Smiles

[hide]This was for an english assesment, I hope you like it. Its a short scary-ish story and quite well written :)[/hide]

SMILES

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The light at the top of the room was almost another sun; it shone so brightly that it burned your eyes to look at it however it barley lit the room. The room was dark it had books and piles of work and a single table. The old policeman sat at the table looking at photographs; his arm slouching on the chair with his feet up on the table. He looked at the photographs and flipped through all of them with the same expression on his old face; a confused one.

Slowly the door opened and as the door handle turned it made a little squeak. The door slowly opened to reveal a man, he was young and slim his hair was dark and his eyes were bright blue.

“Anything?” the young man asked slowly

“Nothing” the older man replied

The old man slowly pulled his feet off the chair and as he did that his feet knocked a small wooden block off the table. There was a slight thud as it hit the red carpeted floor

“Allow me” the young man said as he walked forward and bent down to pick up the wooden block. At the front it read “DCI Jonathan Roberts” which was encrusted on a gold plaque which was as bright as a burning flame.

“Thanks Mark” Jonathan said moving back to his slouching position on the chair.

Mark looked at Jonathan and got back up.

“The cut? What is it?” Mark asked slowly but with a hint of harshness.

“I don’t know?” Jonathan replied grimly.

Mark took a step towards Jonathan.

“They’re smiles” Mark said slowly as if his words were a wheel climbing slowly over sandy banks.

“Smiles…” Jonathon said slowly “Smiles!” he shouted “that’s it!”

Jonathan stood up and walked towards one of the messy piles. He picked up one of the case files which read “Sheila Jackson murder”

“Look at this” Jonathan voiced.

Mark looked at the paper; there was a full autopsy on it

“Arm bruised, air passage blocked, cut top right of stomach, shape resembling a smile cut on face” the autopsy said.

Jonathan looked at Mark raising his eyebrows.

“And this!” Jonathan added handing over another autopsy it read,

“Shoulder cut, Traces of cyanide found in stomach, cut on face resembling a smile”

Jonathan gave Mark more autopsy reports.

Yosef Haddad, Matthew Gambit and Luke Seam, all had the smile.

“It’s the same killer” Jonathan said slowly. No fingerprints, hair samples or DNA nothing, no-one is ever around to witness anything and the CCTV doesn’t pick up anything.

Mark slowly read the autopsies.

Mark looked at his watch “I’d better go”.

Jonathan sat down and placed all of the files on the table.

“Ok then” and he waved goodbye to Mark.

Mark left the room. Jonathan heard the Radio crackle, the words were distorted but he could hear the noise “Smiles Johnny, Think Smiles” Jonathan turned around and looked at the radio, there was not a stir. He walked out of the door and down the dimly lit corridor.

“Bye John” the old women in the corner said.

“Bye Margaret” Jonathan spoke as he quickly exited the police station, making his way towards his black car.

Chapter 2: Ring Ring

“Hello and welcome to BBC radio 2” the crackly voice spoke “there has been a recent murder enquiry about the death of Matthew Gambit, his parents are devastated and he was….” Jonathan was lying on the bed with his eyes half open. He lugged himself out of the old fashioned bed with a tartan bed cover. He nearly tripped on his bedside cabinet but he recalled quickly falling back to the bed. Jonathan got up for a second time, this time avoiding the bedside cabinet. He made his way slowly to the en suite bathroom. The glass on the mirror was frosted and there it was, a picture was drawn; a smile. Jonathan went to pick up the toothbrush, he looked up at the mirror and noticed the smile and there was a blurred silhouette in the mirror standing behind him. Jonathan turned around but nothing was there. The radio continued “…Matthew Gambit was very nice says Matthew Gambit’s best friend and he alwa…” the voice suddenly distorted. It was demonic yet high pitched and child like “…I'm coming, I’m coming, I’m coming to kill you”. Jonathan looked at the radio and heard it crackling and then it got back to “…We hope to prevent murders like this by stopping...” and then it started crackling again. It then stopped completely. Jonathan made it out of the door dressed. He drove to work. And then pulled in and stopped at the police stations car park. He walked up to the police station door and then he jammed his crinkled up card key into the electronic slot. It let out a faint beep and the door opened. Jonathan walked into the corridor “Hey, you don’t mind speaking for BBC radio 2?” came a steady shout from across the room. Mark stood behind Jonathan.

