I'm gonna do" I replied.

She likes to solve everything scientifically and it gets pretty annoying. Throughout the day she kept trying to talk to me about the party, but I kept giving her the same answer. I was talking to my girlfriend and I asked her what Smiley Jack was. She said she did and she prefers not to talk about him.

"Would you like to go to his Origin house tomorrow? You know, instead of the stupid party? I'll drive!" I asked.

"WHAT? How could you even think of taking us to a place like that?" She asked.

"It's Halloween, it'll just be for fun. Nothing will happen" I told her.

"I'll think about it" she said.

After a long day of school I ran all around the school trying to find her. After about five minutes of searching I did. I asked her:

"Soooo...do you wanna go there?" I asked.

"I guess, it might be fun" she said.

"Yes! Trust me it will" I told her.

I then went home. My father asked me to put the costume on and I told him instead of going I'm gonna do something else with my girlfriend. He was kinda disappointed, but said okay. I took my car and went to pick her up. I told her it'll a while.

"Okay" she replied.

After about 15 minutes of driving, we started to spin a little.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE CAR?" I screamed.

She started grabbing me in fear and started screaming. After about 30 seconds we hit a tree. We both passed out. Well, that's what we thought. We woke up. Nothing was wrong with us. We felt fine. We hugged each other. She asked what happened to the car. I told her I don't know. Since the car was completely trashed, we decided to take a nearby train, but something was off. There was no one in the town we were in. The shops were all closed and there was a dark layer of black fog in the sky. We kept hearing loud whistling in the air, thinking it was just the wind. The roads had cracks and looked as if they haven't been used in years.

We eventually reached the station and asked to take us the the barn house.

"Max, I don't want to let's just go home, please!" she asked me in fear.

The train driver interrupted me before I could respond and said:

"What's the point of going home now if you've already made it this far? Plus I think your home is long gone" the train driver said with a large grin.

We said fine and grabbed each other. We stepped on the train. There was no one her, there was dust and spider webs everywhere and the train was infested with cockroaches and silverfish. The train ride was only 7 minutes, but felt like forever. My girlfriend kept telling me she was scared and she doesn't like whats happening. We reached the house and it was in perfect shape. Everything in the city was dark and weary, but this looked brand new. We were shocked. The inside on the other hand, was not. It was gross, messy, moss on the walls, it was awful. We turned quickly to the door to leave this nightmare, but there was a man in front of the door. He had a large bloody grin on his face, and was wearing a suit with a purple bow. He said:

"The fun doesn't have to end here!" he said in a deep voice while laughing.

We both screamed and we ran far away. There was a window in the back room. We climbed through and ran, but there was no use to scream since no one was here. We ran to the train station and asked him to send us back to the where we came. He said okay without showing his face. We waited 7 long minutes, but we eventually made it. We ran out the door, but my arm was grabbed by the man driving the train. He said:

"You forgot to pay" then he showed his face. It was the man from the building.

I pulled out of his grip and ran. I reached the car. It was in perfect condition, like nothing happened. We both looked at each other with a confused face and went in the car and drove off. We drove to our home town and it looked nice. I was hoping this would be the end. As we drove we reached our school, but unlike the town the school and everything along that path was destroyed, in ruins, along with a thick layer of gray fog. It was painful to see. We kept driving covering out mouths in fear. As we drove it became harder to see, making us fear we'd have another crash. We reached our neighborhood. No one was here, everyone was missing. We entered my house and ran in my room trying to hide. The man appeared before us. We had a large pitch fork in his hands. He said:

"One will be sent home, and one will die" he said while laughing.

"No.." I whispered under my breathe.

"Who will it be?" He asked.

"How about this? I will close my eyes and throw it. Whoever it hits is the one!" he said while smiling and he closed his eyes.

He lunged it. He missed, but it caught on my shirt and got me stuck to the wall, making it unable to move. He through another one. It did the same thing just to my girlfriend. We were both crying saying our goodbyes, knowing that one of us will die. He through the fork. It darted straight in my girlfriends brain lobe. Blood went everywhere. "

"NO!!" I screamed while crying.

"Well I guess the decision was made" he said while laughing.

"And never try to find me again" he said. I

then woke up in the car  I crashed in. I was perfectly fine, I looked out the window and there were police men and fire trucks outside assisting us. My girlfriend had a large stab in her forehead and blood rushing out of her chest. I grabbed her and screamed. My tears went on her body.

The cops sent me and Grace to the hospital. We were injured pretty bad and they were concerned of me because of how silent I grew. At school I would sit alone to eat. My grades dropped from A's to F's in spans of days. All of my friends stopped talking to me. After a while I was then sent to a mental institution for not talking, it has been 4 months and I haven't said a word. The girl I loved murdered in front of me, seeing  what my after life is, I saw hell. After this, I know that life is hell. My afterlife and real life are almost exactly the same, and I will never forget that...