“Well?” he asked.

“Yes I do mind” Jonathan quickly interjected and with that he quickly walked off to his office.

Jonathan sat in his office. He sat at the desk and started looking at the pictures that he had left there a day earlier. There was a smile on every single one which had been carved on them this was more visible because of the bright red blood.

Jonathan pressed the ‘On’ button of the computer. It made a slight ting as it clicked into the computer.

He studied the autopsy reports carefully. 1cm, 0.7 cm, 1.2cm, 0.4cm there was nothing linking them together just the smiles, it was the only clue he had. There was no forensics, no sightings, not a thing. It was as if they were trying to stop a ghost. The computer finally turned itself on. Jonathon pressed the first box on the computer and started typing ‘08723KJF’ and then he typed the password. He logged into the computer but it took a short while to come up with the desktop however it was fairly quick. In the corner of the screen was a small blue icon CASEdatabase1956-P. Jonathan slowly dragged the mouse down to the icon and there was a soft click. The program opened. Jonathan hit the search function and typed in smiles then he changed the function… it was only the ones before the case that would be displayed. He hit the search key it loaded for a second and no results came up, just a blank screen with a little popup saying “No results found”. Jonathan concluded that the killer was young and he was new.

Suddenly the phone rang, Jonathan picked up the phone and the voice on the other end said “I have some information on the smiles case…” said a dark slow voice.

“Who is this?” Jonathan asked intrigued but scared.

“D.I Alex Williamson, new to this police station” he replied briskly “There has been a breakout at Bridgedown asylum. One man escaped”

“Which one?” Jonathan asked.

“Dr. Brandan Smith” Alex replied.

Jonathan dragged the keyboard in front of him and typed the name in. Five results came up. There was a picture of him, his head was tuned to the left a little and he showed a sinister smile. Under his picture was written the time he was to spend in the asylum the day he was admitted to the asylum and then under in large red text ESCAPED. The man on the phone spoke slowly.

“He’s a killer” Alex said slowly “and he could be anywhere by now” he added.

Jonathan felt his spine chill, as if someone was running a cold icy finger down his back.

“Sorry I have to go”, Jonathan replied and then swiftly put the phone down.

As soon as the phone was put down Mark burst into the room “There’s this person, he was just left outside of the police station, he’s dead and he’s got a smile on his face”

Jonathan jumped out of the chair and ran with Mark down the hallway and out of the door and there left by the steps to the police station was a body. On his neck carved in blood was a smile. The face of the man was facing away from them. Jonathan stepped around the body and looked at the face. He recognised it, his face was familiar but Jonathan simply couldn’t put his finger on it. He looked again at the Face and it was the face of Dr. Brandon Smith.

Chapter 3: Glow

Jonathan and Mark sat in the Autopsy waiting room. Marks dirty blonde hair was pressed against the wall but Jonathan’s shaggy dirty hair was cushioning him from any hint of wall. There was a small brown door in front of them, a mirrored window and a window facing out into the gardens. The door opened and as it did, it made a small squeak. A man came out of the room; he wore blue hospital uniform and white latex gloves.

“Here are the results” the man said while handing a folder to Jonathan.

“DNA?” mark asked quickly.

“No, nothing not a single hair” the doctor replied.

Jonathan looked disappointed. He picked up the folder and slumped up to the door. Mark was following him slowly. And then he heard a quiet squeak. They both turned and looked at the window. It was clean and sparkly and viewed the gardens. But in the bottom right corner there was a smile. It was painted with something red; blood.

“There… in the corner, look” Jonathan said as he pointed at the bloody smile

Marks eyes darted quickly to the corner there was nothing only a clean window

“There’s nothing there!” Mark exclaimed

For Jonathan there was no smile either just a clear window

“Y’no it’s not funny” Mark said solemnly

“I wasn’t joking” he said slowly “and as you know; I never joke.”

Jonathan stood up and looked at Mark; he shook his head and walked off.

Mark stood up and walked into the autopsy room. On the table was the Dr. Brandon Smith. A cloth was covering all but his toes and face.

“Have you got anymore information?” Mark asked quickly

The surgeon turned around. He held a facemask and a scalpel in his right hand

“Yes. He seems to have been covered in this weak acidic liquid. But it’ll take about 10 minutes to get a result” the surgeon said looking at the spinning centrifuge “so… I am getting a coffee!”

“Wait, just a second what about the centrifuge couldn’t that be dangerous” Mark quickly interjected

“Yes it could very well be” the surgeon said walking out of the door in a strut like position

“So what is the pay for a job like this?” Mark stalled

Mark managed to stall the surgeon for a short time. He needed the results and he didn’t want a coffee getting in the way of them.

“So yeh… anyway I’m getting a coffee”.

He walked straight up to the door and turned the light off. The surgeon turned around, the body was glowing bright red. Mark looked intrigued and the surgeon seemed scared. There was a small beep as the centrifuge stopped. Mark Quickly ran up to the centrifuge and picked up the small glass container. The surgeon was staring at the body. It had shocked him. Mark shouted the Surgeon to look at the results. The surgeon seemed not to be able to stop staring at the body. He quickly dragged his eyes away and walked.

Mark looked at the small digital screen on the centrifuge.

‘Rhodamine B’ the machine read

The surgeon looked at the machine, shocked again.

“That’s, impossible…” the surgeon said shocked and slowly

Mark looked at the surgeon. Intrigued but still he almost didn’t want to know the answer

“Why?” Mark asked solemnly

“Rhodamine B that’s like… That’s impossible to get hold of!” the surgeon said “even I can’t get hold of it” he added.

Mark kept cool.

“So where could someone find some rhodamine”

“Err…?” the surgeon said confused “hmm…. Maybe St Johns hospital. It has access to nearly everything” he quickly added

Mark looked at the surgeon. He paced out of the room quickly and out of the door. There was something there at st Johns hospital. A fingerprint. A trace of hair. Something that could put an end to the killings.

Chapter 4:

Mark and Jonathan were driving in the car.

The road blurred past the windows. Jonathan was handling the steering wheel and slowly tilting in his calm hands. A bright sign showed up on the road. Jonathan turned towards the sign and into the hospital car park. It looked deserted. There was no sound from the hospital, but there were cars sitting idly in the bright sun. Jonathan clicked open the car door and looked at Mark appears on the other side of the car. They both walked through the corridor and into one of the wards. There was silence. The light was off. Jonathan walked through the door Mark was behind him. Jonathan raised his right hand and felt for the light switch. He pushed down at the smooth bump on the wall and the light flickered on. Mark looked with awe and horror with Jonathan. The room was filled with death. Everyone in it was dead. There was blood all over it smeared over the floor and the beds, the wall and the people. On the wall were bloody letters dripping slowly onto the floor.

“Look for the ‘Burning Smile’” and then in the corner was a smile on the wall with blood all over it. Jonathan shoved his hand down his fat trouser pocket and took out a phone. He started pressing a few buttons and threw the phone at mark.

“Ask for an investigation” Jonathan excerpted.

Soon more police were around the building. They were taking pictures and collecting blood samples and hair samples. One of them lifted up the head of a man. A smile carved on it. The policeman stepped back leaving the dead body sitting on the chair with its head lying back on the chair with his white pupil-less eyes staring at the policeman.

Jonathan made eye contact with Mark and they walked out of the door. They made there way to the car. Jonathan opened the door and backed out of the car park and onto the motorway. He drove with Mark sitting in the passenger seat.

“Where are we going?” Mark asked.

“Somewhere where we can find the burning smile” Jonathan replied.

Mark didn’t say anything after that.

The car stopped at the library. It was huge as if it was an elephant against all the other ants around it. They got out of the car and looked at the enormous splendour of it. As they paced towards it the reflection on the windows was of themselves. They walked into the library and searched through the books but there was nothing about a burning smile. And then in the fiction section “burning sheave and burning skull but nothing about a burning smile” four computers stood equally apart from each other in the middle. Jonathan approached them and searched for burning smile. One result found. He selected it and looked at the stylised cover. Old myths and legends and under was a description “read some of the thrilling folklore from honest john to the burning smile, free for loan apr 31” the description read.

Jonathan looked around the endless library for the O’s. He picked out the bright blue colour out of every single other book. And then he started to read.

“The bloody corpse sat on the floor dripping red with blood and on the face carved there was. A smile, a burning smile – of blood and skin and spite and hate. The bodies lay around the room no trace, no flame no light. The smile will gaze and gaze it will for all eternity. The smile is red and red as fire it burns as pain and hurts like fire. People came in and searched the room only finding smiles. A smile on every face carved with a knife still no trace, no flame, no light. People searched forever and found what they seeked not knowing that if curiosity killed the cat there fait was laid out. The smile is like a disease. It will spread by sight and sense. And when the disease hits you there is not a single hope. The curse spreads through words and can not be stopped. He’ll cut and slit and burn. If a rumor is spread or a book is read the single person will die. And then the seekers of the death. The curse is passed like a powerful pandemic that can never be stopped apart from to be forgotten.”

And at the bottom. There was the link. It read “inspired by true events (circa: 1889)”.

Jonothan considered this for a moment. It hit him; Johnothan had the curse and anyone who knew or remembered was cursed. And now the information was spread. The people who chased after his dead body would be cursed too. Anyone who had seen the burning smile was cursed too.

Jonothan called Mark over. Mark walked slowly over too from the librarian. He raised his hand at the librarian. And walked towards jonothan

“Have you found anything?” Mark asked

Jonothan hesitated.

He spurted his words out “this has happened before, no-one caught him and it’s the same person”

Mark looked at jonothan he turned his head around to the side a little. Mark raised his hand to Jonothan to get him to talk again.

“he… in Victorian times. Read this poem” Jonothan said as he shoved the book under Marks face. Mark read through the poem and then he felt a shiver down his spine. it was if he was marked and they needed to stop him to live. Jonothan thrusted the book back and a small little note came out. On the note written in something red was some scruffy hand writing it read “one day, follow the night” and in the corner was his signature; a smile.

Last Chapter: Smile

Johnothan felt the night library cool down. They looked out of the window. The sun was setting into a field.

“follow the night?” Mark said slowly

“Night… night… theres night when the sun goes down!” Jonothan said

“Yes I know that” mark said solemnly

“Yes but… the night. The sun is bright where it sets but the other side, that’s east” Jonothan said.

The sun was setting Mark seemed to agree with jonothan so walked out the door and towards the car. Jonothan dropped the book on the floor and started pacing quickly. He took the phone out his pocket and dialled a number.

“Backup” Jonothan said quickly and he hung up. He made his way to the east. To an abandoned hospital in the car. Mark sat in the car. One day was not long. He sat in the passenger seat looking at the dark abandoned hospital. Jonothan got out of the car when he arrived and watched Mark get out of the other door. He pulled a gun from under the seat and pointed it towards the door. The door rustled in the wind. Jonothan walked through the door with his gun held firmly. Mark following slowly behind him.

Jonothan clicked a switch on his gun and a light came on and it cut through the darkness like a knife. Blood dripped slowly from the ceiling it was red and it shone in the torch like a shining diamond. The room had four doors all leading to darkness. Jonothan looked at mark and pointed at a door. Mark walked through that door.

Jonothan poised the gun around. There was nothing just a white floor and dark walls. Jonathan stepped through the dark corridor, he turned the torch back on, and it revealed a small rectangular room. In the corner was a chair facing towards the corner and an intravenous drip. He walked towards the drip slowly with the gun held firmly. There was a needle and a white liquid in the intravenous drip. Jonothan turned the chair around. There was blood on the chair and claw marks. Jonothan heard a scream. And then he felt his arm numb. There was a pain in it and he felt his eyes closing. He pulled the needle out of his arm and fired the gun around him. He felt himself being pushed against the wall and this time he felt the numbness in his neck. He felt ice cold blood drip down his neck. And then he felt a smash in the side of his face. He felt cold and then he felt his eyes close. He felt something on his face. It was a strange sensation. He felt a warm knife cut into his cheek but this wasn’t a smile. The shape went downwards towards the bottom of his cheek.

A frown.